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
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @... address at http://mail.yahoo.com