Well, they typically get about 10-20% royalties on singles and album sales (about 50p-£1 per album). Depending on how the contract is structured, they might not start getting the 75p per album until the record label has broken even.
A group like Girls Aloud won't make a huge amount on record royalties. Likely to be at 75p per album at best and just selling 500,000 at most in the UK then divided by 5 of them, there isn't going to be major money there (albeit considerably more money than your average 25 year old is earning!). But big album sales drive success in other areas.
Personal appearances for successful acts can range from $30,000-$1m for just a few songs. Not sure how reliable this is, but it looks pretty official:
Sponsorship deals can be worth millions. Back on the Girls Aloud thing, that's going to be a big source of income for them.
And touring is increasingly important in terms of generating revenue. Especially for acts that have been around a long time and can do big world tours. Madonna doesn't shift that many albums these days and makes way more out of touring.
I think the Americans make the most money compared to the brits. Although i was a bit unsure of this because Lady gaga has said she is skint despite being the biggest pop star around. I mean you would think hits like Dance and Poker would have set her up for at least a couple of years.
Hmm, that's alot to earn from raw album sales. That must mean "I Am..." must have sold at least 13 million copies worldwide right? I didn't think it had sold that many
Hmm, that's alot to earn from raw album sales. That must mean "I Am..." must have sold at least 13 million copies worldwide right? I didn't think it had sold that many
Hmm, that's alot to earn from raw album sales. That must mean "I Am..." must have sold at least 13 million copies worldwide right? I didn't think it had sold that many
Yeah i thought that but then maybe beyoncé gets a higher percentage of ingle and album sales? also doesnt she tend to get writing credits? which means she will get more money. i think i read someone where, that say on a 79p itunes track the artist gets like 5p but then the writer gets same duno how true that is but that would bump up money she earns
Hmm, that's alot to earn from raw album sales. That must mean "I Am..." must have sold at least 13 million copies worldwide right? I didn't think it had sold that many
You're right, it has sold about 4.4m and about 2.3m of them were in 2008. It would seem unlikely that if the album wholesale price is about £5, that she could be picking up £13m.
the real money is in songwriting rather than performing, although if you are fortunate to be able to do it all yourself and release yourself independantly, that's the most profitable, otherwise the record company takes a huge chunk
the question isn't one that has a simple answer, but an artist would be lucky to get 50p to a £1 for a cd album sale. the record company deduct all promotion costs first, such as promo videos, advertising, you name it. the artist gets an advance based on predicted future sales, and in many cases that's all the get, and they can be in the position where technically they owe the record company money if the album doesn't sell well after expensive promotion
acts like girls aloud will only make money through sheer volume of sales, as they won't get any songwriting credits etc
Back in the 90s I remember Left Eye from TLC saying they earned 50cents for every album they sold and most of their songs were written by themselves (but some had cowriters). 15 million albums is only $750,000. Sounds a lot, but no one sells 15 million albums any more, or be that very rarely.
On top of that, some acts pay for their own videos and art work if the record label doesn't, of course. Probably explains why some big acts have crap, cheap music videos (Beyoncé is one of them!).
It's appearances and tours where a lot of the money comes from, and if the act wrote the song they'll get royalties for years to come (assuming that the track is played/covered etc for years to come )
Back in the 90s I remember Left Eye from TLC saying they earned 50cents for every album they sold and most of their songs were written by themselves (but some had cowriters). 15 million albums is only $750,000. Sounds a lot, but no one sells 15 million albums any more, or be that very rarely.
On top of that, some acts pay for their own videos and art work if the record label doesn't, of course. Probably explains why some big acts have crap, cheap music videos (Beyoncé is one of them!).
It's appearances and tours where a lot of the money comes from, and if the act wrote the song they'll get royalties for years to come (assuming that the track is played/covered etc for years to come )
most or all acts pay for the videos and artwork as the record company add up all costs for promotion and deduct it from the amount they owe to the artist. if the artist wants a promo video, or if the label wants a promo video, the artist pays for it
live performances and merchandising is where the money comes from. t shirt sales used to be what made the real money for bands until ticket sales increased to the £50+ mark and most tours for most big bands sell out
Speaking of TLC, their second album is the biggest selling album ever by a girlband. It went diamond. But they went bankrupt and TLC spoke very openly about it at the grammys. I think they later sued and got money back.
Very likely Beyonce did make 13 million for I am. It may not have been just the album. If i were a boy and Single ladies were two huge hits at the end of last year. Very likely she has made more this year with Halo doing very well worldwide, Sweet dreams being a modest hit over here as well as her tour. Her album is being re-released in September in the US so even more money.
