Quantcast

Are most artists broke during the pandemic? Artists have sold their catalogue for less than the expected price

TheShadowKing

Team Owner
Joined
Nov 13, 2017
Messages
5,612
Reaction score
Reactions
76,801 1,174 391
83,520
Alleybux
236,568
If you've seen the lineups for some of the festivals this summer its become very obvious that A LOT of these artists are broke as hell. I know Rolling Loud looks like it has every you can think of lmao. That show money is how they get paid, streaming and physical sales go to the labels.
 

Kanethia

Cornrow Clique
Joined
Aug 14, 2018
Messages
37,740
Reaction score
Reactions
421,982 13,099 1,901
593,346
Alleybux
50,500
A lot of them are for sure broke. You can own your music and make NOTHING off of it because unless people are sampling or using it in tv shows/films/commercials you are not making huge amounts of money. This is why a lot of them are so pressed to start touring again because that's where most of their money comes from. But they are still not going to be pulling in the same money as they used to because of enforced low capacity and people still wanting to take safety precautions.
 

chocoLate290

General Manager
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Messages
4,487
Reaction score
Reactions
87,971 4,207 1,986
86,033
Alleybux
174,150
To be honest I feel sorry and not sorry for them cause most of them artists are already rich, I’m more concerned about regular 9-5 people who due to Covid, lost their jobs and got evicted because they couldn’t pay rent on time, I’m more concerned about the people who landed on the streets because of Covid, I’m concerned about the people whose family members died due to Covid, famous artists have connections and are popular enough to get free stuff, whereas normal people actually struggle with the money and count every pennie till they get their pay
 

lurker2

Team Owner
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Messages
29,063
Reaction score
Reactions
371,287 8,453 7,234
388,758
Alleybux
346,346
Many of them wouldn’t be if they didn’t have such extravagant lifestyles and so many hanger ons. Whenever I see Lizzo and Meg they are in some lavish home with a bunch of people on vacation I always think, who’s paying for all of that given they are new artists who really haven’t been able to tour due to corona. By contrast someone like Tinashe might have a little cushion because she doesn’t seem to live that lifestyle, I’m not saying she’s rich but she probably isn’t indebted to her label either. Same with many of these male rappers, their lifestyles depend on a steady stream of touring income so many of them are definitely living on borrowed money. I think part of signing a new artist should be a course in financial literacy but of course labels wouldn’t want to do that because they would then not be able to trap them with 360 deals and lure them with borrowed cars, homes, trips, etc.
 

Honeelicious

Team Owner
Joined
Jun 7, 2007
Messages
16,065
Reaction score
Reactions
205,904 8,045 6,831
201,871
Alleybux
884,091
My girl Brandy is good. She has been living in the same house since the 90s and stays with a TV show check. She lives within her means and Ms. Sonja is business savvy, so her kids will never be even rich people broke.

My girl been in the industry for almost 3 decades and it has never came out that she owes the IRS money.
 

TeaOfDaCity

General Manager
Joined
Apr 22, 2020
Messages
1,235
Reaction score
Reactions
15,159 1,101 878
14,813
Alleybux
234,802
Most are def broke- I noticed also how so many of them were doing virtual schemes like Cameo and Only Fans during the pandemic, trying to keep something coming in
 

Mahina Rose

Team Owner
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
6,804
Reaction score
Reactions
86,221 1,315 34
105,367
Alleybux
158,000
Oh yea. The ones that couldn't sit down while we were still in quarantine were definitely struggling. They mostly rely on hosting and tour money so while everything was on lockdown that money started to go quick. I don't think they ever expected something like this to happen so of course they didn't have any money put to the side.

That's why most of them were going down to Florida and ATL to do hosting events.
 

boogie79

Bring my own fire, don't need security in the club
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,172
Reaction score
Reactions
88,510 1,691 131
95,488
Alleybux
54,356
You can tell by who was able to sit down and chill vs the ones that stayed performing at whatever venue that was still open. Flying from Miami to Atlanta every weekend, yet flashing money talking about COVID proof.
 

