steve albini attacks the industry (if U play, read this)

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 5:52 pm

by steve albini. the real one is almost entirely links he put in it, if you want that version PM me and ill fwd it to you.
if you get bored reading, skip to the last section. everyone should at least read the last section so they know why those concert tix cost em so much money.
this is fucking great.

The Problem With Music by Steve Albini

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed.

Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says, "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim it again, please. Backstroke."

And he does, of course.

I. A&R Scouts

Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A&R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire," because historically, the A&R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly.

These guys are universally young (about the same age as the bands being wooed), and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave. Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well.

There are several reasons A&R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip" to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences.

The A&R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it.

When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast.

By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A&R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.

These A&R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on.

The spookiest thing about this harmless sounding little "memo," is that it is, for all legal purposes, a binding document. That is, once the band sign it, they are under obligation to conclude a deal with the label. If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength.

These letters never have any term of expiration, so the band remain bound by the deal memo until a contract is signed, no matter how long that takes. The band cannot sign to another label or even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens. Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.

One of my favorite bands was held hostage for the better part of two years by a slick young "He's not like a label guy at all,' A&R rep, on the basis of such a deal memo. He had failed to come through on any of his promises (something he did with similar effect to another well-known band), and so the band wanted out. Another label expressed interest, but when the A&R man was asked to release the band, he said he would need money or points, or possibly both, before he would consider it.

The new label was afraid the price would be too dear, and they said no thanks. On the cusp of making their signature album, an excellent band, humiliated, broke up from the stress and the many months of inactivity.

II. There's This Band

There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized "independent" label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label.

They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security--you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work.

To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyway, it doesn't cost them any thing if it doesn't work. 15% of nothing isn't much!

One day an A&R scout calls them, says he's "been following them for a while now," and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just "clicked." Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time.

They meet the guy, and y'know what--he's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude. They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot.

The A&R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question - he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Wharton Tiers, maybe--cost you 5 or 10 grand) and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about.

Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself. Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin/Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children -- without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties.

Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer--one who says he's experienced in entertainment law--and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be getting a great royalty: 13% (less a 10% packaging deduction). Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever.

The old label only wants 50 grand, and no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's English. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter-million, just for being in a rock band!

Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contract over too. Hell, it's free money.

Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody in the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands (like Therapy? and Sloan and Stereolab) use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better.

The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on t-shirt sales! Ridiculous! There's a gold mine here! The lawyer should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe.

They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picked them up in a limo.

They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old vintage microphones. Boy, were they "warm." He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very "punchy," yet "warm".

All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies!

Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are:

These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. Income is underlined, expenses are not.

Advance: $250,000
Manager's cut: $37,500
Legal fees: $10,000

Recording Budget: $150,000
Producer's advance: $50,000
Studio fee: $52,500
Drum, Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $3,000
Recording tape: $8,000
Equipment rental: $5,000
Cartage and Transportation: $5,000
Lodgings while in studio: $10,000
Catering: $3,000
Mastering: $10,000
Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc expenses: $2,000

Video budget: $30,000
Cameras: $8,000
Crew: $5,000
Processing and transfers: $3,000
Offline: $2,000
Online editing: $3,000
Catering: $1,000
Stage and construction: $3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation: $2,000
Director's fee: $3,000

Album Artwork: $5,000
Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $2,000

Band fund: $15,000
New fancy professional drum kit: $5,000
New fancy professional guitars (2): $3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp rigs (2): $4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $1,000
Rehearsal space rental: $500
Big blowout party for their friends: $500

Tour expense (5 weeks): $50,875
Bus: $25,000
Crew (3): $7,500
Food and per diems: $7,875
Fuel: $3,000
Consumable supplies: $3,500
Wardrobe: $1,000
Promotion: $3,000

Tour gross income: $50,000
Agent s cut: $7,500
Manager's cut: $7,500

Merchandising advance: $20,000
Manager's cut: $3,000
Lawyer's fee: $1,000

Publishing advance: $20,000
Manager's cut: $3,000
Lawyer's fee: $1,000

Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 = $3,000,000 gross retail
revenue Royalty (13% of 90% of retail): $351,000
Less advance: $250,000
Producer's points: (3% less $50,000 advance) $40,000
Promotional budget: $25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label: $50,000
Net royalty: (-$14,000)

Record company income:
Record wholesale price $6.50 x 250,000 = $1,625,000 gross income
Artist Royalties: $351,000
Deficit from royalties: $14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and distribution @ $2.20 per record: $550,000
Gross profit: $710,000

The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.

