Q. "How much of a 99-cent iTunes download do I get to keep?" - Recording artist

Article comments

Subscribe to comment RSS

• 1 - Eric Olsen

  Sep 22, 2004 at 11:54 am

  good one Joe, thanks, and some tings don't ever change

• 2 - SFC SKI

  Sep 22, 2004 at 12:08 pm

  Using the conventional arrangement, how much does the artist make?
  
  Impossible to measure, but if more people will pay for the one good tune an artist produces, rather than forego buying an album of filler and one good tune, is it a gain for the artist?

• 3 - brad sucks

  Sep 22, 2004 at 1:40 pm

  Pretty understandable considering how much the label invests in promoting and marketing and distributing the artist's music.
  
  For independents like me though, we get 65 cents off of every iTunes song purchase and $6.50, which is not bad at all.

• 4 - brad sucks

  Sep 22, 2004 at 1:41 pm

  and I MEANT to say $6.50 off each album purchase.

• 5 - Al Barger

  Sep 22, 2004 at 7:33 pm

  Heck, 10 percent ain't that bad, if the band is actually getting paid. That's about 10 percent more than most acts ever get.
  
  Of course, if you're your own label, and getting the label share too, as Brad apparently does, then you're kicking ass.

• 6 - Tate

  Oct 04, 2008 at 4:49 pm

  Where do the other 10 cents go? 34 + 55 = 89.

• 7 - Tate

  Oct 04, 2008 at 4:51 pm

  nevermind, i'm dumb

• 8 - John

  Aug 30, 2009 at 5:03 pm

  So 10 cents go to an artist, who quickly makes more than I do in a year, while 55 cents goes towards the cost of janitors and technicians at the label who actually need the money. Sounds fair to me.