TLC - Sold 10 Million records and still broke!
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- Опубліковано 27 чер 2024
- TLC - Sold 10 Million records and still broke!
In 1996, R&B group TLC stunned a room full of reporters at the Grammy Awards when they announced that despite selling 10 million records they were "broke as broke can be".
So how do you sell 10 million copies and not make any money?
00:00 - Start
00:07 - Intro
01:50 - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez explains how you can sell 10 million records and be broke
02:51 - The numbers explained
07:46 - How did they end up with such a bad deal?
08:29 - Crystal Jones (The original C in TLC) explains why she didn't sign the contract
09:06 - The Beatles first record deal compared with TLC - Розваги
Amazing how these managers own you...They should of had a separate lawyer, for starters... lovely content Wayne 👍🏿
Yes, they never should have signed anything especially when they didn't understand it.
So many acts have been ripped off from greedy management and the record companies.
The problem is, many aspiring artists want the fame & the (perceived) money/lifestyle that goes with it. Plus, if you're in a band, and your bandmates are pressuring you to sign the contract, you have to make the choice on whether or not you want that fame.
Crystal was smart to walk away. The fact that Pebbles wouldn't let her go over the contract with her mother was a huge red flag and she did not miss it.
It’s criminal what happened to these ladies
Also, that original TLC member was very smart walk away from that signing. Her mother raised her right!
She wasn’t offered a contract Tionne says
Artists always get screwed in the long run, and they are always the last ones to be paid. Pebbles played these girls like a piano!
The more I learn about the music industry, the more I'm in favor of scrapping it... Let us buy music directly from the artists and cut out the greedy middle men.
hell yeah. for a while, it did work in the late 2000s with NIN, radiohead, david byrne, and hall & oates. they sold their music directly through their websites and made good money out of it.
I can't help but feel bad for these girls.
Geez, ONE MILLION PER LETTER?! That woman is wicked!!!
Omg. This is THE BEST BREAKDOWN IVE EVER SEEN ON THIS issue . I mean, tell UA-cam to stop playing with you and boost your views by recommending this. Everyone recycles what Left Eye says with very mediocre commentary but you BROKE IT DOWN. love you and this channel!!!
Thank you so much 😀
If all this is true about Pebbles, it changes my view about her and the music she released. Maybe I won't play her tracks in my 80's DJ sets after all...
It wasn't just pebbles, la Reid as well. Clive Davis. I try not to say babyface all these years but a lot of stuff that came out that he did know about. But what he did not know was his ex-wife Tracy Edmonds was involved as well taking the girls money. Pebbles family members brothers and sisters also including R&B singer her first cousin CHERRELLE. And her brothers and sisters. La Reid brothers and sisters etc
There is this one guy who was close with Damien dame male and female duo group. Who was laface first artist. He stated in a post back in 2013 and 14 that he seen first hand how they treated tlc and Toni Braxton etc.
He was allegedly writing and tell all book I haven't heard about it for a long time. But what us fans don't know there were a lot of foolishness that was going on that the ladies never told the public. We are not talking about the stuff that we do know its more deeper than that.
And then basically some of us fans found out around 2013 and 14 why pebbles had lied on chili for many many years of messing with la Reid. She was hiding the fact that she allegedly had a son that she gave up. This is what she tried not to let out but the ladies knew about it and they never said nothing about it to the public. La Reid knew about it as well so he went along with pebbles lying on him and chilli. This alleged son has spoken out on Facebook around the time when the TLC movie came out and he stated in his own words that pebbles was his mother and El DeBarge was his father. El debarge mother confirmed that statement was true that the alleged son had made. The Son was also writing a tell all book.
@@maxday1000 RIP Damien Dame...❤❤❤❤❤
I was just listening to the No Scrubs episode of 60 Songs That Explain The 90s, well worth a listen...
Same with Lou Pearlman using the BSB and NSYNC and not paying them a fair share. I watched this youtube premium documentary. Problem in general is that artists basically know about music and that's it. Usually the artists need the label more than the label needs the artist. The label has much more power than the small artists. And they know how to use their power. Basically its a David vs Goliath thing and here the underdog isn't winning.
wow, even as skatepunk metalhead I loved some TLC songs, waterfall especially and creep, no scrubs and unpretty. The music industry, not the artists, is so parasitic to both those artists and the fans.
