Record Label Research - J Hus

Born Momodou Jallow, J Hus is an English recording artist of Gambian descent. He is best known for his single 'Did You See' which peaked at 9 on the UK Singles Chart. He is also well known for his collaboration with Dave on his single 'Samantha' and Stormzy and Ghetts's 'Bad Boys' on his album Gang Signs and Prayers. J Hus is currently signed to three record labels: Epic Records, Black Butter Records and Taylor Gang Entertainment. Although he is signed to three record labels, Epic Records is the main one so this institutional research will be focused mainly on Epic Records.

Taylor Gang Entertainment is an American entertainment company, currently operating amongst other thing as an independent record label founded by Wiz Khalifa. J Hus is currently a member of this company. 

Epic Records is a well known record label that is owned by Sony Music Entertainment which is one of the Big 3 and Black Butter Records is a formerly independent record label based in London which is also owned by Sony Music Entertainment. On the 11th of May, 2017 it was announced that J Hus had been signed to Epic Records. This was the day before the release of his debut album Common Sense which was released on the 12th of May by both Epic Records and Black Butter Records. On the album, J Hus has collaborated with Mo Stack on two songs. The album also features MIST, Tiggs Da Author and Burna Boy.
Burna Boy is signed to a different record label called SpaceShip Entertainment which he owns. Burna Boy was also signed to Aristokrat Records in 2011 but he left in 2004. 

Epic Records produce various genres of music from a variety of different artists such as Travis Scott, Zara Larsson, 21 Savage and Jennifer Lopez. The company is very diverse in the type of music they produce and the artists they sign. The record label was first established as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 and has changed greatly since then. The label have come from only producing the jazz and classical music genre but currently produces a wide variety of music genres from classical to grime. The brand image has a very classic feel to it. Their logo is simple but memorable, reinforcing the classic brand image. Epic Records have signed very popular and well known artists and bands which has improved their brand image and made them a more well known record label. The brand image and website design is very classic and I think this works effectively to represent the record label as it doesn’t sign artists of just one genre but many various artists from different genres. Epic Records have signed a mixture of very different artists such as Celine Dion and Michael Jackson to artists like DJ Khaled and Louis Tomlinson. From the record label's artist, I get the feeling that one of the label's main values is that they are very diverse. The record label seems like it is aimed at the younger generation by it's design and ethos however, it has also signed older artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Shakira. 

Signing to this record label in particular was beneficial for J Hus because Epic Records is owned by Sony (one of the Big 3) which means that their songs and albums are likely to be seen by more people as the company is currently saturating the market. This is beneficial for the artist because the more attention the artist gets, the more money they will be gaining which benefits them both financially and socially as they will become more well known. Another benefit of J Hus signing to this record label is that due to the large variety of artists signed to the label, it will be easy for him to collaborate with other artists on the label although, it could be argued that this isn’t much of a benefit as there isn’t many artists signed to the label that produce the same genre of music as J Hus. Being signed by Epic Records before the launch of his Common Sense album meant that the album was reached by audiences worldwide and it was received well. Having J Hus signed to their album benefits Epic Records as it will increase their reputation and audience, thus making them even more well known and successful as a mainstream record label. However, disadvantages for him in signing to a mainstream record label rather than an independent would be that he has less freedom with what he produces.