--- Chadd Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> One of the points that is made is that the record companies charge
> the
> artist for production, marketing, and promotion out of the royalty
> payments for CD sales.  It says that sometimes the artist can
> actually end
> up in debt to the record label, which takes this money out of future
> releases, and it claims that only those artists who sell on the order
> of a
> million units can expect to see any net payment through these
> royalties.
>
> I'm wondering how similar the situation is for artists like the
> Connells
> who are working through a smaller label.  Do they really see anything
> significant from their CD sales?
>

Chadd, I'll tell you right now that's 100% true.  The only albums from
which the Connells see any money from sales are Darker Days, which TVT
had nothing to do with, and Ring, because it made enough money overseas
to offset production costs.  If anyone remembers the band's spat with
TVT from a few years ago (before Ring came out), that's what it was
over.  TVT was saying that the band had sold fewer albums than it
actually had, thereby increasing the band's debt to the label.  TVT did
this exact same thing to Trent Reznor, but he had the clout to use that
info to get out of his contract.


> Since the band is no longer with TVT, I assume that they still
> receive
> royalties but have no control over those recordings.

That's right, until the copyright runs out.  And TVT *could* have had
control over the new, unreleased songs (since they were written while
the band was still under contract) so that the band would be unable to
release the songs themselves!!!  But fortunately the band was given
control over the new songs as part of their settlement with TVT.  See
what a wonderful, warm, fuzzy industry is the music business?


>
> Anyway, I thought I'd throw out some info and questions to generate
> discussion.  Definitely read the Atlantic article if you have a
> chance.
>

Thanks a lot for the post, Chadd!  I, for one, will read the article as
soon as I can.

=====
Dede

"You get what you pay for,
But I just had no
Intention of living this way."--The Counting Crows

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