Research into the institutional context of PJ Harvey

Today I researched information about PJ Harvey's record deal just to have some more feedback on what her background is.

PJ Harvey 

• is signed to Island Records.

Island Records was based in Jamaica as an independent music label but was bought out and is now a subsidiary company of the major, Universal. 

It's quite interesting to see that Island has a mix of artists signed up. Lets see...

They've got Florence and The Machine signed up. She's a very distinctive artist. Noticeably indie, particularly how she wants to stand out with her ginger hair - as these days it's thought of as socially embarrassing to have ginger hair for some reason. But she has that mainstream look about her what with the pink lipstick and eye shadow going on. The leopard top might indicate some sort of sexual reference...she's an animal..? And her open mouth could possibly be suggestive.

Oh they've also got the band The Feeling. Ah here we go...it's the typical boy band look with the formal blazers and but they've got modern day hairstyles and one is wearing a hat...smart casual look I think. Again, another noticeably indie group yet they still have this mainstream constructed image about them. They aren't all exactly good looking - obviously their success and popularity isn't so much about their looks...

So PJ Harvey has some similarity between these artists too. She's definitely indie, we know this for sure, but maybe all this commercial success she's been getting recently like winning the Mercury Music Prize this year is increasing her fan base as she becomes more popular. Thus more demand is in for her name and she begins to cater for a more mainstream target audience.

Clever old Island. They're targeting with their artists both for mainstream and indie tastes..