I remember watching a drama based on exactly this and it was really shocking how badly exploited TLC was at the hands of Pebbles, oh my looord !!!! I really think that the music industry needs some kind of reform cause the industry is littered with stories like this. I saw a documentary on James Brown and although I love James Brown’s music, it really stung when his band mentioned that JB often didn’t pay them when he got paid, shocking !!!
"Diggin On You", "Waterfalls" and "Unpretty", three of the chillest tracks ever made that I'll never get tired of. They had a bit more attitude than you typically got in girl groups and Lisa Left-Eye Lopes' style of rapping was an influence on the Spice Girls. They also gave Outkast their first appearance on record on the What About Your Friends Extended Remix. Deserved better, but Left-Eye's death ended things prematurely.
OutKast was signed to the same label so that's expected
Didn't a similar thing also happened to Toni Braxton? She had to file for bankruptcy because of a bad record deal with LaFace Records which was ironically the same company that TLC was signed with.
Yeah she had a deal only marginally better than each member of TLC had...they shared 7% (2.34% each) ...Toni Braxton got 4% to herself....or 33c per copy. 15 million copies she sold at the time should be $5million paid to her, minus recoupments. There's always an element of financial mismanagement on the artists' part but its a pretty inequitable deal to start with.
Her deal was later renegotiated to 20% or roughly $1.5 per copy.
Similar thing happened to Queen in their early days. They had to move heaven and earth to get out of their unfavourable contract. Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne's father) also did something similar with ELO and other artists. There's a story that Jeff Lynne drove to Arden's house and angrily demanded 'his f*****g money' that was owed him.
Don Arden was basically like a mob boss who worked in the music industry. And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, because his daughter has many of those nasty qualities. Former members of Ozzy's band have some stories to tell. Most notably bassist Bob Daisley.
@@MrClassicmetal sharon is just as bad as her father and why she is a fucking bitch.
I remember seeing this on MTV or ET or 20/20 back in the day. Mind blowing!
The artist gets the smallest percentage but has to pay everything out of their share?! Wowzers. Pebbles did them dirty, LA Reid somehow doesn't get tagged as a co-conspirator in all this. "No way you can show your parent, an adult, your contract!" That's tell tale sign of being taken advantage of! I think a lot more artists had money struggles than we realize.
it stinks, doesn't it! But they play on people's dreams and ambitions. I was told, "don't expect your first record deal to be lucrative" which is both good advice and a horrifying status quo. I also work with a lot of legacy artists, trying to collect missing/lost royalties, many of whom were not writers or band leaders and as a result do not get any royalties or residual income from anywhere. People like Miles Davis' bassist still have to work pretty much full-time to earn a living even though he is 85 this year and played on some of the most iconic jazz records ever!
@@Traxploitation Disgusting isn't it?? It's no wonder many artists go independent or start their own label when able.
@@Khenfu_Cake thankfully the balance of power is shifting. The major labels are losing their market share. They used to own around 80% of all commercially released music, in 2020 it was estimated to be around 65%
I've always believed L.A. Reid did them just ss poorly because of how poorly he did Toni Braxton.
pebbles was a snake
She definitely is that's why she sued VH1 when the Movie came out. Money Hungry Pebbles know good and well her Deal was Shady. She may have funded/took the risk for TLC's Debut Album but she definitely was looking out for herself NOT the group.
Great Story. Thank you for the upload.
Life is About Lessons & TLC learned. Nowadays, Artists know all about 360 Deals and They're much more knowledgeable about The industry. Labels can't get over like they use to.
Indeed. Also self releasing your music has become a lot easier now with the internet so major record labels have less of an ultimatum they can give to aspiring artists. So they are forced to basically pay their signed artists a proper share. As it should be 😊
The entire entertainment industry is pure evil.
lovin' these man!
I never saw TLC admit this or Lopez explanation of the finances previously.
Based on what I know from researching the music industry , She's basically right generally here.
Also, bear in mind that T-Boz was suffering from sickle cell anemia, which definitely cut into the group's profits.
@@andrewbloom7637 No that her personal medical condition.
The group was basically stating the facts of the music industry when they said they were broke.
Tboz said in an Interview Pebbles charged 1 Million Dollars per letter in The Settlement. I would've gave her 5 Million Dollars as well to go away. TLC made that back triple time!
@@andrewbloom7637 I'm pretty sure she had medical insurance with her condition. You're actually right LaFace did cover several medical costs for Tboz. I read that before so I agree with you.
