Do artist still get paid if they are with a record label?
Yes and no.Yes - an artist earns money when their record sells (via an artist royalty). The record company will pay them a percentage based on album/download/streaming income provided they had no “advance”.No - if they received an advance upfront (say $50,000 to record the album + living expenses + etc.) and they have not yet recouped (paid back) the label’s investment. The $50k is a loan and they won’t earn additional money from record sales until that money is paid back.It’s very likely Alan Jackson recouped any advance for his past records.An artist will typically earn more if they control their recording rights, have their own distribution, and don’t have any middlemen (label) in the equation. This Mic write-up about Chance the Rapper explains in greater depth the DIY-ethos and how it positively impacts revenue. Alan did launch his own imprint (Alan’s Country Records) in 2011[1] as a joint-venture with EMI Nashville, meaning he likely has greater control over his recordings than most other artists.Today in the United States, an artist AND their record label are NOT paid for any radio play. They’re only paid for album sales, downloads, and streams. The United States is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have a “performance royalty” on sound recordings. The songwriter + music publishers are paid. The label + artist are not from such usage.An artist earns money if they’ve recouped their initial advance, OR they’ve not had an advance to begin with. Artists typically earn more money from merchandise, touring, and other streams than album sales alone.People who say “artists don’t earn any money” are misguided. They don’t earn money if they’ve been locked into a crappy contract. They do earn money if they have leverage in their deal and can negotiate a favorable deal, or do it themselves.Footnotes[1] Thirty Miles West - Wikipedia
Its it considered good if a music artist reaches GOLD in album sells?
In the eyes of the public, no...but there are many factors outside of sells that would determine if the artist will remain signed while pulling in gold records instead of platinum...Such as fan acceptance and marketability....Look at Rick Ross...then look at Joe Budden. Ross is on his 3rd barely gold album...joe got one chance at gold and then he was dropped. so if you generate a revenue of 5 million as a artist through sales...its actually good...but from a fan standpoint its not good enough to consider yourself a great artist. Underground or independant...or through distribution like Koch you make a larger amount of money for less albums sold....so 100,000 to 300,000 on a smaller lable would do better... Artist on major lables (Def Jam) get most of their profits from the advance and tour money...their sales money is a very low number....like 10 cents a copy...no dollars. just cents. And their tours arn't that high....they make about 1 to 5 thousand for the small house shows...sometimes 10k if its a slightly bigger venue like SOB's for a bigger named artist. Stadium tours are where people can make a lot of money...but thats only if your a huge star that can fill out the seats. (Jay-Z)
Underground Rap Fans: Your thoughts on new mainstream artists: J.Cole, Wale, KiD CuDi & etc?
Wale- Dope, reps DC well, absolutely failed at becoming mainstream though J.Cole- Dope as hell. We'll see how this Roc Nation things turns out for him KiD CuDi- Not really a rapper anymore.. but he's decent at what he does, I guess... Jay-Z- He's good.. he sold out, he's overrated, insert typical comments here. Lupe Fiasco- Dope. Good metaphors and wordplay... he's losing hype though it seems.. Eminem- He was better when he was a f*cked up, angry white boy. Now he's sober and old, and all mature and sh*t.. maturity is overrated.
What's the BIG DEAL about Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles?
Dead or not, I can and will call him anything that he perceived to be. I can go on about this, but this isn't about Michael's repulsive paraphilia. When you call these people "legends" or "greatest", that is just a mere opinion of yours and nothing more. I see NOTHING special in them or their music. This is why I am asking why they are overrated. I've seen several underground singers who possess much more talent and potential than these so called "legendary singers", but where's the recognition? What a joke!
Why is rapper k'naan so much underrated?
i can say without any fear of contradictions that k'naan is better than 80 % of these so called rappers that just talk nonesense. see this and be the judge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4BjKzXL2EI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq0pygjQK74&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LygwDxh-EmQ&feature=related and this one is pure poetry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ubnt8HM2Fg
Why did Snoop Dogg sell out?
I actually dig most of his 00s efforts - for me, he only really kicked the bucket when he released Malice N Wonderland and completely descended into pop-rap oblivion on the back of some fun, party-oriented material... I mean let's be real, Snoop has upped the ante in terms of cross-over appeal during the last decade -but with gangsta rap's steady decline as a commercially viable force, he had to compromise and switch things up somewhere along the line and Snoop's always been a flamboyant artist - for all Doggystyle's gritty trappings, he hints at poppy hooks and panache more than once... Cross-overs can cement longevity and Snoop has balanced out the rough and the smooth... He's lazy as **** lyrically - but with that languid flow and iconic posturing, he doesn't need to try that hard to make good music and albums like R&G and Tha Blue Carpet Treatment are solid for what they are and still offer some street-oriented material, even if its not exactly in abundance... That man has practically carried the west coast on his back in terms of chart success - I don't care what anyone says... so what if he's making poppy ****? are y'all honestly going to call Let's Get Blown wack? granted, his last two were weak - but don't brand everything he's done as wack.. ...and people that say Doggystyle is his only good album are idiots - listen to Tha Last Meal and Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Bo$$ and tell me that ****'s wack... hell, listen to No Limit Top Dogg which is over an hour of no-frills g-funk amidst some of the late 90s smoothest and drippy production...