....Cause It's Where The Money Is

With the rise of the internet and all of the "emerging technology," one would have to wonder why so many new artists are still choosing to go with a major record label. I think, and this is just my opinion, that it's like what the notorious bank robber, "Willie Sutton," once said about robbing banks, that it's because "it's where the money is."

Granted, the DIY movement can offer a greater amount of artistic freedom. And, you get to keep a larger share of what you earn. Still, if you want wider distribution and/or greater notoriety, a major is still the way to go.

But, what a major actually does for an artist is loan them the money that they need to make a finished master. This money is called an advance. The amount of an advance is determined through negotiations between you, your lawyer or manager, and the record label. Other "deal points," such as number of albums to be delivered by the artist and royalty rate may be decided either before or at contract signing.

If you were fortune enough to get $150,000 advance from your label to record your first album, that money has to repaid. This is called recoupment. The money from your advance gets paid from your artist royalties. You the artist will bare the cost of manufacturing and packaging of your CDs which comes out of your royalties. And, your producer will have to be paid from your royalties along with other deductions, as well. Artist don't get paid any money from the sale of their CDs until the advance is paid back in full.

In the meantime, a lot of artist turn to touring as a way to make money while their album is climbing the charts. If their album isn't selling well, an artist or band may have to stay out on the road for an indefinite period of time. Artists generally get to keep most of, if not all of the money that they make from touring, but if an increased public presence doesn't help with album sales, the label could drop them from it's roster.

In most cases, a certain amount of promotion is usually negotiated along with the distribution. The major label is global, so your distribution can be world wide. But, some of your earnings from touring in the states may have to be spent touring overseas. In effect, you the artist will have to put your name further and further out there to get your album to sell, while the the label is getting it's money back from the advance that they gave you to make your album.

While some artists have been smart and invested their advance in a project studio to assemble their tracks before going into a major studio, others have fallen into the trap of lavish spending, living it up like a "star." Some push their personas, developing wild and outlandish routines in order to gain more public attention or publicity.

Even though the DIY movement can offer an artist a chance to keep more of what they earn, and the freedom to record what they want to write. Even with all that could go wrong with a major label deal, as long as the majors offer the possibility of achieving stardom as a result of global exposure, it seems that there will always be artists who would trade just about anything for that chance. And, let's not for get, it's like "Willie Sutton," once said, that it's because "it's where the money is."