It's like this TLC first album sold 5 million copies worldwide. That's $50 million alone right there without touring.
The promotional tour probably have brought in $5 million dollars on their first album. All together that's $55 million dollars. What in the hell happened to $55 million?
Their second album crazy sexy cool has sold 10 million records in 94 then in 95 it sold 4 more million records. Equals 14 million records sold worldwide. That is $150 million dollars that TLC had generated off the second album alone.
All together their first album and second album had generated over $250 million but they gave those ladies $50,000 a piece are you f****** kidding me?
Toni Braxton first two albums generated over $175 million dollars. I'm not understanding why Babyface got on Wendy Williams and stated that they didn't have the money to pay the ladies.
You mean to tell me TLC and Toni Braxton was laface records two first artists who generated all together $ 425 million dollars. Where in the f*** did $425 million dollars go that fast. Its not making sense. Tboz stated on the Monique show that crazy sexy cool had generated $ 75 million they told them that but the ladies did not know they generated more money than that.
So if you ask me $ 75 million dollars should had went to the ladies of TLC out of the $425 million. That's about right.
Great videos man!
Thanks...Glad you like them! :) 😀
Lisa broke it down like a shotgun. Even a child can understand that lecture
100%!
Where the F is the Recording Academy when all of these BS contracts is being written. What is the point of the Recording Academy and why is the Academy not setting a standard to protect their artist.
15 dollar CDs lmao. P2P sites specializing in free music downloads (and movies) like Napster became very popular because music fans did not want to buy CDs at those outrageous prices, especially since they were cheaper to make than vinyl. The greed of those outtifs helped doom the physical medium biggly.
That's very true!
It started in the 50s and 60s a 7inch single cost over half a day's wages for the average worker. Music has had inflated prices for a long time but little competition, as soon as there was an alternative the market crashed.
I’d like to see the numbers for touring and merch too. This would give a more complete picture.
Let's keep in mind that this numbers reflect albums that sold well!!! If it was lesser than that it would've been worse.
I believe, and this has been ALL ALONG for all artists that many of them get actual money from sponsors, branding, imaging.
It is a fascinating machine I wish we could know more of and not only these extreme bankrupcy cases. I've seen interviews about this from the BSB/Nysnc with Lou Pearlman, frontwoman Sherley Manson from Garbage, I'm from Mexico so I've seen a couple interviews related to this with some national big groups...it's just fascinating
It's crazy how it was like a common thing in the 90s and even before that in earlier eras of music, especially for the black artists - they would sign a deal, not have the knowledge behind it beforehand, get bamboozled out of the monies they were rightfully owed and once they spoke out against it, either the entire group becomes blacklisted in a sense where they stop making records, you don't hear anymore music from them and the label drops them or either something tragic happens to the members of that group, especially the most vocal ones..
For example:
Dino from HTown
Tony Thompson and other members of Hi-Five
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
And countless others ..
Everybody with a musical talent's main objective is to get signed and be rich and famous but really have no idea what they are really signing up for in the long run
Check out what happened to Badfinger and the Bay City Rollers
Crystal you won’t say the lawyers name because you can’t because you weren’t offered a contract Lisa Tionne and L.A. Reid all say you weren’t hungry enough and the dismissed you before contracts were even discussed
It would have been great if they were able to go on tour because they could have made money directly. I heard T-Boz said they couldn't go on tour because they were considered to be a high risk and noone wamted to promote them. Lisa and Andre domestic dispute and behind the scenes drama saw TLC as an liability. I know they did the 1995 Budweiser Superfest and that was luck. Also CrazySexyCool should have had 7 singles released instead of 4, Kick Your Game, Switch and Let's Take Our Time should have been singles.
Great video!! TlC is my favorite female group.
The best! :)
Same
It blows me away that artists have to pay to produce and promote their albums and then once they’ve paid this off still only get a small percentage of sales revenue. It’d be like a bank loaning a farmer the $ to buy a tractor and insisting they still get 90% of the profits even after the farmer’s paid off the loan
Yeah it's exactly like that, for those whose releases make a profit.
The only difference is if the project doesn't make money the label will usually just cut their losses, drop the aritst and move on. (although quite often theyre not actually dropped the label just doesnt take up a contracted "option" to continue to a next album). Its not like a loan where they'll have to pay it back from their own money...the label will usually just hang onto the recordings until they are profitable.
