“I think that playing the same music over and over again is irresponsible, uninteresting, and somewhat immoral.” This morning I caught an interview with Gil Rose, the Artistic Director of BMOP, on WGBH. I could not resist quoting him. The interview mentioned that BMOP has started an independent record label, BMOP Sound, for their recordings. It seems slightly quaint to be starting a record label when consumers are buying downloads rather than compact discs. However, vertical integration, in this case expanding into the business of recording and distributing music, makes sense. They want to create awareness both of the music they champion and their brand. Most record labels are unlikely to be interested in their music or be willing to invest in it or them. In addition, vertical integration enables them to reap more of the benefits from each compact disc. They can also leverage their concerts and subscriber base to promote or sell compact discs. It is yet another innovative way that BMOP is addressing the challenges of the music industry. An earlier post dealt with an inventive approach BMOP has adopted to market itself.