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AndrewG · 21 Aug 2010, 04:41

It's usually only 10-15% of sales figures that will go to the artist, but that figure still gets split amongst the musicians, producer, engineers (I believe Ted Jenssen alone to do the mastering costs around $5000 from what I've heard), song writers etc. Considering you can now buy HCTB (physical album) for around £6 in the UK, or €9/10 in Europe that isn't very much at all. I think 600.000 is still great but considering the cost of HCTB which would have been quite high, I doubt they even made money out of it, at least not much. Perhaps even a loss.
I think there are several reasons for the lack of sales; the download age we live in mostly, the songs themselves (which I still don't think are as strong as on previous Meat Loaf albums but that is my opinion), limited marketing strategies/limited TV performances/lack of proper single releases and promotion of these and I also think the bad press surrounding Meat and his performances over the last 3 years haven't helped. Though on the other hand that has of course kept Meat's name in the media.

The reviews of the album have been VERY good so I'm not even sure my assumption about the songs themselves is actually correct. It's just that out of the many recent Meat albums I have, I would probably not recommend this one and also I usually buy two copies and give one to my mother but I didn't do that with this one as I know she won't like it as it's far too aggressive, offensive and loud for her (Like a Rose/Dick Pants song/Love is not Real). I'm not saying this one sale will make any damn difference (certainly not considering the cost of the deluxe version I bought) but I can imagine that similar events have happened and thus the targeted audience this time around is a bit different and maybe a bit smaller.

And still, seeing the album in all the shops on the main shelves when it was released still shows there is quite a bit of force behind the Meat Loaf brand in my opinion. No less than artists who have been around for the same amount of the same time in my opinion. I am not sure what justifies huge expectations anyway as the best selling artists these days all seem to be younger than 25, team up with several rap artists to make one song, use Auto tune to change their voice completely and don't do live performances, have a dance entourage on stage or are winners of a recent pop show contest. In the light of all this I really don't think Meat is doing too badly at all. Perhaps making an album in a slightly simpler way would be more profitable (so maybe no more guest musicians and just use the touring band).

I'm just throwing ideas in the mix and am not telling what Meat should do! I'm still surprised he wants to do another album, but am very happy to see that too.

21 Aug 2010, 04:41	#72
AndrewG I hope your salmon sucks! Join Date: 18.01.2004 Location: Northamptonshire Posts: 7,085	It's usually only 10-15% of sales figures that will go to the artist, but that figure still gets split amongst the musicians, producer, engineers (I believe Ted Jenssen alone to do the mastering costs around $5000 from what I've heard), song writers etc. Considering you can now buy HCTB (physical album) for around £6 in the UK, or €9/10 in Europe that isn't very much at all. I think 600.000 is still great but considering the cost of HCTB which would have been quite high, I doubt they even made money out of it, at least not much. Perhaps even a loss. I think there are several reasons for the lack of sales; the download age we live in mostly, the songs themselves (which I still don't think are as strong as on previous Meat Loaf albums but that is my opinion), limited marketing strategies/limited TV performances/lack of proper single releases and promotion of these and I also think the bad press surrounding Meat and his performances over the last 3 years haven't helped. Though on the other hand that has of course kept Meat's name in the media. The reviews of the album have been VERY good so I'm not even sure my assumption about the songs themselves is actually correct. It's just that out of the many recent Meat albums I have, I would probably not recommend this one and also I usually buy two copies and give one to my mother but I didn't do that with this one as I know she won't like it as it's far too aggressive, offensive and loud for her (Like a Rose/Dick Pants song/Love is not Real). I'm not saying this one sale will make any damn difference (certainly not considering the cost of the deluxe version I bought) but I can imagine that similar events have happened and thus the targeted audience this time around is a bit different and maybe a bit smaller. And still, seeing the album in all the shops on the main shelves when it was released still shows there is quite a bit of force behind the Meat Loaf brand in my opinion. No less than artists who have been around for the same amount of the same time in my opinion. I am not sure what justifies huge expectations anyway as the best selling artists these days all seem to be younger than 25, team up with several rap artists to make one song, use Auto tune to change their voice completely and don't do live performances, have a dance entourage on stage or are winners of a recent pop show contest. In the light of all this I really don't think Meat is doing too badly at all. Perhaps making an album in a slightly simpler way would be more profitable (so maybe no more guest musicians and just use the touring band). I'm just throwing ideas in the mix and am not telling what Meat should do! I'm still surprised he wants to do another album, but am very happy to see that too. Last edited by AndrewG; 21 Aug 2010 at 05:03.