There is the idea of what it costs to make a record, then there is the idea of what the label pays to make a record. Self-produced material usually means that you paid for studio time, and engineer, mixing time, mastering, pressing, and packaging. The engineer probably had an intern doing mic placement and running cables, and didn't charge you for another man/day rate. The costs were kept low because you didn't hire out experts for every step of the process.
NOW, you are on a major label. You have a contract, you are planning on entering the studio to make your album. You are now paying union rate for "interns", $1000 a day for a guy to do the mic setup (phase doctor), $2k/day for the engineer, lease rate for specialized gear that the engineer wants to use, hourly for the engineer assistant, day or week rate for temp staff and catering, the producer wants 1 or 2 points or more on sales (!), the ghostwriter that fixed your unpalatable chord changes gets paid, the amp repair guy who fixed the amp that the engineer says that you blew up gets paid,.... shall I continue?
The kicker, it is all coming out of your contract payments! Same for the publicity, video, booking, all expenses! It didn't cost the label one thin dime to make your album. They handle the distribution and marketing and then get a lawyer to tell you why you only made 13k/yr apiece after two years of your 3 million dollar contract. Meanwhile, all of the profits from sales have been swallowed up by a monopolized sales/distribution ring run by your good friends at the RIAA.
The artist is absolutely the LAST person in the chain who gets paid. If there is enough cash around so that you have made enough profit for enough people then you get a sniff, and not much else. So, yes, that $17 for "Just Add Money" by the "Flogging Junkies" is going right back down the chain of commerce and the artist never sees more than a few cents. It is a racket. When this sort of thing happens in third-world countries it is denounced by Amnesty International.
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
My band's last album cost $1.45 per disc including the session and it is all ours. No idiot in a Benz telling us to keep up the good work and then heading off to Aspen to blow our money on his 19 year old mistress.....
I have a better idea. Let's just sacrifice Bruce Willis to our gods and hope that they protect us in return. We can move on to Ray Romano and George Clooney if it looks like they need more....
The real problem is the tie-in between the major labels and the recording industry. If you aren't a major label act you don't get played on 90% of the radio stations in the USA. Monopolists such as Clear Channel have too much wrapped up in their monopoly to waste airtime on music, they need product. The money in radio is selling advertising, and that money goes to pay licensing fees. The money in music is made in product distribution and sales, and that money goes to record executives. The record companies churn out product, the radio stations play it, it sells ads for the station, and the music on the radio functions primarily as advertising for the record companies. It is insidious. ONLY the consumer can make a dent in this cycle.
Pepsi can't sell 200 kinds of soft drink, consumers wouldn't know what to do. They want 4 types of soft drink. Similarly, major labels can't make their required profit with hundreds of artists (brands) on the shelf. They need three or four, and spin off subsidiary labels to deal with their Diet, Caffeinated, Clear, All Natural, or other product lines. It isn't called show BUSINESS by accident.
Consumers who have an FM radio in 99% of their homes and cars get as much Major Label product advertising as they can stand. They go into a record store, freeze like opossums in the headlights, and go for Aerosmith! Hey, they were OK 25 years ago, why not go right back to old dependable CocaCola? The Stones have made 1.5 BILLION in the past 8 years by adapting a "branding" approach. Teens are being conditioned to accept the teat of the RIAA via Modern Rock Radio. It ain't modern, and it ain't rock, it's ads, ads, ads.
The majority of consumers have been brainwashed into thinking that FM Hits are the creme de la creme, and can't take the time to ferret out good music. Streaming net radio, free downloads, alternate distribution... it all hits the RIAA right in the bread basket. The consumer's response (IMO) shoould be "Hard Cheese, bud, get off my back".
Slashdot Mirror
NOW, you are on a major label. You have a contract, you are planning on entering the studio to make your album. You are now paying union rate for "interns", $1000 a day for a guy to do the mic setup (phase doctor), $2k/day for the engineer, lease rate for specialized gear that the engineer wants to use, hourly for the engineer assistant, day or week rate for temp staff and catering, the producer wants 1 or 2 points or more on sales (!), the ghostwriter that fixed your unpalatable chord changes gets paid, the amp repair guy who fixed the amp that the engineer says that you blew up gets paid, .... shall I continue?
The kicker, it is all coming out of your contract payments! Same for the publicity, video, booking, all expenses! It didn't cost the label one thin dime to make your album. They handle the distribution and marketing and then get a lawyer to tell you why you only made 13k/yr apiece after two years of your 3 million dollar contract. Meanwhile, all of the profits from sales have been swallowed up by a monopolized sales/distribution ring run by your good friends at the RIAA.
The artist is absolutely the LAST person in the chain who gets paid. If there is enough cash around so that you have made enough profit for enough people then you get a sniff, and not much else. So, yes, that $17 for "Just Add Money" by the "Flogging Junkies" is going right back down the chain of commerce and the artist never sees more than a few cents. It is a racket. When this sort of thing happens in third-world countries it is denounced by Amnesty International.
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
My band's last album cost $1.45 per disc including the session and it is all ours. No idiot in a Benz telling us to keep up the good work and then heading off to Aspen to blow our money on his 19 year old mistress.....
The Sawtelles
I have a better idea. Let's just sacrifice Bruce Willis to our gods and hope that they protect us in return. We can move on to Ray Romano and George Clooney if it looks like they need more....
The Sun is Exploding Again!
The real problem is the tie-in between the major labels and the recording industry. If you aren't a major label act you don't get played on 90% of the radio stations in the USA. Monopolists such as Clear Channel have too much wrapped up in their monopoly to waste airtime on music, they need product. The money in radio is selling advertising, and that money goes to pay licensing fees. The money in music is made in product distribution and sales, and that money goes to record executives. The record companies churn out product, the radio stations play it, it sells ads for the station, and the music on the radio functions primarily as advertising for the record companies. It is insidious. ONLY the consumer can make a dent in this cycle. Pepsi can't sell 200 kinds of soft drink, consumers wouldn't know what to do. They want 4 types of soft drink. Similarly, major labels can't make their required profit with hundreds of artists (brands) on the shelf. They need three or four, and spin off subsidiary labels to deal with their Diet, Caffeinated, Clear, All Natural, or other product lines. It isn't called show BUSINESS by accident. Consumers who have an FM radio in 99% of their homes and cars get as much Major Label product advertising as they can stand. They go into a record store, freeze like opossums in the headlights, and go for Aerosmith! Hey, they were OK 25 years ago, why not go right back to old dependable CocaCola? The Stones have made 1.5 BILLION in the past 8 years by adapting a "branding" approach. Teens are being conditioned to accept the teat of the RIAA via Modern Rock Radio. It ain't modern, and it ain't rock, it's ads, ads, ads. The majority of consumers have been brainwashed into thinking that FM Hits are the creme de la creme, and can't take the time to ferret out good music. Streaming net radio, free downloads, alternate distribution... it all hits the RIAA right in the bread basket. The consumer's response (IMO) shoould be "Hard Cheese, bud, get off my back".