The Music Industry

An interesting article in USA Today (link) shows how the music industry is set up to cheat its artists.

This article gives the math showing the royalties that one artist received on a CD that sold half a million copies. When all was said and done, the artist recevied a grand total of $40,250 -- which, in case you don't have your calculator handy, works out to slightly more than 8 cents per album.

Eight cents per album. On a CD that retailed for $18.98. And that's before managers and agents take their cut, before taxes, before any of the artist's personal expenses.

Just in case you're having as much trouble as I am believing that figure, let me state it again:

Eight cents.

It's no wonder that some bands say they are better off when people download their music for free, than when people buy their CDs issued by the music companies.

Janis Ian has a great article (link) on the music industry, intellectual property rights, and related issues. Take a look at what she says (and while you're on her site, buy some music from her!)

M.