So I've been seeing a lot of people on this forum talking about money and the music business so I thought it would be good to give this discussion it's own place. My question is, what is the best way for people to buy albums? And more importantly(to me), what is the best way for a new artist to produce an album and actually make money?

Also, I recently got a 25 dollar gift card for itunes and was wondering if anyone knows how much of this money actually gets to artist? I've read a few articles and it doesn't look good. So get to working on some solutions to this problem lads.

I believe the best way to support an artist financially is to buy merchandise (not CD's/DVD's as the labels get all that money) and go see their shows.

And I think I've read that iTunes doesn't do a particularly good job in paying artists. And that's not just my Apple bashing.

I have friends who have songs on iTunes, it's not worth the effort, they get fudge all.

The truely best way to support an artist is to go to their live shows, buy their merchandise and buy CDs from them. Although it's not healthy for shops like HMV, they get a lot more than like, a quid/buck per album.

That is normally what I do to support an artist too(buy t-shirts/see them live). But in order for them to be able to even tour they must sell records, which gets them virtually no money. I guess to be a little more pointed with my question I should ask, what about independent artist? Some of my favorite albums are produced by the artist in their own homes or small studios in their area. What's the difference when buying their album versus a band like nickelback? And how does an independent artist even get started and continue to make money, with integrity, in the music business?

That is normally what I do to support an artist too(buy t-shirts/see them live). But in order for them to be able to even tour they must sell records, which gets them virtually no money. I guess to be a little more pointed with my question I should ask, what about independent artist? Some of my favorite albums are produced by the artist in their own homes or small studios in their area. What's the difference when buying their album versus a band like nickelback? And how does an independent artist even get started and continue to make money, with integrity, in the music business?

Probably not the entirety of the answer you were looking for, but with my CDs (sold through Kunaki), I take about 80% of the sales price. I may not sell as much as a big-name major label artist, but per CD the ratio is a hell of a lot better. Just an example for you.

~Josiah

dev probably doesnt have this problem though since he has his own record label so buy his cds as well as merchandise!

True... I get the impression that these days figuring out a way to avoid getting fucked by the label is bound to have a bigger effect than the format your music is sold on.

[Keeker]

I don't know anything about the music business really so forgive me if I'm being dense but I've often wondered if he could directly sell download versions from his website. That way he could get the music up there fast after he's created it and bypass leaks (to an extent, at the start of a project anyway).

<dreams on...> In a utopian world there could be a co-operative non-profit website for independent artists to market their wares whereby they all paid a teeny percentage for the maintenance and running costs of the thing and that was it. The more artists using it the less they'd have to pay. I don't mean physically selling merch from it other than downloads but using it as a pointer to each artist's own webstore however they chose to set that up as individuals. Maybe such a place already exists in a small way?

If everyone had their own record label, they could keep all the income themselves.
No one needs major labels.
This way cd's would be CHEAPER (people would buy more cd's if they didn't cost 25 euros) and the artist would make more profit. It's a win-win situation.

It's not all bad with record labels. I mean, they do provide smaller bands with budget to record in a studio, they do provide distribution (at least of the actual CD's), they do provide promotion. Too bad they tend to take more than their fair share of the income. The way record labels are now, is to me the epitome of everything that's gone wrong with capitalism. Pure greed!


There are alternatives though. As Keeker dreams, there are some (small) labels that allow loads of freedom, release music under the creative commons license and such (Jamendo, MagnaTune, ...). It's like open-source music, I like

I can see major movements towards the kind of idea Keeker had up there in future. Internet's a wonderfully powerful thing, afterall. Trent Reznor's used the internet to great effect in recent years for releasing NIN's new albums... I thought what Radiohead did with "In Rainbows", where they sold it online and fans could pay however much money they wanted to buy it, was a great idea. Obviously that might not work for artists with a smaller fanbase, but I thought it was a really great initiative on their part.

There are definite arguments for and against the abolition of labels, and while its lovely to think of the artist getting way more money by releasing through their own label, as Biert said, smaller bands obviously wouldn't be able to get themselves out there if it wasn't for bigger labels so it could stunt the growth and future of music. It's a lovely theory to have everyone self-releasing and charging less and making more but it's not all that realistic when it comes to new acts battling to make that big break and carve a name for themselves. While the people who've been around for years would probably be able to manage themselves grand it'd be difficult for n00bs to get in. I'd imagine there's heaps of added work as well when you're operating under your own label. Shame Tracy isn't about anymore or we could ask what it's like... Oh well. Babbling over.

In this light, I have high hopes for the Featured Artists Coalition. This organisation aims to "help all artists, young and old, well-known or not, drive overdue change through the industry in their interests and those of fans". From what I understand, they want to reduce the power of the labels by letting the artist keep the ultimate ownership of their music, but 'letting' it to the labels so they can exploit it.

Normally this wouldn't scare the labels much, but so far they've got about 60 (British) artists supporting them, including Radiohead, Iron Maiden, Robbie Williams, The Verve, ... At least they've got some momentum with such names, I hope they can really make a difference

Buy the record at the record shop - You support the record shop and the record company (and the artist in the end.)
Go see the show if it's around your hometown - You support the local venue and the artist.
Buy the merch at the merch stand at the show - You support the artist.

The more the record company can see an artist sell, more tour support they get. The more tour support an artist get, the more they can tour. The more they can tour, bigger chances the artist/band come to your town.
The bigger audience an artist/band gets at a show, the promoter will get them on the next tour. And maybe a bit cheaper ticket prices next time.
The merch - Well, it's always cool to have an artist's name on your clothes

Maybe it's a bit naïve view of the music business, but that's the way I see it

Probably not the entirety of the answer you were looking for, but with my CDs (sold through Kunaki), I take about 80% of the sales price. I may not sell as much as a big-name major label artist, but per CD the ratio is a hell of a lot better. Just an example for you.

80% is incredible. Is that a label deal or distribution mainly? We got some offers from labels before and all rates were around 10% which seemed to be kind of standard as far as I've seen.

Some advantages with a good label are their distribution, the fact that they in many cases can promote things better and/or pull some strings. Another good thing is that they take care of some things that in the end can take up a lot of time : sending cd's to people, keeping mail contact with people who order, doing promotion etc. Many of these things can disturb the interest in actually making music for some.

Then there are many disadvantages also of course. Many of which have been named already. Some other nice tricks that labels can pull besides giving you around 10% of sales :
-lying about the amount that you really sold
-keeping a certain part of all pressed albums for promotional purposes which means no money for you. Not bad but the little problem is that some labels have been known to only send a couple of cd's and sell all the other "promo's".
-Some also take a bit of your sales for "transport damage". Some lawyer specialized in labels mentioned that there are some labels deduct a standard sum for this, no matter the real cost of damage.
-another band that I knew had to pay back money after the label discovered that the tour didn't bring in enough money.
etc. etc.

I believe artists make 6 cents per song on itunes