Thats why sometimes you'll see an artist or band get big and then some other label will re-release an older album to cash in on their new found fame. On some rare occasions I've known artists who've had a bunch of money spent on recordings and then have still walked away from the deal with ownership of the recordings and a deficit on paper.
Doesn't anyone in Music read their contract before they sign it? People have been ripping off bands since the '50s, and likely before.
I don't think they read it closely enough. I know some artists who don't even know who they signed to let alone what they agreed. They just want to make music. Creatives are very easy to exploit it seems.
same for most creatives, books, music, film and video games. the advance, you're paying for that.. the best studio, you're paying for that.. best marketing, you're paying for that. publishers/labels aren't paying anything, it's just a big bill to be paid later.
Lawyer up boys and girls.
Yes, but make sure you get a good one of those too.
Been told I have some decent lyrics, go to Nashville and see what happens.
Stuff like this makes not want to.
Why only take 7% royalties when your still having to pay the cost of everything etc
DAMN
Exploitative contracts in the US entertainment and music industry ultimately go back to contracts on the minstrel show circuit, where the music publisher got most of the money over the performer.
Imagine how much the Roman aristocracy and others got from those gladiators' performances. lol Entertainment exploitation goes back to the beginning of time.
The so-called record business was only lucrative if you were on the record label side of the isle. Artists get screwed over, the bulk of their earnings going to the fat cat studio executives. Those contracts are essentially deals with the devil and should be criminal. It's like if you worked 40 hours per week at $18 per hour but were only paid 0.56 for each hour with the rest going to your employer. No worker in his or her right mind would accept such a lop-sided deal.
The music industry has been taking advantage of artists since the very first record would pressed.
I remember in the 90's this was brought up and they had a interview with questa from tribe called quest and he broke it down how much he paid an how much he took home in the end, he was also fucked
That Beatles deal was split 5 ways (Brian epstien was the 5th) and they had it for years (criminal considering how much imeasurable profits emi made on the band)
I'm in favor of musical artists having the ability to become fairly rich, as long as they are selling a lot of records. The problem seems to be rampant corporatism combined with monopoly power and weak (if not profiting) politicians.
The problem wasn't just Pebbles or any manager... it's generally systemic and feeds on the aspirations of artists willing to do anything for an opportunity, sometimes even sell their souls for fame. Its an industry where everyone (artist, manager, record label, parent company, distributor) is expected to play their role, stay in their lane and take their cut by any means necessary. Ultimately shyt rolls downhill and the artists themselves seem to be at the very bottom.
That's all well and good. But Pebbles management cut was unusually high and not commensurate with the work involved. 🤷♂️
@@Traxploitation A lot of time has passed so I can’t remember if her cut was unusually high, but I will say that Pebbles went above and beyond the role of manager even by the group’s own admission. She taught them EVERYTHING and molded them into what they became. The main issue was her blatant conflict of interest, “playing her role” in the label/record company’s pecking order and not fighting for the group’s (her client’s) best interest.
@@Tadaia it was reportedly 50%! That's double even the high end of whats normal.
360 in the contract never that
i work in TV and film industry as actor, i do low level work, but.. money is so much better and get almost all the money that i make at very good rates.. and why can't music industry work same way?
Are you in a union?
Actors unions like SAG in USA and Equity in the UK have more power.
There's been actors strikes before but as half of musicians aren't unionised we don't have that same tactic to use.
As a result the actors unions have better base rates than musicians and the power to enforce them.
When Top of The Pops used to be on in UK they paid all the performers union rates (even non members) so you had the odd situation where the singer was being paid less than their dancers as dancers came under the actors union... 🤷♂️🤦♂️
@@Traxploitation @Traxploitation not in union but for everything i do or that i'm featured in, i get almost all my money. i mostly do TV and video productions or online media, low level work but y'know it still makes me think how much better and organized this industry is in terms of getting your money vs music industry, which is as that well known quote says.. "a long, dark, cruel and shallow money trench where the pimps, thieves and sharks roam free.. and good men die like dogs.. and then there's the bad side"..
@@Traxploitation I was about to say the same... UNIONS. Of course Wall Street & Corporate Media have indoctrinated many Americans to hate unions over the past 40 yrs. I keep wondering how people are going to feel when the unions die out and corporate America starts working our kids the way they did in the 1800s and the way they've been working those kids in Asia and other countries to produce their foreign made goods. Some of us have this silly idea that corporate America actually cares more about our kids than those in other countries. Unchecked Capitalism doesn't care, not the slightest bit.
