critical blah blah.
Feb. 24th, 2003 01:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grindmonkehThe opinion that the Grammy Awards is a self-validating celebration of industry success in the commercial marketing of sensationalism and media products to mass-appeal doesn't really need to be iterated since it will influence neither the accessibility and diversity of the music consumer market nor the public's consumer choice in the corporations they support. It is also nothing more than an opinion based on the observation and speculation of myself and possibly a minority of music enthusiasts. I waste little time with the Grammy Awards, but I always read the nominees and winners of the genre category of which I am the most knowledgeable in order to confirm that the opinions of myself and relevant publications in regards to musical accomplishment within that genre are critically amiss. I think that it's really great that the Recording Academy is a charitable organization, as this is a compromise for their useless design in musical achievement. Their attempt at enveloping authority over specific musical genres is like calling an American Major League Baseball team the World Champions after they win the World Series. You can't win a game that you aren't allowed to play in, and the less profitable alternatives (like the olympics) don't garner the prestige or paycheck. Their world is limited to a domain that is controlled by the industry leaders. The Grammy Awards are laudless of nothing but a sensational facade covering a commercial agenda that necessitates dependence on these corporations for media success. The snake has no head.
Music and the Music Industry compose a distorted symbiosis. I came across an article on nydailynews.com that illustrates who is benefitting who.
A look at a mythical rock band's earnings, with actual figures compiled from industry sources:
New York City's hottest new band is Grunthead, a four-piece hard rock group from Maspeth. Because they've got buzz, the band gets a 15% royalty rate, a few points above the usual amount for a new artist.
Its debut, "Gruntastic," goes gold – only 128 of more than 30,000 records reached that level in 2002.
The Gold Record Gross: 500,000 albums sell at $16.98 = $8,490,000. The Grunts' royalty is 15% of retail. That's $1,273,500.
But the Contract calls for "packaging deductions" of 25%, so the gross drops to $6,367,500. Then there's promotional albums and giveaways the labels give to wholesalers, retailers, radio and the press. That's a "free goods" charge of 15%, so the gross drops another to $5,094,000. So, the band's royalty is actually: $764,100. The record company keeps the packaging and "free goods" funds. After collecting a $9.99 wholesale price, it also reaps an additional $829,900. The $3,500,000 balance goes to retailers, assuming they sell the record for list price.
Because the band was hot, they got an advance from the record company of $300,000. They spent $200,000 of that recording the album, which included a $50,000 advance to the producer. They pocketed the remaining $100,000. Additionally, the label spent $100,000 making the band's first video, which got them played on MTV2. The band owes all of this money back to the label.
So the royalty drops to $364,100.
But the band's producer also earned a 4% royalty of $203,760, of which he already received $50,000. So the band has to pay him an additional $153,760, reducing their royalty to $210,340.
After pocketing $310,340 (which includes the remaining $100,000 of the advance), the band has to pay their manager 15%, or $46,551, and give 2% of the total deal, or $101,880, to the power lawyer who got them the deal in the first place. That takes the band down to $161,909.
That's not bad money, but it's split four ways, or $40,477.25 each, about the same as a city sanitation worker with two years' experience, without health benefits, vacation and retirement fund. But with, of course, groupies.
Taken from nydailynews.com
Who Made Who? How can artists take control?
I'm bored with this and don't how much of what I've written is even valid.
So on an unrelated note:
GREAT WHITE To Continue Touring With Replacement Guitarist - Feb. 23, 2003
According to the New York Daily News, GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell is wasting no time in scouting for a replacement for guitarist Ty Longley, who died after a pyrotechnics display got out of control in Rhode Island on Thursday. "I personally would like to express my heartfelt condolences to those families of the loved ones who perished, as well as Ty ... in the tragedy at the Station," Russell said in a web message. "We will continue our tour with a replacement guitarist sometime in the next few days." Russell and an unspecified bandmate were seen catching a flight yesterday out of town, Providence TV stations reported last night.
THANK YOU, RHODE ISLAND!
What would Spinal Tap do?
Music and the Music Industry compose a distorted symbiosis. I came across an article on nydailynews.com that illustrates who is benefitting who.
A look at a mythical rock band's earnings, with actual figures compiled from industry sources:
New York City's hottest new band is Grunthead, a four-piece hard rock group from Maspeth. Because they've got buzz, the band gets a 15% royalty rate, a few points above the usual amount for a new artist.
Its debut, "Gruntastic," goes gold – only 128 of more than 30,000 records reached that level in 2002.
The Gold Record Gross: 500,000 albums sell at $16.98 = $8,490,000. The Grunts' royalty is 15% of retail. That's $1,273,500.
But the Contract calls for "packaging deductions" of 25%, so the gross drops to $6,367,500. Then there's promotional albums and giveaways the labels give to wholesalers, retailers, radio and the press. That's a "free goods" charge of 15%, so the gross drops another to $5,094,000. So, the band's royalty is actually: $764,100. The record company keeps the packaging and "free goods" funds. After collecting a $9.99 wholesale price, it also reaps an additional $829,900. The $3,500,000 balance goes to retailers, assuming they sell the record for list price.
Because the band was hot, they got an advance from the record company of $300,000. They spent $200,000 of that recording the album, which included a $50,000 advance to the producer. They pocketed the remaining $100,000. Additionally, the label spent $100,000 making the band's first video, which got them played on MTV2. The band owes all of this money back to the label.
So the royalty drops to $364,100.
But the band's producer also earned a 4% royalty of $203,760, of which he already received $50,000. So the band has to pay him an additional $153,760, reducing their royalty to $210,340.
After pocketing $310,340 (which includes the remaining $100,000 of the advance), the band has to pay their manager 15%, or $46,551, and give 2% of the total deal, or $101,880, to the power lawyer who got them the deal in the first place. That takes the band down to $161,909.
That's not bad money, but it's split four ways, or $40,477.25 each, about the same as a city sanitation worker with two years' experience, without health benefits, vacation and retirement fund. But with, of course, groupies.
Taken from nydailynews.com
Who Made Who? How can artists take control?
I'm bored with this and don't how much of what I've written is even valid.
So on an unrelated note:
GREAT WHITE To Continue Touring With Replacement Guitarist - Feb. 23, 2003
According to the New York Daily News, GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell is wasting no time in scouting for a replacement for guitarist Ty Longley, who died after a pyrotechnics display got out of control in Rhode Island on Thursday. "I personally would like to express my heartfelt condolences to those families of the loved ones who perished, as well as Ty ... in the tragedy at the Station," Russell said in a web message. "We will continue our tour with a replacement guitarist sometime in the next few days." Russell and an unspecified bandmate were seen catching a flight yesterday out of town, Providence TV stations reported last night.
THANK YOU, RHODE ISLAND!
What would Spinal Tap do?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-24 08:54 am (UTC)steve albini once worked out a similar calculations page that concluded an average person working at a 7-11 will haul in more pay than an average successful band member after three years of recording and gigging.
we had a 3 record contract, and a 15K advance on our first cd. 10k went to the recording studio. the manager took 2 pts. the producer took 1.5 our contract stated that we will not collect a cent until record sales have recoup all the 15k. mechanical publishing and something or other took the remaining, with fees going to the entertainment lawyer.
i have seen $0.00 from bmi, my publisher so far.
i knew that calling it quits was the best possible thing i could have done for my love of music.
good thing i wasn't in it for the chicks.