The bottom line, will it make everyone what they are used to earning from a U2 album? Many, many unanswered questions. Time will tell and it’ll give us a sure fire indication of the times ahead. Once the accountants work out what Bruce and U2 have sold it will tell us a lot. Everyone in the industry will be watching, the goalposts have changed.

And what about the tour, where will touring be when they roll out? The promoters will have forked out a fortune and paid up well in advance I would imagine. With the economy in free fall will people just be able to afford it, no matter how good a show it may be? I doubt if anyone has the answer and they’ll all be watching nervously.

Downsizing, it has to be the way forward. I don’t think anyone can realistically tour in the way they did either. Touring has to be affordable for all, not least of all the fans. If there are no bums on seats then there’s no point touring at any level but of course touring will continue and now is the time to protect the endangered species before it’s too late.

Touring has been a very lucrative income stream lately for bands. It’s also money they get to keep when they are at the top end and not in need of tour support, something the record companies would love to change. If they aren’t making on the record they need to get some return on their investment and that’s why they are exploring other income streams.

There we go again, return on investment. That’s the bottom line, what you get back against what you’ve spent. Nothing more nothing less. Nothing to do with the act and building something, allowing them to develop and getting a return on their investment. In time. We used to call it careers but I’m not sure it’s a word the music industry uses anymore. Talk of careers and you’ll get a vacant look. We want it now!

I meant to write about Factory records, so what happened there?

I had been a new recruit to the world of promotion and Island fortunately was my first port of call. If you were in the music business there was no better place to be, not only did they have the acts but they had the staff. Stars in their own right, and a few of them platinum! I joined early in 1978 after a few years on the road selling records and now I had to sell them the artists…my job was to get them radio and TV. As part of the package I had Stiff to promote also but with an artist roster that boasted Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury ‘n all it wasn’t too hideous a task!

The gig took place at Rafter’s on Oxford Street in Manchester and I went along on my own knowing there would likely be a few of the usual suspects thinking just the same. I knew for sure local Sounds writer Mick Middles and NME photographer Kevin Cummins would be there, Tony Wilson too.
Tony was well known in Manchester as the local news anchor but now he was also the man fronting the soon to be legendary ‘So it goes’ music show. I’d recently got to know him as he’d put a couple of my acts on TV and personally found him a good guy though to some he was a target for ridicule by some senseless clowns. Just jealously I had always thought.

Back then Joy Division were faceless wannabees and their singer Ian Curtis was in ranting mood that night. He was also the most vociferous when it came to promoting them. Ian was especially pissed off that so many bands were being showcased on the show while his own band were being ignored. As is normally the case, drink increases the bravado and his cursing of Wilson was extreme to say the least. However bad the language may have been, he hit home when making his point and Tony was left intrigued. Also present that night were Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett and Alan Erasmus although I didn’t get to know them until much later.

I’m not sure if Tony and Alan had started their Friday night band nights at the Russell Club in Hulme yet (known as The Factory)or whether that came later but I’m pretty sure the buzz they got that night sowed the seed for the label the following year. Tony wanted much more than just to front a TV show, he wanted to be in the thick of it. That night Rob was a local DJ but after the show was over he made plans to go and watch them rehearse and the rest is history. He became their manager and mentor and undertook the same task for New Order after Ian’s suicide.

Yes waiting, it’s something that you still see happen back in football in England and I’m sure it happens all over the world, and with other sports too. They have a youth policy, they sign someone with talent and allow them to develop and then when the time is right they throw them in at the higher level and watch them perform. The artists start to maximise their potential, become successful and then they see a return on their investment. Like the footballer learns his trade, plays better and more people come to see him so to does the songwriter. They begin to evolve, write better songs and become a better performer. Their doing well benefits everyone and makes for a better business. The artist becomes self sufficient, gains more artistic control and starts to make better records, maybe even ending up with a better record deal as a result of their success. Of course it doesn’t happen every time but guess what happens when it does is it allows the record company to go back and do it all over again with some other talent.

It makes for a much better record industry and that in turn allows the flow of good, successful and consistent homegrown talent and an opportunity to export that talent and become successful overseas. The UK record industry used to be a right little earner! Breaking acts overseas, especially in America was considered vital in their development, a viable export and something that helped put the ‘great’ in Britain. That is something that has started to deteriorate over the years especially in the US where you just hear the occassional successs story, Coldplay, James Blunt. It’s the safest of England, it’s OK but it’s not groundbreaking. It makes the risk of failure less likely, it appeals to the masses and it’s easy to promote, and usually you hear more about the UK acts who don’t crack America, Robbie Williams, Oasis etc

Everything else is back to doing it the same old fashioned way, by touring their asses off. Everyone who ever broke America did with blood sweat and tears, sleeping on people’s floors or driving overnight to their next show to save on hotels. It was relentless and it was ‘paying your dues’ and it left you better prepared for success, you’d earned it. Has it ever been any different? Led Zeppelin in the late 60’s and 70’s, U2 in the 80’s. Radiohead, Bush etc and we go back to not needing a record company. The only thing a record company could do is give them tour support, something again they are less likely to do today. In Led Zeppelin’s case their first ever was funded by themselves, they recouped and made money on every tour after that! They didn’t even need the weight of Atlantic Records.

The simplest, most obvious way of doing things is always the best. Long live rock and roll.

There was the time everyone wanted a record deal, you signed and you were on your way.  Being signed to a record company meant something, it was a massive boost. You felt invincible.  It gave you the determination to succeed, someone had spotted you, thought you had that certain something and wanted to make you successful.  It was like passing your driving test, someone had recognized you could do this and you were ready for the road.  It might be a long road, but they had the courage to stick with you, they were in it for the long haul.  They signed you because you had talent and they wanted to nurture that talent, they wanted to watch it grow.

You were given the money you needed to make a record and maybe a little more to live on, to tour.  It was “the advance” and it did what it said it would do, it allowed you to advance, it wasn’t an instant fix. And with it came an experienced group of people to help make it happen.  Maybe you were young and lacked experience, maybe your manager needed a little guidance, some help.  All you had was talent, not a bad place to start.  The record company had that experience, where you hadn’t done it before they had and were prepared to help.  Wherever you were lacking they had people who could help. they had made mistakes, plenty of them and a lot more than anyone they’d ever signed.

The money the record company gave you was a loan and like any business they wanted a return on their investment. It’s called recouping and it means repaying but like any investment they didn’t expect it to happen overnight, it was a risk. They were prepared to wait ad not only did they get their money back, they got a lot more. It was a never ending circle, when you made money off one band you invested in another looking for the same return. it made good business sense and it allowed labels and acts to grow together.