How to make a hit song....maybe

[Dayl]

Wow, thanks for the post, interesting

[ForWerd]

I see why free download albums are so popular these days.

[ncoak]

so upwards of 300k for 'courting radio program directors with fancy dinners, etc'...aka payola. nice

[Studio507]

10,000 mix/master seems a little off, but otherwise it sounds pretty on point.

[Jeezo]

They take off Artists money some for the marketing and promos ....so more and more Artists that are a waranty of sales , will ask Producer and Lyrics writter a part of the right ....this is not stated but how it works ......

[The Aristocrat]

Much appreciated, thanks for posting.

[The Aristocrat]

I wonder how if the mix and master section works out. I can't see Rihanna's label paying both ME's 10k for the mix and master of the entire album. Maybe they are Me's associated with the label. Anyone got any insight into this?

[Tnevz]

This info has been around for a minute. But I cant find the site where I got the original info from, right after 'Loud' came out.
As I remember it, the budget was a million for the whole record, Not just one song. Which is probably a lot by todays standards, for an album budget. But there have been plenty of albums with million dollar budgets before.
The record company put a bunch of promo behind 'Man down' and it cost quite a bit. But ultimately it was other tracks on the album that shined. I think there were like 6 or 7 hits total, and the idea was to produce an album of nothing but hits, no filler.
The tour alone brought in like $80-90 million.

[Jeezo]

there's no secret , in every sector , the more money and energy you put , the more you get back .....giving that the product is at least good ...

[The Aristocrat]

Originally Posted by Tnevz

This info has been around for a minute. But I cant find the site where I got the original info from, right after 'Loud' came out.
As I remember it, the budget was a million for the whole record, Not just one song. Which is probably a lot by todays standards, for an album budget. But there have been plenty of albums with million dollar budgets before.
The record company put a bunch of promo behind 'Man down' and it cost quite a bit. But ultimately it was other tracks on the album that shined. I think there were like 6 or 7 hits total, and the idea was to produce an album of nothing but hits, no filler.
The tour alone brought in like $80-90 million.

by any chance do yo know how much it was split up when it hits the label? Does the label do the redistribution of the funds and in what order does it get dealt out. Say the mixing and mastering engineers get their cut then the producer then the writer etc. Just interested in the business side of things.

[RyanC]

Originally Posted by The Aristocrat

by any chance do yo know how much it was split up when it hits the label? Does the label do the redistribution of the funds and in what order does it get dealt out. Say the mixing and mastering engineers get their cut then the producer then the writer etc. Just interested in the business side of things.

Usually mix and master is work made for hire (IE no royalties), PRO's handle performance royalties (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC), and the label/pubs will handle mechanical royalties. The costs listed here are all before the song drops, and the writers (topline/prod) are most likely recoupable advances. The label typically recoups from sales and license fees but not from performance royalties (although that is something that pubs are trying to change with their own 360-ish stuff). Rihanna herself will probably make most of her money from other avenues, shows, merch, endorsments etc, unless she has writing credits.

[Tnevz]

Originally Posted by The Aristocrat

by any chance do yo know how much it was split up when it hits the label? Does the label do the redistribution of the funds and in what order does it get dealt out. Say the mixing and mastering engineers get their cut then the producer then the writer etc. Just interested in the business side of things.

I really don't know man. I think there's some threads on here about that and I'm sure theres some people on here that would have some experience and knowledge about it.
But I'm pretty sure, as a producer, the royalties would get distributed from the label and you'd get a check from ASCAP, BMI, etc. per the arrangement in your contract. You should definitely get an up front amount for the production as well . And how much you negotiate for the upfront money goes hand in hand with what percentage of royalties you would get.
In other words, if it's a banger and you believe in the track and the artist on the track you might not want to worry as much about the money you get upfront for the production but you'll want to make sure your getting a decent percentage/split in royalties.
BUT, anything and everything can and, lots of times, will happen with major label releases and your track may not get any push from the labels to make it a hit. And unless it makes it on an actual album, you'll get nothing, or close to it, except for experience.
So lots of producers have told me to get as much as you can for the track upfront.

I'm no authority on that stuff by any means though.

[The Aristocrat]

Thanks for the heads up folks greatly appreciated. Gives me that much more to look into and account for in the biz.

