![]() ![]() He said that most people thought they’d earned a fortune in the 60s but it was only in the 70s, when they got their own Rolling Stones label, that they earned big money. Bill Wyman told me after reading my book Music Business Bastards (How to do well in the music business without getting ripped off) that the band could have done with reading it when they started out. He learned not to over-spend on future albums once he knew it was coming out of his pockets, and he gradually made money.Įven the Rolling Stones took till the 70s before they earned decent money. So just as his cheque was due to be paid it was cancelled and used to clear the debt of the second album. But flush with success, he ran up lots of money and time recording the follow up album – which flopped. ![]() Jamiroquai (Jay Kay) had a phenomenally successful debut album ‘Emergency on Planet Earth’ and it had actually earned a lot more than was spent on it, so he was due a big cheque. It was payment from his British Butter advert that finally paid off the debt and freed him up to record and release the first PIL album in two decades. He couldn’t, so there were no new PIL releases for twenty years. However ten years down the line he found he still owed Virgin Records money and PIL were not allowed to put any more records out until he paid back what was owed. They released a lot of albums and had many hit singles like ‘This is not a Love Song’, ‘Rise’, ‘Disappointed’ and the excellent debut single named after the band itself. John bounced back with the excellent and innovative band Public Image Limited. It’s well documented that The Sex Pistols made very little money the first time around despite swindling the record industry because it was said that Manager Malcolm McClaren trousered the money. I saw an interview with John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) the other day. If you are Sting, Elton John or George Michael you can still make a lot of money even with deductions, but here’s a sobering example of other music icons that you may have thought earned millions. If you have some degree of success that’s when you find out just how much it cost you to get it. So even with a big hit you will often find you still owe the record label money. ![]() That seems fair enough, but on top of that all your recording costs, video costs, packaging and many promotional costs are deducted before you get paid. What they don’t realise is that any advance comes out of future royalties. Most talents are so happy to get a record deal they will sign any contract stuck in front of them. Although the major labels can make you a household name it comes at a cost. To most bands and musicians the Holy Grail is to get signed up by a major record label. So to help you avoid the same fate, here are the three biggest rip-offs I’ve come across, and how to avoid falling for them in your music career. I’ve also been ripped off myself a few times as well before I wised up to things. After 25 years in the music business, I’ve probably seen it all when it comes to musicians being ripped off – by managers, labels, promoters, venues, websites and assorted other characters. ![]()
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