I'm probably missing something but why couldn't the record company help pay for some of those things with the 93% they were getting from the original deal?
because capitalism.
Most independent labels pay for all the costs then split the profits 50/50 with the artists but major labels tend to take as much as they can in return for giving as little as possible.
No more chasing waterfalls! Ca ching!!!
good job they weren't "...too proud to beg" when they first started. :)
The companies always get there money and it's because we all let them.
Tall towers require strong foundations.
We the people.
Always seem like when artists get screwed they wine up dead. Prince, M.J.,
Most artists that get/got ripped off...are still alive 🤷♂️. MJ wasn't even ripped off. In fact for his last few albums his advance was more than the revenue. He died with nearly $500m unrecouped advances. Prince also settled his dispute with Warner and signed a new more lucrative contract with full creative control (which was his issue, not money...he was paid extremely well) many years before his death. I see comments of this nature all the time, but nobody can explain why killing the artist would make any business sense. In death, the artists rights and assets pass to their heirs not the label... and deceased estates are notoriously hard to do business with.
Pebbles was the problem!
These laws should be changed
Which laws?
@@Traxploitation ownership laws, publishing, performance, sampling, writing, etc etc
@@mostmost1 The laws themselves weren't really the issue here. It was the high management split diluting the artists share and then an arguably inequitable (but perfectly legal) recording contract, that they didn't understand the terms of. They just needed better management and legal representation to have a avoided this.
@@Traxploitation that's the problem. The laws should protect artist. You can't know what you don't know. The system is set up to benefit the labels, lawyers, management and so on. The prey on artists to get the income they generate. They prey on young people in particular.
Owing an agency is a money making machine, you can profit off everything while the artist only profits off their music. $1000 for those outfits? One time wear outfits should be cheap lol, the label made a lot from that. $2 million for a video that doesn't make you much money? That's insane, the video quality itself doesn't sell you much more records, it's mostly the song so keep your videos cheaper. I understand there's a huge risk with unknown talent and that is why the agency needs to have a bigger share of any profits but set a limit to those profits like after they recoup their money, the split changes.
Absolutely! One label I was signed to used to charge the artists marketing costs at 70% the market rate, but their marketing was in house and the only cost was wages and postage so if they charged 15 artists 5k each for marketing but only had to pay the marketing guy 30k annual wage so they would profit 45k but the marketing cost would be recouped from sales so they get paid twice for the same thing! Thats just one entry on the accounts, they would do a similar thing for loads of costs.
It honestly sounds more like an elaborate debt prison for agencies and labels to essentially keep the artists trapped in a form of indentured servitude 😐
@@Khenfu_Cake sort of. It's worth noting that artists don't actually "owe" the labels. It's not a debt, it's a deficit. It's not a loan that the artist is personally liable for. Its a debt secured against intellectual property. Copyright. The deficit can only be recouped from revenue derived from the recordings, and not demanded from the artist.
For example. My first album, released I'm 2003 is still around £3000 in deficit, but they can never recover that money directly from me. Aside from anything else, my contract ended in 2009. In fact i just received royalties for another album I did for them that is profitable. The deficit from one project was not even cross-recoupable in my contract.
The only downside of not recouping is that in 2013 when the master rights should have reverted to me they didn't. In order to get ownership I'd need to pay off the deficit or negotiate some other arrangement. But, I have to assess whether owning the master rights will be worth paying off the deficit...at this stage...not really.
Was making these ridiculously expensive music video's their choice and were these videos really necessary to sell their records?
The budget set for videos is rarely decided by the artists, but in the case of "Waterfalls", TLC were adamant that they wanted a cutting edge video and demanded the budget be increased. Which it was. Its not really documented who was the driving force behind their other videos, but I think its fairly safe to assume they were at least complicit in spending so much on videos.
High-end music videos were genuinely important for getting the maximum amount of airplay on the likes of MTV.
STUDIO COSTS AND ALL THE OTHER FEES AND FINES SHOULD
COME FROM THE FOLX THAT
ACTUALLY GOT THE MONEY.
THANK GOD/YAH I NEVER MUSIC
CELEBRITY BECAUSE I'D BE
A INMATE IN SOME PRISON
FOR MURDA
Independent labels tend to work on a 50/50 net profit split so all the cost get recouped from gross revenue then the money is split equally between the artist and the label. Much more fair than the major label gross profit splits applied in this case.
