From: katelyn
2008-08-26 13:31:53
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To: Admin
2009-04-28 13:16:41
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| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>Wanting to get signed to a major label is like wanting to get hemorrhoids. If you want to get signed to a major label because you want the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Go for it! You can get all of the above from them. If you want it for the fame, reach for that brass ring! They <i>like</i> famous rock stars. Famous rock stars sell albums!</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Wanting to get signed to a major label is like wanting to get hemorrhoids. If you want to get signed to a major label because you want the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Go for it! You can get all of the above from them. If you want it for the fame, reach for that brass ring! They <i>like</i> famous rock stars. Famous rock stars sell albums!</p><p></p> | + | <p>If you want to get signed to a major label because you want to make millions of dollars, forget it. It’s a waste of time. You should even forget it if you want to make a decent living. You should <i>definitely</i> forget it if you love the music.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">If you want to get signed to a major label because you want to make millions of dollars, forget it. It’s a waste of time. You should even forget it if you want to make a decent living. You should <i>definitely</i> forget it if you love the music.</p><p></p> | + | <p>Here’s why, in short:</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Here’s why, in short:</p><p></p> | + | <ul><li><b>Money</b>: If you manage to produce a moderately successful album, you’ll be lucky to make $20,000 a year. Most bands are not even that successful.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· <b>Money</b>: If you manage to produce a moderately successful album, you’ll be lucky to make $20,000 a year. Most bands are not even that successful.</p><p></p> | + | <li><b>Rights</b>: The labels get all of the rights to your music, your recordings, and the name. No matter how successful it is, they will always own it.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· <b>Rights</b>: The labels get all of the rights to your music, your recordings, and the name. No matter how successful it is, they will always own it.</p><p></p> | + | <li><b>You is their bitch now</b>: You will be their bitch. You will owe them music, money, and will be working for them. Many bands have had problems with their labels dictating what music to play, not releasing music or albums that they did write, or releasing and then burying their music with no promotion. This lack of control is what is mentioned a lot in the music press when bands complain about their labels.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· <b>You is their bitch now</b>: You will be their bitch. You will owe them music, money, and will be working for them. Many bands have had problems with their labels dictating what music to play, not releasing music or albums that they did write, or releasing and then burying their music with no promotion. This lack of control is what is mentioned a lot in the music press when bands complain about their labels.</p><p></p> | + | </ul><p>Here's why, the long version:</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Here's why, the long version:</p><p></p> | + | <h2>Band Better Have My Money</h2> |
| - | <h3><a></a><a></a>Band Better Have My Money</h3> | + | <p>The money’s not there because of two reasons. One is that they charge you for everything. And we do mean everything: recording the album, mastering, the producer, marketing, duplication, breakage, samples and giveaways, the music video, limos, drugs, prostitutes, that guy who’s separating out the red M&amp;Ms, the cowbell polisher, etc. Heck, they even charge interest on the money that they spent on you, including that advance that they gave you at the beginning, probably the only money you’ll actually see.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">The money’s not there because of two reasons. One is that they charge you for everything. And we do mean everything: recording the album, mastering, the producer, marketing, duplication, breakage, samples and giveaways, the music video, limos, drugs, prostitutes, that guy who’s separating out the red M&amp;Ms, the cowbell polisher, etc. Heck, they even charge interest on the money that they spent on you, including that advance that they gave you at the beginning, probably the only money you’ll actually see.</p> | + | <p>The second reason is that they are tight with the distributors, and it’s not in their interest to give you an honest accounting of the sales. You know Columbia house, or the BMG CD clubs? The accounting statements for those are a bank error in their favor. Overseas sales? <i>What</i> overseas sales? If you want to audit them, you're paying for the audit, and you will be contractually obligated to give them warning ahead of time, when they'll clean up their book keeping.