Major VS. Independent

In this day and age the music industry is dominated by three large conglomerates they are; The universal music group, Sony BMG and Warner music group. there are also several independent record labels that do not posses as much money as the major.The definition of mainstream is the ideas, attitudes, or activities that are shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional. Therefore, this can be related to the music industry in different ways. 
Major

The Universal Music Group:
The Universal music group (UMG) is the largest is one of the largest music corporations in the world, a subsidiary of  Universal studios in America, in its early days it was known as universal records and was seen as an unimportant subsidiary of universal picture group, who at which time where the most successful movie studio in Hollywood. Some of the artists signed with universal or their subsidiaries these include: Kanye West, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani  

Sony BMG:
Sony BMG was founded on March 3rd 2004, it was a joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG and held a 25% stake in the music market. They have offices in more than 30 countries



Independent

Dancing Turtle Records:

Dancing Turtle Records is a London based independent record label set up in 2005. Their releases have a strong leaning towards the genres of indie folk, electronica, experimental, downtempo and world music.

The label has developed and released music from a number of artists from Europe, and as far afield as Japan, West Papua and Brazil, under the banner "music acts without prejudice".The label has raised funds and awareness for human rights charities and other causes.

The label is part of the Dancing Turtle Group; this also incorporates the Dancing Turtle Media and Dancing Turtle Films divisions.

Lex Records:

Lex has a varied musical output. The label is not focused on one particular genre (although most releases are alternative hip hop, alternative rock or electronica) and instead focusses on working with a small group of individual artists, supporting their work. As a result of the small roster, Lex has a low volume of releases, rarely releasing more than three albums annually.

Lex albums are often collaborations between members of the label roster and musicians from elsewhere. These collaborative groups includeDanger Mouse with MF Doom as Danger Doom, Boom Bip with Gruff Rhys as Neon Neon, Jneiro Jarel with Khujo Goodie as Willie Isz, and Jneiro Jarel with MF Doom as JJ DOOM. Forthcoming releases include a new album from Neon Neon and the debut album from Nevermen.