Under the terms of the deal, Clear Channel will pay performance royalties directly to Big Machine every time a Clear Channel-owned radio station plays a recording by a Big Machine artist.

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The BBC came under fire last year after Brand and Ross left a series of obscene messages on Mr Sachs's answering machine during a recording of Brand's radio show.

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If you own a Samsung PC, you may want to search your hard drive for an unassuming program called StarLogger, a piece of commercial spyware capable of recording every keystroke on your machine and sending the data to a third party.

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In 1927 Ralph Peer, a producer with The Victor Talking Machine Company, set up a recording studio on its main drag, State Street, and by the end of that year he had recorded 19 performers.

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Performing at local venues in Nashville, Swift caught the attention of executives at Big Machine Records, who signed her to a recording deal.

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Completed in just 10 days on a two-track machine, it takes his no-frills approach to recording to new heights - resulting in a refreshingly direct sound.

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But it is no longer the cash-generating machine it was in the heady days when virtually every Karajan recording became an instant hit.

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