Artist Management for the Music Business

10 Income From Recording

Until the 1950s, recording artists were not paid royalties for the sale of recordings. They were paid in a similar manner to session musicians, meaning they were paid at the prevailing rate for a vocalist who sang at a recording session, and that was the end of the compensation. Those artists who negotiated for a royalty for recording music “only received a penny amount per sale rather than a percentage of a sales price as they do today.” (Butler, 2004) For the artist who owns their own label and markets their own recordings, income and earnings from their sale is immediate. In most instances, however, aggregate earnings ...