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The money

Most people assume that a successful musician will make money from selling records.

In practice, though, record sales often represent a relatively small percentage of income for musicians. When you're starting out, it's more important to think of record sales in terms of promotion rather than income. On a small deal, there isn't normally a great deal of money knocking around. What's actually more useful are the opportunities that having a release on a label with national distribution can offer you.

When you come to sign a bigger deal, it's usual to take some of your sales income as advances. An advance, as its name suggests, means that you get some of your sales income before you've actually made any records. Then, once you do start to sell, your label will claim these advances back. All of your share of the profits from your album sales will be retained by the company until you've paid back your advances.

It's typical for a large label to advance an act over 拢100,000 when they sign a deal.

Paying off the advances - or 'recouping' in industry terms - can have implications that go far beyond money. If an act is running at a loss from their first album, the label is likely to want to keep a tight rein on things when the time comes to record the next one. If the act recoups, then the label will have a lot more confidence in them and will give them a greater degree of creative freedom.

It's also important to remember that advances have to go a long way. It's typical for a large label to advance an act over 拢100,000 when they sign a deal these days. But there will be a lot of takers for that money. For a start the manager will take 20% for all the work they did getting the act signed. Then the taxman will want a slice, plus there will be legal fees which can be 拢10,000 or more.

Some of what's left may be needed for other expenses such as new instruments. Finally, when all of this has been deducted the band can split what's left to live off. That will need to last them, because any more income from the label will take a while to come through. Obviously, there won't be anything until the recording is released, but even after advances have been recouped it takes time for money to filter through from the shop to the label and finally to the musicians themselves.


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