kirbypuckett Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 http://gizmodo.com/5417318/my-6247-royalty-statement-how-major-labels-cook-the-books-with-digital-downloads I really dug that article. Check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastepunk Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 This thing has been percolating in the press for days, truly a very important story for artists of all kinds. I hope some indie takes advantage of this story and does a counterpoint and explains how a modern digital royalty statement should look like and talk about their own transparency. It would be illuminating for a lot of people to see how money is actually collected through all of the various digital outlets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flood Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 oh man i love too much joy. such a great pop band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tre Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 This thing has been percolating in the press for days, truly a very important story for artists of all kinds. I hope some indie takes advantage of this story and does a counterpoint and explains how a modern digital royalty statement should look like and talk about their own transparency. It would be illuminating for a lot of people to see how money is actually collected through all of the various digital outlets. Ironically, just yesterday I was standing in the back with a band showing them their digital / merch statement, and we were all real stoked that a "small" 7" did almost $2k in digital sales in under a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tre Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 And I have no idea who Too Much Joy is, so maybe them making only $65 is what they should be making. Lolz. Zing. Hiyoooooo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flood Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 too much was a rather large indie band in the early nineties... i know for a while some of their cds were going for decent coin on ebay... especially green eggs and crack, until they reissued it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgoodcore Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Great read but not surprising at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borosel Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 very interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thousandjulys Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 very interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlrose Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 That concept about recouping is one I've heard before that always blows my mind. Specifically, I've heard it used a lot with Victory, who would run all sorts of ridiculous adds and then bill it to the bands. Then when the bands asked about their royalties for selling 500,000 albums (literally) they would just say, "You haven't recouped". So, the labels are making money of each album sold (or downloaded) and on top of that, they take the few pennies that artist would be making...How odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 too long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hexrecords Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Digital stuff is still kind of weird to me. In one sense I essentially have to put nothing into it moneywise (not like the physical release of a record, which can cost quite a bit), so whatever small amount of money I see back from it is fine by me. Additionally, since I don't need to put anything into it all the profits from it get split 50/50 with the band (or put back into money they might owe me for merch). In another sense, one sees very little money back from download sales because it often tends to filter through a few middlemen, and by the end you see a few cents per song downloaded (if that). As much as Lumberjack sucked, when they were my distributor I saw very detailed digital statements showing how everything broke down, and what I was receiving, even if it was only $100 a month sometimes... until, of course, they just stopped bothering to send me statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventangent Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 itunes -> musicians : kindle -> authors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirbypuckett Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 itunes -> musicians : kindle -> authors Authors receive more money from sales than musicians do. The Publishers don't get nearly as much as the Labels do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headtowall Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 my salary has to get paid somehow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgoodcore Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Through CD Baby I've gotten a decent payment on digital. 67 cents or so per 99 cent song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flood Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 yeah CDBaby is really worth every penny of the $35/album set up charge. I wish they stocked vinyl too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 my salary has to get paid somehow CASH MONEY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventangent Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 itunes -> musicians : kindle -> authors Authors receive more money from sales than musicians do. The Publishers don't get nearly as much as the Labels do. There are warehouses full of books that stores won't stock for authors that will never recoup. It works the same in principle. The people that CREATE the content get paid pennies on the dollar as compared to the companies that distribute it. In a lot of ways, the publishing industry can be just as cutthroat as the music industry is. It's just not necessarily as high-profile. Your statement doesn't contradict mine, so much as it changes the scale in your estimation. As I've personally spoken with people who have made disproportionately less on e-book sales than hardcover/trade sales, I stand behind my comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 isnt that why the writers went on strike? or part of it? because they were getting so little from all of the digital downloads and digital ad revenue on their products? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andywax Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 I understand that this guy wants to show that major labels have shady accounting practices, but this band received a $400,000 advance from Warner and don't expect to recoup on this $400K. Even if they never recoup for the label, the advance doesn't have to be refunded by the band. They seem to be the ones who came out ahead in this deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtw88 Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 I think that the point is that the band legally accepted an advance that Warner was willing to give them, while Warner is, what I'm assuming as illegal, with holding money from the band, and whether or not that money is to go towards recouping expenses which will never pay out in the end, wrong is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quinncallahan Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 thanks for the link. very interesting. also there are some very informative comments which is unusual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgeagain Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 They aren't illegally WITHOLDING money from the band, they're just not showing it on the royalty statements - which is in all likelihood a violation of their contract. Granted, those records will NEVER recoup and they will never see a royalty check on those albums, so it doesn't really matter - the band could sue the label for infringement but it would be a waste of time. The label is still contractually bound to report EVERYTHING to them as far as royalties go, but if they aren't going to cover the recoupable amount anyway, it is pointless. Considering how many people that these labels need to account to, I'm not surprised they put a low priority on defunct bands that are $400K in the red. They should have a more efficient system that allows them to do this all more efficiently (like IODA and other digital distributors have), but major labels don't really work that way. Speaking of which, IODA is fantastic and there are ZERO setup fees for new albums. I would recommend it if they'll take you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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