The Weeknd

Abęl Makkonen Tesfaye (born 16 February 1990), known professionally by his stage name The Weeknd (pronounced "the weekend"), is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer. In late 2010, Tesfaye anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd". He released three nine-track mixtapes throughout 2011: House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were critically acclaimed. The following year, he released a compilation album Trilogy, thirty tracks consisting of remastered versions of the mixtape material and three additional songs. It was released under Republic Records and his own label XO.

In 2013, he released his debut studio album Kiss Land, which was supported by the singles "Kiss Land" and "Live For". His second album, Beauty Behind the Madness, which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200, included the top-five single "Earned It" and produced the number-one singles "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face". The songs have simultaneously held the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, making him the first artist in history to achieve this.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Republic Records

Republic Records is an American record company that operates as a division of Universal Music Group. The label was endowed by Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman in 1995; it was later paired into the Universal Motown Republic Group in 1999. After the separation of Motown Records from Universal Motown Records, the Universal Motown Republic Group was shuttered, the label was temporarily reincarnated as Universal Republic Records in 2006, until it was revived in late 2012. The label's main offices are located in New York City, New York, United States, other offices of the record label are located at the Interscope Center in Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Since Republic's contraction to a mainly rightsholder role, Republic Records has long been a stand-alone label under UMG and is one of the group's premier labels, with Interscope Records and Island Records. According to Mediabase, Republic Records was 2012's top charting U.S. label. The label's best selling artists include Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Amy Winehouse, Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Owl City and Lorde.

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group, Inc. (legally known as UMG Recordings, Inc., abbreviated as UMG) is an American-French worldwide music corporation that operates as a subsidiary of Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. It claims to be the largest music corporation in the world. UMG also owns Universal Music Publishing Group, which is cited as the second largest music publishing company in the world. Universal Music Group's global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California, United States.

History

Early history

Universal Music was once the music company attached to film studio Universal Pictures. Its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in 1934. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939.MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998 and merged it with Universal Music Group in early 1999. However, the name had first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMG's oldest unit. UMG's Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company.

Daft Punk

Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The duo achieved significant popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement and were met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house music with funk, techno, disco, rock, and synthpop. The group was managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter (Busy P), the head of Ed Banger Records.

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were originally in a rock band called Darlin' together, which disbanded after a short period of time, leaving the two to experiment musically with drum machines and synthesizers. The duo became Daft Punk, releasing their debut album Homework on Virgin Records in 1997 to highly-positive reviews. The 2001 release of Discovery was even more successful, driven by the club singles "One More Time", "Digital Love", and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". In March 2005, the duo released the album Human After All to mixed reviews. However, the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom.