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The problem, they say, is not recording contracts or piracy, but the expense
of marketing music to the consumer. Beyond the cost of signing acts,
recording their music and making their videos, the labels' biggest expense
is getting a song on radio, the medium that is still king when it comes to
making a hit. One firm, San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications, owns
1,225 radio stations, about 10 per cent of the nation's total, plus the
country's biggest live-concert promotions firm, 19 TV stations and 770,000
poster sites. It also owns SFX, the nation's biggest concert promoter.

To get a song added to the playlist of a single radio station, just to see
whether it even has a chance of being a hit, costs around $1,000 in
independent promotion fees. There are thousands of stations across the US,
so it costs at least $100,000 to get a song a limited hearing, and more like
$500,000 for it to be played throughout the country. One record executive
calls this 'payola dressed up'.

Unless some of these problems are solved quickly, the business's economics
will become even worse. Whether there are good songs that the public doesn't
get to hear, or bad ones that they can listen to, the effect is the same: no
sales.

'The greatest issue the industry faces is coming to terms with developing
artists,' says Don Gorder, a music business academic. 'It goes to the heart
of why record sales are down. Artists say the reason there is not a lot of
good music out there is because large corporations are calling too many of
the shots. Record labels say it's because everyone is stealing our music.'

If you want to read the full, IMHO very interesting and informative article
go to

http://www.observer.co.uk/business/  and look under the business section for
the item entitled:

CD pirates forcing down the volume

While music sales fall, stars are demanding more money. Can the biz survive,
asks Edward Helmore

Hope all of you find it as interesting as I did, the two main point for me
being the fact that BLANK cd-r's now out sell pre-recorded ones and of
course the bit on my favourite (not) company, Clearchannel.  Happy reading,

Nigel