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477:, shortly after Dylan's legendary motorcycle accident, to negotiate the renewal of Dylan's Columbia recording contract. Asher rapidly gained a reputation for his honesty, integrity, loyalty, thoroughness and able business administration. In 1970 he was appointed Vice President of Capitol Records' east coast division, but the move was not a successful one for Asher (Dannen described it as "a disaster") and in 1971 Asher gratefully accepted Columbia president
529:" to radio stations in Los Angeles. The results dramatically validated his concerns - despite the fact that the group was the talk of the town at the time, performing sell-out concerts and garnering rave reviews, not one of the major L.A. radio stations would add the single to their playlist - but once the company resumed payments, the single quickly entered the Top 40, and in February 1980 its parent LP
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555:. Asher knew that there were instances of apparent fraud, in which the Network agents were charging large sums for the placement of records that in fact were never even played on radio, and that the use of "indies" could be construed as bribery. He feared this could lead to a major industry scandal with severe consequences for Columbia Records and its parent company,
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As he investigated
Columbia's expenditures during 1979, Asher quickly realized that the cost of paying these "indies" (independent promotion agents) had skyrocketed - when he took over the CBS UK operation in 1972, an "indie" might only charge around $ 100 per week, but by 1980 it was estimated that
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to hire these agents to promote their products to radio, and it was calculated that, industry-wide, the practice was by then costing at least $ 50 million annually. He also discovered that a group of the top independent
American agents had organized themselves into a loose association known as "The
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Asher then spent almost a year "in the wilderness", during which time he found it almost impossible to find work, and was shunned by former colleagues, but in 1984, in a surprise move, he was brought in to act as a senior consultant on the proposed merger between the Warner and
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strenuously defended the use of the "indies" as being essential to the company's business. Asher was concerned about the wider ramifications of this practice. He realised that "The
Network" was, in effect, an industry-wide extortion racket whose real power lay in its ability to
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In 1983, CBS Music reported its highest quarterly profit since the late 1970s. Asher was subsequently informed by the company's CEO, Yetnikoff that his employment was terminated. Despite attempts to resolve the situation, Asher was dismissed from his position.
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created the new position of Deputy
President of Columbia Records and appointed Asher to the role, where he implemented a stringent but effective (although very unpopular) round of cost-cutting, during which he was obliged to retrench hundreds of CBS staff.
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In 1981, CBS and Warner
Communications attempted a joint boycott of independent record promotion agents, known as "The Network." However, the boycott failed, and CBS's own label, Epic, continued making payments to The Network under different names.
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Asher identified a significant increase in payments to independent promotion agents as a major cost for CBS Records, estimating annual expenditures at around $ 10 million. Music publishers and record labels had long used
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In 1972, he was sent to London to take over
Columbia's loss-making UK division, which he soon returned to profit, and he was subsequently promoted to become the head of CBS' entire overseas recording operation.
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refused to approve the merger, but Asher had by then been appointed as a senior vice-president at Warner
Communications, and in October 1985 he was headhunted to become the new President and Chief Executive of
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records from getting to radio, and he also suspected that its leaders may have had links to organized crime. Asher feared that this could precipitate another major scandal, on the scale of 1950s
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In 1979, the music industry experienced a major and rapid downturn in sales, and the CBS labels suffering a serious drop in profits. To deal with this crisis, then CBS Chief
Operating Officer
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before beginning his working life as a corporate lawyer. His music industry career began in the mid-1960s when he was appointed as Vice
President of Business Affairs for the
442:, and Asher's attempts in the early 1980s to expose and defeat the growing influence of a cabal of independent record promotion agents known as "The Network".
595:, on July 23, 2024, at the age of 92.Asher is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Sheila, a son, Jeffrey, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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402:(1932 – July 23, 2024) was an American lawyer and recording company executive. He later worked as an affiliate professor of music business at
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For several reasons Asher was determined to stop the practice of paying these "indies". But
Columbia's volatile President,
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Network", and that this group now had a virtual stranglehold over this crucial area of record company promotions.
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radio programming format led to a heavier reliance on a small group of powerful independent promoters.
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between 1979 and 1983, his corporate and personal battles with controversial label president
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went to #1 on the Billboard album chart, where it remained for the next four months.
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In late 1979, Asher decided to test the power of The Network by deliberately
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labels. One of his first major duties at CBS was a 1966 meeting with
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Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside The Music Business
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Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business
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Hit Men: Power Brokers And Fast Money Inside The Music Business
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Dick Asher became widely known to the general public through
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the major labels were paying $ 100,000-$ 200,000 or more
753:"Walter Yetnikoff, record label executive, 1933-2021"
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377:former president of PolyGram and Columbia Records
369:Marine Corps, lawyer, recording company executive
551:debacle, which destroyed the career of top DJ
406:. Asher worked with legendary artists such as
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53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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291:Learn how and when to remove this message
273:Learn how and when to remove this message
212:Learn how and when to remove this message
110:Learn how and when to remove this message
73:This article includes a list of general
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521:paying their agents to promote the new
693:"The life and crimes of the music biz"
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137:needs additional citations for
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481:'s offer to return to CBS.
404:Florida Atlantic University
248:. The specific problem is:
16:American lawyer (1932–2024)
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447:United States Marine Corps
244:to meet Knowledge (XXG)'s
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860:10.1017/S0261143000005353
579:music groups. Ultimately
527:Another Brick in the Wall
725:Dannen, Fredric (1990).
581:Federal Trade Commission
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818:"DICK ASHER, 1932-2024"
94:more precise citations.
591:Asher died at home in
842:Negus, Keith (1993).
699:. January 20, 2008.
586:Polygram Records Inc
400:Martin Richard Asher
255:improve this article
146:improve this article
776:Dannen, 1991, p. 78
593:Boca Raton, Florida
475:Woodstock, New York
912:Dannen, Frederic,
455:Cornell Law School
360:Cornell Law School
822:HITS Daily Double
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955:2024 deaths
950:1932 births
894:www.msn.com
479:Clive Davis
257:if you can.
92:introducing
944:Categories
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599:References
553:Alan Freed
523:Pink Floyd
511:per record
490:John Backe
463:Sony Music
341:Boca Raton
321:1932-03-01
309:Dick Asher
172:newspapers
75:references
39:improve it
868:0261-1430
793:. Variety
705:0029-7712
671:Billboard
471:Bob Dylan
422:Biography
412:Bob Dylan
352:Education
263:July 2024
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532:The Wall
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390:Children
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545:prevent
393:Jeffrey
345:Florida
241:cleanup
186:scholar
88:improve
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