Hip Hop and Screwed Over Artist
KSG
>
> Is it possible for an artist to decline a video, knowing the record company is
> going to recoup it out of their earnings?
I don't know. Probably. But if you are an artist you probably want some national
exposure and videos help a lot. Just avoid expensive videos. Respiration is one
of my favorite videos of the year and I don't imagine it was very expensive. On
the other hand I heard Hammer spent $21 million for one of his videos (the one with
the glove I believe) and it looked pretty cheezy to me.
> Is it possible to just have a flat
> 10% profit ( which isn't asking much) for every CD sold?
I seriously doubt you can do this. Especially as a young buck. Think about it.
You are in there with Columbia management. They are like... "We'll give you
.50/album. If you don't want this deal, go find another label cause we got about
100 other acts that'll sign"... you don't need to look back cause you know there is
a long line of MCs behind you. Only folks that every label is jocking (ala a
Canabis or DMX) I bet have any negotiating power.
And when the label tells you they'll give you a $50k advance, and you were livin'
day to day... it becomes that much harder to turn down.
> Another question. Why haven't many successful artist say, " Bump this! I'll
> start my OWN company!!" Isn't it true that underground rappers like E-40
> probably only sell 100,000 to 150,000 records a pop, but since the records come
> out his own company, he keeps around 40% of each record sold? Although I
> dislike his music, Master P's NO LIMIT Records shows how lucrative the biz is
> for indies. He doesn't spend that much on videos, the covers look like they are
> generated with Power Point, and he generally keeps his overhead low.
No doubt... but the music business ain't easy.... but IMHO the internet can make
things easier.
--
One Luv,
KSG
Droppin' Science in REAL AUDIO on KSDT Sundays 10pm-mid (PST)
ARCHIVED SHOWS: http://scw.ucsd.edu/droppinscience
Personal: http://www.cs.ucsd.edu/~kgatlin
BriMarErn
business can be wack. When they had that special on MTV and QTip explained how,
after selling 1.5 MILLION COPIES ( which generated probably $15,000,000) they
each wound up with only $15,000! Man, I was about to throw a vase after I heard
that!
Also, TLC explained how they had to file for bankruptcy after generating 10
million copies sold and $175 MILLION DOLLARS from"CrazySexyCool". At first I
just thought they had to be the dizziest females on the planet.
Is it possible for an artist to decline a video, knowing the record company is
going to recoup it out of their earnings? Is it possible to just have a flat
10% profit ( which isn't asking much) for every CD sold?
Another question. Why haven't many successful artist say, " Bump this! I'll
start my OWN company!!" Isn't it true that underground rappers like E-40
probably only sell 100,000 to 150,000 records a pop, but since the records come
out his own company, he keeps around 40% of each record sold? Although I
dislike his music, Master P's NO LIMIT Records shows how lucrative the biz is
for indies. He doesn't spend that much on videos, the covers look like they are
generated with Power Point, and he generally keeps his overhead low.
Now I would be the first to admit finding $10,000 to $20,000 to start a label
for many people is harder than Teflon, but I guess thats where planning comes
in, I guess.
Any comments would be welcome on this post.
a-...@prodigy.net
signed real wack deals. Long term contracts for a weak amount of loot. At
least thats the way I understand it. TLC wasnt lying. Alot of people dont
know what they're getting into. Combine that with coming into alot of money
all of a sudden & its easy to go broke. But I suspect TLC filed bankruptcy
in an attempt to get out of thier deal. Thats common practice. I know of
somebody that just did that last week.
Most people in thier right mind wouldnt refuse a video. Elton John or
somebody like that might be able to pull that stunt but the video is the
ultimate marketing tool. I doubt any label would give anybody a flat rate
contract.
E-40 & the likes own thier labels so of course they take in more money. They
take in money even on stuff they dont appear on but its not pure profit.
Even still, the ones moving a respectable number of units (on the major
label playing field) are being backed by a major label. Distribution is
probably the biggest issue. Alot of these "indies" are also letting the
major handle the promotion/publicity side as well. Its just too hard to
compete with the big boys.
You dont need 10 or 20 thou to start a label, its just pretty handy.
Getting "legal" is pretty inexpensive. Its just all the other shit thats a
bitch. Thats what we have drug dealers for!
