15 Shocking Secrets The Music Industry Doesn't Want You To Know
It's no big secret that the music industry is a tough business to be in. Behind the scenes, the chart topping hits, the worldwide tour and the luxury lifestyle, lies a dark place that is far from "entertainment".
As we quickly move into the digital age, the whole game appears to be constantly changing. Gone are the days where artists would receive hugh cash advances to make records and videos. With the slow decline of physical album sales, music producers are now constantly looking for new ways to develop a following for their artists. They are pushing their stars now more than ever.
The worst thing executives want you to find out is about just how cutthroat this industry really is. After all, keeping the fans happy will always be priority. Here are the following secrets they don't want you to know about the industry.
15 Some Celebrity "Beefs" Are Faked Too
One thing that can really send social media into a frenzy is a good old fashioned celebrity beef. But how many are faked for publicity? The main contender for the crown of the most celebrity beefs is none other than Monster rapper, Nicki Minaj.
Just last year at the MTV VMA awards, she called host Miley Cyrus a "b***h" over comments she made in the press, although many believed this was staged to help bring some drama to the show. Then doubters also thought her ongoing vicious exchanges with Mariah Carey on American Idol was a ruse to bring more viewers to the show.
14 Performers Have To Be Willing To Step On Anyone
Toni Braxton has sold over 67 million records, including 41 million albums, worldwide. She has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards and seven American Music Awards. To get this far though, she had to make a huge personal sacrifice.
Toni originally performed in a group called The Braxtons with her four sisters in the late 1980s. Although they weren't a huge success, record producer and executive L.A. Reid was interested in Toni's look and her voice. The Braxtons auditioned for Reid but he chose to only sign Toni - destroying all her family bonds. Reid recalled of the audition, "It turned out that her mother went crazy on her. 'How dare you leave your sisters? They are your sisters. You've been singing together your whole lives!'" It was a sacrifice that placed Toni on the global stage.
13 Stars Are Expected To Have A Personality Transplant
Whilst we're on the subject of producer L.A. Reid, he also upset singer Pink, real name Alecia Moore, back in 2001 when she released her Mizundaztood album. Pink believed this new edgy angle was what her fans wanted but Reid preferred his pop stars a bit more… polished.
The artist and producer clashed badly when Pink would act "unrefined" at fancy dinner parties, where the invitees including big names in the business. He told her, "You need to go to etiquette school." Pink later took revenge through the lyrics of her song, Don't Let Me Get Me. She sings: "LA told me, "You'll be a pop star, All you have to change is everything you are. Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears. She's so pretty, that just ain't me."
12 Even An Artist Who Has Crazy Talent Can Still Get Dropped
In 2002, Virgin Records dropped Mariah Carey after poor sales of her Glitter album (selling less than 500,000 copies is considered a flop) from the four-album deal they had together. Mariah received $30 million and heightened anxiety, believing her career was on the rocks, which resulted in her nervous breakdown. Even Katy Perry and Lady Gaga have felt the burden of being dropped so early on in their recording careers.
President of Music at Virgin EMI, Mike Smith, explained to Vice, "Some of the most successful artists I've ever worked with will have been dropped by another label. I signed Mark Ronson after he'd been dropped by Elektra. He went from selling 40,000 records with them to over a million records with me. I can see how some people can see it as the end of the world. I appreciate (they) can get into a spiral of depression. The important thing to remember is if you've been able to get a record deal once you get can get one again."
11 Fans On Social Media Can Be Bought For A Price
Many celebrities are judged on their social media following - especially Twitter. An exposé released by Forbes investigated how many followers were actually 1) real 2) active online. Surprisingly the biggest faker was Shakira, of her 37m followers only 21% were legit and active. Another culprit is Katy Perry, just 35% of her 83m followers are the real deal.
Plenty of websites sell counterfeit Twitter followers and prices range from $10 for 1,000 to $1,350 for 1,000,000. It's a trick loved by all publicists and it works every time.
10 Publicists Spin Huge Lies To Help Make Their Clients A Star
Back in 2005, Rihanna's first single Pon De Replay was due to be released. At the time she was managed under Jay-Z's record label and that was when the rumors started. Photographed together on several occasions, the media heard that Jay-Z was cheating on the love of his life, Beyonce, with the then 18-year-old star. Some still believed this was the truth - until last year.
In 2015, Rihanna's ex-producer, Jonathan Hay, finally confessed he created the rumor to boost her career. He told Inside Edition, "I was desperate at the time because I wanted to have a hit record. We were young and stupid." To make things even more awkward, Hay has just started working as a Tidal Rising producer, which is a streaming service owned by Jay-Z.
Hay added, "I'm surprised that people are even talking about this still because I admitted this in the press eight years ago. I brought the truth out on my own years ago because I was feeling convicted about it then and wanted to clear the air." He claims that he has since apologized to both Beyonce and Rihanna, but whether Jay-Z has forgiven him still remains unknown.
9 The Number One Spot Can Be Bought Too
Tom Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records, explained how big record labels literally buy the number one spot - its all just simple maths. He told Wired magazine, "If they buy 50,000 songs, we're talking $50,000 less 70 percent, so it would cost about $15,000. For $15,000 in a week, they can buy 50,000 more song downloads, which could drive the record up three or four positions on the chart. And the hype off it all would make people believe it, and then the next week it would be real, which is what always used to happen."
So, next time you hear that awful track in the top ten and you're thinking, 'how is this doing well?' Well, now you know it was paid to be there.
