For a lot of musicians, the goal is often to be a huge rock star, which translates into getting signed by a major record label. A “major” is a large record company with its own distribution system. The main major labels are Sony BMG, Warner, EMI and the Universal Music Group. This is probably the most difficult goal to achieve, not because of the quality of your music, but because the numbers are working against you.
In the 2004 Frontline episode, “The Way the Music Died,” Melinda Newman, of Billboard Magazine, says, “The chances of you having a hit are just almost infinitesimal. There are about 30,000 albums released a year. There may be a hundred that are hits, or certified hits.”