How much $

[rxbanfan]

Does anyone know how much it cost a band to release cd's? like on drive thru or epitaph or whatever label? cuz i was wondering if any of the bands make money off cd's or if they just get it from doing shows?

[suckerpunch_]

i think they make most of their money from shows and merch

[wasted]

you get so much money off of the cd's you sell. you also get a percentage of the intake at shows and the band's merchandise.

[goldfinger55]

u get most money from cds. y do u think bands promote them so much

[suckerpunch_]

i thought bands didnt end up getting jack shit from their cd sales, becuase it has to be split so many ways, and there are lots of expenses

[rxbanfan]

yeah thats what i thought too, but i mean, how much does a single cd cost for a band to produce?

[goldfinger55]

Originally posted by suckerpunch_
i thought bands didnt end up getting jack shit from their cd sales, becuase it has to be split so many ways, and there are lots of expenses
no way. just think of someone selling 1 million albums. thats a lot of money. plus all of the merchandising and other crap comes from cd sales

[wasted]

Originally posted by suckerpunch_
i thought bands didnt end up getting jack shit from their cd sales, becuase it has to be split so many ways, and there are lots of expenses

i was watching something on tv (i can't remember what it was) and some band said that they got like maybe a dollar or two out of every cd they sold. it's not much at all.

[suckerpunch_]

Originally posted by goldfinger55
no way. just think of someone selling 1 million albums. thats a lot of money. plus all of the merchandising and other crap comes from cd sales

im not talking about those artists, we are talking about smaller bands on epitaf or other simi small labels, epitaph is big but the bands on it arnt

[goldfinger55]

Originally posted by wasted
i was watching something on tv (i can't remember what it was) and some band said that they got like maybe a dollar or two out of every cd they sold. it's not much at all.
but if they sell 1 million

[suckerpunch_]

ok no shit, if they sell 1 million, then they are rich as fuck

[wasted]

Originally posted by goldfinger55
but if they sell 1 million

well yeah. but if you're talking about smaller bands, it's unlikely that they'll sell a million. i guess it just depends on popularity or whatever.

[devin]

Ack, none of you have a clue. You make shite on cds. People who want to see just how it works, read this article by Steve Albini, I think he would know:

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

[torch]

Wouldn't in the long run, bands get more money from shows? I think NoFx gets more money from all the shows they've played, not the cd's they put out.

[unsung_zero02]

Originally posted by rxbanfan
how much does a single cd cost for a band to produce?

like..60 cents

[MaybeOneDay]

I'll ask my cousin Rick how much he makes out of his band's CD sales. He's the guitarist for Finger Eleven and im sure he'll know. But as far as i know they make a pretty good percentage of the money brought in from CD sales.

[BigD]

Devin is there anything you dont know?

[suckerpunch_]

no there is nothing devin doesnt know, well atleast he thinks he knows everything thats for sure

[steve-0]

most if not all bands make money from touring. they rarely get royalties from album sales and if they do, its a relatively small amount. they make most of their money off merch sales, which is why it helps the band out alot if you buy the CD from them at a show as opposed to buying the CD from a store. some bands have a set amount of money they play for and others just take a percentage of the money brought in at the door. but merch is the most important money-maker.

[suckerpunch_]

well thats not what devin says, and devin IS always right, he knows EVERYTHING

[Clarett'sGreyGoose]

Originally posted by wasted
i was watching something on tv (i can't remember what it was) and some band said that they got like maybe a dollar or two out of every cd they sold. it's not much at all.

but if they're successful and sell 100,000, they get 100,000-200,000 dollars....and thats still more money than most of us will ever make in a year......

[devin]

Originally posted by steve-0
most if not all bands make money from touring. they rarely get royalties from album sales and if they do, its a relatively small amount. they make most of their money off merch sales, which is why it helps the band out alot if you buy the CD from them at a show as opposed to buying the CD from a store. some bands have a set amount of money they play for and others just take a percentage of the money brought in at the door. but merch is the most important money-maker.

This is pretty accurate. Every year RollingStone puts out an issue on the richest rock stars. Almost all of them make most of their money from tours. A big name like Paul McCartney gets 40% of the face value of the ticket in his pocket, pretty sweet considering the price of those. The really big stars are just about the only ones who make money from recording. And only really established, commerical artists make much from publishing. So yeah, you do your favorite band much more good by going to their show than buying their cds. But, if people fail to buy the albums, they may get dropped, leaving them low on resources, making it difficult to record and tour. So, paying your tributes to the record industry gods is a necessary evil.

This said, smaller labels are better to artists. The break-even point on major releases is usually at least 500,000 sold. Their are about 30,000 cds released each year, and a very small percentage sell over 10,000. I think only about 20-30 albums every year even go platinum. On an independent label, a band can break-even at 50,000 sold or less. But, they're never going to make enough to retire and sit on their asses.

[sdsufreak182]

Bands dont make any money off CD sales, they push the albums cause they want their music heard. i guess if you sell a million of anything your gonna make some money, but touring and esp merch is where the money comes in. so buy a shirt if you like a band !:)

[NetNerdsRevenge]

Originally posted by sdsufreak182
Bands dont make any money off CD sales, they push the albums cause they want their music heard. i guess if you sell a million of anything your gonna make some money, but touring and esp merch is where the money comes in. so buy a shirt if you like a band !:)

which is also why labels hate kazaa and bands are ok with it. They get their money through tours not record sales. Their just trying to break even with record sales