[Djdreamstate]

Hey guys, I'm new here. I have to disagree with the mastering costs assigned in he article above. I recently spent a day at Sterling Sound, the premier mastering studio in the whorl where everyone from Rihanna, Jayz or Adele got there albums mastered. The top engineers there charge anywhere from 500-600$ an hour. I spoke to the engineers and a track takes around 30 min. So for a 16 song album it would take the ME around 8 hours. Without any discount thats still only around 4-5 grand. That is at the best Mastering studio in the world so for 10 grand i don't know what you're even doing. I have recently spent time in some of the best recording studios/mastering studios so if anyone has any questions please ask away.

[eddie.machete]

Originally Posted by Djdreamstate

Hey guys, I'm new here. I have to disagree with the mastering costs assigned in he article above. I recently spent a day at Sterling Sound, the premier mastering studio in the whorl where everyone from Rihanna, Jayz or Adele got there albums mastered. The top engineers there charge anywhere from 500-600$ an hour. I spoke to the engineers and a track takes around 30 min. So for a 16 song album it would take the ME around 8 hours. Without any discount thats still only around 4-5 grand. That is at the best Mastering studio in the world so for 10 grand i don't know what you're even doing. I have recently spent time in some of the best recording studios/mastering studios so if anyone has any questions please ask away.

Do they all have lava lamps?

Sent from my Acer E320 using Gearslutz App

[Djdreamstate]

Yea they all have a shitload of lava lamps. Germano Studios had like 500 aha

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Djdreamstate

Hey guys, I'm new here. I have to disagree with the mastering costs assigned in he article above. I recently spent a day at Sterling Sound, the premier mastering studio in the whorl where everyone from Rihanna, Jayz or Adele got there albums mastered. The top engineers there charge anywhere from 500-600$ an hour. I spoke to the engineers and a track takes around 30 min. So for a 16 song album it would take the ME around 8 hours. Without any discount thats still only around 4-5 grand. That is at the best Mastering studio in the world so for 10 grand i don't know what you're even doing. I have recently spent time in some of the best recording studios/mastering studios so if anyone has any questions please ask away.

Some records are mastered more than once, and the best master chosen. Same with mixing. No expense spared etc.

I dunno, just a suggestion. Sterling is great I'm sure, but there's plenty of candidates for "best".

[Djdreamstate]

That would be very uncommon in my knowledge. For major artists the label actually is very strict on budgeting mastering. yes they will pay 4-7grand but they would never pay for two masters unless it was a cheaper service. In reality a hit song doesn't even need 7k$ mastering. If its mixed well, you could take it to a 1k$ mastering studio and may not notice a difference.

[PRPS]

read this before but still really interesting

thanks for sharing

[The Aristocrat]

Originally Posted by Djdreamstate

Hey guys, I'm new here. I have to disagree with the mastering costs assigned in he article above. I recently spent a day at Sterling Sound, the premier mastering studio in the whorl where everyone from Rihanna, Jayz or Adele got there albums mastered. The top engineers there charge anywhere from 500-600$ an hour. I spoke to the engineers and a track takes around 30 min. So for a 16 song album it would take the ME around 8 hours. Without any discount thats still only around 4-5 grand. That is at the best Mastering studio in the world so for 10 grand i don't know what you're even doing. I have recently spent time in some of the best recording studios/mastering studios so if anyone has any questions please ask away.

I too was wondering about this, that's why I made my previous post because I can't see how they got the entire album mixed and mastered for that amount.

[rickrock305]

Originally Posted by Djdreamstate

That would be very uncommon in my knowledge. For major artists the label actually is very strict on budgeting mastering. yes they will pay 4-7grand but they would never pay for two masters unless it was a cheaper service. In reality a hit song doesn't even need 7k$ mastering. If its mixed well, you could take it to a 1k$ mastering studio and may not notice a difference.

I'm sure its much rarer for mastering, but for mixing it happens quite often.

[Djdreamstate]

Yea true mixing is often done more than once.
I do a lot of mixing. Check out my work if possible guys: SoundClick artist: DreamstateProductions - Producer For: G Unit, MMG, Young Buck, Ron Browz, Shawty Lo