SteveH - we all have to start somewhere. See the post about MPPP in this thread. Notice that a lot of the conclusions are conjecture. Read the MPPP 10K and note that Groupe Arnault laid out 45 M cash and an irrevocable letter of credit for the remaining payment which MAY suggest cash payment. The agreement is an exhibit to their 10 - K and S - 1 and can be requested from investor relations of MPPP.
More philosophical reading on the whole music biz below:
Courtney Love, lead singer of Hole, goes into depth (and considerable
intelligence, colorful language notwithstanding), on the music biz,
record companies, Napster, Gnutella, the Internet, and how the artist
gets the short end of the stick in all of it, in this Salon rant. She
doesn't seem to touch on business risk (the band that doesn't sell 1m
records), but otherwise hits a number of key points.
Now artists have options. We don't have to work with major labels
anymore, because the digital economy is creating new ways to
distribute and market music. And the free ones amongst us aren't
going to. That means the slave class, which I represent, has to
find ways to get out of our deals. This didn't really matter before,
and that's why we all stayed.
I'll quibble one point: Courtney ain't no content provider, she's a
*dis*content provider.
Interesting reading.
salon.com |
