I Ate Your Microphone

First, let me explain why this is titled version 1. The logic is simple. There will undoubtedly be a lot of these posts because there are an almost insurmountable number of reasons why major labels suck. I’ll try my best not to simply state that they con artists out of money, although in many cases they do, and give a more rounded opinion. So, in volume 1 we’re going to briefly discuss how major labels con artists out of money when they offer digital downloads to consumers. Weird Al Yankovic pointed out that he makes considerably less (although, still considerably more than most I would imagine) money when his singles or albums sell as digital downloads. He points out that while it costs the labels and producers considerably less money to offer a song for download than to produce it on CD the artist sees less money. This despite, in the case of iTunes, an album only costing the consumer a couple of dollars less. Thedigitalmusicweblog rather conveniently did some math to save every one else the effort so thanks for that. I’ll cut a somewhat long mathematical story short here. Not only does the post point out that Weird Al (like so many other artists) only receives 4% of the sales from his digital music but also that he would be earning, on average, $45 for every thousand songs sold. That’s 4.5 cents per song; when you consider that albums from Weird Al sell on iTunes for around $12 each that’s ludicrous. In contrast, a $15 CD would line Weird Al’s pockets with about 31 cents per song. Obviously, the morale of this story to most of us is not that we should buy the CD to make artists more money but something else. Artists on the books of major record labels get shafted whether their music sells digitally or on CD. Keep your eyes peeled for volume 2, which is sure to be with you sooner than you think.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 17th, 2006 at 9:22 am and is filed under Label Bashing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

In all honesty, unless you stumbled upon this blog by mistake then there is a very real chance you will know all of this. At the very least, you will have had a vague idea that these things certainly do occur. However, one of my routine searches for any information pertaining to independent music threw up an AskMen article titled 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Record Deals. While the information may be generally accepted as gospel to the proponents of independent music, as well as those currently being shafted by their labels, it is good to see that the word is being spread a little bit more. The article covers the fact that:

• Signing a record deal is like selling your soul
• How record labels use hidden costs to take more money off artists
• Cash advances need to be returned
• Deals can leave you with no recording opportunity
• A deal also takes all of the copyrights to your masterpieces.

It might not be breaking news to some of us, but I’m equally sure that many readers will want a further run down on a lot of the points mentioned. So, expect five more posts to follow looking at each point in more detail in the coming weeks. If you already know it, then read anyway and get your blood boiling and your anger rising at the hideous way that the major labels treat artists.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 10th, 2006 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Label Bashing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The name Les Paul has become synonymous with music. As well as being an incredible guitarist himself, he invented and manufactured incredible instruments and recording instruments. Virtually every musician will have had their musical lives touched in some way by this musical genius. Today, June 9th, he turned 91. The first Gibson Les Paul was produced in 1952 that brought an entirely new and unique sound and feel to guitar playing that was unbelievable in it’s day. New models of Les Paul guitars continued to make guitarists salivate for decades to come. The invention and introduction of the first electric guitar, however, was only one of Les Paul’s accolades but an intriguing one nonetheless. The first prototype he created was a hideously heavy piece of solid wood. This was christened the log and while it was unfeasible to use it as an instrument itself, it did give Paul the foundation for his first playable and, more importantly, lighter electric guitar. Inventing the first 8 track recorder also rocketed Paul into the record books and enabled him to record tracks with his wife that were heavily reliant on overdubbing. This had previously been impossible to achieve until Les Paul himself invented multi-track recording. He is also accredited with the discovery of various effects. Despite being 91 years of age and suffering from debilitating arthritis that has rendered almost his entire left hand useless he can still be seen and heard playing at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York. Happy 91st Birthday Les Paul.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2006 at 5:46 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.