pussycat dolls employment status

[danielspencer2]

I read this from wikipedia.com:

"At the SXSW music conference in 2006, Interscope lawyer Darryl Franklin said, during a panel discussion, that the contract with the group is unique in that its members are actually salaried employees of the record label and, by design, completely interchangeable. This means that in addition to CD sales, the label also controls merchandise, web sites and all other commercial aspects of the group and their income, excluding song publishing."



Can someone tell me what this all means? Do each of the dolls get 10% or whatever the percentage is of CD sales like other artists do?

[Gabz<3melarmit]

PCD don't get a percentage of any sales, whether it be of tickets, merch, albums, anything. Instead, they receive a set salary. As employees of interscope, they can be replaced or fired, unlike in groups with contracts.

[flirtaciousboi]

I'm a music industry major. This is what that means.

PCD's contract was different from normal (previous) music artists. Music artists normally get a percentage of the albums sold and of course they get another percentage if they write their own songs, and another percentage if they produce their own songs and so on. It's like a piece of a pie. The writer gets a piece, the producer gets a piece. Just being an artist doesn't really earn enough nowadays. Anyway, with PCD, their contract was a flat-rate. They were paid straight up, let's say for example, $12 million split among the 6 members. With this contract, the girls have to do what the contract says, such as record a certain number of albums, have a tour of a certain number of cities, etc. In other words, the record label controls all of this and they also control everything else that the Dolls do, such as releasing a makeup line, releasing those figurine dolls (which were scrapped), the selling of their merchandise, etc. Normally, music artists get a percentage of the merchandise sale, but not in the contract that PCD signed.

It may be a bit confusing at first, so I'm sorry if I made it confusing. lol. Hope I helped.

[Stepstar90]

That would explain that some of the Dolls are preparing for a solo career for when their contract expires.

[PussycatBoy]

I don't know how I feel about that, its like they're not a genuine music group, just manutactured like any other pop act like puppets. I thought they had more control over their careers. Still love them though, just not keen on this contract.

[flirtaciousboi]

Well, they do have control. They just need to talk and negotiate with the record label about what direction to go. Metallica has the same type of control. I think they got paid $15 million.

[danielspencer2]

So flirtacious boy, do u really think they were paid 12million up front spilit amoungst 5 members? I mean what if the whole pussycat dolls thing Failed, then the record company would lose 12 million.

And when there contract expires, they can negotiate a higher contract if they want right if the record company agrees right.

[polpus]

Wow... didn't know that. Sounds pretty bad... if I were an artist I would always prefer to get a percentage of cd sales,merchandising income, etc... that way I would be even more motivated to succeed!

Anyway, I agree it does make the dolls a bit more like a manufactured product, but hey... can't stop loving them.

[Gabz<3melarmit]

They aren't getting as paid as much as that, and they don't receive equal amounts. Also, their contract includes many guidelines, its really strict, so they don't really have much control at all. It's also why almost everyone interview with PCD is the same.

[flirtaciousboi]

That 12 million figure was just an example. I don't know exactly what amount they were paid. It's not that bad. You gotta think about it. If you had the "normal" music artist contract with a record label and you don't write or produce your own songs, you're getting a tiny tiny percentage of your record sales only. What if you don't become a success? Then you won't be getting much. The record company already spent a lot of money for your advances, studio time, and promotions. In addition, merchandise and concert tickets might not sell. Then you won't get much back from those too. It's all about taking risks. With this new type of contract, artists are already paid first, so they already "got it in the bank" no matter how much albums they sell (which does not necessarily mean they're not popular). So the record label already spent a lot of money on the artist and still have to spend more on studio time and promotions. So they are taking a huge risk on the artist success. It may seem "manufactured," but this is a business. That's how you gotta see it. And it doesn't mean that these artists are manufactured. Everything has been discussed between the artist and the record label before anything was decided upon, such as number of albums, what type of merchandise, what TV shows, what books, etc.

[flirtaciousboi]

Oh and by the way, it wasn't Metallica. It was Korn. Sorry. Metallica always get me mixed up because they are always in the news about copyright infringement so I always get it mixed up. lol. But yeah, it was Korn who got $15 million up front from EMI.

[danielspencer2]

flirtacuiosboi,


UPDATE on the employment. Look at this article:

http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2006/0623/1949061526TK2306PUSSYCAT.html



It says the dolls don't get their hands DIRECTLY on the cash from merchandise deals, advertisement slots or live shows. I think they DO get money from merchandise sales but they have to pick up a PAY cheque from the record company i think.

[flirtaciousboi]

I believe they do get some of the merchandising and tour revenue. The record label gets a percentage compared to getting none before.

[danielspencer2]

flirtboi look at this also:

http://www.cirpa.ca/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=837

It says the record companies get a percentage of the dolls business interests, so obviously the dolls do get revenue from cd sales and there is a KORN article there too saying they DO get revenue from cd sales even though they were paid 15million