Major vs. Independent : en undersökning om hur skivbolagsrepresentationen ser ut i svensk dagspress

Aim: The aim for this study of Swedish daily press is to see how the musical reporting is structured for the newspapers I have chosen to analyse. My main purpose is to investigate how the newspapers reporting are distributed between artists who belong to either a major record company or an independent record company. With this research I want to find out if there are any economic backgrounds to the content and if the reporting is equal to the market production. Method/Material: For this study I have studied, by quantitative research, every piece of musical reporting in seven daily newspapers for two weeks. Through thorough research I have determined the belonging of every article’s record company. I have compared the newspapers with each other to see how the reporting differs. I have also collected information concerning the economic aspects of the music business to investigate if the reporting is equal to the market production. Main results: - The representation of major and independent record companies in Swedish press is distributed as the following: 60 % Major and 40 % Independent. - The national press and regional press both show a distorted picture of the record company representation while the evening press and free press show a more truthful representation according to the market share holdings. - There are signs of a scope economic structure in Bonnier which cannot be fully verified