University of Oregon Library System & Computing Center
present
The IT Curriculum
The "IT" stands for Information Technology, and refers to the
technology you'll use in your classes, from email to web publishing,
from operating systems to word processing, and more.
These workshops are free, and there are learning opportunities for every
skill level. Workshop participation is limited to the UO community.
The schedule of workshops offered is available in any library or
computing lab on campus, as well as on the web:
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/
For more information contact
Office of Library Instruction, cbell@darkwing.uoregon.edu or (541) 346-1817
Start The Year Off Right...
...Rent It At VIDEOLAND
004149
“Wvt Got Ml The Stars On Tape"
Convenient Store Hours:
10am to 11 pm Sunday thru Thursday
10am to 12 Midnight Friday & Saturday
FREE New
Release/Super Hit
Movie with New
Membership
(Value: $3.00)
Expires: 10/21/98 SKO#: 1215
Valid one per customer. Must have coupon present. Cannot be combined with
any other otter or discount. All membership rules apply. Limited time offer.
Valid only at these four store locations:
2000 W 111h Ave.. Eugene. OR • 485-6520
377 Coburg Rd., Eugene. OR • 342-4129
5447 Main St. Springfield, OR • 726-2445
1821 Pioneer Prky E. Springfield, OR • 747-8941
003926
Where you always get the
BEST for LESS!
Students get Discounts!
756 Charnelton, Eugene, OR 97401 • 345-7391
2065 NW Buchanan Ave., Corvallis • (541) 757-2445
Financing Available OAC • 90 days Same as Cash • Visa/MC/Disc
Consolidation hurts
record companies
The industry flocked to
the new music video
cable channel, Access
Entertainment Network
By David Bauder
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Music you’ve
never heard before is turning up
in the strangest places.
You can hear it over the loud
speaker at minor league basket
ball games, on TV sets displayed
in department stores or in movie
theaters before the trailers begin.
Every note is a measure of the
desperation that record compa
nies feel about having their new
music heard by possible buyers
in a radio climate in which deci
sions on what to play are made
by fewer and fewer people.
The search for new ways to ex
pose music even revived a prac
tice that once shamed the indus
try: a record company paying a
radio station to play a song. The
practice was called payola
decades ago. Now it's called busi
ness.
Songs will always be able to
capture the public imagination,
like this summer’s duel between
Brandy and Monica on “The Boy
Is Mine’’ or Shania Twain’s
genre-smashing “You're Still the
One.”
But for every hit, there’s a big
ger pile of misses. The business
of making a hit record is compli
cated today by changes in how
radio stations operate, the frag
mentation of public tastes and
the sheer volume of music com
peting for air time.
“You can’t just count on peo
ple hearing it on the radio and
going to the store on Saturday,”
sighed Ron Shapiro, executive
vice president and general man
ager of Atlantic Records.
Subject to the whims of public
taste, creating a hit record has
never been a science. Who knew
that so many teen-age girls would
swoon over “My Heart Will Go
On,” or that teen-age boys would
emphatically reject the new Van
Halen?
At least the process was rela
tively simple: Get a few key radio
stations to play the record, make
sure MTV airs the video, and let
music fans decide.
Consolidation of the radio in
dustry has changed the rules.
Dominant companies like Chan
cellor Media, Jacor Communica
tions and CBS have bought hun
dreds of stations across the
country. Executives for these
companies often decide what
songs will or won’t be played on
dozens of stations.
It’s rare now for one disc jock
ey to take a liking to a song,
champion it in defiance of indus
try experts, and see it catch fire.
That's how a hit like Marc
Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis”
got its start a few years ago.
“What made music exciting is
when a station somewhere decid
ed to play one song that nobody
else was playing. Now it’s so
well-organized and so well-re
searched,” said Andy Allen,
president of Alternative Distribu
tion Alliance, a company that de
livers music to record stores.
This year, Flip/Interscope
Records reportedly paid a radio
station in Portland, Ore.. $5,000
to repeatedly play “Counterfeit”
by its band. Limp Bizkit.
The arrangement raised un
comfortable memories. In the late
1950s payola scandal, popular
disc jockey Alan Freed's empire
collapsed in disgrace after it was
revealed he had accepted money
from record companies to play
their songs.
The practice was made illegal,
but not if the arrangement is dis
closed upfront to listeners. A ra
dio DJ might say, for example.
Turn to MUSIC, Page 23D
BACKSTAGE DANCEWEAI
<£ Theatrical Supplies
Welcome Back U of O Students!
Dance Shoes * Leotards
Tights * Knitwear
Skirts * Pants
& More! Capezio
Freed
Gamba
Repetto
Bloch
Dansk'm
Grishko
Mirella
& More!
v* Opens 7 days a week!
Friday Evenings until 8:00pm!
Eugene's Halloween Store!
Costumes
Make-up * Wigs
Hats * Accessories
& More!
62 W. Broadway * Downtown Eugene
541-686-2671