Ya its always been like that tho. I cant imagine being an artist and getting screwed like that. No wonder why so many rely on iTunes and the internet to get their music out there instead of worry about lables.
Wasnt the numbers out a few years ago that on a $15 cd, a artist only makes like less than $1.50 on it.
Edit: Found it
This breakdown of the cost of a typical major-label release by the independent market-research firm Almighty Institute of Music Retail shows where the money goes for a new album with a list price of $15.99.
$0.17 Musicians’ unions
$0.80 Packaging/manufacturing
$0.82 Publishing royalties
$0.80 Retail profit
$0.90 Distribution
$1.60 Artists’ royalties
$1.70 Label profit
$2.40 Marketing/promotion
$2.91 Label overhead
$3.89 Retail overheadThat’s a pretty remarkable breakdown. Label get $7.01per CD and retailers get $4.69 for a combined percentage of 73% of the price of each CD. Royalties, artists, and manufacturing costs combined total only $4.29.