They were ripped off!
you signed the deal
Lol if only it were that simple 🤦♂️
Capitalism and exploitation… kindred souls. Great vids btw.
100%! Capitalise and Exploit are synonyms. Capitalism could just as accurately be called Exploitism. There's only 2 ways to make money, exploit workers and/or suppliers by under paying for goods and services or exploit the consumers, by overcharging for those goods and services. The most successful companies do both!
Of course Pebbles didn't want Crystal to take that contract home to let her mom go over it with her - the deception and swindling would of been revealed right then and there, Crystal would of put TBoz and Lisa up on game which would of completely changed the dynamics of everything with them as we knew it. Either TLC would of never been, if it would of went that way and they decided to bail on the contracts and go a different route or they still would of happened under possibly another name, another label and they might not have made the music we know them for now ..but then theres the question of, if that would of happened would it have changed the fate of Left Eye?
Unless her mother was a lawyer, chances are she wouldn't have understood it either. Contracts are notoriously difficult for people without legal training to decrypt into easily-understandable bullet points. That's why it's so vital to have a proper independent lawyer read it first.
I once had a recording contract nearly fall through after the brother of one of the group members told him it was a bad deal.
The brother was not in the music business, didn't have any legal knowledge or experience and had never even seen a recording contract before. Yet his brother believed him more than the experienced music lawyer I had hired to represent us all. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
It’s no one’s business to teach YOU business
except perhaps a professor/lecturer at business school?🤔
The artists have ALWAYS made their money off the touring and merch sales that’s the way its always been
Thats definitely true of American artists, many of whom end up having to tour right up until they die in order to make money. However, in Europe, many laws exist that ensure musicians have a residual income from recordings, such as the 1961 Rome Convention (for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations) that the USA didn't sign, which grants musicians the right to "equitable remuneration" from the exploitation of recordings they have contributed to, whether or not their contract or service agreement with the record label entitles them to it. The right to this money doesn't even end at the death of the artist, it can be passed on to heirs in a will, for successful artists these payments run into the millions each year! In USA, "work for hire" laws mean that once a session musician is paid for a recording they are not entitled to any future money ever. So it's not accurate to say "artists have always made their money from touring" as it's only really true of the USA, it's also not right to accept that as the status quo where it is true.
@@Traxploitation this brings to mind of Clyde Stubblefield who was James Brown's session drummer who played on the song " Funky Drummer" which went on to be a sort of rap samplers dream anthem. Stubblefield's drum break solo is legendary. But unfortunately he didn't receive any royalties.
@@thankthelord4536 you're are spot on!
Had Clyde Stubblefield been Canadian, or Mexican or from an EU country he would have received millions in neighbouring rights payments for Funky Drummer and the thousands of songs that sampled it. In fact if James Brown had recorded in a Canadian or Mexican studio all the musicians would be rich now. I'm amazed more American musicians aren't aware of how badly their government screwed them over copyright by not agreeing to the Rome Convention back in the 1960s and continue to screw them by rejecting things like the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. That seeks to correct the law.
Its true their management screwed them over, but artists never make money till later on in their careers. For every success story there are many failures which record companies invested lots of money in, which they essentially had to write off. And not forgetting the songwriters, TLC had some co-writing credits but most were other people.
"Artists never make money until later in their careers" 🤦♂️
Who told you that? 🤷♂️
If anything it's the other way around...they make money early on but struggle financially in retirement.
Sly Stewart of Sly and the Family Stone was essentially homeless and lived in a campervan until relatively recently.
Artists that sell 10 million copies usually make money from those 10 million copies unless they have an inequitable deal.
Filing for bankruptcy after selling 10 million and winning a Grammy is not usual. At. All.
TOUGH LUCK. The risk you bare living in that world.
Broke how? I bet they sucked at finances. Also, these numbers don't look like they were adjusted for inflation. The $300,000 adjusted for inflation puts the value of that money at around $650,000. However, it changed how artist produce and distribute their music and made independent labels profitable to the artist.
Broke as in the usual definition of the word. 🤷♂️. The numbers weren't adjusted for inflation. Why would they be? They filed for bankruptcy in 1995. In 1995 $300,000 was worth $300,000. 🤦♂️ if I adjusted all the numbers for inflation it would still equal the same thing 🤷♂️. Adjusting for inflation is only applicable when comparing historical figures with current ones. If someone earned $1 and spent $1 they'd have 0. Adjust both numbers in line with inflation and u still get 0.