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">The second reason is that they are tight with the distributors, and it’s not in their interest to give you an honest accounting of the sales. You know Columbia house, or the BMG CD clubs? The accounting statements for those are a bank error in their favor. Overseas sales? <i>What</i> overseas sales? If you want to audit them, you're paying for the audit, and you will be contractually obligated to give them warning ahead of time, when they'll clean up their book keeping.</p><p></p> | + | <p>Don’t believe us? Research this on your own if you want to get into the industry. The best is <a href="http://www.negativland.com/albini.html"><b>The Problem With Music</b></a> by Steve Albini. Also, Courtney Love had an interesting lawsuit with her major label, later settled, where she let us behind the scenes on how they treat artists. And we also recommend reading about Janis Ian, as she <a href="http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html"><b>talks about file sharing from</b></a> the point of view of an artist with a long career with a label.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Don’t believe us? Research this on your own if you want to get into the industry. The best is <a href="http://www.negativland.com/albini.html"><b>The Problem With Music</b></a> by Steve Albini. Also, Courtney Love had an interesting lawsuit with her major label, later settled, where she let us behind the scenes on how they treat artists. And we also recommend reading about Janis Ian, as she <a href="http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html"><b>talks about file sharing from</b></a> the point of view of an artist with a long career with a label.</p><p></p> | + | <h2>All Rights Reserved...For <i>Them</i></h2> |
| - | <h3><a>All Rights Reserved...For <i>Them</i></a><i></i></h3> | + | <p>Before you sign away on that dotted line, make sure that you understand the rights that you have with the music you create. Read our <a href="http://indiebandsurvivalguide.com/wiki/page/Copyright_for_Independent_Bands"><b>copyright section</b></a> for more information.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Before you sign away on that dotted line, make sure that you understand the rights that you have with the music you create. Read our copyright section for more information.</p><p></p> | + | <p>Once you know what you're giving away, imagine you just bought a house. You may have a lot of debt, but at least the place you’re living in will one day be yours. You are paying out monthly, but you are slowly on the path to owning your house. It’s a good feeling. When you’re done, you own something of value.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Once you know what you're giving away, imagine you just bought a house. You may have a lot of debt, but at least the place you’re living in will one day be yours. You are paying out monthly, but you are slowly on the path to owning your house. It’s a good feeling. When you’re done, you own something of value.</p><p></p> | + | <p>Now imagine that you’ve just signed a record contract. You get a nice lump sum advance, but they are charging that money back to you. Essentially, it is a loan. They are also keeping track of the money they spent to pay for recording, mastering, and producer costs. Let’s say that the album does well in the market, and you cover all of these costs. You need to, because you don’t get paid a penny of any color until they recoup <i>all</i> of their expenses. But let’s say your album lets you recoup, which most bands usually fail to do. You’ve "paid off the house" as it were. Although you get a trickle of income for each album you sell, <b>they </b>own the music, even when you’re all done. Imagine spending all of this time paying off a house, and when you’re done, the bank owns it instead of you.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Now imagine that you’ve just signed a record contract. You get a nice lump sum advance, but they are charging that money back to you. Essentially, it is a loan. They are also keeping track of the money they spent to pay for recording, mastering, and producer costs. Let’s say that the album does well in the market, and you cover all of these costs. You need to, because you don’t get paid a penny of any color until they recoup <i>all</i> of their expenses. But let’s say your album lets you recoup, which most bands usually fail to do. You’ve &quot;paid off the house&quot; as it were. Although you get a trickle of income for each album you sell, <b>they </b>own the music, even when you’re all done. Imagine spending all of this time paying off a house, and when you’re done, the bank owns it instead of you.