The Logic Off Topic list

Hi Joeri,

It's slowly becoming clearer to me what it is you're after. Sorry about 
that, but I can be a bit slow sometimes.

Maybe you could try a different track.

If you're interested in strategic information on what record company 
executives do, then you need to go where record company executives hang 
out. In the UK, all significant record companies are members of the BPI or 
British Phonographic Industry Ltd.
http://www.bpi.co.uk/

The BPI has a very good statistical and research department that is 
constantly producing all kinds of useful information on the state of the 
British music business. Obviously, record company executives need that kind 
of information in order to make decisions. The person in charge of that 
department used to be Peter Scaping, but he may well have retired by now. 
The BPI also releases a regular annual handbook, the front of which tends 
to be filled with useful information about overall trends in the record CD 
business over that year. The BPI Yearbook used to be available for nothing 
to anyone who asked for it, but I bet they're charging for it by now!! The 
staff of the BPI are very friendly and helpful. They're paid to be, 
actually, because a part of their job description is to help promote the 
BPI by disseminating information. Can't do that by being surly and 
obstreperous. So ... you call them up, tell them what you want to know, and 
I'm sure they will happily refer you to important and accessible figures in 
the various individual record companies who would help you with gathering 
some of the information you want.

In addition to that ... there's the International Federation of 
Phonographic Industries (I think) whose secretariat is also located in 
London. They do on an international basis what the BPI does on a national 
one. Come to that ... if you go to the IFPI web site
http://www.ifpi.org/
you'll see an item for 'National Associations'. You can then get the 
address for IFPI office in Belgium, who will also I'm sure give you the 
contact details for the Belgian equivalent of the BPI, whatever that is. 
That's where all the record company executives in Belgium will be hanging 
out, and they'll be paying someone to gather the information you want ... 
and that someone can introduce you to the people you want to meet. Why mess 
about trying to create your own network of personal contacts when you can 
just go straight to someone who's already done all this for you?!!

That's my opinion, anyway. But then hay ... what do _I_ know. Seriously, 
though, that's where I would begin.

Hope this helps.

Kool Musick
Keep Musick Kool


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