That would mean if an artist or band sold 1,00,000 copies of their album, at an average of $10 an album (and hardly any artist is selling that many nowadays), the artist or band walks away with $234,000. Not bad, huh? That’s a decent living. A band would have to split that four ways, which is about $60k, and that’s way better than working at Starbucks.

BUT — today’s artist’s are selling an average of 200,000 albums. That’s a take home value of $46,800. If you’re a solo artist, that’s still not bad. However, if you’re in a band with four members, you’re bringing home $11,700. Suddenly, Starbucks doesn’t sound so bad.

NOW — If you’re an independent artist, who has mediocre record sales of about 15,000, that’s about $150,000 in income. No doubt you’ll have expenses, but even with $50k in operating costs, you’re still coming home with a nice chunk of change. Now, you can open up your own Starbucks chain and live off that income — IF you don’t go out and buy a $100,000 gold chain instead.

Just saying….

This dude is my new favorite rapper, and I can’t stand rappers right now…

“Rap’s so fucking watered down right now, you can be a motherfucking C.O., you can kiss a n***a, and as long as you making good music, these n***as don’t give a fuck.” — Freddie Gibbs

On the flipside, some of you artists may still want to sign with a major label thinking that’s what’s best for you, which could also be correct. Again, props to Bruce Houghton over at Hypebot:

1. Bank - The bigger record labels may not have as much money as they used to, but they probably have a lot more than you do. Money will not solve all your problems or make you a star, but it can be expensive to tour or to stop touring and concentrate on writing and recording, for example.

2. Distribution – Yes, TuneCore, CD Baby and others can put your music for sale online, but you still need a record label and their distribution arm to get you CD’s into stores, and while the scales are tipping toward digital, a third to a half of all sales still come from physical goods.

3. Team - You can’t do it all yourself; you must build a team. Record labels come with a built in team.

4. Experience - Passion can only take you so far. “Been there, done that” can help avoid a lot of mistakes and focus resources where they are like to do the most good.

5. Relationships – It’s not as bad as it used to be; but who you know – or at least get on the phone – sometimes matters. Labels have history and relationships with the media, producers, managers, agents and others that can help you.

I was speaking with a jazz drummer yesterday and we spoke at length about the industry and where it’s been, and it’s future, and what we concluded was nothing has changed in the last 40 years. Artist still want to be signed, others want to do it themselves, and there’s always a crisis within the record industry.

The real question is, do you want to live and breathe music with the small chance that you will not make any money at all? If money is your only motivation, then there are plenty of jobs out there that need another cog in their wheel. The choice is yours….

1. Competition for Attention – Music artists are already forced to compete for the attention and interest of fans; they shouldn’t have to compete for that attention within their own record label. Labels divvy up their focus between multiple signed artists. Whereas an artist may be giving 100% to developing their music career, a label can only allocate a fraction.

4. Out of Touch – Labels have a toxic fixation on record sales. This is an anomaly in today’s low record-selling music industry. With the easy access to cheap or free music online, labels are rapidly losing their relevance for turning their focus more towards the importance of live performances. Even major bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails addressed their labels’ irrelevance by selling recent albums directly to fans online.

5. Trade-Offs of Contracts – What does an artist really get in return for signing with a label? Lack of creative control? A portion of their own paychecks? Restrictions and inflexible deadlines? Binding obligations to labels leave much to be desired when artists can now rely on themselves to get their music produced, promoted and purchased.

Props to Bruce Houghton and likeZebra.

Ghost is a beast on the 1′s & 2′s, and this mix is ill. Do yourself a favor and download it now.. it’s FREE!

Last night, hip hop lost one of its pioneers who defined the sound of Brooklyn music as one-half of the duo, Gang Starr. Guru and Premier will always be, in my honest opinion, one of the best, if not the best rap group to come out of New York in the 80′s and 90′s. Guru’s monotone delivery backed by Primo’s solid production was the backdrop of New York underground hip hop music, and one of the reason’s why I moved to Brooklyn. He will always be missed.

Every blog has been copying and pasting the letter that Solar Guru wrote before he passed, but I will spare you the wackness. In turn, here are some of the fond memories I have of Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal. Hopefully now, Guru will find some peace.

Rest in Peace my dude.

FUCK SOLAR!

My man Al Thompson debuted his trailer for “Lenox Avenue” this week, it looks dope. My other dude, Lyn-Don-McCray (McCray Media+Co) made it official. Here’s the trailer:

“Lenox Avenue” follows the fast-paced metropolitan lives of Harlemite friends, Owen (Al Thompson, The Royal Tenenbaums/Love Don’t Cost A Thing), Sellars (Dorian Missick, The Bounty/Lucky Number Slevin), and Vaughn (Ryan Vigilant, Gossip Girl) as they learn that in relationships, even with experience, there’s no playbook.

Lenox Avenue features a star-studded supporting cast, including Victor Williams (King of Queens), Vanessa Bell Calloway (What’s Love Got To Do With It, TNT’s HawthoRNe), Jamie Hector (Heroes, Marlo Stanfield of HBO’s The Wire), Chenoa Maxwell (Hav Plenty), Lord Jamar (Rap Group Brand Nubian), and Michael K. Williams (Omar Little of HBO’s The Wire).

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http://www.LenoxAveFan.com

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From the latest album, An Offer You Can’t Refuse, available on iTunes