there are a few things that need to happen if you are gonna make a record, and get it out there; this is how a traditional record company does it :

1) Legal department: preparation of contracts ; lawyers construct and sign your contract; also make sure you stick to your contract; they also sue you if you break your contract.

2) Accounts department: make sure you get paid (after everyone else if you’re the artist) keep track of profit and loss keep track of units sold (cd sales)

3) A&R ( artists and repertoire) :

i. A&R scouts – scout talent to sign to label

ii. A&R managers – creative outlet for band to contact record company

4) Accounts / finance –

i. will actually pay you

ii. keep track of profit / loss

5) Studio – where the sound recording is created from the IP

6) Mastering plant – where the sound recording is finally mixed and a master is made

7) Duplication plant – where copies are mass duplicated from the master

Warehousing – where the duplicates are stored, ready for distribution

9) Sales – take orders for cds from retailers (also will preview the product)

10) Distribution – where the record is sent to the retail outlets

11) Marketing – coordinate how the record will be sold within budget

i. What is the product ?

ii. Who wants to buy it ?

iii. Where are they ?

iv. How do we reach them ?

12) Press department – will handle the print media

13) Radio pluggers – handle radio

14) TV pluggers – handle TV

15) New media – internet, myspace, etc, text messaging, etc

16) International department – liase with the sister / parent companies in other countries / territories

17) Exploitation department (publishers only) – will try to marry or sync your music with film tracks or commercials