What kind of cash do metal bands rake in anyway?

Seditious said:
which metal bands ahve endorsement deals? I've never heard of this
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Tons of bands have endorsement deals for stuff like guitar strings, cymbals, drum sticks and drum heads. As they get more popular they may get guitar/amp and drum kit endorsements as well. It usually says in the cd booklet who they're endorsed by.
 
Mort Divine said:
Daniel from Pain of Salvation lives off of his music, but for some reason the other members hold jobs (by choice, as I'm sure they could live off of the music too.)
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It might have to do with songwriting credit. I remember reading an interview with Mikael from Opeth a few years ago about this and he mentioned that because he has songwriting credit on every song he gets more money than the other members do (who are just playing members). I don't know if PoS has a similar arrangement but that could be a reason.

In any case I really don't think even "big" underground metal bands like Opeth really make an amazing amount of money. They can probably live off of it by now (I know Mikeal does) but I'm sure you could easily make more money with a regular job.

And I think some people here might be overstating the amount of money you get from endorsements. I mean sure if you're Dave Mustaine or something you might get a decent amount for that, but if you're just some guy in an underground metal band (even if it's a fairly well known one) you aren't going to make loads off of it. I can't imagine it amounting to anything more than a nice bonus and nothing more than that (a few hundred a year or something).

I wish I could still find that Opeth interview. It gave a pretty decent glimpse into the financial situation of a reasonably successful underground metal band (at the time of Blackwater Park or something).
 
Killbot said:
I wonder if Sunn 0))) amps are endorsed by Sunn 0)))
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sunn isnt around anymore. although fender bought the technology.

sunn got its name because the guitarist was in the studio with vintage sunn amps and loved the tone.

id like to have one someday
~gR~
 
CAIRATH said:
It might have to do with songwriting credit. I remember reading an interview with Mikael from Opeth a few years ago about this and he mentioned that because he has songwriting credit on every song he gets more money than the other members do (who are just playing members). I don't know if PoS has a similar arrangement but that could be a reason.

In any case I really don't think even "big" underground metal bands like Opeth really make an amazing amount of money. They can probably live off of it by now (I know Mikeal does) but I'm sure you could easily make more money with a regular job.

And I think some people here might be overstating the amount of money you get from endorsements. I mean sure if you're Dave Mustaine or something you might get a decent amount for that, but if you're just some guy in an underground metal band (even if it's a fairly well known one) you aren't going to make loads off of it. I can't imagine it amounting to anything more than a nice bonus and nothing more than that (a few hundred a year or something).

I wish I could still find that Opeth interview. It gave a pretty decent glimpse into the financial situation of a reasonably successful underground metal band (at the time of Blackwater Park or something).
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Some money from royalties, songwriting credits, touring, endorsements (i think they get more then just a few hundred per year.. perhaps $5,000 or more since it wouldn't be worthwhile for a artist to endorse something for a few hundred), merchandising etc etc a band can make a living.. not saying multimillionaires but pay their bills and have some left over for things in life you like to do... and depending on the cost of living in one's country or State in the U.S. a 5 figure or 6 figure payday would not be bad... everyone makes it sound like they make just like $5,000 a year when in reality the big underground bands make a whole lot more then that.. just think of all the royalties they get from each and every country their CD's are sold in... maybe in one country you don't sell alot but if you count all the countries overall CD sales it can add up.. and you don't just make roylalties one time and thats it... you keep making royalties over years off that one album in combination with all other albums you come out with as well... a band like Immortal & Emperor (not including their recent reunions) might not be together anymore but their albums sell year after year from new BM fans... plus if you own your own label you of course stand to make more because everything goes to you and you do not have to split it with a label you don't own... some of the smart ones are guys like Samoth who I'm sure makes a living from it...

here's something I'm sure some of you read in the Lords of Chaos book... Varg's mom tried to pay off some people to break out her son from jail with $20,000 which was traced to his sales of Burzum albums for that year... $20,000 is nothing to sneeze about but he made that much without even touring, merchandising etc... so imagine if he made that $20,000 while being free and making money from other sources like touring and merchandise as well... he wouldn't do too bad... for one year... another example is or was Quorthon/Bathory... the guy never toured but I'm sure he lived off of his royalties since his albums sold year after year which he even admitted that his first album did in a interview when he was alive... plus I wouldn't be surprised if he owned a cut of Black Mark records with his father...

and yes you could probably make more money in a regular job assuming you have some sort of college degree but you would be a slave to someone while being a band you are doing something you love and getting paid for it...
 
Unfaithfully Metalhead said:
Some money from royalties, songwriting credits, touring, endorsements (i think they get more then just a few hundred per year.. perhaps $5,000 or more since it wouldn't be worthwhile for a artist to endorse something for a few hundred), merchandising etc etc a band can make a living.. not saying multimillionaires but pay their bills and have some left over for things in life you like to do... and depending on the cost of living in one's country or State in the U.S. a 5 figure or 6 figure payday would not be bad... everyone makes it sound like they make just like $5,000 a year when in reality the big underground bands make a whole lot more then that.. just think of all the royalties they get from each and every country their CD's are sold in... maybe in one country you don't sell alot but if you count all the countries overall CD sales it can add up.. and you don't just make roylalties one time and thats it... you keep making royalties over years off that one album in combination with all other albums you come out with as well... a band like Immortal & Emperor (not including their recent reunions) might not be together anymore but their albums sell year after year from new BM fans... plus if you own your own label you of course stand to make more because everything goes to you and you do not have to split it with a label you don't own... some of the smart ones are guys like Samoth who I'm sure makes a living from it...

here's something I'm sure some of you read in the Lords of Chaos book... Varg's mom tried to pay off some people to break out her son from jail with $20,000 which was traced to his sales of Burzum albums for that year... $20,000 is nothing to sneeze about but he made that much without even touring, merchandising etc... so imagine if he made that $20,000 while being free and making money from other sources like touring and merchandise as well... he wouldn't do too bad... for one year... another example is or was Quorthon/Bathory... the guy never toured but I'm sure he lived off of his royalties since his albums sold year after year which he even admitted that his first album did in a interview when he was alive... plus I wouldn't be surprised if he owned a cut of Black Mark records with his father...

and yes you could probably make more money in a regular job assuming you have some sort of college degree but you would be a slave to someone while being a band you are doing something you love and getting paid for it...
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Was that 20,000 in Norwegian currency though? Anyway, Burzum is one of the top selling black metal acts (or would be, if albums were more readily available), so that's not a good example.

For endorsements, if someone's willing to give you a free guitar, amp, or drumset to use on tour, I don't think there would need to be much money involved. Like ~gR~ said, the value is that you can save the money you would have to spend on replacing gear every so often.
 
MasterOLightning said:
Was that 20,000 in Norwegian currency though? Anyway, Burzum is one of the top selling black metal acts (or would be, if albums were more readily available), so that's not a good example.

For endorsements, if someone's willing to give you a free guitar, amp, or drumset to use on tour, I don't think there would need to be much money involved. Like ~gR~ said, the value is that you can save the money you would have to spend on replacing gear every so often.
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20,000 in US dollars... and yes they or him would be a good example of someone or a band that can make a living off of it... it was just a $$ example.. to show it's possible... I'm sure if and when Varg gets out he will live ok off of his royalties of his past albums and any future albums he makes since he has alot of fans around the world of his music...

as for endorsements of music equipment... when they give you free equipment and you save money from buying the equipment it is like they are giving you $$ so to speak..
 
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