The death of the one hit wonder.

The trouble with the industry at present is that nobody has yet established an effective NEW MODEL - how to break tracks, how to capitalise on the success across the board...

That was one reason I've been nervous about taking on new projects - though I believed in them, I wasn't sure I had the building blocks in place and as time goes on that feels even more. Nobody is there yet.

I wrote to Guy Hands (new EMI owner) but again I fear the attractions of the old model have seduced the tycoons.

A total start up is needed - with a small but potent budget (10 million a year I reckon) - not a revision of the old format and, KEY, someone at the top who can push that button who understands hits (as I do and, I fear, very few others).

Since my absence from the centre of the global music business there's been a terrible vacuum.

That's why very few Who Let The Dogs Out, Tubthumping etc - those real global monsters - have emerged. Nobody seems able to spot them or to realise that their importance is far greater than it seems (a one off hit never conformed to the artist/LP driven financial plan but it drove the love of music that had real, crossover appeal).

Without those global giants, singles that sell millions, there is no excitement. And there have been very few (the last I remember was Crazy; before that, You're Beautiful) in the last two years.

Albums and artistes are all very well but they rarely inspire that majority interest.

Grandmothers don't love Girls Aloud and kids don't want Barry Manilow but crossover real hits attract everybody who can hum.

But a single is so easy to pirate; downloaded, Emailed, blue-toothed between mobiles in seconds. You don

Ah, but a single,(single hit) from a good and creative act , is still a valuable launchpad for any further work in the industry, be it live or for further album projects.