Under Construction

Co-releases

The 1980s saw the major record companies of CBS, EMI, Festival, and to a lesser extent Polygram, RCA, and Warner, banding together to release compilations. I’m not sure what the authorities had to say about this, but they certainly got away with joint production of CDs and warehousing/distribution.

This all meant that K-tel, JB and Concept, as well as the other smaller independents were being locked out to the market. They were either left with the dregs or songs that were long gone from the charts. Maybe it was the head office accountants of the majors that saw the value in reissuing the singles in a half yearly package, but there was increasing pressure from overseas on the Australian and New Zealand executives to cut costs and release a “world” product that mostly originated in the United States and was bland.

As the majors’ license fees increased, and there was more pressure on artists to make money, this was the beginning of the end for K-tel, Concept and J&B.