105). The seven corporations, with their nation of origin and reported 1990 sales, are: Sony (Japan, $3 billion), Time/Warner (U.S., $2.9 billion), Polygram (Netherlands/Germany, $2.6 billion), Bertelsmann Media Group (Germany, $2 billion), Thorn/EMI (U.K., $1.88 billion), MCA (U.S., $1 billion), and Virgin (U.K., $500 million), total 1990 sales $13.88 billion (1993, pp. 141-143). With number such as these it is nearly impossible to deny the fact that these companies do not have a great affect on the influence of music and media that they distribute. Conglomerates not only run the market for music, but determine which music is to be distributed and to where, therefore pushing an idea or culture onto a nation.Seeing that westernization has become a industry term for many businesses it is surprising that recently much of the profit that has been received from music conglomerates has been non-U.S. artists. As shown in the July 17, 1995 issue of Forbes one-third of the Warner Musics three hundred and eighteen dollar revenues in 1980 came from non U.S. artists. This was then followed up by sixty percent of their 1994 revenues, which totaled over six hundred and thirty million. Warner Music is not the only company that has seen a boom in foreign artist sales. Consequently, EMI reports that it received one-third of its three billion dollars in revenue has also come from foreign artists. Polygram also reported that one half of its three billion plus revenues has come from the evolution of foreign pop culture. So why has this become the product to import? Well once again it is very well evident in the numbers. The bottom line is that Record companies in the United States operate on a gross profit margin of thirty to thirty-five percent, whereas overseas this margin can top forty-five percent. This comes from evidence that American pop stars demand a higher sense of appreciation and perks compared to foreign stars that demand less and...
