Major Label offers...CAUTION-

[Rose]

If any of you bands/artists get an offer from a major label-...read this first

I came across this article at a business friend's site. It's a little lengthy but worth the read. It's a look inside the not-so-exciting financial story of getting signed to a major label. It will always be "cool" to be a Rock Star, but it's even cooler to understand what you're getting into before it happens...
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The Problem With Music
-by Steve Albini

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying s***. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the s*** stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the s***. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke". And he does of course.


Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A & R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire." because historically, the A & R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly. These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave.

Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well. There are several reasons A & R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences. The A & R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it. When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast. By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A & R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.

These A & R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on. The spookiest thing about this harmless sounding little memo, is that it is, for all legal purposes, a binding document. That is, once the band signs it, they are under obligation to conclude a deal with the label. If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength. These letters never have any terms of expiration, so the band remain bound by the deal memo until a contract is signed, no matter how long that takes. The band cannot sign to another laborer or even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens. Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.

One of my favorite bands was held hostage for the better part of two years by a slick young "He's not like a label guy at all," A & R rep, on the basis of such a deal memo. He had failed to come through on any of his promises [something he did with similar effect to another well-known band], and so the band wanted out. Another label expressed interest, but when the A & R man was asked to release the band, he said he would need money or points, or possibly both, before he would consider it. The new label was afraid the price would be too dear, and they said no thanks. On the cusp of making their signature album, an excellent band, humiliated, broke up from the stress and the many months of inactivity. There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized "independent" label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label. They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus -- nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work. To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyways, it doesn't cost them anything if it doesn't work. 15% of nothing isn't much! One day an A & R scout calls them, says he's 'been following them for a while now, and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just "clicked." Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time. They meet the guy, and y'know what -- he's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude.

They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot. The A & R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question-he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Warton Tiers, maybe-- cost you 5 or 7 grand] and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about. Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself.

Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children-- without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties. Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer--one who says he's experienced in entertainment law and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be great royalty: 13% [less a 1O% packaging deduction]. Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever. The old label only wants 50 grand, an no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's English. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter million, just for being in a rock band! Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contract over too. Hell, it's free money. Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody In the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands like Therapy? and Sloan and Stereolab use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better.

The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on T-shirt sales! ridiculous! There's a gold mine here! The lawyer Should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe. They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picked them up in a limo. They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old "vintage" microphones. Boy, were they "warm." He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very "punchy," yet "warm." All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies! Here is the math that will explain just how f*** they are: These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. Income is bold and underlined, expenses are not.

Advance: $ 250,000
Manager's cut: $ 37,500
Legal fees: $ 10,000
Recording Budget: $ 150,000
Producer's advance: $ 50,000
Studio fee: $ 52,500
Drum Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $ 3,000
Recording tape: $ 8,000
Equipment rental: $ 5,000
Cartage and Transportation: $ 5,000
Lodgings while in studio: $ 10,000
Catering: $ 3,000
Mastering: $ 10,000
Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc. expenses: $ 2,000
Video budget: $ 30,000
Cameras: $ 8,000
Crew: $ 5,000
Processing and transfers: $ 3,000
Off-line: $ 2,000
On-line editing: $ 3,000
Catering: $ 1,000
Stage and construction: $ 3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation: $ 2,000
Director's fee: $ 3,000
Album Artwork: $ 5,000
Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $ 2,000
Band fund: $ 15,000
New fancy professional drum kit: $ 5,000
New fancy professional guitars [2]: $ 3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp rigs [2]: $ 4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $ 1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $ 1,000
Rehearsal space rental: $ 500
Big blowout party for their friends: $ 500
Tour expense [5 weeks]: $ 50,875
Bus: $ 25,000
Crew [3]: $ 7,500
Food and per diems: $ 7,875
Fuel: $ 3,000
Consumable supplies: $ 3,500
Wardrobe: $ 1,000
Promotion: $ 3,000
Tour gross income: $ 50,000
Agent's cut: $ 7,500
Manager's cut: $ 7,500
Merchandising advance: $ 20,000
Manager's cut: $ 3,000
Lawyer's fee: $ 1,000
Publishing advance: $ 20,000
Manager's cut: $ 3,000
Lawyer's fee: $ 1,000
Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 =
$3,000,000
Gross retail revenue Royalty: [13% of 90% of retail]:
$ 351,000
Less advance: $ 250,000
Producer's points: [3% less $50,000 advance]:
$ 40,000
Promotional budget: $ 25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label: $ 50,000
 Net royalty: $ -14,000

