Music Economy Basic Information Service

The website for easy to understand facts and background information about the music business

Don't expect graphics here - browse if you want information, but this is not for children or the"gramatically impaired". Currently the site is sponsored and therefore the information is available for free. If any of the tips helped you, please buy an album by one of the musicians on the AMM-group labels or send a cheque or postal order to AMM Musicians Fund, c/o Alex Merck Music GmbH, Trajanstr. 18, D-50678 Koeln, Germany.

We currently have the following articles and news on our site:

• Overview of the size of some countries CD markets
• Marketshare of the different musical styles
• European figures and the social consequences of the market situation
• Different rights and different companies and people - record companies and publishers (BASICS)
• Basic record calculation - profits etc. for a "successful" pop album in Germany (or other big music markets) UPDATED Dec 1998
• Publicly traded companies in the music business (UPDATED Dec. 1998)

Current news from the music business:

• CD-sales were slightly down in many countries in 1998
• Sales are up for most smaller market sections - Jazz, classical, Soul, dance, unusual crossover in many countries
• Worldwide most small CD-stores with a small choice of albums (especially if they just sell hit albums) have financial problems
• Live attendence figures in Germany are down for most musical styles ..
• German record companies moving strongly to a reorganisation of the relationship with radio broadcasters. Half of the population in Germany is never buying CDs and gets all the music they need from radio, but radio only contributes less then 8 % of the total music income. This was considered partly acceptable 20 years ago, when there were only a few radio stations, which also played quite a bit of new records and helped sales because of this. Most of todays radio stations will openly tell you that they do not play anything when it is not either: 1) already successfull , 2) by a famous star, 3) has a very big marketing budget so it is almost guaranteed to become successfull. In some cases radio stations all over Europe and in the USA have demanded to get sponsorship money for special shows where new musicians are presented.
  This is unacceptable to musicians and record companies - if the whole music business only receives about 3% of a stations income (todays typical rate) for a permission to use anything available. The competition between radio stations also leads them to play ever more music - and often oldies, where there is no positive sales effect for the musicians. Therefore either the rates go drastically up - or there will either be a massive cancelation of permissions (which can be done) or alternatively both a cancelation and the foundation of jointly owned radio stations of several record companies.
• EMI still takeover candidate - and seemingly completely disorganised in Germany and several other countries
• Youngest publicly traded music company is a huge success on stock exchanges - EDEL Music up over 270 & near end of year.
• Takeover of Polygram by Universal/Seagram finally effective.

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These sites offer over 150 sound examples, biographic infos and album infos for over 100 soul, r&b and jazz albums.

Last Updated: 27.December 1998