Record company: $710,000
Producer: $90,000
Manager: $51,000
Studio: $52,500
Previous label: $50,000
Agent: $7,500
Lawyer: $12,000
Band member net income each: $4,031.25

The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 millon dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month.

The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige.

The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their t-shirts yet. Maybe the t-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys.

Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.

Written by Steve Albini
excerpted from Baffler No. 5, reprinted in Maximum RocknRoll and elsewhere.

abreeskye · Post by **abreeskye** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 7:28 pm

I have seen articles similar to this. It makes you SICK!

I would NEVER pursue a recording contract. (Well, maybe under certain EXTREMLY RARE circumstances)

For me, I would just be happy either staying with an Indy, or putting it out myself.

Do it all yourself, and work BS jobs (that you can quit if you need to tour). Thats the ticket.

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 7:30 pm

the way i see it, it doesnt mattter....
i mean you will make the same thing either way in the end so fuck it. if you can do it without catching all the hell and selling out, do it once to say you did it.
then fuck it.

Sonicgoo · Post by **Sonicgoo** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 8:40 pm

Danny Barnes Has some interesting things to say about the music business,

This is my favorite:

http://www.dannybarnes.com/howtosave.html

http://www.dannybarnes.com/onmusic.html

uh in case anybody is wondering he's the banjo player from the bad livers

Onibubba · Post by **Onibubba** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:14 am

Thanks JC! Informative and entertaining. I had this happen to 2 friends of mine. They were signed to Universal and released one country album. The gold plating quickly dissolved to reveal a steaming turd that effectively took them out of the business world for 2 years, planted them on a tour bus, spit them out, and left them with big ugly holes in their resumes. Granted, they do have a nice major label CD to show for it, but they aren't exactly financially set now either.

That's this business we call show!

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:29 am

Thus, the rich get richer, and the players get shat on.

Hm.

judas gnb · Post by **judas gnb** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:35 am

i always thought you made music to make yourself happy not rich

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:32 am

you do make music to make you happy
but anyone who does wishes they could quit their day job and just do that
its not about getting rich and why do people always assume that?
its about it being your job. making enough to quit that shitty desk job... ah.......

Flamegrape · Post by **Flamegrape** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:56 am

Sonicgoo wrote:uh in case anybody is wondering he's the banjo player from the bad livers

I love Bad Livers!

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:08 pm

That article is pretty outdated by now, though. I mean, look at the actual facts of the music world at this point:

1. Artists like Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Spiritualized, Beck, Tricky, Massive Attack, etc. are or have been on major labels and didn't get "fucked" in any major sense of the word, especially not financially.

2. Independant labels are doing well enough these days that you really don't ever have to sign to a major. Signing to a major is only necessary if you're not very good and need "help" promoting your band. With the advent of the Internet and file-sharing, any band that is truly good will sell lots of albums. Consider the fact that Sigur Ros' albums have gone gold in several countries.

3. Sure, it's possible for a major label to fuck you, but only if you bend over. Read the contract. Consult a lawyer. Don't waste money if you don't have to. Don't buy brand-new equipment and new cars until you're already rich.

4. In the end, does it matter how "fucked" you've been? I would kill for a chance to release an album on any label, let alone a major with worldwide distribution. If you don't like the game, don't play.

Sorry, but I have very little sympathy for Steve Albini. I mean, the guy had his production credit removed from the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, then turns around and produces a Bush album. Yeah, he's a charmer.