8 Marketing Always Overrides Talent
You might think that your favourite pop star became an overnight success; that they are down to earth, genuine and just like us. Well, sadly thats just really good marketing and everything about a star is decided by the record company for them. From their look to what songs they perform - its all calculated. Good marketing is a hundred times more important than actually having talent.
British singer-songwriter Morrissey ranted to Rolling Stone magazine, "There are no bands or singers who become successful without overwhelming marketing. There are no surprise success stories. Everything is stringently controlled, obvious and predictable and has exactly the same content." He continued, "So, we are now in the era of marketed pop stars, which means that the labels fully control the charts. It's very rare that a record label does something for the good of music. There's no spontaneity now, and it all seems to be unsalvageable."
7 Tour Busses Are Regularly Stopped For Drug Searches
When the police are looking for a good-sized drug haul, the first place to look is a tour bus belonging to a big star. Rapper Nelly had his bus searched last April, according to the statement released by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security they found: "Five colored crystal-type rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia."
Even Justin Bieber felt the long arm of the law, when in 2013 his tour bus was searched in Sweden and officers, as reported by The Mirror, found, "a small amount of narcotics." It was added they, "don't know who had the drugs or who smoked them, so it will be hard to link them with any individual." Though no charges were pressed, it's fair to safe that it's never a quiet night on the tour bus.
6 Stars Are Supported If They Need To Attend Rehab - Secretly
The pressures of fame are too much for some stars. Record labels are not always cold monsters, they offer help and even fund a stay in rehab - if the star is discreet. Singer Ke$ha shocked fans when she revealed that she had been struggling with an eating disorder and had a secret stay in rehab throughout January 2013.
Demi Lovato was another celeb who checked into rehab for an eating disorder and other mental health issues, when she was just 18-years-old. She also revealed to fans that she had battled with drug and alcohol addiction.
5 YouTube Stars Can Make A Killing
26-year-old Sam Tsui is an American singer/songwriter and YouTube video producer. He found fame as an internet celebrity through covering songs by Adele, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars. His YouTube channel currently has 2.5 million subscribers which earns around $1 million a year.
Tsui was wise enough to invest his money in smart stock investments, property, lucrative endorsement deals with CoverGirl cosmetics and a chain of restaurants. Which boosted his total net worth to $145 million. Not bad for a cover singer.
4 Artists Have No Control Over How Their Money Is Spent
Singer Little Boots hit the big time in 2009. Her debut album Hands gained a lot of media attention and she topped the BBC Sound of 2009 poll and received a Critics' Choice nomination at the 2009 BRIT Awards. Despite the album sales doing well she did not see much of a cut for herself. She revealed to Vice magazine, "For my first record I was in the red because they spent so much on marketing and that was out of my control. So it's not like you're a business partner really, it's more like someone's running your business for you, and they are doing it badly."
She continued, "You're playing s**t corporate gigs to pay off this massive debt that you've got from someone else. They were spending the money your record's earned on anything from five star hotels for marketing people to presents. They they just spend without my permission on things I would never spend money on."
3 Surprisingly Beyonce Makes Most Of Her Money From Perfume
The reason why you can't walk through a department store without seeing shelves piled high with celebrity scents is because it's a massive money spinner. Chris Cooke, Managing Director and Business Editor of music-industry website Complete Music Update, revealed, "For Beyonce, perfume is one of her biggest revenue streams." Macy's in New York City sold $3 million worth of Beyonce's Heat during its first month alone. And in 2014, the collection was named the best-selling celebrity fragrance brand worldwide, with $400 million earned globally.
In 2011, Adam Levine tweeted: "I would like to put an official ban on celebrity fragrances. Punishable by death from this point forward." He now has his own brand of perfume Adam Levine for Women - obviously he saw the financial figures and just couldn't resist.
2 Music Streaming Doesn't Make Stars Much Money Either
There is a reason why artists like Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Kanye West choose to keep their music away from streaming sites such as Spotify. Even millions of "listens" does not mean millions in the bank. For example Avicii's Wake Me Up single had 152.1 million streams on the site in it's first year - his pay check was less than $920,000.
Taylor Swift herself compared music streaming with piracy and as the main reason for her own record sales dropping. She said in a WSJ article published in 2014, "The price paid to artists for their music is too low. It's my opinion that music should not be free." She put it a lot more eloquently than Radiohead's frontman Thom Yorke who called Spotify: "The last desperate fart of a dying corpse."
1 Female Stars Can Be Subjected To Sexual Abuse
On October 14th 2015, singer Kesha filed a lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke, claiming he "sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused" her over the past decade and that he has "put her life at risk." The suit also alleges that Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, had been making sexual advances toward her from the time she signed with him at 18-years-old, and that he allegedly forced her to take drugs and alcohol to lower her inhibitions.
This is not the first time female musicians have called out sexual abuse in the industry. Just last month, several women, including Dirty Projectors member Amber Coffman, music publicist Beth Martinez, and music festival coordinator Martika Finch, and musicians Chelsea Wolfe and Roxy Lange, spoke out about allegations of sexual assault and harassment against music publicist Heathcliff Berru.
Berru resigned from his post as CEO of Life or Death PR and issued a statement saying he was: “deeply sorry for those who I have offended by my actions.” He also added his behavior was due to his own battle with drug and alcohol addiction, which he's finally decided to get help for in the wake of these allegations.