[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]

The Majors ("The Big Five")

early 1950s pop market was completely dominated by a handful of major recording companies:

  • Capitol
  • Columbia
  • Decca
  • Mercury
  • RCA Victor

 

The "Big Five" labels in 2002 (Kelley, 2002, p. 8):

  • AOL Time Warner
  • BMG Distribution (bought RCA & Arista)
  • EMI Distribution (bought Chrysalis & Virgin)
  • Sony Music Entertainment (bought CBS, Columbia, & Epic)
  • Vivendi/Universal Music Group
    • a huge French conglomerate, subsuming Interscope, Geffen, A&M, Island, Def Jam, MCA, Mercury, Motown, & Verve!!

 

Advantages of the Majors:

Evidence of the Majors' control over the Music Industry in the 50s:

1954—of the 50 top-selling records, 42 were produced by the majors!!

though primarily pop-oriented, the majors also produced classical, jazz, & some C&W

In contrast, between January 1955 & December 1960, there were 109 #1 hits; only 17 of these were by the major artists discussed in Chapters 3 & 4 of your text!! ... 15 of these hits were by Presley!!!! The other two? ... Bill Haley & the Comets reached #1 in May of 1955 with "Rock Around the Clock" and Buddy Holly's Crickets hit #1 in August of 1957 with "That'll Be the Day."

See the next page ("Rise of the Independent Labels") to learn more.

[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]