Intentional Obsolescence

Several years ago one of the larger American Music Magazines(Rolling Stone or Spin - no longer remember) printed an article talking about the rash of one-hit wonders in the early 1990s in which they accused the Large Music Conglomerates of subverting their own artists' careers. The article basically went on to say that the Large Music Conglomerates didn't like paying out the kind of money that they were having to pay to resign the likes of the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Madonna, U2, and other big stars with a long and proven track record. So they came up with a new theory in which they sign a band and support the first album; if the first album has a hit or two, the record company puts out a second album. After the second album, whether the second album has been successful or not, the record company then uses one of two strategies to derail the band's career: 1. They induce a long off period without a record release and drop the band. 2. They release the bands third album very quietly and don't put any promotion behind it, and then drop the band. The mysterious disappearance from the Major Labels of many good bands, who were dropped from the majors only to reappear with Independent Labels while still producing good music, leads me to believe that there was at least a degree of truth to such a theory.

[...borrowed from a popular newsletter for rock 'n roll fans]