Let's Do the Math

As an artist, I think we care 100% about the art that we’re making. Regardless if it’s creating music, dance choreography, or physical paintings, sculptures etc.: the art is the most important thing to us. We want to put out the best material possible, and the ultimate dream is to be able to make a living sustainable doing what we love.

One of the most important aspects of the entertainment industry that artists tend to be fairly clueless about is the business side of things. Artists will often trust contract negotiations to their managers and sign without knowing what exactly they’re signing.

Industry insider, Russell Brennan gives some great tips on how artists can be a bit more educated about the types of agreements they’re signing, especially regarding record labels. One of the most well known examples of young artists getting into agreements that they don't completely understand is TLC. At the peak of their career, they were the highest selling female group. Their manager, former singer, Pebbles and her company Pebbiton worked as managers for the group. Unfortunately, the deal that they had with Pebbiton and LaFace Records didn’t allow them to make much off of their first two successful albums. At the height of their careers, they were forced to file bankruptcy. There are several other instances where successful bands, artists or groups signed agreements that they did not understand very well. This generation as the luxury of learning from these artists' mistakes and becoming more and more reliant on themselves to get their art out to the public. The internet is a great tool that allows artists to build fan bases, without the help of a record label. The moral here is to educate yourself. When a contract in presented to you, have a great lawyer on standby that you can trust to look it over and make sure it's in your best interest!