I'm trying to figure out how the music industry works and this was a topic that came to mind.

I don't know if it's just me or not, but recently I've been seeing a lot of musicians and groups on Heads Up Records.I just thought I would throw that out there. I've looked and a lot have moved from GRP to Heads Up.

Aside from that, what really do they do? Like Spyro Gyra. They've produced and composed their own music. Is it just easier to be under a record company like GRP or Heads Up? Am I thinking along the right lines?

The company helps in promoting and producing CD's and allow the artist to use their studio's and such, yes? But is it more cost efficient and effective to be under a company?

There's going to be several answer to this, and a lot of factors go into it.
I'm really not sure what your question is, so I'll answer based on my knowledge of the history as it relates to GRP and Heads Up.
GRP, founded by Don Grusin and Larry Rosen, was a heavy hitter of contemporary jazz in the 1980s and for the start of the 1990s. It is part of the Universal Music Group, which includes Verve.
Spyro Gyra, in the 1980s, was with MCA. But as Universal and its subsidiaries evolved, GRP absorbed all the MCA jazz acts, and MCA ceased to exist.
In the 1990s, a handful of GRP acts were able to be what they were, but several, The Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra and the Yellowjackets among them, reached a point where their creative control of their own music was being compromised in order to sell records.
The Yellowjackets went 4 years without a contract with a major label because they refused to comply. The Rippingtons and Spyro Gyra briefly defected to Windham Hill, but that didn't last for either band. Russ Freeman formed his own label, Peak, with partner Andi Howard. Several years later, Peak became part of the Concord Music Group, as did Heads Up.
After 1 release on Windham Hill (the oft-lambasted Got the Magic), Spyro Gyra signed with Heads Up. Almost immediately, there was a difference in the band's sound. In Modern Times, while still considered smooth jazz by some, was fresher, funkier and less market-driven (that is to say it was devoid of sappy R&B vocals and uninspiring drum loops; some programming was involved, but not the cookie-cutter variety).
The Yellowjackets, after 2 self-produced releases (Mint Jam and Peace Round) also joined the Heads Up family.
Now, all 3 groups basically get to do what they want. Sure, they all create some songs with an eye on commercial elements (Spyro Gyra and the Rippingtons more so than the Yellowjackets), but their overall recordings (albums, CDs, whatever you want to call them) reflect more of what the artists want to do than being forced upon them by executive producers.
I do believe that some artists signed with these labels, mainly "solo" acts like Alexander Zonjic, do what they have to do to get a record, but groups who record songs written by members of the band are not bound by the elements that ultimately doomed Warner Bros. Jazz and led to the departure of several acts from GRP.
GRP is still alive, but a lot of the label's former heavyweights are now part of the Concord family, or with other labels. A short list that comes to mind immediately: Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets, Rippingtons, David Benoit, Tom Scott.

So far I see Heads Up Records and Peak Records released a great amount of new albums in the smooth jazz and contemporary jazz genre in 2009. This year it looks like the Concord group will concentrate on jazz. A good year for jazz musicians, fans and critics, a bad year for smooth jazz and contemporary jazz. Correct me, if I am wrong.

A bit more information, please, Hans. I would not say that you're wrong, but the next-to-last sentence looks like a contradiction: a good year for jazz musicians, etc., but a bad year for smooth and contemporary jazz.

I have a list of the new releases which will be published this year on the mentioned label. Only new jazz releases are listed. A question to the label stayed unanswered. I make a difference between jazz in the classic sense (jazz fusion included) and smooth jazz or contemporary jazz. No big names of this genre are to find on that list.

I'm still not understanding, and maybe it's the difference in how we talk.
Are you saying that, looking at the list of upcoming releases from the Concord Music Group, you believe 2010 to be a good year for straight jazz, fusion but not a good year for smooth?

Exactly that's it.

That just about totally answers my question. Thanks a lot!

The days of traditional record labels are numbered in my opinion. I feel that electronic means of distribution and marketing will take over. Distribution sites like iTunes and Beatportal are the places to go for music because the "Brick and Mortar" places simply aren't around for jazz. For marketing, social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and musically oriented Indaba are quickly becoming the norms. These guys should Tweeting or "Sounding off".

Frankly, I don't understand why no one has created a Jazz Portal where everything is digital. I'm predicting that Heads Up will fold if their management isn't forward thinking and ready to improvise.