From: Steve (scatanzaro4_at_cox.net)
Date: 2004-10-16 17:30:20
are the labels really corrupt, or is krs-1 really talking out his ars?
well, let's look into it.
as you probably know, an artist gets anywhere from 7% to 15% royalty on
their albums. sounds pretty paltry, considering the fact that we assume
without the artist there would be no album! how about a 50-50 split, as
chuck d and others advocate?
here's the math;
suppose you want to produce and sell your own 12" nu jazz track, apart
from the labels;
first, you've got to create it. since the competition is so great, if
you want your track to be heard, that means you're going to have to,
most likely, get some professional help, unless you're like ayro or amp
fiddler and can do it all yourself.
but, you need an initial investment in gear, which would be your
computer or mpc, some keyboard, software, plug ins, sound card, mic,
etc. you're looking at about $1500. then, you're going to need to hire
some talent, such as a vocalist, an mc, an instrumentalist or something,
which, depending on who they are, is going to run you anywhere from a
few slices of leftover cold pizza to $5000. but, let's just say you pay
your talent $300.
then, unless you really REALLY know what you're doing, you're going to
need someone to mix it, and someone to master it. that's probably gonna
run $750 for the engineers, and another $500 for the studios.
So, to make a 4 track 12", with 2 songs and 2 instrumental mixes, you're
looking at about $3k in production costs.
Now, the next thing you've got to do is make it. Well, to get your
acetate / dub plate is probably gonna cost you between $500 and $750.
So, you're at $3500.
Now, you've got to make some smart business decisions. How many units do
you think you can sell? And how much is it gonna cost to make / move
those units? But, in the dance world, a general rule of thumb is to
press 3000 copies. So, that should cost you about $1.25 per unit, when
you consider the artwork (simple artwork), packaging, and etc. so that's
$3750.
So, now you're at $7250 and you've got a flat full of smelly 12" records
piled all over the place, of two tracks that you've been working on for
6 months and that you're so bored of they make you want to vomit each
time you hear them. You say, well, if I sell all my 12's at $10 a piece,
that's $30k, and I still make a grip.
BUT, that's a big, big IF. And this is the point where it gets tricky.
To sell 3000 units, as a new artist, you've got to get the word out
about yourself. In electronic music, this means getting the dj's, club
and college radio, reviewers, etc. to play your track. You're probably
gonna have to give away about 1000 of your 12", plus pay mad money for
postage.
So, that's gonna cost you, let's say, another $1500. Plus, maybe you
wanna do additional promo; take out an ad in SNC, or Urb, or on the
'net, or at the WMC, or whatever. Now you're talking some serious money.
Let's say another $2500 for that.
So, that's an additional $4000, on top of the $7250 it cost you to
produce this monster. Now, you're at $11,250, and you've only got 2000
units left.
So, if your tracks are hot, and they create demand (more big "if's" on
both scores), you can sell all 2000 units. BUT, the distributor, the
store, the website, etc. has to get their cut, as well as the credit
card companies, etc. etc. Figure an additional 35% off for that, or an
additional $7k off of your $20k return.
So, at the end of the day, if everything works out really really rosy
and you get rid of every disc, you stand to pocket $13k on $30k. Now
you've got to pay taxes on that, so, there goes an additional 25%, or
$3250, so you actually stand to pocket $9750 for what the industry would
term a very successful indie first time outing.
Less than the 50% chuck d advocates for. But, that's STILL better than
the royalty rate you get from a record company, right? (I mean, if you
were signed to a major, and you sold 2000 units, you'd only make 10% of
wholesale, which would be about $1500, more or less.)
BUT, and this is the final BUT, to make that $13K, it's a full-time job,
not just making the music, but selling the music, licking mailing
labels, calling radio stations, magazines, etc., tooling around on the
'net.
AND, the whole turnaround time, from the time you quantize your first
kick drum on beat 1 measure 1 to the time you get rid of your last disc,
is at LEAST 1 year, and that's if you keep at it like a busy bee.
So, with this stark reality in place, you can see why many, if not most,
new artists who get offered the label deal jump at the chance.
The label takes a big bite, no doubt, but what do they do for you?
Book you a studio. Hook you up with a good producer-mixer-masterer. Make
your discs. Get you a graphic designer. Spread your likeness / logo all
over the place, and give you the chance to sell many, many more than
2000 units.
Now, most of the people working at Capitol, or BMG, or Maverick, or
wherever are not making massive amounts of money. The great majority of
these people are working a telephone from a cubicle, or making
deliveries, or working in the print shop, etc. etc. etc., ie doing all
the stuff that lets the artist feel like a rock star instead of a
mailroom clerk.
This shows you why KRS-1, complaining about being OPRESSED by a record
label, is in reality the furthest thing from an American philosopher.
He's really a PUNK!!! Were it not for the "major labels" you would have
never heard about KRS-1, and he wouldn't be in a position to move 50K
indie units or get mad hits on his website THANX TO the daily news!!!
Yeah, its easy to make and sell your own records independently, once
people know who you are and you've got the money to do it.
That's why I have NO RESPECT for ANY artist who leaves a major label and
complains about the "slavery" they were subjected to. George Michael,
Prince, KRS-One, Chuck D, etc.
But it's why I do have MAD respect for Reinforced, Antipodean,
Bitasweet, etc. and all the other indies who start it from the ground
up!!!
It's not easy!!! And hopefully, if you do your math, you'll stop in your
tracks (no pun intended) next time you fire up Soulseek to download your
DKD or your Tides Arising, thinking your striking a death blow to the
capitalist system by not paying for your tracks.
(y'all know the cats I'm talkin' about, the abercrombie anarchists who
rent michael moore from blockbuster, and then say, "he's right,
capitalism sucks; dude, I got the munchies, call domino's".)
Get your trax from GrooveDis, or Dusty Groove, or if you're too lazy for
that, just get them from www.karmadownload.com
<http://www.karmadownload.com/> ;