How Much Does An Artist Make on Itunes UPDATE

----------------Update of my June 2010 post---------------------------

The new iTunes 10 logo. Do you like it?  Seems too generic to me.

The Eminem lawsuit and its settlement made public the funding arrangements that Apple uses with labels.  We see that generally it was the same as I listed in June:  labels get 70%; artists 12% of that ($0.108/song for $1.29 song or $0.083/song for a $0.99 song.)


Music Biz Academy has a few more details.  In its jargon, the $1.29 songs have a "wholesale markup," which seems like a euphemism for "surcharge." The charges for both are the same as above.

They address the producer's 3% share of the label's cut too. Thus the producer and artist together get 15%.

$0.99/song 

Artist iTunes Royalty (without wholesale markup)  $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less         $0.29 to Appleleft          $0.70 x 12% (net artist net rate) = $0.084 cents per download
Producer iTunes Royalty (without wholesale markup)  $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less         $0.29 to Appleleft          $0.70 x 3% (producer rate) = $0.021cents per download.

$1.29/song with so-called "wholesale markup"

Artist iTunes Royalty (with wholesale markup)  $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less         $0.29 to Appleleft          $0.70 x 130% (wholesale markup) x 12% (net artist net rate) = $0.1092 cents per download Producer iTunes Royalty (with wholesale markup)  $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less         $0.29 to Appleleft          $0.70 x 130% (wholesale markup) x 3% (producer rate) = $0.027cents per download.

CDBaby and Tunecore

CDBaby is an independent music distribution company which promises to get music on iTunes, and only take a 9% cut for themselves leaving the artist with $0.63/song @$0.99/song.  The artist is responsible for royalties to the producer or songwriter. Artists pay CDBaby to post an album at $55/album or $9/song, and they need to mail physical CD's to CDBaby. CDBaby also has a site for fans to download albums directly. The artist would need to sell  only 15 copies to be making money. 

A competitive service is Tunecore for which artists need to pay an annual fee of $20/yr + $10/song. Tunecore might be a better deal for prolific artists, and they don't require the old fashioned physical CD. iTunes songs with Tunecore yield the artist $0.69/download (@$0.99/song), and this would be great after selling 43 songs to pay off the fees.




----------------See my June 2010 post---------------------------