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Record company income:


Record wholesale price: $6.50 x 250,000 =
$1,625,000 gross income
Artist Royalties: $ 351,000
Deficit from royalties: $ 14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and distribution: @ $2.20 per record: $ 550,000
Gross profit: $ 7l0,000

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The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.


Record company: $ 710,000
Producer: $ 90,000
Manager: $ 51,000
Studio: $ 52,500
Previous label: $ 50,000
Agent: $ 7,500
Lawyer: $ 12,000
Band member net income each: $ 4,031.25

The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month. The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige. The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their T-shirts yet. Maybe the T-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys. Some of your friends are probably already this f***.

Steve Albini is an independent and corporate rock record producer most widely known for having produced Nirvana's "In Utero".

[niecierocks]

This is a great article...I have two friends who were in bands signed to major labels...they both ended up filing for bankruptcy because they didn't make the sales for the money that was fronted to them...one of my friends told me he felt like their band was signed as a "Tax write off"...their cd was put on a shelf & never really promoted properly. Think of a record label as a bank: they are basically loaning you money, and you have to pay that loan back with interest! Many artists out there jump at the chance at being signed without DOING THEIR HOMEWORK...this is vital!!! Many artists think "All I need is a record deal & I'll be rich & famous"...Look at Prince...why do you think he wore the words "Slave" on his face? I've been offered record deals, not by the majors yet, mainly indie lables, and whenever I get a contract, the first thing I do is take it to my lawyer & have them break it down for me. I haven't signed anything yet because I've done my homework & educated myself on the business side & I haven't seen a contract that works for me. I'm very happy being an indie artist right now...I'm learning a great deal along the way, I make all the artistic decisions regarding the songs I select on my albums, the musicians I use, the producer I use, and I love having the freedom of choice, and knowing everything that's going on with my career...any money I make comes directly to me! Ani DiFranco is a great example of what it means to be a successful indie artist!

Peace, Love, Rock & Roll
Denise Vasquez
http://www.musicforte.com/member/niecierocks

[Kotrof_Wizzard]

Same here D.V., I`ve been approached by 2 indie labels in the past 4 months....and I won`t mention which one, but one of the labels sent me hate mail, and said my music was feeble after I wouldn`t sign with them....which made me wonder, why did they want my stuff in the 1st place???.. The other liked what I had listed in here at the time....that was when all I had for a pic, was my old Desert Storm photo....they backed out after I told them that I was 37 years old, and a disabled veteran...Somthing will come along one of these days, and even if it doesn`t...I am the person I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do, whenever I want to do it....peace out....Drop The Sun

[mobilehomeboy]

But on the BRIGHT side of being signed to a major label,

You DO get to lay up in a fancy shack in the 'Hills and poke Heather Locklear types.

It's not the JOB, my brothers (and sisters),

IT's THE BENEFITS!!!!!



However, if you aren't Paris Hilton these days, and can't afford to match every dollar that the label puts behind you (assumed "risk" for the label) then it's pretty much shinola on you.

The business has changed too much over the last 10-15 years. Gone are the days of playing the club circuit, and hopefully getting grabbed by a label. If you do some research, you will see that 90% of the LARGE acts are either a) RELATED to someone huge in the biz, or b) were loaded (with cash, NOT booze) before they even went IN to the biz.

And THAT, is da WORD.

[ChicagoMusicPromotions]

That is from very informative information MrRose great for posting it for the artists who are wanting to know about major record labels.

