Post by Common on Jan 2, 2004 22:08:34 GMT -5
Andy said:
Hello Common: You gave a very well thought out answer. There are some impressive members on this board and you are one of them. I never would have gotten all of that detail from any source. Your answer suggests that most of the leverage was with the studio and the performers were SOL unless they had star power behind them. It was a tough business. By the way, how did you learn all of that? Best, as always, AJAAndy: Thank you for the compliment. Yes, unfortunately, these recording contracts are geared towards the company. The artists always get the raw end of the deal. Artists can make money by either writing/producing or touring. Nowadays, artists have to be multi-talented in order to generate some decent income. Even if the artist is big star, if their contract doesn't give them some type of decent financial gains or terms, all the artist has is their name. Stevie Wonder is an excellent example of someone from the old school who took charge of his career. He wrote, arranged & produced his own songs. His songs are published by his own independent publishing company, which will generate income of him if his songs are re-made, played on the radio or used in commercials, etc. When he negotiated his contract at Motown in the '70s, he became one of the highest paid entertainers/singers. Motown paid him $13M a year(which is now a drop in the bucket by today's standards) in the 70s because they knew that his records, which were huge sellers, would return huge profits. I'm sure there were other amenities/conditions in his contract that we don't know but Stevie got paid because he was smart & hired people who handled his business.
To answer your question, I just love music(can't you tell? ;D ) in general & I've always enjoyed learning different aspects of it, not just the musically side. I've also learned alot of this from several Motown/music books that I've collected, that gives you insight as to what goes on behind the scenes. James Brown made the comment that The music business was 99% business & 1% show. He didn't lie about that!