-----Original Message----- From Pekka Gronow: "...There is RIAA data on total sales, and a lot of (mostly anecdotal) detail on specific companies. Sanjek's books on the music business are helpful, but do not follow the development systematically..." At that time record stores ordered new titles based on sales in other regions of the country. Small labels learned that claiming inflated sales figures could get their records into lots more stores. The RIAA certification process was created by the majors to provide stores with supposedly more accurate information although it only represents the number of records placed in stores on consignment rather than actual sales which is obviously still very misleading. Actual sales figures were held very close for decades so as to avoid competition in particular genres. This was also done so as to not tip a label's artists off to their actual negotiating position. An old friend and former RCA sales executive came up with the idea of using barcodes to track actual sales and couldn't get to square one trying to sell the idea during the 1970s. In 1991 the television ratings service Neilson finally managed to put such a system in place creating an earthquake in perception about how many and what records people were actually buying in the United States. Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined! 615.562.4346 http://www.bobolhsson.com http://audiomastery.com