Record labels logos

Island Records

Island records is a conglomerate record label that was founded in Jamaica and now has three brands in different locations, Island UK, Island US and Island Australia. They have signed artists such as Ariana Grande, Florence and The Machine, Nick Jonas and Catfish and the Bottlemen. The logo has a palm tree which shows the origin of the record label as it was founded in the Caribbean. The black and white colouring is also very effective as the black circle looks like the sun with the white tree appearing like shadowing. The large lettering is also beneficial to the logo as it is clear and eye catching even though it is black. The font is also very timeless in the way that as it is so simple its hard for it to look dated and old fashioned, because it was founded in 1959 and even now over 50 years later it still doesn't look outdated, it still looks moderns and new.

The image it gives is of an island, which gives the feeling of freedom. This could show the potential audience that the music that they create can give you the feeling of escape from their everyday lives. The target audience appears to be a very broad range from 16 to late 30's as the artists also vary from young pop stars like The Vamps to older artists like Annie Lennox.
 

Night Slugs



Night slugs is a very recently made record label that was created in England in 2010 that signs electronic and base music artists. As they are an independent label the artists are not as well known as the previous record label Island Records, as they have artists such as Lil Silva, Kingdom and DJ C. The logo is very vibrant with the bold colours of pink, blue and green which really stand out up against the black outline. As the black outline is so thick its defined more and as its so dark it relates to the name of the label because it gives the image of the night time with the dark sky.

Even though the logo is very eye catching the geometrics of it does make it slightly difficult to read the wording as it is 35 and quite confusing. This would be something we would consider when creating our own logo, as we don't want it to be difficult for people to read. However for this specific record label it is relevant as they specify in base, garage and electronic music, which doesn't really have a clear structure like other genres as a lot of the time its just music and no vocals, so the confusing and lack of structure could be showing how the music that they create also has no fixed or clear arrangement. But as the genre we are focusing on is RnB, this wouldn't be an idea we would carry on to our logo.

As the record label was only recently founded in 2010, 6 years ago, it could potentially look outdated in the years to come, but for this year and society it still very much fits in with the modern look. It could possibly look outdated because of the bright colours, they can often make something look tacky or unprofessional in the future if these types of colours are not popular.
 

Cinematic Music Group

The Cinematic Music Group is a record label in New York City founded in 2007 that focuses on the Hip Hop genre. It includes artists like Mick Jenkins, Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era. As they were created fairly recently 9 years ago usually the logo would look more modern, but this has a very classic feel to it with the image of a vinyl record, which are a very old fashioned way of listening to music. But it suggests that the music produced will have a classic of in some way a traditional hip hop sound. The black and white colouring also fits the old theme that it appears to have. As its very basic and if it was created when records were the main way of listening to music then the logo probably would've been black and white as they wouldn't have had the resources to create colour.

The font of the title is very bold and clear to see because its of a large size. Also the record is not in the shape of a full circle because instead they have chosen it to resemble the 'C' for the word Cinematic which gives it a different twist of the original design.

The target audience for the music produced by this label would be around 18-30 because of the rap styles in the music, but the logo contrasts with this as it would be more suitable for an older audience due to the logo appearing quite old fashioned.

I think the logo is quite plain and dull because even though it has the nice classic feel to it, it doesn't have anything that really catches the eye. I think the thickness of the black outline makes it less effective because everything is outlined so it doesn't show clearly what the main focal point is.
 

Columbia Records

Columbia Records are a record label that is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, it was founded in America in 1887. It the longest running record label in the world and the second most major. It is involved with artists like Beyoncé, Adele, John Legend and Alicia Keys. These artists are the type we would want for our record label as they are part of the Soul RnB genre. As the company has ben around for so many years (129 years) I would expect the logo to look a lot more dated, but it actually still looks fitting for this century. It has an older feel with the font, its very classic but sets a statement. The background colour is a very deep pink, almost a cranberry colour, it really brings our the blackness of the wording and image. It also makes it different from other logos as most of the other record labels have logos with either a white or black background, which makes this one stand out above the rest. The main focal point of the logo is the image above the writing which appear to be just a picture made by them and not a different image I have seen before. It looks a little bit like an eye with the wide oval shape of it and the darker circle in the middle resembling the pupil. Which is quite captivating as it draws the eyes especially with the surrounding circles. In a way the repetition of the circles looks like it could be try to hypnotise the person looking at it which is a very smart idea.
Overall the logo is very bold and unique when compared to other logos I have looked at, but it is definitely the one that I would take more from when creating my own logo, because it has many good characteristics and features that would be good for our genre, target audience and overall look for the artist.