LemonShark

Reality Von Tease
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
28,221
Reaction score
Reactions
193,346 14,925 3,744
197,584
Alleybux
169,013
A lot of them are for sure broke. You can own your music and make NOTHING off of it because unless people are sampling or using it in tv shows/films/commercials you are not making huge amounts of money. This is why a lot of them are so pressed to start touring again because that's where most of their money comes from. But they are still not going to be pulling in the same money as they used to because of enforced low capacity and people still wanting to take safety precautions.
I don't understand why they don't do pay-per-view. If athletes can, why can't musicians?
 

EwYouMusty

Double-Dicking Caroline
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
10,276
Reaction score
Reactions
74,995 1,371 353
78,503
Alleybux
4,050
Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) made a twitter post about it recently:



It reminded me of that recent thread of Method Man talking about how are all of these new artists making money when they're getting paid way less than before.
 

nique71

Team Owner
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
53,371
Reaction score
Reactions
347,497 8,758 3,183
391,255
Alleybux
495,895
Less than expected price determined by whom??? The fans?

If you are of a certain age would you rather have that money up front or wait for a royalty check or tour. I wonder how that works if the artist does a show. Do they need permission to perform the songs they sold.
 

blue_jays

General Manager
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
2,850
Reaction score
Reactions
20,008 1,100 509
25,887
Alleybux
106,003

boogie79

Bring my own fire, don't need security in the club
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,172
Reaction score
Reactions
88,510 1,691 131
95,488
Alleybux
54,356
Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) made a twitter post about it recently:



It reminded me of that recent thread of Method Man talking about how are all of these new artists making money when they're getting paid way less than before.

that's how you know it's all fake. Money being split in so many directions, they don't know which way is up. Only a select few a really making money off rap and those are the ones that are doing it themselves and not signed to traditional contracts. The others are diversifying and have multiple streams of income.

These artists today are only going gold or platinum off streams, which we already know is pennies on a dollar. No endorsements, yet have a neck full of jewelry, pockets full of advance money. I can only hope a lot of these artists took the time to go over their contract since they had some time on their hands.

Remember when Dame Dash talked about he never wore the same t-shirt twice.
 

MainMane

Common Sense
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Messages
17,162
Reaction score
Reactions
206,052 7,698 9,951
242,458
Alleybux
80,901
Are we surprised? The bigger problem is how sites like LSA and social media defend these artist perceptions and ‘stanning’ but then turns around and wonders why so many people base their self worth around such imagery.
 

KenDil

Team Owner
Joined
Jan 13, 2014
Messages
8,892
Reaction score
Reactions
125,649 6,583 9,045
121,606
Alleybux
14
The market is said to be crashing, so everyone cashing out from Bezos, Gates, The Carters, etc.
 

TataNowYall

Team Owner
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
6,469
Reaction score
Reactions
24,299 1,408 974
23,629
Alleybux
5,954
Tinashe might have a little cushion because she doesn’t seem to live that lifestyle, I’m not saying she’s rich but she probably isn’t indebted to her label either.
She’s not even signed to a label.
 

FluffyEyes1129

Team Owner
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
16,423
Reaction score
Reactions
128,981 2,122 808
144,078
Alleybux
790,487
Are we surprised? The bigger problem is how sites like LSA and social media defend these artist perceptions and ‘stanning’ but then turns around and wonders why so many people base their self worth around such imagery.

No not really. "Such imagery" has been a thing before LSA and social media existed, particularly in Hip Hop. Ppl been fake flexing for decades and back then they were also getting bamboozled by labels still.

That said, I feel like some ppl in here are conflating a few things. The folks ya'll feel are fake flexing are NOT the same ones who are selling their masters. Ppl like Lizzo, Meg and assorted male rappers probably do not own their sh!t to sell.

It is established older acts, black and white selling their catalogs. La Reid, Bob Dylan, Rodney Jerkins, Stevie Nicks are not on IG flexing their jewelry, nor do they have stans on LSA. Yet they are STILL selling their catalogs. This points to other issues such as reduced residuals because of streaming etc.
 

Similar Threads

The Lounge

General Alley

Top Bottom