the dixie chicks were huge when they made 600K on "Fly". They were on 60 minutes talking about the collusion in the recording industry. This is well known, I don't know why you are defending this unless you are in the business or related to it.
Here is a very interesting comment on the state of recording industry contracts (ALL labels have practically the same deals) from someone who is obviously an insider. The numbers don't add up. A lot of industries don't make anybody any money. Some fishing industries are like that. But the problem with the recording industry is that EVERYBODY makes a ton EXCEPT the artists.
dvance: $250,000 Manager's cut: $37,500 Legal fees: $10,000
Recording Budget: $150,000 Producer's advance: $50,000 Studio fee: $52,500 Drum, Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $3,000 Recording tape: $8,000 Equipment rental: $5,000 Cartage and Transportation: $5,000 Lodgings while in studio: $10,000 Catering: $3,000 Mastering: $10,000 Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc expenses: $2,000
Video budget: $30,000 Cameras: $8,000 Crew: $5,000 Processing and transfers: $3,000 Offline: $2,000 Online editing: $3,000 Catering: $1,000 Stage and construction: $3,000 Copies, couriers, transportation: $2,000 Director's fee: $3,000
Album Artwork: $5,000 Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $2,000
Band fund: $15,000 New fancy professional drum kit: $5,000 New fancy professional guitars (2): $3,000 New fancy professional guitar amp rigs (2): $4,000 New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $1,000 New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $1,000 Rehearsal space rental: $500 Big blowout party for their friends: $500
Tour expense (5 weeks): $50,875 Bus: $25,000 Crew (3): $7,500 Food and per diems: $7,875
Fuel: $3,000 Consumable supplies: $3,500 Wardrobe: $1,000 Promotion: $3,000
Tour gross income: $50,000 Agent s cut: $7,500 Manager's cut: $7,500
Merchandising advance: $20,000 Manager's cut: $3,000 Lawyer's fee: $1,000
Publishing advance: $20,000 Manager's cut: $3,000 Lawyer's fee: $1,000
Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 = $3,000,000 gross retail revenue Royalty (13% of 90% of retail): $351,000 Less advance: $250,000 Producer's points: (3% less $50,000 advance) $40,000 Promotional budget: $25,000 Recoupable buyout from previous label: $50,000 Net royalty: (-$14,000)
Record company income: Record wholesale price $6.50 x 250,000 = $1,625,000 gross income Artist Royalties: $351,000 Deficit from royalties: $14,000 Manufacturing, packaging and distribution @ $2.20 per record: $550,000 Gross profit: $710,000
The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.
Record company: $710,000 Producer: $90,000 Manager: $51,000 Studio: $52,500 Previous label: $50,000 Agent: $7,500 Lawyer: $12,000 Band member net income each: $4,031.25
The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 millon dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month.
The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige.
The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their t-shirts yet. Maybe the t-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys.
Some of your friends are probably already this fucked. arancidamoeba.com |