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Pop Stars Earn Much

Pop stars today enjoy a style of living which was once theprerogative only of Royalty. Wherever they go, people turn outin their thousands to greet them. The crowds go wild trying tocatch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed idols. Thestars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces,private helicopters or executive aeroplanes. They aresurrounded by a permanent entourage of managers, pressagents and bodyguards. Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comingsand goings are reported, for, like Royalty, pop stars are news. If they enjoy many of the privilegesof Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well. It is dangerous for them tomake unscheduled appearances in public. They must be constantly shielded from the adoringcrowds which idolize them. They are no longer private individuals, but public property. The financialrewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are astronomical.

And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly. The great days ofHollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on anunprecedented scale. By todays standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite sospectacular. A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than thefilms of the past ever did. The competition for the title Top of the Pops is fierce, but the rewardsare truly colossal.