A Not So Funny Warner Bros Royalty Statement

I was reading Billboard the other day and noticed this article regarding Warner Music Group and one of their artists. Until now I'm not sure anyone has ever posted their quarterly royalty statement on the web for all to see, especially a royalty statement from a Major.

Tim Quirk, a singer from the 90's alternative band "Too Much Joy" posted his statement in his blog the other day titled "My Hilarious Warner Bros. Royalty Statement", www.toomuchjoy.com. His frustration came from the fact that Warner Bros. wasn't reporting digital earnings to him. The problem has since been fixed but if you take a look at the blog and the statement you will see how thin the quarterly statement is from a Major.

Another point to make and we try to emphasize all the time when artist first come to TMG is that Majors want to own you. They want a 360 deal, meaning that they make money off of everything. TMG operates completely different, and we are educating the market and the artist that our way is the best way for all parties involved. TMG doesn't own or want any portion of an artists copyrights, publishing rights, performance rights etc... TMG's contract clearly states that we want to be the sole manufacturer of the product we are marketing and promoting.

The discouraging aspect to artist that sign with Majors or other labels is that there is usually a balance owed in full before the artist sees any profit from their hard work. At the bottom of Quirks statement Warner Bros. states that there is a "BALANCE ENDING UNRECOUPED of $395,214.00". Quirk later states in his blog that he never expects to have that balance paid off in full. That statement speaks volumes, honestly they recorded three albums from 1990 - 92, that's almost 20 years ago and they still haven't made a dime from the record company. Unfortunately there are thousands of artists in the same position as "Too Much Joy".