After A Crash Course In The Dynamics of a dying industry, Sony Music boss Andrew Lack, the TV news veteran brought in 15 months ago to revive its ailing $5.3 billion-a-year record business, is ready to propose the unthinkable. He wants to start charging MTV for music videos. The promotional mini-movies puzzle Lack, who questions the wisdom of spending up to $1 million for a few minutes of content and then giving it away. Videos almost never generate revenue themselves, but are accepted by everyone else in music as a necessary evil. Since Lack came aboard, he has chopped video budgets by a third; industry executives say he now hopes to sell them via video-on-demand or get MTV and others to pay up. Sony's contract with MTV, owned by Viacom, expires soon.
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