Recording Industry Seems to Care Only About Money

Don Ienner says that the most dangerous thing happening in the recording industry today is that fans are not interested in the artist or the art, just the latest hit [“Passion for Music Drives Columbia Chief to Make Plenty of Industry Noise,” Jan. 29].

Yeah, you bet, no thanks to his and other major record labels, along with “hit rotation only” radio stations and MTV, where music has to be seen, not heard. He also says that even mainstays of the label, those “established stars” who have had great success over the years, are having to make sure there is a hit on a new record; otherwise, it’s goodbye.

The public does not dictate what is heard on the radio; the record companies and their promoters do. And what gets put on the radio is based on some record exec’s idea of what may be a big seller, as opposed to what may be good music but perhaps not have the same sales potential. It makes most serious artists, especially new ones, unacceptable to major labels, simply because someone in the company deems them unprofitable.

What is wrong with an owner or president of a record company having some overall vision or concept for his or her company, like it used to be, instead of having as the only concern whether or not their artists are selling enough records?

RALPH HUMPHREY

Los Angeles