Comments on: Free agency

By: JulieW8

JulieW8 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:12:40 +0000

Oh, the music business is nasty! My daughter was tapped for one of those manufactured groups that were so popular back in the early 90s and after spending some time talking with the managers and the producers and the lawyers and ad nauseum – I thought to myself “where in all this does SHE make any money?”

The producer wanted 50% of everything. The manager wanted 15%. The lawyer would get 5%. Every advance the label “gives” you has to be earned – and paid back. If you go on tour, the producer, the manager, the lawyer and the label all still have their hand in your pocket – but on top of that you’re paying 10% to the booking agent, a certain amount to managers at each venue, and God knows who else I never heard about AND you pay all the expenses of your tour.

How to make money in music? Write it. A #1 hit recorded by ANYBODY will pay the songwriter/lyricist probably more than the recording artist will get for it. Paul McCartney got rich as a Beatle – but his real wealth came from his songwriting.

Digitization is most certainly going to change publishing like it’s changed music – hopefully for the better, for both authors and readers.

By: MoJo

MoJo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:08:18 +0000

The LDS church or the LDS publishing almost-monopoly? The church doesn’t care one way or another.

The LDS publishing community, I don’t think does, either. It’s just so small and so few ways to compete, AND from what I’m reading lately, LDS publishers can be worse about their contracts than national publishers.

By: Peach

Peach — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:58:15 +0000

Very thought-provoking, MoJo. I am with you though, while the process of venturing forth independently seems daunting at times, you hear so may things from published authors that really make you sit up and pay attention…and look for a better way. In this case, since the niche is so small, they see it as ‘status quo or nothing’, especially given the genre/subject matter. How would the LDS organization view LDS materials published independently?

By: RJ Keller

RJ Keller — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:22:26 +0000

Here, MoJo:

At about the 4 minute mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx8C2OTPq-A

By: Wm Morris

Wm Morris — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:50:24 +0000

The Too Much Joy financial statement is hilarious. I remember that band. They had some decent hits, got great radioplay (on alternative stations, but still) and had some periods of buzz. Granted, they were alternative, but the fact that they ended up 400,000 in debt to their recording company is insane, especially, since, as the dude notes, they didn’t actually pay themselves much out of the advance.

And Albini’s list is priceless. “The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month.”

By: Eugene

Eugene — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:36:21 +0000

"An offhanded remark can make an enemy" is a deeply pathetic thing to say about a bunch of religious publishing houses.

By: MoJo

MoJo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:33:26 +0000

The first time I heard of anything like this was in 1997, I believe. One of the girls from TLC was on VH1 Behind the Music, and she was explaining how they could sell scads of records and make millions of dollars and still be broke and have to declare bankruptcy. She broke down the retail price of a CD to the PENNY and where every cent went. I was APPALLED, I tell you!

I have been trying to find that interview ever since and haven’t, but I did run across Courtney Love’s screed.

It was indentured servitude bordering on slavery.

By: Wm Morris

Wm Morris — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:22:53 +0000

Dear Authors:

Learn from the agony of musicians and labels. When labels get desperate they get nasty.

Some background here: http://www.kulturblog.com/2010/01/the-business-of-music/

Make sure you click on the links to the rants by Albini and by Too Much Joy linked to in the comments. Take a close look at those financial statements. Now it’s not quite so extreme for authors, but can you really afford to be paying for expense accounts? For executive salaries? How much marketing and repping are you *really* going to get?

By: MoJo

MoJo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:56:56 +0000

It is daunting, I’ll admit it. Occasionally I have twinges of regret, but they don’t last long (usually until the next time I see a published author bitching).

In this case, though, I’m talking about an already-established publishing niche that is microscopic to begin with. *I* play in the national sandbox. The authors I’m referring to play in a sandbox the size of a banker’s box. Why not bail?

By: Leigh Royals

Leigh Royals — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:53:02 +0000

I really don’t know. I have to find where I fit. I’d love to do this on my own. But I am not sure I have the knowledge, resources or ability. Going on your own and finding that perfect niche is daunting. It seems ‘safer’ maybe, to go where success, albeit harder to obtain in the bigger sandboxes, would be certain.