From: dap@portal.vpharm.com (David A. Pearlman)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: DAT Royalty - Only on blank tape?
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:57:26 GMT
Organization: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

In article <1992Sep30.152200.22634@bilver.uucp> bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) writes:
>In article <1992Sep29.190659.7320@portal.vpharm.com> dap@portal.vpharm.com (David A. Pearlman) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep29.135930.25986@bilver.uucp> bill@bilver.uucp 
>>(Bill Vermillion) writes:
>
>>>What's left of the American recording companies?  The Japanese only
>>>bought what was left after the Europeans had purchased the rest.
>>>Sony's purchase of Columbia, and M(forgot whic Japanese M compnay)'s
>>>purchase of MCA  put all of the major companies under foreign control.
>
>>Naw...What about WEA (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic{/Reprise/Sire/Atco/East-West/
>>Nonesuch/Asylum})? They're part of the
>>Time-Warner conglomerate, which is still decidedly American.
>
>Are you sure about that.  I thought I saw somewhere that Time/Warner
>was foreign controlled or at least highly owned.   That congomerate is
>also heavy into print and cable systems too.  The control a lot of
>production and distribution.    I remember when I was in broadcast
>watching Warner grow.  Do you know they purchased the Altantic/Atco
>group for $7 million dollars.    Boy - what a bargain.  But that was in
>the days when last years hits were considered as important as last
>years newspapers!    Catalog was considered only important for major
>artists.  What a change in the past several years.
>

As much as any public company, Time/Warner is American...That doesn't
guarantee, of course, that 90% of their stock isn't in foreign hands.
But at least they are CONSIDERED a public company...

Yeah, I often think about the prices paid for record companies in 
earlier times and just shake my head...MCA paid only a few million
for the ABC (/Dunhill/Duke/Peacock/20th Century/Dot/Impulse!) catalogue.
And that was in the LATE '70's! Fantasy paid less than a million for
Stax around the same time. For comparison, MCA paid the better part
of a billion dollars for Geffen a few years ago, a label with very small
catalogue by industry standards...

Not that some of the recent deals make much sense...Polygram paid
nearly 40% as much for Island a few years ago as Sony paid for Columbia
a couple of years before that...Seems crazy to me...

It's also interesting to consider that fact that while Polygram has
seemingly taken up a strategy of keeping the distribution pipeline filled
by continually purchasing more catalogues, in the mid '80's they were
discouraged enough to attempt a merger with Warner Communications...

The CD "revolution" has turned a lot of catalogues to gold, that's for sure!

(Another interesting tidbit, though off the subject, is that Warner
Communications nee Time-Warner nee WEA can all be traced back to 
Kinney systems, the erstwhile parking lot and shoe guys...)

>
>>The one other major minor that remains under US control is Fantasy
>>(Fantasy/Galaxy/Prestige/Riverside/Stax/Specialty/HDH/etc.), which was 
>>almost sold to Polygram earlier this year.
>
>I'd consider Fantasy more of large independant that a major - but ...

I'd definitely agree, I meant to convey the idea of a minor player that
is large by minor player standards...

dap
-- 
=============================================================================
    David A. Pearlman

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.                     email: dap@vpharm.com