4 ms·

I assume they mean an advance. Advances given to artists upon signing with a label are paid back out of proceeds from sales/royalties.

arrowsmith 2y ago
So in other words, not like a loan?
- mvc 2y ago
  "like" aka "similar to", aka "shares some features" An advance is "like" a loan because in both cases, the money is expected to be paid back by the person or group of people who receives it. There's lots of differences. Repayment terms. Exit clauses. Interest rates etc. But seems pedentic to say that the advances offered to musicians are not like loans they take so that they may have a claim on the future revenues of the sales produced by their work.
  - arrowsmith 2y ago
    Well yes, but flippantly describing the arrangement as "rich dudes convincing poor dudes to take out a huge loan" makes it sound far more exploitative than it actually is.
- danem 2y ago
  It’s astounding how often people conflate advances and loans when talking about the music industry. If anything it’s closer to seed capital than a loan.
  - bitnasty 2y ago
    Given the low ratio of “making it” to “wanting to make it” I would assume that there are many people who DO actually take out loans.
    - arrowsmith 2y ago
      Joe Satriani famously self-funded his first album by taking on large amounts of credit card debt. I'm sure there are many, many other musicians who took a similar risk that didn't pay off as well as it did for Satriani
  - snapcaster 2y ago
    Don't you have to pay back advances? Never heard of that happening for failed investments outside of fraud
    - danem 2y ago
      Advances are recouped from the sales of your albums or tickets. Assuming you’ve made a good faith effort to fulfill your obligations you don’t need to repay the advance or pay interest on the advance if your album doesn’t sell.
      - shkkmo 2y ago
        > Assuming you’ve made a good faith effort to fulfill your obligations you don’t need to repay the advance or pay interest on the advance if your album doesn’t sell. It depends on your contract. Usually, poor sales won't result in needing to repay an advance. However, there are plenty of other clauses that the contract could contain that would lead to the contract being canceled and potentially the advance having to be repaid (due to delays, editorial disagreements, poor quality, etc.)

arrowsmith 2y ago

So in other words, not like a loan?

mvc 2y ago
"like" aka "similar to", aka "shares some features" An advance is "like" a loan because in both cases, the money is expected to be paid back by the person or group of people who receives it. There's lots of differences. Repayment terms. Exit clauses. Interest rates etc. But seems pedentic to say that the advances offered to musicians are not like loans they take so that they may have a claim on the future revenues of the sales produced by their work.
- arrowsmith 2y ago
  Well yes, but flippantly describing the arrangement as "rich dudes convincing poor dudes to take out a huge loan" makes it sound far more exploitative than it actually is.
danem 2y ago
It’s astounding how often people conflate advances and loans when talking about the music industry. If anything it’s closer to seed capital than a loan.
- bitnasty 2y ago
  Given the low ratio of “making it” to “wanting to make it” I would assume that there are many people who DO actually take out loans.
  - arrowsmith 2y ago
    Joe Satriani famously self-funded his first album by taking on large amounts of credit card debt. I'm sure there are many, many other musicians who took a similar risk that didn't pay off as well as it did for Satriani
- snapcaster 2y ago
  Don't you have to pay back advances? Never heard of that happening for failed investments outside of fraud
  - danem 2y ago
    Advances are recouped from the sales of your albums or tickets. Assuming you’ve made a good faith effort to fulfill your obligations you don’t need to repay the advance or pay interest on the advance if your album doesn’t sell.
    - shkkmo 2y ago
      > Assuming you’ve made a good faith effort to fulfill your obligations you don’t need to repay the advance or pay interest on the advance if your album doesn’t sell. It depends on your contract. Usually, poor sales won't result in needing to repay an advance. However, there are plenty of other clauses that the contract could contain that would lead to the contract being canceled and potentially the advance having to be repaid (due to delays, editorial disagreements, poor quality, etc.)