Metal bands: desperate salesmen?

[CF87]

I have heard bands have to pay back the label for studio budget so album sales are pretty important. A label or band is going to try hardest to sell their cds. If a band could not pay back studio costs a label probably would not keep them for long. Albums sales is not extra money for a band unless they sell enough where the can pay back the label and have extra money. You also do not know how much a label puts towards touring,gear,etc.... or if they want you to pay that back with album sales also.

 

[hibernal_dream]

You'd have to be stupid to believe a band when they say their new album is the best thing they've ever done.

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

Actually, more metal musicians than you would expect are doing okay on their music these days. Especially those who are involved with the business side of things doing labels or distros.

Exactly. If you compose and perform the music, record it in your home studio, produce and mix it yourself, do all the artwork and layout yourself, design and distribute all the merch yourself, book all your own shows, distribute your album by yourself, and DIY everything else, you might come out ahead. But you will still have to sell a hell of a lot of records and play a shit load of shows before you can make a decent living.

 

[CF87]

You'd have to be stupid to believe a band when they say their new album is the best thing they've ever done.

Exactly.

 

[argentina]

Well if it is true why not say it? %) King Diamond has not got a single album which is bad hehe ))

But ok if seriously- I dont think it matters. I never believe any band till I hear the record myself. I can see why they would do that tho.. I mean how else would they sell their stuff to the new fans? And it s not like you would start pissing all over your own work.

So as long as they keep on releasing good music- that is good enough for me A healthy bit of advertising does not make a band worse.. It is their work afterall ))

 

[CF87]

King Diamond has had a few bad albums and some average one's so you can't really trust in his opinion, his new album could be complete garbage or great. KD is not brutal so i'm not sure why he thinks that would be the best way to market the new album or get people to buy it. I would like to see the new KD more weird like the old releases and if he chooses to use female vocals get a better one than the female on the puppet master who is pretty average.

 

[argentina]

The Greys
Fair enough- each is entitled to his own opinion I still dont think there is a single bad KD album. Except for maybe House of God, does not do it for me musically. But the lyrics there are enough to forgive the weaker musical part.

I am not sure why he thinks this way is the best, but clearly he is mistaken I havent met a single person outside of the "metal community" who would have heard of the guy.. And not all that many metalheads know him either.. Most I met (in life, not on forums that is) just heard the name

And yeah I agree that it would be great if he went back to the roots, but then I did love the last album very much. And the woman singer did a great performance I thought. Where she didnt make it "technically" she used a lot of emotion, so that kind of leveled her performance out really well imo

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

I have heard bands have to pay back the label for studio budget so album sales are pretty important. A label or band is going to try hardest to sell their cds. If a band could not pay back studio costs a label probably would not keep them for long. Albums sales is not extra money for a band unless they sell enough where the can pay back the label and have extra money. You also do not know how much a label puts towards touring,gear,etc.... or if they want you to pay that back with album sales also.

The paying back the label for studio time is called Recoupment and is taken out of album sales. After recoupment the bands get royalties. When I said extra money I meant after recoupment. Tour costs are usually not recoupable and labels usually just provide the marketing/advertising of the tour. Usually what is recoupable is advances, recording costs and video costs. Things not recoupable to the label are manufacturing costs, promotion costs, advertising, marketing, shipping etc.

So yes album sales can be extra money after recoupment. And $50,000 I believe is a attainable amount if you look at it as a business as well as a artform. Considering how long bands tour for sometimes and if they managed their money well, yes they could make a living in this game even for a extreme metal band. Plus they make money from merchandise such as T shirts and are allowed to sell their albums at shows sometimes. I'm sure Samoth, Isahn, Quorthon (when he was alive) as well as other extreme metal musicians that we are not sure about because they keep their lives private are making a living with no dayjob.

 

[Priest of Evil]

I say just let people decide for themselves.

or let Decibel decide for you!

 

[Hell Awaits Us All]

so how much money do fairly popular underground bands make?? like behemoth??

considering T-shirt sales, touring, etc... do they make like 400,000 a year???

 

[Matt]

Interesting question there...I want to also.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Honesty is the furthest thing away from advertising ethics.

They're not selling mainly to a bunch of business majors; they're selling to insane kids who will do crazy shit for good music.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

When Lemmy said Kiss of Death is better then Inferno, I believe him