MusicPromoToday.com presents the Ongoing Struggle Between Label and Artist

1. MusicPromoToday.com presents the Ongoing Struggle Between Label and Artist It’s of no surprise that in today’s market the struggle between music artists and their prospective labels is even more of a challenge than ever before. The digital age has blown open the doors on how artists need to approach their business, but it is less complicated than one needs to make it, at least from a business perspective. With the advent of the digital age, the sales of CDs and the physical piece of music is not only moot, but is increasingly going the way of the dinosaur. As digital music distributors, we know the struggle for artists to earn their fair share. In this case, it’s actually Richard Carpenter who is fighting on behalf of his sister, Karen. In their case, Richard discovered that their Label, A&M/Universal Music, was underpaying them based on their arranged agreement, but this is something all artists need to watch out for. As is common knowledge, in the music industry the artists are always paid last, so it is important that they know all the places where the buck has stopped. It’s just good business. The trend of sales is not going to change anytime soon, this is obvious as everyday our technology becomes even more portable and less hunkered down by wires and physical limitations. Labels are making the argument that to go in the direction the artists want, having a 50/50 even split with artists, will effectively cause the label to go broke. How difficult is it to go to Spotify or SoundCloud, digitally distribute, music pr and upload music for it to gain traction and sell? The cost associated with the physical production of CDs is no longer applicable and therefore there is a lot of money that is simply going into the hands of the label. Gone are the days when a label needs to front the costs of packaging, which would end up bringing a cost to the label of 25% of the sale. Now the record label would on average add an additional 15% to their fee for their promotional fees in addition to whatever you agreed would be their royalty take as well. Many artists spend their time making all the music, writing all the material, and really running every aspect of the band that makes the music so good. In this day and age of digital distribution, with the ability to put your own music right on the net and have it dispersed like wildfire, much of what labels used to do is becoming quite outdated, and replaced with the click of a button. Many artists are in fact forming their own bonds with the distributors and promotional companies themselves, or doing their own band promotion, thus cutting out the middleman and significantly increasing their take away from the work that they created. As much as labels don’t want this case to become a precedent for artists in the future, it is clear that it definitely should be; that and when dealing with a label who is handling your downloadable content, don’t be afraid to audit the label to make sure you’re getting your due. Here at MusicPromoToday, the best music agency, no matter what the case, we always ensure our artists are well taken care of from start to finish. Don’t let something like this happen to you, if you’re a performing artist, come check us out at MusicPromoToday.com and we’ll ensure you’re successful!