By Patrick F Gray
Who said rap artists make mad loot? Incorrect! Because the fans expect their favorite artists to be crazy paid and living large, this sets an incredible amount of pressure on the artists to look rich. And it is not just the fans; the industry slobs have anticipated the performers to pick up the dinner check. There have been times people cop an attitude if the artist does not pay for everything. This is small minded and ignorant because the artist is usually the last to get paid. Everyone receives their cut first: the label, the manager, the attorney, the accountants, and, of course, the IRS.
Regrettably, when an artist gets signed to a label deal, especially a rap artist, he or she receives somewhere between 8% to 13% of the retail sales price, after the record label recoups the money it puts out (the advance, the sample clearances, the producer advances, usually 50% the cost of any videos, any cash outlays for the performers, etc.). The artist needs to sell units to make any money back.
So it is not totally impossible. Performance royalties are cash that is paid for the performance of your track. The cash is paid primarily based on the proportion of ownership of the song. So if you own 100% of the song, you get the entire check. If you own only the music, which is half the song, then you get half the money. If you own the music with a sample in it that claims half the song, then you get a check for 25%. Performance Rights organizations consist of ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC (which is still quite small). They police the radio stations, night clubs, concert events, etc (any place music is played or broadcast), all of whom pay a charge to play the music which the performance rights societies collect and split amongst their members based on the amount of times a record is played. Although the formulas change annually based on play, a Top 10 song performed on commercial radio can earn a good chunk of change in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range.
So these are it, the real thing on how much cash an artist tends to make. You are able to subtract out now another 28% to 50% of all income, such as show money, (depending on the artist's income tax bracket which is determined by just how much income was created within any given calendar year) for the IRS who receive money quarterly (hopefully) by the artist's accountant. If the average artist releases a record every couple of years, then this income must last twice as long.
Once rap artists launch a record, the stress is on to portray a successful image to fans, friends, families, and people around the way. People be expecting the performers to be well dressed, drive a costly car, etc. Consider it. Don't you expect artists "to look like artists?" Can you admire Jay-Z as much if he drove a busted old 1990 Grand Am instead of that beautiful, brand new, top of the line Bentley?
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