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Part of my job involves consulting with companies to help them save money and it has always been an interest of mine to figure out how companies make money and turn a profit. But one thing that I can't figure out is the music business and how much money a band can make.
Here is the background, I know a band that has been on the verge of "making it" for about 15 years. They play about 150 shows a year to an average of 150-400 people a night, sell about 3000-4000 CD's/MP3 downloads a month, have a handful of songs that are used in movie soundtracks and/or tv shows. They are not on a major record label and receive little to no radio airplay. All of the above has been pretty constant for years.
So how much can each guy in the band expect to bring home each year if there are 4-5 band members and 3-4 support staff?
I guess this is another great thing about the internet. It gives bands that are on the fringes the ability to get their music out there, connect with fans and let people know that they are still out there touring. Don't think that 20 years ago a band like this could be making middle class wages and avoiding real jobs.
I guess what I wonder, if they are not on a major label, is who pays for time in the recording studio? Do they produce themselves?
And do they *own* all their own music? They receive all royalties from the tv/movies?
I assume they spend little or nothing on marketing--which is wonderful.
It's great if they are managing okay; certainly success is not measured by vast wealth.
And if this band is doing that well in the music industry without the corporate system, all the better.
This particular band owns their own label and studio, self produce and are able to get CD's distributed. I have seen their stuff at places that have a pretty deep selection of CD's like local music stores, Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, etc...
As far as royalties, I got the impression that they don't get much. My friend said that a song that is used by a TV series on cable earns them about $1000 bucks the first year and a lot less on re-runs. He joked about getting lots of sub-$1.00 checks to deposit at the bank.
Even though they have not "made it", they said that they still are doing better than a lot of the big haired metal bands from the 80's that used to play arenas and are now playing clubs.
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