Music is a part of human life. People sing, play or listen to their favourite songs to express their feelings. The first phonograph invented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877 has begun an era, in which people can listen to recorded music at home without having to attend a concert.

            With the commercialisation of music, record company plays the roles such as selecting, developing new talents and marketing of recorded music. Marketing includes product development, promotion, pricing and distribution. However, due to unpredicted audience tastes and continuous changes in trend, not every album produced will be popular. Failure to develop the right product that meets consumer taste or inaccurate budgeting for promotion may lead to losses.

            The record industry is very competitive in Malaysia. Both international and local record companies fight hard for the current RM200 million market size. This industry also competes with other entertainment industries to share the total expenditure of consumers’ entertainment budgets, resulting in a more competitive situation.

            Advancement of technologies also affect this industry greatly, it changes and improves both the technique and quality of sound recording, and more importantly, the formats of product. New technologies continually bring new challenges to this industry, therefore, comprehensive and strategic marketing planning is needed to meet these challenges.

1.2 Objectives

            The general objective of this study is to examine the formulation and implementation of marketing strategies of a record company. Specifically, this study seeks to achieve the following objectives:

            a) To examine the record industry in Malaysia from the perspective of its development, competition, market segment, prices, distribution channels and competitors.

            b) To study and evaluate the current marketing strategies of a record company,

            c) To identify and analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as the opportunities and threats facing the company in the marketplace.

            d) To make recommendations for the company.

1.3 Methodology

            The research design chosen for this study is the descriptive case study method. It utilises a single case study because the purpose of the study is to conduct an in-depth enquiry of a particular company’s marketing strategies and practises.

            Case study place more emphasis on a full contextual analysis (Cooper & Emory 1995). The advantage of the case study method is that the entire organisation or entity can be investigated in depth and with meticulous attention to details. This enables the researcher to carefully study the orders of events as they occur or to concentrate on identifying relationships among functions, individuals or entities. It is a useful means for generation of hypothesis and insight especially if the researcher intents to work further on that particular aspect in the future.

            Basically, the study is based on two types of data:

            a) Primary data

            In-depth interviews with personnel of the company and also the industry have been held. Data is also gathered by observation of activities held by the studied company such as promotion programs and advertisements. Personal experiences and knowledge about the industry and marketplace are also being considered.

            b) Secondary data

            Published journals, articles and reports from library, Internet, magazines and presses are used for discussion. The study is also supported by the data of the company’s internal records and the company’s Internet homepage.

1.4 Scope and Limitations

            This study is confined to the sound carrier products such as cassette tapes, compact discs, video compact discs produced and marketed by the company. The other activities such as music publishing and music licensing that are related to music copyrights exploitation will not be studied.

            The limitations to this study encountered, were the non-availability of some needed information such as the exact sales figures, the promotion budget, the industry’s latest competition results, and also the current and future marketing plans. They are considered to be confidential.

            The study is also limited by time constraint, where the data and discussions are based on the environments before 31st July 1997. Since record industry is a very competitive industry, new products and new strategies are being introduced very frequently. This has somewhat made the analysis and recommendations out dated.

1.5 Organisation of the Study

            This study comprises five chapters. Chapter one is the introduction. It gives an introduction to the study and includes the objectives, methodology, data collection, scope, limitations and organisation of the study.

            Chapter two is the record industry’s environment analysis. It is an overview of the record industry including the industry development, market segment, price, distribution channel, consumer background, competition and competitors of the industry.

            The chapter that followed, i.e., chapter three gives the analysis of the studied company EMI (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. The marketing strategies and practises of the company are discussed in detail. It starts with the company background, recent marketing strategies preview, and is followed by the marketing elements consisting of product, promotion, price and distribution.

            Chapter four is the SWOT analysis. It evaluates the marketing strategies of the company by showing the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

            Chapter five will be the final chapter. It states the conclusion of the study and recommendations are made to the company.