Over 50, 000 streams 1st quarter...$9.65 BMI Royalties...

[S.L.I.P.]

Okay, so I joined Spotify free. If you search for S.L.I.P. Where Do You Go, it comes up. I'm not sure how to share the link. 

WARNING

Not suitable for children, and some adults

Edited September 26, 2019 by S.L.I.P.

[Notes_Norton]

I guess that house in the south of France will have to wait a while. ?

The musicians make the money and the publishers take it. It's the way it has always been. ☹️

In the late 1960s I was in a road rock band. We eventually 'graduated' to being the opening act for the headliners in concert while their songs were in the top 10 on Billboard, The Four Seasons, The Association, and other big acts of the day.

Then we moved over to Motown and was the opening act for many of the Motown acts, including a big "Motown Review" show at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

Motown chose us to be the first white band to be released on the actual Motown label (not an off-brand label like Tamla or the others). There was nothing racist about that, Bob Seger (who we also opened for) was making hit records and Berry Gordy didn't like another label act hitting the number 1 slot on Detroit radio.

Our manager and his lawyers negotiated with Motown. Our team started at 4 cents per record and Motown's final offer was 2 cents per record. Out of our 2 cent royalties Motown would take out inflated recording costs, inflated distribution costs, and inflated promotional costs. Plus Motown wanted all publishing rights and a Motown person who did nothing to be one of the song writers so Motown could collect half of the songwriter royalties. Our management team figured we would have to sell at least 1 million LPs the first time out to break even with Motown. And in the late 1960s / early 1970s that was a lot.

So Motown abruptly quit talking to us and quit hiring us.

We were called "The Nomads" and their second choice was "The Sunliners".  The Sunliners signed (I have no idea of the terms they worked out). They changed their name to "Rare Earth" and Motown took ownership of the name. That way Motown could hire and fire and put 4 bands on the road with the same name.

I was just a kid and probably would have signed their first even worse offer. I probably wouldn't have made any money either.

I have no regrets, I got to be treated as a peer by the top musicians of the day, made money performing at the concerts, met a lot of pretty girls, and the nice thing about being a "never was" is that now I'm not a "has been" ?

Enjoy your royalties. I see nothing has changed in the recording industry except the delivery method. The Suits still keep most of the money. But enjoy the "airplay", your royalties, and the fact that you are entertaining people and your songs will become part of their lives.

Notes

 

[craigb]

Although I'm not sure how to monetize it, I've found that the older I get the more streams I produce (especially during the night)...

[Notes_Norton]

For me the most reliable way to monetize music is to play cover songs to an appreciative audience.

Notes