Yo, theres an article by Wendy Day of the Rap Coalition (shes crazy cool)
that breaks down how shady this business is. Its hypothetical & only
touches the surface but still. They have it posted on
http://www.hiphopnow.simplenet.com/hiphopnow/html2/wendy.html
BriMarErn <brim...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990422225227...@ng-fa1.aol.com...
miss bee
> Isn't it true that underground rappers like E-40
> probably only sell 100,000 to 150,000 records a pop, but since the records
come> out his own company, he keeps around 40% of each record sold? Although
I
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
Paul McGee
no matter what, so make sure they pay highly for the privilege. And
everything, from videos to the cabs that take you to the studio, is
recoupable, And you WILL pay...
Funny you mention TLC, who're signed to LaFace, part of Arista - Toni
Braxton's suing them for non-payment of royalties too, so I hear. And how
big was her last record? I used to work for an independent music publisher,
who ran a royalty auditing practice alongside the core business, and one of
their clients was that Swedish pop group Ace Of Base, who were a little
concerned as to where $4m worth of royalties Arista owed them had actually
got to. Do you see a pattern developing here?
You try and decline a video & the record company will impose one upon you,
or else they'll sue you for non-compliance with your contractual obligation
to promote your records.
Re. E-40, although Sick Wid It started out as an indie, it's probably more
of a joint venture with Zomba these days. Too Short's a better example - he
built his audience with his tape sales from swap-meets, so by the time Zomba
offered him a deal, he was able to demand better, less restrictive, terms.
I'd take a bet that Short is probably one of the few true cash millionaires
in hip-hop right now - and he hasn't had to skank his peeps to do it either.
As for Master P, he still needs Priority to distribute his shit
(distribution is the key), and they've probably got a share in No Limit
somewhere along the line, otherwise they wouldn't be releasing No Limit shit
in the UK through their tie-up with Virgin Records.
I could genuinely write thousands of words on how crooked the bizness is,
from a first-hand and second-hand perspective, but I don't have the time
(I'm doing this at work). But like the Kings Of Pressure said back in the
day, you know how to reach us...
peace,
Pab Money
**** Posted from RemarQ - http://www.remarq.com - Discussions Start Here (tm) ****
Madman702
>no matter what, so make sure they pay highly for the privilege. And
>everything, from videos to the cabs that take you to the studio, is
>recoupable, And you WILL pay...
Why the hell do you have to pay back all that money for if the label already
made it back and about 20 times it? Does anybody know what the average artist
gets of off each album? And about what percent have to pay back recording costs
and pay for videos?
JayGee
indie!
Madman702 wrote in message <19990424180930...@ng14.aol.com>...
DISorg...@webtv.net
beginning of time. The smart money celebs
out there all make sense when they say that
the first thing you need when you have a con-
tract on the table is a good lawyer and always
sign your own checks.
In the beginning an artist doesn't have much
juice but the lawyer could help you get a bet-
ter deal . Any artists out there who are in the
business or want to be in the business need
to not just work on their craft, but to educate
themselves to the business side of things.
I can imagine if you didn't grow up filthy rich
( like most people ) that you might go off on
those house buying, Chanel purchasing sprees.
Toni Braxton did get the shaft but it seems that
she really didnt realize how much money she
really had to spend on non business related
items. She was spending $1,000 a month on
flowers and buying $11,000 pieces of jewelry
from Tiffany's. Now if you got it like that then
just go off on it if that suits you---but as it turns
out she didn't.
How many artists have we seen come and go?
For performers one minute your're the shit and
the next minute it could all be gone and you're
record has a "Nice Price" label slapped on it
in the bargain bin. In the meantime you are
sitting there saying "what the hell happened?"
The record companies are never gonna give up
everything to the artist that is truthfully, right-
fully theirs. Knowledge is power and you know
those record labels must love artists who don't
know the deal !
My friends father was in one of those old groups from the 60's and
finally after all these
years he's getting money from a publisher that
is long, long overdue----I hope it's an honest
accounting of what he has coming. The good
thing is he has a lawyer working on it and he
does realize how lucky he is that this is even
happening!
There are more resources out there for perfor-
mers now than there were in my friend's fathers
day so try to own as much of your work as you
can along the way.
Good luck to all of you out there who are stri-
ving to make your records and be heard. I most
definitely give it to ya!
Much Love,
D.
Madman702
>indie!
Are you sure, Thats only like 1 point. You can get somewhere near $1 of off
each unit sold if you dont have greedy people working with you.
Madman702
>Are you sure, Thats only like 1 point. You can get somewhere near $1 of off
>each unit sold if you dont have greedy people working with you.
My fault I didnt me to contradict everythin you said, When I asked the question
to begin with, Your serious rappers can get only .11 off of each album?