Matt

[culturebank]

yeah............I also know story's of fellow musicians that have been taken by the sharks, the shelf story is a common one, I have spoken to several people that were put on the shelf and never released, it got me thinking, maybe the music was a threat to one of their already doing well artists, heaven knows what this industry is about, I get totally confused at times and wonder where to direct your energies. Getting signed is a dream for most people and i guess, you can get what you want if you have your finger on the pulse when it comes to legals, it all boils down to the fine print which is an interesting study in itself. we are still getting by without being signed and have made a descent living out of music for many year's now and we have all the freedom, can pick the times when we want to tour and don't want to tour which to me is invaluable, the last thing I want to do is work my but off and come home to no money in the bank because you still haven't paid back your depts, this must be a nasty feeling and I feel for the artists that have fallen pray to this. On the flip side, haveing a good deal with a Company would be fantastic too, I agree with one of the forum comments, its all about the benefits but personally i don't loose much sleep over getting signed or not, I have been around the world, stayed in 5 star hotels, met incredible people and hopefully made a change for the better through the music, not being signed forced me to learn the tricks of the trade on many levels, which has proven to be invaluable on a business level, it has generated some incredible opportunities, if it comes it comes if it doesn't thats fine with me too, just stay focussed and soak up all the information thats around these days about the industry, persistency wins in the end......peace to all

[mobilehomeboy]

Majors these days don't sign artists that can't match the investment that the label is going to have to withdraw from the bank to promote, record, distribute, etc. you. It's not done. Period, ever.

However, if you are an artist that is receiving more downloads than their artists in your region, they'll approach you with something.

Something bad.

Until you have a big enough attorney behind you to negotiate the deal, do what I did, and tell Sony Music to stick it. Hard. Use PLENTY of 4-letter words, and have a big, mean Italian guy that carries a weapon there when you do.

Once they sign you, they own your repetoire. (That means everything that you have EVER done as an artist, past and future....)

Besides, I usually piss enough people off to sell at least 15,000 - 20,000 CDs on WOM alone, and I'm due for a release sometime in the next year (because I'm broke...), so look for that when I find a producer to add the magic touch to the shizzle at hand.

Now, back to donning the beer goggles!

[sachaboutros]

thanks

[mobilehomeboy]

You're welcome.

It's true. The business has changed. What with risk models, and business being SCARED to take risks these days (I've never seen an executive with a set of brass ones, anyway. No balls, all talk, etc., etc.,) you won't even find "developmental" deals around.

Yes, there used to be a day when talent and work ethic could land you a long-term contract with a label, in which they invested in you and vice-versa, but those days ended approximately 12 years ago. Now, record labels are run by guys with no vision, no integrity, and no BALLS.

They'll use terms like "it's not HOT", "Cold PRODUCT", or "not SELLING", when the fact is we buy whatever shizola that happens to be on their "du jour" list. You could fart on a snare drum, call it music, and with their marketing resources, have a hit. They COULD sell anything, but usually it's only who's in their family, or already has a boatload of bucks to match the investment made by companies.

Do some research on any "major" artist that's popular, and you'll either find that they are related to someone already engrained in the biz, or were super-rich (not just regular rich, mind you) BEFORE they ever got a deal to start with. There is no more "Hey, we saw these dudes ripping up the local club" or "Wow, that guy can SHRED". That was a time since passed.

Yes, no balls. Balls are a thing of the past.

And mine aren't for lease.

[DamienProject]

The main statement on the music industry can be summed up in Two extremly funny and ridiculous words.........Amercian Idol.....or now that i think of it a few more two funny words....kelly Clarkson..Clay Aiken....that pretty much sums it up

[mobilehomeboy]

Word up.

Although I WOULD like to see Kelley Clarkson naked. (Clay Aiken, not so much.)

[DamienProject]

[Luana]

... things are not like we... like

http://www.musicforte.com/member/luana

[Reconsiderate]

[Cybersonica]