[Wayne Luke]

Originally Posted by Winterworks

I know it must be quite some work recording some songs, but really, they should have to do some more. They make enough at concerts and tours, etc. Why do they need to charge for every single album?

When you buy a song off of iTunes, the money most likely gets broken down like this:

Apple: 10%
Credit Card Company: 3-5%
Music Studio: 80% (includes marketing and distribute charges)
Artist: Remainder.

So a 99 cent song probably nets the artist 6-7 sents in royalties. Its worse on CDs because they have to add in packaging and shipping costs which amount to half the cost of the CD.

They make more money on tours in fact they make the majority of their income on tours but that is done through presales bonuses. If the tour bombs or is cancelled, they have to give a good portion of that money back.

So while you might feel that the artists don't deserve your money for the MP3s, realize they really don't make anything off of iTunes anyway. They would get more having their work converted to Muzak and played in an elevator which pays an average of $30.00 in royalties per license.