A personal portrait of the music industry, told through the many iconic and generation defining record labels that helped mould it.

Paul Morley traces the winding path taken by record labels during the 80's and 90's in the company of such label bosses as Lucian Grainge, Mike Smith, Tony Wadsworth, Geoff Travis, Alan McGee, Lawrence Bell, Jonathan Poneman, Martin Mills, Steve Beckett and Seymour Stein (the men responsible for Universal Music, Columbia, EMI, Rough Trade, Creation, Domino, Sub Pop, Beggars, Warp and Sire). Would the CD bring untold wealth and expansion or sow the potential seeds of destruction for the record industry? Or would following a more traditional artist-centred way of operating save the day?

First broadcast in 2009. Show less