Re: Living with squid.

[Kaleidoscope <lawtonj@project4.computer-science.manchester.ac.uk>]

In <m0jnauc-0000PqC@chinet.chi.il.us> katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris Williams) writes:

>Chris here,

>    About having a good relationship with Sony/CBS: Who cares? Contact
>with the "record business" has been compared to having a bath in a tub
>full of live squid with good reason. 

LOTS OF 

>across the room. In the "biz" Paula Abdul is a much more important _ARTIST_
>than Kate because she _SHIPS_PLATINUM_ and has better _DEMOGRAPHIC_.
>Music has _nothing_ to do with it.

STUFF

>  Record companies sell records.

DELETED

>  They do not book concerts;

:-)

>  Record companies have no interest in an artist's fans. Fans do not sell
>significant enough numbers of records to 

>                                    Chris Williams of
>                                        Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
>                                            katefans@chinet.chi.il.us


Hey - don't be so hard on record companies - the majority of record companies
are small, genuine & caring (think about how MANY independents there are, and
how few multinationals) - take a label like Sarah records - I've organised a
few concerts for them & have never once had to sign any contracts - I even got
35 quid back off them because we hadn't made enough money. They put their own
concerts on in their home town, underwrite bands tours, maintain a mailing list
of fans - typical of many small UK labels (and I'd imagine US ones).
Even larger companies like 4AD have an interest in the people interested.
For people like this the 'fans' are important.
It's unfair to categorise all record companies as 'the same', rather like saying
all pop singers are interested in is selling multi-platinum, being famous, etc
(imagine saying that was Kate's main motivation!!).
Anyway, would YOU have discovered Kate without a record company?
(Oh yeah - I'm against multi-national corporations, unit shifting, consumer
capitalism, etc anyway, but I see this as something general, not as something
unique to the record industry - it's just most music I deal with exists outside
the rules of that industry)

Julian