SOLAR NAVIGATOR'S MUSIC INDEX A - Z

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Music can make you want to dance or cry. It can be the difference between a hit film and a flop, and it can brighten your day immeasurably, relax you and make you smile, or tell a story. No wonder it is the food of love - it sets the mood.

If you are a musician or singer, you are very lucky to be able to express yourself, and entertain. So, don't waste all that talent. Get out your instruments and make songs - make everyone happy and share. Learn your art and make something beautiful to be proud of - let rip and let's rock.

On this site you can read about your favourite artists and hear new stars in the making. If you like what you hear, spread the word.

Kiss Off: Jody, Abigail and Mandy - lovely vibes

We have worked with numerous local groups and solo artists over 9 years in the Eastbourne, Brighton, Hastings (East Sussex); even one London group.  We have worked with and assisted three all male rock groups: Out of Focus; Tall Red Pine Trees; Mama Hoochie Bang. We have worked with two girl groups: The Sunshine Girls and Kismet Girls. We have recorded David Anthony, Dell & Melody, Dann, Juan Thyme, Max Mezzo, Tombo and many others, who have in return contributed to the sounds on this website.

To all those recording artists, we offer our thanks and best wishes for the future. Unfortunately, we can no longer offer this service.  So, use the internet to help make it. Check out the record set this year in May by Planet Solar (below). This proves what we're saying. If you try hard enough almost impossible things can be achieved. Persistence is the key. Stand up for what you believe in.

This week we heard a great song by Kiss Off, called Misfit. This girl group sound fantastic, or we need some cotton buds. The line up is: Jodie, Mandy and Abigail. We've no idea if that is the preferred order - but hey. We know Mandy from Kismet, she writes great little numbers - we suspect she's still at it. You can see more of them on our Kiss Off page, or why not check out their Facebook page or listen to the song below - believe us, it's worth it.

Kiss Off: No1 - Youtube video

Tom Fitzpatrick is an artist local to us now recording his first album of original material at the CMP recording studios in Commercial Road Eastbourne. We expect to hear great things about this artist. CMP studios offers a very personal professional service affordably. We recommend them to any serious musician. This video is a bit cheesy, but made us laugh. A good effort.

RECORD COMPANIES INDEX A - Z

APPLE RECORDS | BMG | CBS COLUMBIA | CHRYSALIS | EMI | MOTOWN | PARLOPHONE

RCA | SONY | UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP | VIRGIN MUSIC GROUP

WARNER MUSIC GROUP (AOL TIME WARNER)

The songs and pictures on this website are © 2000 & 2012 Max Energy Limited, 

Solar Cola Ltd & Electrick Publications, unless otherwise specified.  All rights reserved. 

Recording artists: All monies raised from this site is to be used to send a message to world leaders that there is an alternative to Petrol Wars, Nuclear Power, Poverty and Famine.

Recording Business

The object of recording companies is to get their share of 20,000 new titles each year on the shelves of retailers and in the hands of the public.

The music shelves are already very full with over 100,000 back-listed titles. So that the (local band) Intraverse are not only competing with Eminem for space, they are also fighting with five decades of predecessors from Chuck Berry and the Beatles through to Metallica and Aerosmith.

It costs several million dollars to record and launch any major new pop album these days. And audience tastes are unpredictable, hence many launches are doomed. Music companies must rely on the occasional big hit among the many flops.  Winning shelf space is harder than it’s ever been with digital distribution via the Internet, where fans have been sharing recordings and avoiding buying recordings off the shelves.

Music then is in transition. It’s going from a tangible that you buy off the shelves to an intangible, something that’s on the Net and available to anyone who can in turn record them on tape or CD. This new situation has the big five companies worried with good reason as they adapt to remain competitive. NK

Big Five

In the last ten years the $40 billion music industry has been taken over by five companies, exerting vertical and horizontal control over almost every aspect of the industry. These five own virtually every record label you can name. Many of these labels with histories back to the Victrola days (like RCA Victor and Parlophone) are now under the control of a handful of international entertainment conglomerates that have learned to prolong shelf life and dominate shelf space ruthlessly. Although changes in the way music is delivered are a threat to the giants, they have the financial, legal, and technological muscle to minimize their losses and maximize their gains.

There are five major record label conglomerates, who control over 80% of all the titles produced in the United States and comparable percentages in the rest of the world. They are Warner Music, EMI Group, Universal Music Group (UMG), Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and Sony. These also own distribution companies that control over 80% of the wholesale market. They are also becoming a bigger presence in the retail sale of recordings. And it seems every time an independent begins to build new markets, it soon gets bought out by one of the big guys and the pace of consolidation is increasing. 

Here are descriptions of the Big Five (as currently constituted) with some notes.

AOL-Time-Warner says that this piece of their empire is not on the table, though so many others are. Warner/Chappell, with over a million titles, is a major money-maker.

EMI is the only major music company that is not part of a conglomerate. For that reason, its declining sales and profits must hurt all the more. The bright point is the music publishing division, which is the largest in the world, with over a million song titles. 

Sony is the number two music company, but its growth has stagnated. Sony's ownership is a product of its its foray into the media world, a decision from which Sony never derived the hoped-for synergy.

UMG is the world' largest music company, and its growth over the past year has far outstripped its rivals'. Yet it's parent company is in trouble, and it may yet be sold, if anyone wants it enough.

What does the future hold in store for 2013 - we'll just have to wait and see.

A taste for adventure

A heartwarming adventure: Pirate whalers V conservationists

Due for release as an e-book in 2013, with hopes for a film

in 2015 TBA

This website is Copyright © 1999 & 2012  Electrick Publications and  Max Energy Limited an educational charity working hard to promote world peace.

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