Did White Light Break Even?

[evan]

The above post may have more insider info than I do, but I think there's a small difference. I play in a band and we recorded our album with a fairly experienced engineer. (He's frequently on the Juno Judges - I'm not boasting, this has nothing to do with my band in the slightest.) This guy said he attended a conferance in Vancouver where Matt spoke, and he said it was riveting. Matt said (to a room full of industry execs) that industry execs are loan sharks, only out to make money off the backs of artists and nothing else.

 

As a result, Matt self-finances all of his own records. He doesn't take money from the company, who with interest and such can make it much harder for an artist to "break even" on a record. Thats why its so difficult from an artist's point of view. By self-financing he's able to guage the true cost of making a record, and when he's made the costs back, he actually has made the money back.

 

Someome may read this and say "wow is that guy wrong, where'd he get his info" - and it is second hand. But admittedly, it sounds like something Matt would do, and my source is very respectable.

 

[edit-sp]

if this is the case, he would be considered an independant artist... which he is not. for example, underdogs was an independantly made album. matt and his band paid the entire cost out of their own pockets. the entire point of having a record label is so that he can be backed finacially. it's true that matt invests his own money into making the album, but he didnt fund it solely, otherwise it wouldnt have universal music logos all over it.

 

universal pays for the recording of his albums and his videos.

[kissed]

So does Matt get paid for what the retailers buy, or what the retailers sell? Not much of a distinction, I know...but...well...might as well learn about this.

i would imagine he gets paid for what the company buys, because CD stores and whatnot seem to hold on to CD's and wait for them to sell, that way they have more selection than if the store sent the CD's back for a refund.

I think it depends on the chain. The store I work in does a return at the end of every month. For catalogue titles, we send back anything that hasn't sold at least a year. If there are more than one of a given title, we look at the sales for the past six months. If they are good numbers, we keep them both. It they aren't we send back one, or both.

 

For hit titles it's a bit different. We have to run a sold report and send back overstock or any product that isn't moving. We have to do it in order to keep space on our shelves for newer titles and the things that more people want.

 

I don't know the specific numbers, but we just had to send back five of the eight copies we had of White Light. It's still selling, but not as strongly as it was for the first two weeks. It seems to have done well by normal standards, but when comparing it to MGB albums the numbers are a lot smaller.

 

On a completely different note, a lot of the people I talked to at work who bought the cd weren't hard core Matt Good fans. A lot of people who bought it said they didn't like his older stuff much at all.

[Anthony77]

Read the thread next time?

;) sorry.

[howiepea]

I think it depends on the chain. The store I work in does a return at the end of every month.

What store do you work at kissed?

[Emu]

Matt posted pictures on his blog of the band receiving their gold records for WLRRR a while back... so, uh, yeah I'm assuming it went gold.

[THE MAN]

Both Avalanche and WLRRR went gold in Canada, but Avalanche sold more.

 

In regards to making money off the record, I would imagine Matt did make money if he fronted the money himeself. He did the album in 2 weeks, which chopped off a huge chunk of change, meaning he spent less, so he recoops faster. I also think its why Christian only plays on 4 tracks, so that he doesnt have to give him a large cut from sales (or maybe matt just wants full creative control).

 

When it comes to record sales, Its split 50/50 with the artist and the distributor. Not only this, but Mechanical licenising fees are given directly to the artisit. For every song on the CD, the artisit gets 8.7 cents for the first 5 minutes, and an additional 1.7 cents for every minute after.

 

The artists money from CD sales is also split between the Producer (who takes up to 3% from every sale) and the management company (anywhere from 10 to 50%).

 

As far as live shows, that really is where an artisit makes the money. He gets basically all the money from ticket sales, and merchandise sales are split 50/50 with the club owner (unless sold outside in a van, then its all the artists profit). The management also takes a chunk of the preformance fees. The CMRRA also pays a certain amount of money to the artisit for every song played, which isnt touched by anyone.

 

An artist will also get money from radio play and video play (roughly $14 every time a song is played anywhere) and from TV useage (comercials, shows, etc.).

 

 

 

If you have any other questions on the industry, PM me.

Edited January 27, 2005 by THE MAN

[OceanusBlue]

I'm really finding this thread quite interesting. You've answered a lot of my questions. The music business is fascinating and always something I've been intrigued by.

 

Carry on,

Hayley