51–60 of 60 posts
Steve Albini's explanation is much more colorful and now almost 15 years old, http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
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I hear a lot of "fans" that download all of their music and think that they support the artist by going to their show. This is not the case. Well, it's not like their ticket purchases are for naught - it still offsets the cost of touring for the artist. The artists would be worse off doing the same tour with less fans attending. What better choice do the fans have anyway? Buying the records supports the record label,…
And the record label supports the artist, or else why would artist's join them?
Why people don't go the route of Jonathan Coulton or Pomplamoose, and just scratch it out on their own talents, is beyond me. Hell, I think even those "hide your kids, hide your wife" news parody musicians apparently make more money than major label star. The math just doesn't seem to be adding up anywhere being on a label, is what I'm trying to say.
I guess you have to be a blindingly white-hot ultra-mega-super-duperstar to make a penny from labels and touring, and everyone else should just pack it in or go indie?
Seems like it sucks worse to be a musician than to be a struggling actor or indie mobile app developer.
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The general outlook I hear from people who are signed to deals that pay advances is this: get as large an advance as you can, because you won't be getting anything else. Sure, if you go double platinum it might be worthwhile to audit the label and squeeze some more money out. Although recoupment provisions make it technically a loan, just like a VC, the label won't come after you forever if you don't recoup. At a cer…
Worth noting - non-RIAA bands actually lose money touring. Smaller bands signed to RIAA labels still do not do very well with touring. In many smaller scenes, a successful tour is one that breaks even. They sleep on promoters floors, eat shitty food, and play in bars. I hear a lot of "fans" that download all of their music and think that they support the artist by going to their show. This is not the case. The one wa…
Being signed, though, indentures you to a label. If I'm going to be playing music for love, and not for money, than I'm certainly not gonna put on shackles and let somebody else make money off of my music.
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The total revenue of RIAA members in 2009 was about $7.7 billion. At their peak around the turn of the century, they were doing a bit under $15 billion. And that is revenue, not profit. The entertainment industry is tiny . Top artists make a lot of money for an individual, but it's only millions, and there aren't a whole lot of them. That 2009 music industry revenue would pay for, what, 70,000 programmers? And there…
The mind-boggling this is that a billion-dollar industry is bullying a (many?) trillion-dollar industry around. Say what you want about DRM, it's strange to me that software and hardware manufacturers actually put up with it.
But I sure am glad that the music industry CAN "bully" an industry far greater in the same way that I am glad that I can (if I had time and money) to do it because of the freedom of litigation.
So, the question I have is: how many of those bands/artists make it? The article mentions an advance of $1M. I think the $20 per CD rate claimed in this album (1M CDs sold is claimed to be $20M in sales) is a bit high (then again, I haven't bought a CD in a while). Suffice it to say, I'd lower that to $10-12M gross and maybe $7-8.4M when costs are accounted for. Even with digital distribution, I think the iTMS/Amazon…
Plenty of bands manage to overcome this ridiculousness. One of the most common ways is to go on tour. A much larger portion of the ticket and merch sales gets back to the artist compared to album sales. Even at a tiny venue if you get 200 people to show up and you make $10 a head on average that's $2,000 revenue a show, if you do 4 shows a week that's $32k a month, even minus expenses and split N ways that's a decent…
This is completely unrealistic. 4 shows a week @ 40 weeks a year means you are touring. Touring costs will eat the vast portion of revenue. Also, at a 200 person venue, there is little chance the band will see $10 / head, regardless of the cover charge.
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The mind-boggling this is that a billion-dollar industry is bullying a (many?) trillion-dollar industry around. Say what you want about DRM, it's strange to me that software and hardware manufacturers actually put up with it.
Not that I'm saying laws are applied correctly. But I sure am glad that the music industry CAN "bully" an industry far greater in the same way that I am glad that I can (if I had time and money) to do it because of the freedom of litigation.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Worth noting - non-RIAA bands actually lose money touring. Smaller bands signed to RIAA labels still do not do very well with touring. In many smaller scenes, a successful tour is one that breaks even. They sleep on promoters floors, eat shitty food, and play in bars. I hear a lot of "fans" that download all of their music and think that they support the artist by going to their show. This is not the case. The one wa…
That would mean you as the artist either wrote or co-wrote the song. As you would then be getting songwriting royalties from your music publishing company, but not royalties off the sound recording. Those recordings belong to the labels and all artists with little to no bargaining power never get a piece of those royalties.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The mind-boggling this is that a billion-dollar industry is bullying a (many?) trillion-dollar industry around. Say what you want about DRM, it's strange to me that software and hardware manufacturers actually put up with it.
Not that I'm saying laws are applied correctly. But I sure am glad that the music industry CAN "bully" an industry far greater in the same way that I am glad that I can (if I had time and money) to do it because of the freedom of litigation.
Is it at all reasonable they get to force ISPs to enforce their rules without litigation? Is it reasonable to be legally able to charge me $250,000 in the US to circumvent the CSS "encryption" on a DVD?
The other trend that has ruined music sales is fascist corporations prefer to hire moron musicians like rappers who are satisfied with a few ho's, a fancy car or two, some blow, and some publicity. Many can't even read a contract. Much rather deal with that lot than some college educated white boys who make music and can read a contract.