[mitjak]

The record industry analogy is brilliant. Major labels of the past were not unlike production lines. They weren't just management and promotion companies, but rather more like schools where promising resident talent was honed and music would be written for and played by most fitting artists. If one goes through hits of the 50-70s, they will find that the same songs by one label would often be performed by multiple artists, sometimes for years, before that final breakthrough performance would come along when the perfect match between the singer and the song would be found.

It was, then, a matter of knowing what to look for in new talent and finding ways to bring out their strengths through good and appropriate songwriting. People these days often complain about the quality of music being lower than it used to be, but the truth is that for every hit of the early times there would be many times the number of "duds" and just unsuccessful attempts that would either be mediocre songs or bad matchings between the artists and the records they perform.

IMO, despite even that, I still personally think records of the past are a lot more full of substance and soul than anything released today.