giza | How record labels screw bands

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As folks may have noticed in my recent post, I don't particularly care for record labels. It all comes down to an article that Courtney Love wrote about in 2000, wherein she gave the scoop on just how record labels work, and the "funny" math that they use to screw artists. Not unlike the sort of math that Enron used.

The article is called:

Courtney Love Does The Math (Backup link because Salon is being wonky)

Have fun, because it is a bit of a sobering read.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

thrashbear.livejournal.com

Damn, that was a long-ass read.

But being a musician myself (actually just a hack who makes noise on his gee-tar), I've recognized the long shot of ever becoming popular, so I just played for fun, as my muse dictated. This removed the stress to perform altogether. I cannot imagine being a full-time working musician, I'd hate the business before I got into it.

I knew the record "labels" had the deck stacked against the artist, and I hated Lars Ulrich for his little tantrum in front of congress (note that I was a HUGE Metallica fan), but in this new light I guess I can understand.

When I first got in to this business as a soundguy, some musicians told me they would never allow themselves to be signed on to a record label. This was a mystery to me because I was brought up to believe that every musician's ultimate goal was to get signed to a label (kind of like a professional athlete's goal was to get signed to a team).

As my own work branched out and started working for nighclubs and a recording studio, I've worked with hundreds of small and mid-level musicians from a variety of styles and talents. For the most part, I've not seen the stereotypical premadonna attention-grabber the public seems to be fed (those that I have met don't last long around me). For most of these guys and gals, a night on the stage is just another day at the office for them. For the most part, they enjoy what they do and are thankful to be doing it. The majority of them had day jobs as professionals in other fields (heaven knows how many more doctors and accountants can play killer bass). The common element between them: their passion for their music. They also knew their limitations and worked within them, courting their fan base and perfecting their art to the best of their own muse.

They were not slaves to any record label. They recorded and sold their own material directly to the fans. They booked their own shows and handled their own tours. They designed their own websites. Basically, they handled their own business and kept the (sometimes meager or nonexistent) profits for themselves.

That was when I understood why modern musicians would want to eschew the old-school method of signing to a record label.

Sorry for the long reply.

From:

zeeth_kyrah

Courtney Love says, in this, that Lars Ulrich had a point. But by the very math she mentions, no, he never did. He insulted Metallica fans because he thought they owed him something for sharing his music, for creating more of a product that he wasn't being paid for. But he wasn't being paid for it in the first place, now was he? Twice nothing is, as always, still nothing. Metallica is, was, and always shall be supported by touring, not record deals.

Too bad touring only works if you have the respect of your fans.

You never hear from those guys anymore, do you? Cincinnati has a radio station that instituted an hour they called "Mandatory Metallica" after the lawsuit I call "Metallica Hates Their Fans". This station almost never plays anything off the latest few albums, because nobody cared enough to buy them and nobody knows the songs well enough to request them.

Metallica lost because they acted like they were owed money for love. Courtney wins because she never ever insulted her fans. She asked that people show their love for her work by offering fair value, not that they Pay Up Now You Goddamn Thieves.

The RIAA still believes in Metallica. I continue to desire their downfall.

I have sworn an oath that the first CD I buy when I have the resources again will be from an independent artist. I have been "dry" for several years now, supported in my albumless state by free-and-honest downloads and sharing by friends. It hasn't just been that I haven't had the money. I also needed to find someone I could buy from, at a time that I wanted to buy music.