Money in the Music Business

paulbd writes: "Electronic Musician has a good article on the economics of selling music on CDs. Its a sobering read that gives some of the hard numbers that do a little to counter the sense of record companies being vultures. Recommended for anyone who seriously imagines making a living from selling music."

Comments

Re:quick review

[grumling]

Recording companies take a huge monetary risk every time they sign someone.

No, they don't. These companies have revenue measured in the trillions of dollars. They are owned by international conglomerates that are looking for 15% growth every year. 1/2 a mil is no big deal to these companies, as long as they find artists who engage in the "same thing, only new" method of creative development.

Hollywood seems to have been taken over by the suits. They don't want to take a risk, because if they do, they won't see the 15% increase in year over year revenue that has become the norm for business these days.

What is needed is small, privately held companies fronting new artists. If the person putting the money up for the project actually has an intrest in the industry other than the sexyness factor, the train wreck that American media has become may have a chance of getting back to being the best entertainment in the world.

Frontline just aired a story about Hollywood and the film industry, but since they're the same companies in most cases, the story still applies. They weren't anywhere near as nice as the article about what has become of the modern studio. The only thing that they missed (as does the article), is that there is no reason with modern recording equipment it should cost 1/2 a mil for producing 10 songs, or a movie, and just what the heck all those lawyers are for!