FLUX said:[quote]

Red said:

"He'll" create such a world?

Excuse me, but you are not seriously looking at prince as some sort of messiah for the music business, are you? I suspect you are just playing there, but still...

Prince may be at the end of the tunnel and he is definitly the type of artists that can HELP make a change, but if you really want a change you have to do it TOGETHER.

Unfortunately the latter has not seriously been done before by recording artists. And that is exactly the main reason why 90% of current artists are still getting screwed.

Recording artists need to organise and become businesswise.THEN you can make that change.


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[Edited 10/25/04 4:00am]

sacredwarrior said:

I suppose that really depends on the type of artist you are.

But as a musician,... any musician, I would think that you at least need a small group of hardcore followers, that regularly goes to your gigs and supports you no matter what you do, that spreads your name by word of mouth and that puts some of those much needed dollars in your pocket so you can keep on making that music.

FLUX said:

Just so nobody misunderstands me:

I don't think there's anything wrong with being a street musician either.

But if you want a TRUE CHANGE in the industry ....

It's imperative you organise and become businesswise... TOGETHER.

New York State Attorney General Probes Record Industry
Posted: Fri., Oct. 22, 2004 11:47:18 PM MST

(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) -- Four major record companies – Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group -- have been subpoenaed by the New York State Attorney General’s office in its investigation of practices used for influencing what songs are heard on the radio, reports The New York Times. Investigators in Eliot Spitzer’s office are looking for information detailing any relationship with independent promoters - middlemen - who pitch new songs to radio programmers in New York State.

Payola aka pay-to-play -- paying a station money to get a song on the radio -- is illegal only if the radio station fails to inform listeners that the song is a paid endorsement by its record label, according to the FCC.

Radio Stations are paid annual fees by independent promoters, often more than $100,000, but not to play specific songs, the indie promoters say, but rather to get advance copies of their playlists, the Times reports. Each time a new song is played, the promoters bill the record labels, amounting to tens of millions of dollars each year.

"EMI, along with other companies in the music and broadcast industries, has received a request from the N.Y. state attorney general for information regarding practices in connection with the promotion of records on New York state radio stations," EMI said in a statement. "We are cooperating fully with this inquiry, which is at a preliminary stage."

This should be interesting