28 replies to this topic

[SIlhouette]

Why else do people write music?

People don't record albums to make music anymore, they don't get any profit from it. The only way to make money is to gig and so the only way an album is useful is free advertising. In the end though its cheaper to make something, chuck it on youtube and then if it becomes big, tour the world with it.

[Matty_poo]

People don't record albums to make music anymore, they don't get any profit from it. The only way to make money is to gig and so the only way an album is useful is free advertising. In the end though its cheaper to make something, chuck it on youtube and then if it becomes big, tour the world with it.

Thank god, record labels may have served a purpose some time ago, but now all they do is suck originality out and screw over the artists, I'm thankful for the new youtube model.

[SIlhouette]

Well I suppose that is the brightside... but I am a qualified audio engineer... kinda screws me over. I want some money!

[Bowsette]

I've always believed that. I'm not earning much money, so I'm not going to spend £10 on a CD to see if I like them. I'll pirate the music then buy some merch. Shirts, posters etc.

Just sucks none of the bands I super-love tour here.

[Matty_poo]

I've always believed that. I'm not earning much money, so I'm not going to spend £10 on a CD to see if I like them. I'll pirate the music then buy some merch. Shirts, posters etc.

Just sucks none of the bands I super-love tour here.

Get in touch and let em know there's interest near you.

[SIlhouette]

I've always believed that. I'm not earning much money, so I'm not going to spend £10 on a CD to see if I like them. I'll pirate the music then buy some merch. Shirts, posters etc.

Just sucks none of the bands I super-love tour here.

Fair enough, system was more law abiding before MP3s, used to be you would have an album and if you thought a friend would like it you would share it with him/her, if they liked it they would go out and buy a copy.

Itunes sort of screws the market over even more though, if you liked a song you had to buy the entire album meaning the band would get about $2-$5 per album (depending on the contract and how soon after release the album was sold) so when they sold 4 million albums they would get about $20 million dollars and then pay off the record labels fees off royalty - $100,000 -> $1,000,000 and still walk away with $19 mil. now they get about half a cent per track sold on I tunes they get about $10000 if its a huge track but usually less then $1000 add that to the physical album sales a band now would get maybe $200,000 off of album sales (selling 10,000 -> 50,000 is a usual figure these days) they cant even pay off the record labels cost of producing, recording and distributing the album. They don't need to pay the further $400,000 that they owe but it means they can't get money of selling a song anymore except if they gig.

[Matty_poo]

not so cut and dry with record labels actually Sir http://www.digitalmu...0919jamestaylor

[SIlhouette]

Yeah, this is just one story.

It is mostly recent since large labels are losing money now so they are using older contracts that have exploits and then trying to screw them over. Keep in mind the record label gets the artist to pay back the contract loan (usually about $100,000 - $1,000,000) and that comes out of the composition royalties (ownership of the set of notes making up the song) the label owns the recording royalties which is in the contract and that accounts for about 7% of the sale price, then they take out their fees from the sales price anyways which ends up in total giving about 60% of the sales price to the label, 20% to the distributer and 20% to the person making the sale. Numbers arent exact but you get the feel, for every $19 mil the artist gets the label gets $100 mil and thats only after the artist has payed back the contract fee.

Now labels can't hope to touch that number they are trying to stay in buisness through exploitation of older contracts and scripting new contracts with no benefit to the artist.

Eventually indie will take over though, and a new model will be created.

[Coconut Man]

The only reason I even know who they are is because their name is ripped right from the Simpsons.

Exactly.

Every morning they wake up I yell at my assassins to try harder.