Also, royalties to the songwriters, especially on anything out out of the mainstream were often ignored. -RA "Steven C. Barr" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Art Shifrin" > > "Steven C. Barr" wrote: > > Well, with 78's, the record companies were under NO obligation to pay the > > artists anything more that the fee they got for participating etc..... > > This is NOT universally correct. Well represented artists received > royalites. Not so much well-represnted, as those who sold well enough they could threaten the record firm with leaving, or at least recording for other firms. These artists were usually put on exclusive contracts (which were heavily promoted as such) which often included royalties...they include Caruso, Armstrong and a few others. In fact, the idea of artists recording for one label wasn't standard until the mid-thirties, when younger record buyers wanted not only a song but a given version of it, making it advisable to have artists under contract! ...stevenc Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time.