The Music Industry According To Casey Kasem

I've been listening to old broadcasts of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem, everyone's favorite part is the long distance dedication, yeah I know.

Hopefully, they have all the old shows uploaded...I don't know but I doubt it, the internet in 2020 seems to be awful empty compared to public demand...like is there no one on here or what?

The new American Top 40 they are saying is on iheartradio.com which I think I am also on, the website not the Top 40. 

oh and all those Casey Kasem on air meltdown clips, I wouldn't be surprised if they were impersonators and are fake.

Hopefully I put the correct link up, I think this is from his first show.

Casey Kasem before American Top 40 was the Number One radio DJ in Detroit...home of Motown and the now failed automobile industry, so he was deeply connected to the music scene and apparently was the main driver behind the Top 40 and a main music promoter on his show American Top 40 and "ran" his take and contributions from his business...American Top 40.

Hopefully my numbers are right, but you get the idea.

Casey Kasem said I believe on his first show that in 1970 when he first started on American Top 40 that in the United States in the music business that they released 7000 albums a year....real records.

Just like today in music....

He said only 700 made enough money in 1970 to pay back the cost to make the albums.

You look at that in the long term over the last fifty years 1970 - 2020 and that's like 6000 albums times 50 years, only counting real releases, that's roughly 300,000 albums that never made any money.

Of course some may have made money later, or failed on the other hand and the numbers for releases may be up or down.

What that means is music doesn't make money.

Record Companies mass release albums and the several hits like The Beatles or Michael Jackson they are saying paid back for all the failed albums off a few releases.

That means all the big stars were paid or given advances and credit as a regular job from the labels and then they failed and never made anything.

Meaning, most of your favorite albums never made any money.

Apparently is it just too hard to perform all that music and produce all that to make any money off it.

Plus maybe people just listen to the radio.

Being a musician is not just about making money off your records though, even if you fail this gives you name recognition and can open up other opportunities by using you name and records as an advertisement for other things you do like books or movies or something. 

There you have it, right from Casey Kasem...there's never been money in music.

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