Column writing, for better or worse, means fitting your ideas into a single established space. In my case, the limit is 700 words. Since I started this a couple of months ago there has not been a column in which I was finished after 600 words; every one has required a trim before I turn it in.
Balancing pure opinion with interview pieces seems to be working out well although this week I hit a bit of a snag. The idea behind the piece was to explore how AEG Live had invested in concert tours of TV programs. As much as I attempt to get inside the music industry I did not have the space to get as deep as possible in this one and when it came time to reduce my word count, an explanation of how the shows get to the promoter was cut out.
There is a healthy food chain in the adaptation of TV shows as live entertainment. The creators/copyright holders are entities such as the BBC and Granada; they are then represented by talent agencies who approach a promoter such as AEG with a package deal. CAA handles "American Idol," ICM covers "Dancing With the Stars" for example.
If I were writing for the Internet those facts would have made it into the column as would an anecdote about music publishers who give an employee the single task of landing songs on "Idol" or "Dancing."
TV is what sells music these days and few shows have track records to equal these two. Let the TV people worry about the ratings - these shows are where stars go to sell records, often in some of the most fallow sales periods of the year.

I have made it to three more concerts - only eight to go to hit 100 for the year - one of which had almost as many acts as an edition of "American Idol." Somehow, I still need to catch 53 performers to hit 300.