Speaking of TLC, their second album is the biggest selling album ever by a girlband. It went diamond. But they went bankrupt and TLC spoke very openly about it at the grammys. I think they later sued and got money back.
Very likely Beyonce did make 13 million for I am. It may not have been just the album. If i were a boy and Single ladies were two huge hits at the end of last year. Very likely she has made more this year with Halo doing very well worldwide, Sweet dreams being a modest hit over here as well as her tour. Her album is being re-released in September in the US so even more money.
a Top #5 hit over here. Halo peaked at #4. Single ladies reached #7.
A high position is nothing compared to Sales. A high position does not bring in the money. It's sales. I think people forget that.
You are so right. Will Young's four albums have all gone multi-platinum despite not all of them being chart toppers. He also makes a lot of money (presumably) from corporate gigs and such like.
Comments
A group like Girls Aloud won't make a huge amount on record royalties. Likely to be at 75p per album at best and just selling 500,000 at most in the UK then divided by 5 of them, there isn't going to be major money there (albeit considerably more money than your average 25 year old is earning!). But big album sales drive success in other areas.
Personal appearances for successful acts can range from $30,000-$1m for just a few songs. Not sure how reliable this is, but it looks pretty official:
http://degy.com/Avails%20for%202009%20-%20Updated%2006.05.09.pdf
Sponsorship deals can be worth millions. Back on the Girls Aloud thing, that's going to be a big source of income for them.
And touring is increasingly important in terms of generating revenue. Especially for acts that have been around a long time and can do big world tours. Madonna doesn't shift that many albums these days and makes way more out of touring.
apparently she earnt £13 million from I am... didn't think stars earnt that mch from album sales anymore
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?Beyonces_big_bucks_revealed&in_article_id=688423&in_page_id=7
I think the Americans make the most money compared to the brits. Although i was a bit unsure of this because Lady gaga has said she is skint despite being the biggest pop star around. I mean you would think hits like Dance and Poker would have set her up for at least a couple of years.
Hmm, that's alot to earn from raw album sales. That must mean "I Am..." must have sold at least 13 million copies worldwide right? I didn't think it had sold that many
It hasn't sold 5 million worldwide yet!
Yeah i thought that but then maybe beyoncé gets a higher percentage of ingle and album sales? also doesnt she tend to get writing credits? which means she will get more money. i think i read someone where, that say on a 79p itunes track the artist gets like 5p but then the writer gets same duno how true that is but that would bump up money she earns
You're right, it has sold about 4.4m and about 2.3m of them were in 2008. It would seem unlikely that if the album wholesale price is about £5, that she could be picking up £13m.
the question isn't one that has a simple answer, but an artist would be lucky to get 50p to a £1 for a cd album sale. the record company deduct all promotion costs first, such as promo videos, advertising, you name it. the artist gets an advance based on predicted future sales, and in many cases that's all the get, and they can be in the position where technically they owe the record company money if the album doesn't sell well after expensive promotion
acts like girls aloud will only make money through sheer volume of sales, as they won't get any songwriting credits etc
On top of that, some acts pay for their own videos and art work if the record label doesn't, of course. Probably explains why some big acts have crap, cheap music videos (Beyoncé is one of them!).
It's appearances and tours where a lot of the money comes from, and if the act wrote the song they'll get royalties for years to come (assuming that the track is played/covered etc for years to come
most or all acts pay for the videos and artwork as the record company add up all costs for promotion and deduct it from the amount they owe to the artist. if the artist wants a promo video, or if the label wants a promo video, the artist pays for it
live performances and merchandising is where the money comes from. t shirt sales used to be what made the real money for bands until ticket sales increased to the £50+ mark and most tours for most big bands sell out
Speaking of TLC, their second album is the biggest selling album ever by a girlband. It went diamond. But they went bankrupt and TLC spoke very openly about it at the grammys. I think they later sued and got money back.
Very likely Beyonce did make 13 million for I am. It may not have been just the album. If i were a boy and Single ladies were two huge hits at the end of last year. Very likely she has made more this year with Halo doing very well worldwide, Sweet dreams being a modest hit over here as well as her tour. Her album is being re-released in September in the US so even more money.
a Top #5 hit over here. Halo peaked at #4. Single ladies reached #7.
A high position is nothing compared to Sales. A high position does not bring in the money. It's sales. I think people forget that.
You are so right. Will Young's four albums have all gone multi-platinum despite not all of them being chart toppers. He also makes a lot of money (presumably) from corporate gigs and such like.
Also, did you know that Pink's debut album only peaked at 26 in the US. But it sold 2 million copies in the US alone.
Piece of me by Britney only peaked at 18 in the US but it sold 1 million copies in total in the U.S.
Just two examples of how sales are everything.
Wow!!!!!