The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder for December 07, 2023
December 06, 2023
December 08, 2023
Transcript:
Huey: I have a mathematics question. Teacher: Yes? Huey: Let's say a record label gives a new artist a six-figure advance against royalties, but that advance doesn't cover all the cost of making his CD, which he has to pay. Then they give the artist an 8 percent royalty, which doesn't allow him to cover the advance, leaving him bankrupt and enslaved the record label even though they made a profit off his CD. Teacher: (sigh) Yes? Huey: So my question is, how many tons of explosives should we use to blow up the RIAA when they say they're shutting down napster to protect the artists' rights? Teacher: Ok, no more questions from Huey today...
This was before Spotify and Pandora. I wonder if artists make money from those sites? And of course we have Soundcloud artists who seem to make money despite never having recorded anything on physical media.