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Re: Ahmet Ertegun on PBS

I had a long chat with the former accountant for Capitol Records. He had many fascinating insights into the music industry.

In regards to the Ruth Brown affair, it was interesting to hear his (Capitol's) point of view. Of course, it doesn't explain the failed contractual promises, but he stated, in no uncertain terms, that early artists got very little in royalties and benefits. The records that an artist put out was seen by the recording company and the artist as a venue to increase their popularity, and it was expected that the artists, in taking a very small percentage, would actually make more money performing live after making their reputation via the recorded medium.

Again, his point of view was that this was the standard and did not really change until the Beatles hit the US market. Their music was revolutionary in many ways, and one way was that they had so huge advance sales, they could demand large sums up front. Essentially they then went on tour to promote the new LP. This was fundamentally a new way of doing business, or so he claimed.

If what he said was true, then Ertegun was simply following the mores of the day.


Stu


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  • Re: Ahmet Ertegun on PBS - unclestu52 21:38:12 05/04/07 (0)

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