Onibubba · Post by **Onibubba** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 1:25 pm

I also feel no pity for Albini. I pop in Rapeman or a Big Black cd and feel nothing but grateful!

Sonicgoo · Post by **Sonicgoo** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:45 pm

I have a lot of respect for Albini, he produced local New Brutalisms last disk at a decent cost....

He charges the big boys wht there worth, but not the small folks.

I've never listend to his music much but the man definalty has some kahuna's and is largerly responsible for getting the drums into the foreground.

But I agree that the article is a bit dated, I think the best way to go these days it to just release the album yourself and toour like a motherfucka... to support it.

Hell just look at Bright Eye's stuff they did all of that themselves.

Hey Flamegrape I love Danny Barnes and the bad livers, I can't wait to see him now that I'm back on the east coast again.

I noticed that your a Bjork fan I begrudgenly missed the show here in Boston but hopefully nest time.

Yeehaw.

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 5:46 pm

how people get the most assbackwards meanings out of str8fwd things bothers me.
it wasnt to pity albini
it was him showing to pity artists
:grumble:
a few bands that you like didnt get fucked
guess what
everyone else did
that article isnt dated at all.
i agree with all the comments about indie labels though.
indie people are slowing taking over the world and i for one will dance naked in the streets when indie labels stop just doing indie music. no it hasnt happened, shit that evolved from indie labels that succeeds is STILL INDIE MUSIC still has that sound, ect.
maybe im just bitter, but hey. in light of the RIAA shit, i give it 10 years before major labels dissapate. then the new enemy will be distributors........
and no jack, im not attacking ya at all. :noogies jack:

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:01 pm

I didn't think the article was written to evoke pity for Albini. I don't know why I said that, I should have just said "I don't like Steve Albini". Even though he's recorded lots of bands I like, Labradford and Low for instance, I still think he's an annoying self-righteous prick. And I cannot understand why he's ashamed of producing the Pixies, but not ashamed of producing Bush.

Plus there's the fact that I hate his lyrics, and that he was goofy enough to write about his own band under an assumed name.

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:29 pm

Jack wrote:Plus there's the fact that I hate his lyrics, and that he was goofy enough to write about his own band under an assumed name.

his band... yea they suck ass.
i woulda recorded it under an assumed name too
and then hung myself in the basement :mrgreen:

Flamegrape · Post by **Flamegrape** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:43 pm

Big-time record companies are going down the crapper fast. And in a last desperate gasp of spite, they are taking down internet file-sharers (their potential customers) with them.

"Innovation through litigation..."

Le Codeine Coma · Post by **Le Codeine Coma** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:23 pm

Very insightfull.
Thanks,Junkie Christ,for the information.

spookwhore · Post by **spookwhore** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 3:46 am

I'm not stupid enough to say I want on a major label, but I'm also not stupid enough to say I want on an indie label either. The goal I have is to get on artist run labels. While, yeah, they are just as likely to rape you as anyone else, they also know how that raping feels. I talked to Krztoff (Bile, Pigface), & he said that on bilestyle records, the goal is "to put the underground a little farther up on the priority lists". They don't fuck youover like Atlantic or Interscope does, I mean fuck the owner is on tour more than most of the bands on the rest of the label are. Another good label is Posthuman, Marilyn Manson label. When they where with Posthuman, gODHEAD said, that the only flaw with been on that label was the constant compairison to Manson. Those are the only labels I would ever want to be on. Maybe Nothing too, But Trent Reznor I an ass...

spookwhore · Post by **spookwhore** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 3:48 am

Sorry, that should be "...Trent Reznor is an ass..."

BlackCat · Post by **BlackCat** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 4:10 am

junkie christ wrote:you do make music to make you happy
but anyone who does wishes they could quit their day job and just do that
its not about getting rich and why do people always assume that?
its about it being your job. making enough to quit that shitty desk job... ah.......

We have to many money hungry pigs out there that have the "Take All That I Can Get" mentality. It shows in the fact that most radio sucks today, most local artists have to almost quit playing just to feed themselves, and the corporations that put out todays crap just keep getting bigger.