Only in the 90s: The story of a major label A&R guy

The music industry made much more money in the 1990s than in any other decade.  This is because people actually bought albums, and albums came on CDs, which were really expensive for a while.  This article by John Niven, a former A&R guy for London Records, details just how ridiculous it got on the inside:

It seemed the artificially inflated good times would roll forever.  Britpop lurched towards its swollen apogee.  I remember standing in the corporate hospitality box at Oasis's Maine Road show in the spring of 1996, being entertained by jugglers and fire eaters, a glass of cold champagne in one hand.  Far below, tens of thousands of tolers (industry shorthand for the lumpen proletariat who buy the product) gleefully smashed up Moss Side.  I was thinking, "And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain" ... or, more likely, "Where's the dealer?"

Very much worth reading.  Among other things, it makes clear just how thoroughly the music industry has changed over the past decade.