Record Royalties: Stockholm Syndrome

 

The perspective that comes with the passing of time can be an interesting thing.

I read a blog post yesterday from Tim Quirk, leader of the band...Too Much Joy.

Turns out that, he too had recently received an interesting royalty statement from Warner Music.

Ironically, I had just blogged about this a few weeks ago.

His post was far more interesting and detailed than mine.

But they are both similar in their outcome

…bizarre royalty accounting abounding!

Though, I have to admit that it got me to thinking

...that as tempting as it is to jump on the label-bashing band wagon

…I miss those days.

The days when record company money flowed like beer at a frat party!

And even though it was ill-gotten gain earned from the usurious interest rates and the mafia accounting that old-school record deals were built on

…it was fun.

Being an artist who sold a few records (not a lot…but some) with my band, Guardian...we got to taste Champale now & then.

It was fun to do things like going to New Orleans or Paris for photo shoots

…and that record company tour support did let us tour in a bus instead of a van.

When it comes to sleeping on the road…I’ll take a bunk in a bus over a bench seat in a van any day!

And when I became a record company guy—it was fun to fly to shows in a private jet

…and be back home in your bed that same night.

I liked staying in cool hotels.

Heck, I was even on a first-name basis with the staff at the Standard in Hollywood.

William Blake once wrote:

 “The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom...for we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough.”

How true!

The demise of the record industry of old is bittersweet…

and I am all about transparency and the realities of the new music economy.

But even though I could whine and say how much I got ripped off as an artist

…I am thankful for the experience and the memories.

And sometimes…that’s as good as it gets.