It didn't really change anything for anyone but them. Some other artists were paid more at the time, some were paid less.
You're right about one thing though, they probably sucked at finances.
These numbers don't add up considering music view numbers on UA-cam, biggest selling worldwide track only 1.2million sales? ? ? Easy to see the scam ! There are less people now in the world, check out your towns pubs over the last 30 years , there are less than half as many now compared to 30 years ago , views on UA-cam are free on the surface but in reality , views make money , real money , so views are not free ! We're talking billions not millions !
I'm confused...where does UA-cam come into this? UA-cam launched in 2004, TLC filed for bankruptcy in 1995.
Idk... I hear so many people complain about being "broke," and were no where near as poor as I am or have been. Im not complaining about my poverty, but people complain about their debt. Compare your life to the life of an average African or Indian family... still broke? Average home in the UK is under 1,000 sq feet. Still broke?
Er what?
It's totally OK for artists who work 18hr days for years...sell 10 million records earning the record label 10s of millions of dollars to be legally bankrupt, because there's poorer people in India and Africa....🤷♂️🤦♂️
That's crazy "logic". They weren't in Africa or India. They were in the USA...surely citizens of the country that sees itself as no1 in the world should be economically better off than a 3rd world country 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
I have no idea why u brought up house sizes in the UK...what does that have to do with anything?
This is simply because TLC has invested more on the FACADE rather than talents. Artists like TLC likes to compute about percentages and divisions cost at the end of the albums sales and complains. But they always forgot the expenditures of the grandeur, and lavish lifestyle (that sometimes includes xxx) they did during the album creation and promotions. All those were bankrolled by their management and record labels.
That's a pretty one-sided view and isn't really accurate. The labels "bankrolled" the expenditure, and then deducted it from the artist's royalty not their own...so the labels may have paid the bill, but they used the artist's money! They don't "always forget the expenditures of the grandeur"...they pay for them! as for the "lavish lifestyle during the album creation" LOL...I take it you've never been involved in the production of an album based on that comment. It's far from lavish or glamorous.
@@Traxploitation “production of an album”, really 🤣🤣🤣oh common🤣🤣🤣you are joking right?🤣🤣🤣
@@caomengde1645 Yes, Production of an album, the process of making an album that you said was "lavish". What makes you think it's lavish? Do you have first-hand experience of it to have that judgment, or are you just assuming its all limos and champagne with no actual knowledge or experience? It really is a lot of early mornings, late nights, often in windowless studios, and far from glamorous. Its work. and those doing it should receive commensurate remuneration, regardless of whether you like the music.
@@Traxploitation the work you are saying is done by the real musicians. 🤣🤣🤣they did all the hard work. But I am not talking about them.🤣🤣🤣
@@caomengde1645 OK, so obviously you have zero respect for the vocalists. Even on the most basic level. So this debate is pointless. Thanks for watching anyway.
Tlc one hit wonders, they got what they deserved
"one-hit wonders"?? They had 4 US number-one singles 3 top 10 US albums (1 number 1)... 65 million records sold worldwide, they are the second best selling all-girl group of all time. They are far from "one-hit wonders" by any stretch of the imagination or interpretation of that phrase.
@@Traxploitationreally wow, I guess even shit sells, the women could've been anyone, granted they worked hard but they were lucky to be in that situation.
@@nicholasgargano7396 I have to, respectfully, disagree wholeheartedly. I've worked in the music industry for over 30 years. "it could have been anyone" isn't really true of any successful recording artist regardless of how little regard you may have for their ability. If it could have been anyone, then it would be more people more often, but true success in the music industry is incredibly rare. No matter how mediocre their musical ability may be, there will always be a reason they got where they did...sometimes it's as simple as work ethic
@@Traxploitation milli vanilli
@@Traxploitation so in the case of tlc milli vanilli, who if you left them in a studio full of excellent equipment wouldn't be able to produce any kind of functioning listenable product, we should ignore that they are entertainers and musicians and just say "well they turned up on time and learned dance routines" no bogus these girls/women got exactly what they deserved, probably too much. Like I say any pretty girl good looking guy who had a basic work ethic could have taken their place, give me a video of any of these people doing something any normal person would consider talent.