Unlettered
A reader noticed this article in Bill- board: The '80s and the first year of the new decade saw a consolidation in the music industry that resulted in the emergence of a handful of strong competitors as part of horizontally integrated media conglomerates or affiliates of major hardware manufacturers.
While the price level for acquisitions reached unprecedented heights, only the future will show whether companies can realize their projected synergies and which ones are best prepared for the challenges ahead: changes in technolo- gy; demographic and cultural market factors; and global, political, and eco- nomic developments.
In the field of technology, digitaliza- tion is the central issue. The '90s will see mass production of recordable digital formats, while fiber-optic networks will allow the digital transmission of sound and vision. This, in turn, will lead to the increasing convergence of audio and video home entertainment, providing opportunities for horizontally inte- grated companies and music and video programming, as well as the distribution expertise.
If you have an example of a crass, illiterate, ignorant, irrelevant or embar- rassing letter or notice from a company or public body, send the original to Unlettered, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL; £10 for each one printed.
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