It is not about the money in the sense of getting rich, just making enough to have a decent leaving and do what you love. For me that would be writing music, recording great records(soundwise included), and playing as many shows as possible but also being as professional as possible. From what I've seen and heard, bands use the don't do it for the money it about music as an excuse not to work and to never grow up.
Opeth Job and Finance history
- Thread starter Obelisk
- Start date
biggsy
New Metal Member
Doesn't the record company hire the producer and pay the recording studio? They then take the costs out of eventual record sales. It's the reason why it takes years for bands to start making any money, unless they get massive.
i'm struggling with that too currently, no money for anything other than living. i think you need a well paid job and freetime, wich you don't have with bookbinding... not after 1½ years of work anyway. 13 hours a day goes to work, the rest of the time to my wife and friends, and when she goes to sleep i have the sparetime every night, but nothing comes free so i don't sleep mutch. But i heard that the drummer of katatonia is a bookbinder aswell so i have faith ^_^
It's a knife edge gamble really, the best chance you have of even moderate success is to quit your job and tour CONSTANTLY, playing any toilet that will have you. Then hopefully you will slowly build a fan base through word of mouth, and you will get infinitely tighter as a band too. But you will be living in poverty while you are doing this (many bands have to pay to play, and even if you do get paid it won't cover your food/fuel/room). If you don't make it you face the possibility of your prospects of being viewed as unemployable or 'unreliable' by future employers, due to your lack of education and work history. The guy who collects the shopping trolleys in my local played all over europe in the eighties, and now that's the only job he can get. You will find it difficult to buy a place to live, this will have serious financial implications for you in middle age. But if you don't take the risk you will be plagued by 'what if' for the rest of your life. 
Though having said all this, Opeth made it without touring. However they built their reputation by being pretty unique/extraordinary, most bands situations are different...
Though having said all this, Opeth made it without touring. However they built their reputation by being pretty unique/extraordinary, most bands situations are different...
Pethical
Tom
foodforthegods
Member
Nichtsicher
Member
I heard Mikael say a while ago after Deliverence and Damnation they could start living off the band, but I dont have a source.
Lethe78
Expired candle
Lethe78
Expired candle
I heard the same thing a few years ago. (And this is an inquiry as opposed to a rumour. A rumour would be, "Peter is getting his masters' degree in physics" with absolutely no backing to it. You are correct.)
I've read Mikael say in an interview that Still Life sold around 20,000 copies or was it that Blackwater Park sold 80,000. Anyways, in their album diary they said BWP outsold Still Life by %400, do the math. I don't think I'll have too much trouble finding a job since I am finishing a master's degree in Applied Math. My plan was to teach since you get so much free time but I'm looking for a job where I don't have to take work home with me. I've talked to some bands and they've said the metal scene isn't good in NYC, LA, or Tampa but in Europe which I considered but how would I get a job there? I was thinking either norway or Sweden.
hibernal_dream
A Mind Forever Voyaging
You don't get much free time in teaching. You're always going to have to take work home with you.
I think they started with low budget and because they got the recognition they could continue and evolve economically so to product and distribute their records.
Like Peter (I think) sad on the GR video it all had a progress on it, Opeth wasn’t a big bang.
Like Peter (I think) sad on the GR video it all had a progress on it, Opeth wasn’t a big bang.
HoursOfDebt
Perfect Tantrum...
i know that billboard rankings for two of the albums...
<all on the billboard 200: North America>
Ghost Reveries> #64 2 weeks
Damnation > # 192
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=185507&aid=730787
<all on the billboard 200: North America>
Ghost Reveries> #64 2 weeks
Damnation > # 192
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=185507&aid=730787
One Winged Angel
Tägtgren Follower
Actually it has been posted here about Peter being learned in the ways of physics. Here's a swedish article about it:
http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~jonhall/fyzeeker.jpg
I think somebody translated it to english somewhere in this forum. Glad to help answer your inquiry, fizz.
One Winged Angel
Tägtgren Follower
hibernal_dream
A Mind Forever Voyaging
Lothlorien
Towards the Great Sky
- Jan 28, 2006
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From orchid until MAYH-Still Life period, it would seem to me that Opeth's income based upon their total assets in music would be not enough to live off of.
I know in interviews Mikael said that during Orchid/Morningrise he was dirt poor. If I'm correct he said "poorer than most metal bands."
I also know that Mikael worked in a music shop up until perhaps MAYH/Still Life era, dont qoute me on the time period.
It seems that once BWP took off a little bit the guys could take the money they earned once they started going out on tour more and they could live off of that during their breaks. When D/D/ came out is when they began gaining momentum and were playing some American festivals and doing alot of touring in America as well. Then with Ghost Reveries they started making good money playing to sell out shows and touring hundreds of times last year.
This information has no source, this is just the knowledge I've gathered over the years. I could be wrong on some things, but that's "in short" Opeth's financial history.
I know in interviews Mikael said that during Orchid/Morningrise he was dirt poor. If I'm correct he said "poorer than most metal bands."
I also know that Mikael worked in a music shop up until perhaps MAYH/Still Life era, dont qoute me on the time period.
It seems that once BWP took off a little bit the guys could take the money they earned once they started going out on tour more and they could live off of that during their breaks. When D/D/ came out is when they began gaining momentum and were playing some American festivals and doing alot of touring in America as well. Then with Ghost Reveries they started making good money playing to sell out shows and touring hundreds of times last year.
This information has no source,
this is just the knowledge I've gathered over the years. I could be wrong on some things, but that's "in short" Opeth's financial history.Similar threads
