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Newguest Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary
Paragraph
Hi
I'm not sure I understand two sentences from the paragraph below.
Paul McGuinness, the manager of U2 said:
PAUL: It was during that period that Island Records was acquired by Polygram. This was a process I was very actively involved in, because we were not only the label’s biggest act, we were actually part owners of Island Records. This came about before The Joshua Tree basically because Island couldn’t pay us our royalties for The Unforgettable Fire. To cut a long story short, we ended up taking part of the company (Island Records) instead. It was a very good thing to do, as it turned out. Chris Blackwell was preparing to sell the company anyway. SO WHEN POLYGRAM STARTED TO RUN THEIR SLIDE RULE OVER ISLAND THEY NEEDED TO KNOW THAT U2 WERE GOING TO SUPPORT THE NEW ENVIRONMENT. He certainly didn’t want us bad-mouthing the deal or saying: “WE WANT TO BE WITH AN INDEPENDENT.” WE HAD NUMBER ONE RECORDS IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, SO I KNEW HOW TO WORK THE INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WORLDWIDE, but the opportunity to work with Polygram had enormous attractions for me as a marketing person and as a business person. The new head of Polygram, Alain Levy, had turned it into the smartest multi-national of all time, pulling in very clever people from all over the place. DAVID MUNNS HAD AN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING BUDGET, RUN OUT OF LONDON AND PERSONALLY CONTROLLED BY HIMSELF, IT SEEMED. They doubled their size by acquiring independent labels such as Island, A&M, Def Jam and Motown. (1) IT WAS A WAY OF SETTING UP A RECORD WITHING AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT I HADN’T EXPERIENCED BEFORE. IN AMERICA THEY SET UP THE POLYGRAM LABEL GROUP, WHICH WAS A TEAM OF INDEPENDENTS UTILIZING THE SAME MARKETING UNIT RUN BY A VERY SMART GUY CALLED RICK DOBBIS. ................. Chris Blackwell remained to run Island. Chris had ambivalent feelings about whether he really wanted to be in a corporation, but it was a bit late for that. (2) BUT HE HAD CANNILY MADE A DEAL WHEREBY IF ISLAND SUCCEEDED SUFFICIENTLY, ISLAND BASICALLY ATE THE POLYGRAM LABEL GROUP AND CHRIS BECAME THE BOSS RATHER THAN ONE OF ITS CLIENTS. That eventually happened.
1. Is Paul saying that it was all about running a record label that would be an international organization and that he never worked in such a record label before?
Is "label group" the same as "record label"? So, does it say: In America they set up the Polygram record label which consisted of independent people ... (utilizing the same marketing unit) - I don't understand this part, what does it mean in simple words?
2. Does it mean that if Island Records were prosperous then Chris would acquire a Polygram Label Group becoming their boss? Or maybe it means something different? They used a word "ate"?
thanks
I'm not sure I understand two sentences from the paragraph below.
Paul McGuinness, the manager of U2 said:
PAUL: It was during that period that Island Records was acquired by Polygram. This was a process I was very actively involved in, because we were not only the label’s biggest act, we were actually part owners of Island Records. This came about before The Joshua Tree basically because Island couldn’t pay us our royalties for The Unforgettable Fire. To cut a long story short, we ended up taking part of the company (Island Records) instead. It was a very good thing to do, as it turned out. Chris Blackwell was preparing to sell the company anyway. SO WHEN POLYGRAM STARTED TO RUN THEIR SLIDE RULE OVER ISLAND THEY NEEDED TO KNOW THAT U2 WERE GOING TO SUPPORT THE NEW ENVIRONMENT. He certainly didn’t want us bad-mouthing the deal or saying: “WE WANT TO BE WITH AN INDEPENDENT.” WE HAD NUMBER ONE RECORDS IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, SO I KNEW HOW TO WORK THE INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WORLDWIDE, but the opportunity to work with Polygram had enormous attractions for me as a marketing person and as a business person. The new head of Polygram, Alain Levy, had turned it into the smartest multi-national of all time, pulling in very clever people from all over the place. DAVID MUNNS HAD AN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING BUDGET, RUN OUT OF LONDON AND PERSONALLY CONTROLLED BY HIMSELF, IT SEEMED. They doubled their size by acquiring independent labels such as Island, A&M, Def Jam and Motown. (1) IT WAS A WAY OF SETTING UP A RECORD WITHING AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT I HADN’T EXPERIENCED BEFORE. IN AMERICA THEY SET UP THE POLYGRAM LABEL GROUP, WHICH WAS A TEAM OF INDEPENDENTS UTILIZING THE SAME MARKETING UNIT RUN BY A VERY SMART GUY CALLED RICK DOBBIS. ................. Chris Blackwell remained to run Island. Chris had ambivalent feelings about whether he really wanted to be in a corporation, but it was a bit late for that. (2) BUT HE HAD CANNILY MADE A DEAL WHEREBY IF ISLAND SUCCEEDED SUFFICIENTLY, ISLAND BASICALLY ATE THE POLYGRAM LABEL GROUP AND CHRIS BECAME THE BOSS RATHER THAN ONE OF ITS CLIENTS. That eventually happened.
1. Is Paul saying that it was all about running a record label that would be an international organization and that he never worked in such a record label before?
Is "label group" the same as "record label"? So, does it say: In America they set up the Polygram record label which consisted of independent people ... (utilizing the same marketing unit) - I don't understand this part, what does it mean in simple words?
2. Does it mean that if Island Records were prosperous then Chris would acquire a Polygram Label Group becoming their boss? Or maybe it means something different? They used a word "ate"?
thanks
Top answer
OK, I already know the answer to the second question. I'm only curious about the first one now
- OK, I already know the answer to the second question.
- I'm only curious about the first one now
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7 Answers
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OK, I already know the answer to the second question.
I'm only curious about the first one now
I'm only curious about the first one now
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1. I assume "withing" should be "within". "IT WAS A WAY OF SETTING UP A RECORD WITHIN AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION" makes little sense to me; I don't know what it means to "set up a record". I suppose it could mean "producing a record" but it seems a peculiar way of putting it. Are you sure you copied/transcribed it correctly?
A "label group" is presumably a collection of differently-br
A "label group" is presumably a collection of differently-br
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Mr Wordy1. I assume "withing" should be "within". "IT WAS A WAY OF SETTING UP A RECORD WITHIN AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION" makes little sense to me; I don't know what it means to "set up a record". I suppose it could mean "producing a record" but it seems a peculiar way of putting it. Are you sure you copied/transcribed it correctly?
Yes, I copied it corr
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NewguestYes, I copied it correctly. I thought "setting up a record" means "setting up a record label" not "producing a record"?
That would make sense, but "setting up a record" can't mean "setting up a record label". Maybe it was originally transcribed incorrectly or maybe the speaker just fumbled his words.
NewguestMaybe they were
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Hi again
So, in your opinion it says something like: In America they set up a Polygram Label Group consisting of independent record labels and all of them made use of the services of the same marketers.
cheers
So, in your opinion it says something like: In America they set up a Polygram Label Group consisting of independent record labels and all of them made use of the services of the same marketers.
cheers
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NewguestSo, in your opinion it says something like: In America they set up a Polygram Label Group consisting of independent record labels and all of them made use of the services of the same marketers.
Yep.
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