> Could it be that Auditiers are just plain more knowledgable and better judges
> of contemporary music?

Wait a sec...are you saying "more knowledgable and better judges of 
contemporary music" than the people who work in A&R and Licensing 
at Rhino? Is that what this is in reference to? Or, perhaps you were being
sarcastic??:-)

> Oh well, we could each do our own version of this 4-cd set with tons of
> non-overlapping material...

Yes -- and that's why it all comes down to Licensing, y'all. I know there's
a couple of us on this list who actually *do* work on these compilations, 
for a job, and -- to quote song lyrics from days gone by -- "you can't always 
get what you want." It's as simple as that -- sometimes that song you want 
to include by the Mosquitos or the Swinging Neckbreakers (or that song by
whatever band you like that you think is better than the one or ones you 
don't like) just isn't available...for a variety of reasons...I can give you a 
hundred examples...

Bryan