Decca demise shows need for artist development WSM Radio News The demise of Decca Records, cuts in the artist roster at Mercury Records and jobs slashed at MCA Records are all financial moves that music writer Ed Morris says highlights the need for better investment time for singers. "They're going to have to go back to giving an artist at least two or three singles or an album to see if it catches because it seems so expensive to spend like half a million dollars getting an artist to his or her first single, then when that single doesn't take off, deciding that there's no hope for the artist," Morris says. Morris says another option is for independent labels to spend more human or financial resources developing an entertainer before the act moves on to a major label. Decca was the home to legends such as Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn. MCA's owner, Seagram, shut down Decca records to streamline operations. Dolly Parton and Rhett Akins were among the artists dropped, but Mark Chesnutt, Lee Ann Womack and Garry Allan were moved to sister company, MCA Records. "It's so wonderful that it came back and made a presence after being gone for so long," Morris says. "And for someone who loves the history of country music, I hate to see the Decca logo put in mothballs again. But I hope it will rise again as it did this time." "Obviously, financially and to the people involved in being let go or the artists who've had their careers aborted, it's a great deal. It's either fatal to some or an inconvenience to others."
