4 ms·

>Why would they bother paying the artists, when instead they can invest that same money on a 2nd round of advertising? From their perspective it doesn't make se

by tsotha 14y ago

>Why would they bother paying the artists, when instead they can invest that same money on a 2nd round of advertising? From their perspective it doesn't make sense to ever pay the artist. Because eventually word gets around. Especially these days with social media, minor celebrity bands who end up with nothing have a forum for their complaints.

jakejake 14y ago
Unfortunately many young artists are literally begging labels to make them famous. They assume that money comes along with that, but its not necessarily the case. I was one of those people once and got a fairly standard (crappy) deal. We're still 6 figures in debt to the label even though the records made a profit.
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  >> "Unfortunately many young artists are literally begging labels to make them famous. They assume that money comes along with that..." Half of your statement is true, most if not all young musicians want to be famous (and by that I mean have lots of people listen to their music and see them play). I don't think the second part is completely true though. Most musicians do what they do because they love it and as long as they can make enough money to buy them food, a bed, and get them to the next show, they will be satisfied. People are familiar with the bad reputation labels have and are aware it is not always a road to riches. I think there are very few people who get into music for the money, frankly because the chances of you making a lot of money in it are unlikely. If you want to be rich there are much easier paths.
  - chris_j 14y ago
    Don't forget that many bands consist of kids in their late teens and early twenties who might be more naive than you are and who may not have a full understanding their chances of making it big vs getting screwed over.
  - jakejake 14y ago
    Well you are correct that some bands are only "in it for the music" but in fact that attitude can get you screwed even harder when you're negotiating with a label. A lot of musicians are comfortable with a meager living - but not too many of appreciate being poor while the label is raking in cash. But, that's the reality of it. A big label has the power to get you in front of a lot of people and make you famous. It's better to build up the fanbase on your own in the long run, but that's a tough road and many, many artists are eager to accept the shortcut in exchange for a crappy deal. That's just the way it is.
jdietrich 14y ago
Word is already around. Steve Albini laid out how record company accounting works in the early 90s in his essay "The Trouble With Music". The most cursory research would show you that as an artist signed to a major label, you're unlikely to ever make minimum wage. That doesn't matter to the labels, because there's a sufficiently large stream of starry-eyed wannabes to keep the wheels in motion. The labels simply don't want to sign the sort of band that's happy to have a small but loyal fanbase, because they can't make any money out of it - like tech VCs, their business model is based on signing a lot of long-shots aiming for global domination.

by tsotha 14y ago

jakejake 14y ago

Unfortunately many young artists are literally begging labels to make them famous. They assume that money comes along with that, but its not necessarily the case. I was one of those people once and got a fairly standard (crappy) deal. We're still 6 figures in debt to the label even though the records made a profit.

k-mcgrady 14y ago
>> "Unfortunately many young artists are literally begging labels to make them famous. They assume that money comes along with that..." Half of your statement is true, most if not all young musicians want to be famous (and by that I mean have lots of people listen to their music and see them play). I don't think the second part is completely true though. Most musicians do what they do because they love it and as long as they can make enough money to buy them food, a bed, and get them to the next show, they will be satisfied. People are familiar with the bad reputation labels have and are aware it is not always a road to riches. I think there are very few people who get into music for the money, frankly because the chances of you making a lot of money in it are unlikely. If you want to be rich there are much easier paths.
- chris_j 14y ago
  Don't forget that many bands consist of kids in their late teens and early twenties who might be more naive than you are and who may not have a full understanding their chances of making it big vs getting screwed over.
- jakejake 14y ago
  Well you are correct that some bands are only "in it for the music" but in fact that attitude can get you screwed even harder when you're negotiating with a label. A lot of musicians are comfortable with a meager living - but not too many of appreciate being poor while the label is raking in cash. But, that's the reality of it. A big label has the power to get you in front of a lot of people and make you famous. It's better to build up the fanbase on your own in the long run, but that's a tough road and many, many artists are eager to accept the shortcut in exchange for a crappy deal. That's just the way it is.

jdietrich 14y ago

Word is already around. Steve Albini laid out how record company accounting works in the early 90s in his essay "The Trouble With Music". The most cursory research would show you that as an artist signed to a major label, you're unlikely to ever make minimum wage. That doesn't matter to the labels, because there's a sufficiently large stream of starry-eyed wannabes to keep the wheels in motion. The labels simply don't want to sign the sort of band that's happy to have a small but loyal fanbase, because they can't make any money out of it - like tech VCs, their business model is based on signing a lot of long-shots aiming for global domination.