“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” Hunter S. Thompson
Continue reading ‘Touring 301′
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“An artist, in giving a concert, should not demand an entrance fee but should ask the public to pay, just before leaving, as much as they like. From the sum he would be able to judge what the world thinks of him – and we would have fewer mediocre concerts.” Kit Coleman, Queen of Hearts
Like that’s ever going to happen…as we all remember from Touring 101, it’s the talent agent and manager along with the promoters and/or venues who determine at any particular moment in time what they think an artist is worth. Along with timing, ticket price is a crucial factor; price a concert too high and – particularly with shiny new artists hampered by limited repertoires – there’s a good chance the potential audience will decide to pass; price it too low and odds are the artist will end up in the red. There are few things more dispiriting than touring for months on end only to realize, after the dust settles, that you’re deeper in debt than you were when you started. Continue reading ‘Touring 201′
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“…music’s biggest stars make most of their money when they’re on stage, not in a recording studio. Much of that has to do with the strange economic incentive system in the music business–acts keep most of the money made on tour, while record labels keep most of any money made from record music sales.”
Music’s Top Moneymakers 2006 — Forbes
In the beginning, there were venues, and they were empty. Spaces of all shapes and sizes, many with questionable acoustics and more than a few in neighborhoods which may have seen far better days, but all deemed suitable for the purpose of separating consumers from their hard-earned cash under the guise of something akin to music appreciation.
Continue reading ‘Touring 101′
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Here is a highly condensed version of events relating to the release of Kelly Clarkson’s third album, “My December,” as reported in the press. The majority of these sources have been linked here at mj’s in LisaB’s headlines threads and are still available to read; I have provided only a few pertinent excerpts. Continue reading ‘A comprehensive Kelly timeline’
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Here’s a link to an excellent primer on recording contracts.
From the Future of Music Coalition, a “Major Label Contract Critique,” which includes a lovely download in PDF which you can save to your hard drive, print out, read it and weep and contemplate at your leisure.
FMC | Major Label Contract Critique
Ah, cross-collateralization, controlled composition clauses, reserves and returns — yes, Virginia, vendors CAN return CDs — it doesn’t get much better than this…
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