Case Study - Independant Record Label

Fierce Panda Records ♪♫♪
Fierce panda records is a London based independent  record label formed in 1993. They dealt with artists from the indie/britpop genre such as Coldplay, The Maccabees, Oasis, The BlueTones, Redtrack, The Crookes and The Walkmen.
Some of the artists that were promoted are quite well known, having some singles been in the charts, like Coldplay and Oasis. However all artists have a strong growing fanbase of all nationalities having toured around the world, but mainly the UK.
The label itself, does benefit from new media technology as they are being promoted over popular social networking sites and music download sites, having their own facebook page and Myspace page.

Some of the artists music is being distributed via popular download sites such as iTunes, HMV, Amazon, Spotify,play.com etc.
In 2009, one of the labels artists, The Crookes, recorded a live session for BBC Radio 1 for Steve Lamacq and for BBC radio 2,4,5 and 6. They were also named BBC 6's favourite new band.  There are also other radio stations that play music from various artists of this label, such as XFM and radio 1 & Scotland. Bands such as Coldplay - who have now become very popular, play on most radio stations such as Capital, The Hits, Heart and Magic. Fierce Panda records also has its own customised content channel on Audiotube.

There are certain websites that will try and promote music from the band and will stream live music, inform you of any gigs, festivals and tour dates too. The bands official website is a good example of somewhere we you can listen to live music, or soundcloud to watch the videos but if you want to buy the music it will direct you straight back to  the main distributer, iTunes. ☟

Coldplay
Last FM
Plays -  235,032,252 
Listeners -  4,081,729 
Similar Artists - Snow Patrol, The Killers, One Republic, Kings Of Leon & The Fray.


Youtube
Views - 22,161,279
Suggestions - Oasis, Tracy Chapman, James Blunt, Snow Patrol, Goo Goo Dolls, Blink 182. ☟




The Maccabees
LAST FM
Plays - 13,549,607
Listeners - 633,168
Similar Artists - Bombay Bicycle club, Mystery Jets, Tribes, Foals, Little Comets & Howler. ☟
Youtube  
Views - 725,422
Suggestions- The Black Keys, The Cure, The Temper Trap, The Courteeners, Foals, Florence& The Machine and Kaiser Chiefs


















Ownership
Fierce Panda Records happened accidentally, music journalists, John Harris, Paul Moody and Simon Williams decided to create the label but later on Simon Williams was given full ownership of the label. 
As there are only a few well known artists attached to this independent label, the label is not popular enough to be playing at clubs such as Ministry of Sound or Fabric. However, some of the low key artists do tend to play at a particular venue called Bull&Gate that promotes up coming bands. New bands and new music is always welcome to the label, it is possible to send songs via email to their label, or through myspace or soundcloud. 
ProductionOn Fierce Panda Records' official website, they sell merchandise, CD albums, singles and vinyls but gig tickets are not available to purchase on there. 
Marketing
The label will help to promote their artists by using social networking sites such as twitter, facebook and myspace to try and entice an audience to listen and give feedback. They also try and find venues that are looking for small, upcoming bands that are willing to let their bands play. The label also has a Youtube account which would help to promote the bands, although their is not many videos. 
Distribution
Their are many stockists that sell products from Fierce Panda Records such as HMV, play.com, amazon, ASDA and Tesco. The CD's are around £5-£8 each depending on the artist.