independent artist vs. mainstream

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T-Spoon

T-Spoon

Sicc OG
#1
Apr 26, 2002
3,897
638
113
#1
basically this is to all tha indies on this board:

i'm tryin to undershtand somethin. on average, how many dollars duz a indie artist get to keep from sellin a c.d. compared to a mainstream artist who is signed to a big record company?

the reason i'm askin is cuz a whole lotta folx i think are naive to tha fact tha indie artist's make scrilla too. jus cuz they aint multi-platinum don't mean they don't make hella money. i alwayz argue wit folx at work cuz of my music preference. they're alwayz like, "well brotha lynch is broke cuz he ain't multi platinum and tha money is wut it's all about, bla, bla, bla."

wut i'm thinkin is, lynch and bo sold 200,000 of blocc movement. if they got to keep @ least $5 of each c.d., then they woulda grossed a mil ticcet. so is this possible? fold.
 
odogfelon

odogfelon

Sicc OG
#2
Jun 2, 2002
812
0
16
42
#2
ever hear the saying 'tryin to make a doller out of fifteen cents'? they're not talking about drugs on this one, and anyways i wouldn't think indies would want cats from the steet that deep in there sauce knowing there bank roll and status...
 
C

CrushOne

Sicc OG
#3
May 11, 2002
401
0
0
#3
b12 could tell ya for sure, but its around 6-8 bucks a cd that the artist keeps i believe. but for group albums they prolly split the profits. Plus, the distributor charges the artists for unsold returns of products which can be a hefty chunk of change. Plus as 12er was sayin, you need to keep the projects rollin in to keep the cash flowin. You also have to consider the other costs of making an album such as production, advertising, printing, etc, etc which also are taken out of the net profits. Somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Peace
 
T-Spoon

T-Spoon

Sicc OG
#5
Apr 26, 2002
3,897
638
113
#5
odogfelon said:
ever hear the saying 'tryin to make a doller out of fifteen cents'? they're not talking about drugs on this one, and anyways i wouldn't think indies would want cats from the steet that deep in there sauce knowing there bank roll and status...
Click to expand...
naw, i'm not tryin to get in specifics of it, jus a ballpark figure. fold.
 
T-Spoon

T-Spoon

Sicc OG
#6
Apr 26, 2002
3,897
638
113
#6
CrushOne said:
b12 could tell ya for sure, but its around 6-8 bucks a cd that the artist keeps i believe. but for group albums they prolly split the profits.
Click to expand...
and a mainstream prolly sees bout $1 per c.d., am i correct? fold.
 
C

CrushOne

Sicc OG
#7
May 11, 2002
401
0
0
#7
haha lol thats about right! Thats why 100000-200000 units on a major is considered a flop, whereas independant its considered a major success u dig? and like the homie quinn said, you know, with a major you get a lil 10% of the profit or whatever, and from, that 10% mothafuckas be nibblin from that too (for all the shit I listed earlier.) So in a way it does make a lot more sense for an artist like CBo, or Lynch or Quinn to stay independant and collect a lot more money per CD. Plus a lotta fools on TV look rich but its all floss (but you already knew that right?) And from my observation a lotta Bay cats stay grimey, don't floss, and drive $500 auction buckets. Broke? I doubt it, stackin, I'm sure.


T-Spoon said:


and a mainstream prolly sees bout $1 per c.d., am i correct? fold.
Click to expand...
 
C

CrushOne

Sicc OG
#8
May 11, 2002
401
0
0
#8
CrushOne said:
b12 could tell ya for sure, but its around 6-8 bucks a cd that the artist keeps i believe. but for group albums they prolly split the profits. Plus, the distributor charges the artists for unsold returns of products which can be a hefty chunk of change. Plus as 12er was sayin, you need to keep the projects rollin in to keep the cash flowin. You also have to consider the other costs of making an album such as production, advertising, printing, etc, etc which also are taken out of the net profits. Somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Peace
Click to expand...
and don't forget these albums are often financed by a baller behind the scenes, not by the artist, so he needs to get broke off too... thats why i often wonder if some of these albums really do recop their budgets, but I wouldn't know cause I don't have a soundscan machine =)
 
FastLane/S::G

FastLane/S::G

overly international
#9
Sep 17, 2002
2,955
27
0
42
ATL SHAWTY
www.siccness.net
#9
it's somethin like this:
a Mainstream artist that sells 500,000 gets to keep around $67,000
an Independent artist that sells 500,000 (which is highly unlikely by the way) gets to keep around $3,000,000

by the way, i heard from someone on this board (MS?) that most of the mainstream fetti is made through touring
 
K

kev ski

Sicc OG
#10
May 13, 2002
844
3
0
#10
most artist on majors make money from publishing you gotta keep that for yourself. also being on a major can help later on if you dont make it, alot of artist dont last but if they release an indy album then they have a large fan base and can make good money, also going major means youll be touring alot to promote your cd.
 
Sydal

Sydal

Sicc OG
#11
Apr 25, 2002
7,232
170
63
42
www.idealsentertainment.com
#11
When you are signed to a major, most of your money comes from ASCAP or BMI (which is your publishing), and touring...

That's why I've already become a member of ASCAP, because some cats like Suge Knight try to get the publishing rights for all their artists' shit....
 
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