Sometimes much more. The cash is used to make movies, television shows and music videos. The return on such projects can be enormous, thanks to a worldwide appetite for entertainment and numerous channels of distribution. Entertainment giants today control distribution channels as well as production, thus taking in cash from many outlets for the same product. Also, the studios retain the rights and can earn money from a film over years.
Trends look favorable.
Economic development and the growth of leisure time around the world are creating more entertainment consumers. The shift is both promising and unpredictable. The Internet has already disturbed the recording industry, which has sued Napster and other firms for facilitating free computer downloading of music. The online upstarts are negotiating copyright settlements with the record producers. It remains to be seen whether Internet distribution will produce the high profits that compact discs have.