I can make you a star

The more I read about the music industry the more I'm learning. I didn't know the extent of the money that is pumped into the business, who would have thought that from just over running in a live performance could cost thousands of pounds. George Michael ended up paying through the nose (which I'm sure was probably just petty cash to him) £130 000 for overrunning at Wembley stadium he was fined £10 000 for every minute he went over. And there's me thinking library fines were steep !!
Currently riffling through 'the band's guide to getting a record deal' and it is enlightening me yet again. Maybe I am naive but I never realised that a CD costs 30p to make....don't really blame people for jumping on the old download bandwagon now!
Typed up my face to face interview with David Doherty who used to be in quite a successful band and has now swapped shouting and warming up crowds to become a TA. And after typing up all 2997 words and 5 pages worth of it I listened to his answers all about the music industry I realised that I was really in the dark about it all. There I am thinking a band have to send all the companies demos and occasionally they approach them at live shows, and a man appears out of the shadows with a briefcase of money, a cigar in mouth and eyes covered by shades with the classic line, I can make you a star kid stick with me! ....I think I exaggerated that a bit. But I now learnt that it seems more Chinese whispers than career spying and planned scouting,and from then he explained how you essentially are just a product. I didn't realise how much the artists work can change just because it might not be commercially viable. From talking to David it seems that maybe to suceed in the commercial music market today you have to compromise your integrity. I did hear that initially Keane were a screaming rockband I wonder if Boyzone were ever tempted to go down that route instead of being Louis Walsh's little polished puppets.....