</p><p></p> | + | <p>Here’s another way to put it: The contract specifies that when you write songs, record the album, and play your ass off, that you are doing what’s called a "work for hire." You have no more rights to your own music than an office temp would have for the data entry that he typed in, except you're not even getting paid by the hour.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Here’s another way to put it: The contract specifies that when you write songs, record the album, and play your ass off, that you are doing what’s called a &quot;work for hire.&quot; You have no more rights to your own music than an office temp would have for the data entry that he typed in, except you're not even getting paid by the hour.</p><p></p> | + | <p>The idea of giving the rights away to music that you cared about is a painful one. Keep that in mind when you want to get signed.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">The idea of giving the rights away to music that you cared about is a painful one. Keep that in mind when you want to get signed.</p><p></p> | + | <p>If you <i>still </i>want to get signed, consider the following:</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">If you <i>still </i>want to get signed, consider the following:</p><p></p> | + | <ul><li>You will not be an employee of the label. You’ll have to get your own insurance, and all of the other stuff that a working person has to worry about. That is <i>really </i>expensive. Most musicians live without insurance.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· You will not be an employee of the label. You’ll have to get your own insurance, and all of the other stuff that a working person has to worry about. That is <i>really </i>expensive. Most musicians live without insurance.</p><p></p> | + | <li>Since you get nothing from the label, touring and merchandise is the only way to make money. And that’s drying up.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· Since you get nothing from the label, touring and merchandise is the only way to make money. And that’s drying up.</p><p></p> | + | <li>Don’t do a thing until you read <u>All You Need to Know About the Music Business</u> by Donald S. Passman and our own <b><u><a href="/wiki/page/Order_the_Book">The Indie Band Survival Guide</a></u></b>.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· Don’t do a thing until you read <u>All You Need to Know About the Music Business</u> by Donald S. Passman and our own <b><u><a href="../../../../wiki/page/Order_the_Book">The Indie Band Survival Guide</a></u></b>.</p><p></p> | + | <li>Don’t trust anyone else to explain it to you. Don't even trust us! Read and learn about this yourself if you are attempting to do this. Everyone in the music industry has to keep good business relationships with each other. They won’t give you the whole story because they work together. Even your own lawyer and agent will not always be on your side. They have to work with the major labels, even when you’re done and gone.</li> |
| - | <p style="margin-left:.25in;text-indent:-.25in;" class="MsoNormal">· Don’t trust anyone else to explain it to you. Don't even trust us! Read and learn about this yourself if you are attempting to do this. Everyone in the music industry has to keep good business relationships with each other. They won’t give you the whole story because they work together. Even your own lawyer and agent will not always be on your side. They have to work with the major labels, even when you’re done and gone.</p><p></p> | + | </ul><p>Possibly the best online link for this issue is the <a href="http://futureofmusic.com/"><b>Future of Music Coalition</b></a>, which is literally a group of musicians trying to set things right. Their <a href="http://futureofmusic.org/contractcrit.cfm"><b>critique of major label contracts</b></a> is very informative.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Possibly the best online link for this issue is the <a href="http://futureofmusic.com/"><b>Future of Music Coalition</b></a>, which is literally a group of musicians trying to set things right. Their <a href="http://futureofmusic.org/contractcrit.cfm"><b>critique of major label contracts</b></a> is very informative. </p><p></p> | + | <p>The best research you can do on this topic is definitely the book <u>All You Need to Know About the Music Business</u> by Donald S. Passman and our own <b><u><a href="/wiki/page/Order_the_Book">The Indie Band Survival Guide</a></u></b>, as mentioned above.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">The best research you can do on this topic is definitely the book <u>All You Need to Know About the Music Business</u> by Donald S. Passman and our own <b><u><a href="../../../../wiki/page/Order_the_Book">The Indie Band Survival Guide</a></u></b>, as mentioned above.</p><p></p> | + | <p style="text-align:right;"><a href="/wiki/page/Commercial_Radio_in_Three_Words_Pay_for_Play"><b>Next: Commercial Radio in Three Words: Pay for Play</b></a></p> |
| | + | <p style="text-align:right;"><a href="/wiki/page/Indie_Band_Survival_Guide_Ebook"><b>Back to The Indie Band Survival Guide Ebook Home</b></a></p> |
