March 02, 2010

...I don't think we've seen more than a couple hundred bucks in CD sales in the past decade. Digital sales are meaningless. Digital royalties are even more meaningless -- do you know anybody who's actually been paid by SoundExchange? Right's holders' royalties (BMI) make us a couple hundred dollars a year each, mostly due to Michael Moore having used Take the Skinheads Bowling in Bowling for Columbine in 2004 and its subsequent play on television. My own cds outside of CVB that I have released over the last 20 years are still hovering in the ~$10k region of debt.

The only money we make nowadays is touring, and the only way for a band to make money touring is

a) playing to large audiences in venues that will actually pay you and
b) scrimping.

It's not super fun much of the time, especially at our "advanced" ages (with respect to rock and roll!) and obviously we can't do it all the time due to market saturation, not to mention the fact that we have to go back to work. David is the only one who is full time professional musician, when he's not playing with Camper, he's playing with Cracker, and he bears a hellish touring schedule to make ends meet that way!

Anyway, the whole "fanbase as patrons" idea that was so touted at the onset of the digital music age has proven to be very much like the old patronage system -- if you have a patron (advertiser, record company, whatever will pay) they will pay and the rest of the peasants listen to what's been paid for. The masses don't pay for much of anything.