Chicagoist: Not So Fast There Superman

andrew

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 11:42:30 -0600

One thing that's being forgotten in this discussion is that Sufjan is a partial owner of his record label (Asthmatic Kitty), so he makes significantly more on album sales than your average major label act. So get out there and buy his albums!!

chicagomonkey

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 22:06:57 -0600

sorry, those by the numbers are up on my blog

chicagomonkey

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 22:05:36 -0600

so I tracked down the article but it won't let me post the info I want in comments here so you can check out the by the numbers while true, album sales don't amount to a whole much until they repay their record companies for advancements touring is actually worse on their wallets

sleepy kev

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 19:17:53 -0600

I too was going to point out that artists don't make much from album sales, but that has been done for me. I got my copy yesterday at the Virgin Megastore downtown around 2PM for $13.99. I saw at least one other copy. They didn't have it out with the new releases, it was filed with his other albums.

chicagomonkey

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 08:22:11 -0600

I can feel a love connection, can't you?

Mr. Smith

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 08:13:54 -0600

No, chicagomonkey, you're right. Bands generally make more money from touring and mostly from merch. I've heard that too. And how did you guess the nickname my mother gave me?

chicagomonkey

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 08:09:35 -0600

is that based on tickets sold or merch at shows? I wish I could find the article I saved. It was from a couple years back on Kill Hannah. And it talked about the business of music. I'll have to dig up my clipping and find it. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong. or perhaps that information is now out of date. who knows.

andrew

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:58:45 -0600

monkey, my cousin is in a relatively large band (a bit larger than sufjan), and she says they make virtually no money off record sales: only megabands really profit from their sales, the U2's and coldplays of the world. tours are where the medium-sized bands make all their cash.

chicagomonkey

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:53:11 -0600

I was including cds and tshirts you can buy online as merch., nitpicker. so no, you don't necessarily have to be at a show to be supporting them.

Matt

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 23:19:05 -0600

I picked up two tonight (9 pm-ish) at the Borders on Michigan & Pearson on my way home from work. One for me, one for eBay! These suckers are already going for $60+ !

Mr. Smith

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 22:18:20 -0600

Of course, I'm probably not buying the merch if I'm not at the show...

chicagomonkey

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:04:21 -0600

I read somewhere that artists make hardly enough money to survive based on touring. it's merch merch merch that keeps them going so downloading an album, but buying a ticket to their show may not be as helpful as one might think

tankboy

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 17:05:19 -0600

You're right...my contacts are smudged.

Mark

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:59:30 -0600

I think that cow is a goat.

tankboy

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:46:32 -0600

The album is pretty sweet. Also pretty (musically.) Also sweet (melodically.) Although the RIAA won't sue you for downloading this one since Stevens ain't a member, this is the perfect example of a disc that deserves your vote via consumer dollar.

jen

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:18:03 -0600

Michigan is superb, though I wouldn't recommend listening to it while driving at night (Zzzzz....) And, if y'all had gotten in on the pre-order over at insound, I bet you would have your recalled copy in the mail on its way to you.

rachelle

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:12:54 -0600

actually this guy at work gave it to me.. but im sure he got it online somewhere

Mr. Smith

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:47:30 -0600

God bless the Internet. Stevens is the kind of artist whose sales legitimately suffer when people bootleg stuff off the 'Net as his sales are not skyhigh like, say, Metallica. That didn't stop ME from downloading it, of course. But I will likely purchase a ticket to his Metro show now whereas I wouldn't have had I not heard the album. And I probably would have just borrowed it from someone else who purchased it anyway. I also want to check out his Michigan record now.

cxc

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:42:15 -0600

I picked a copy up at the Borders in the Loop over lunch (in the new releases section by the escalators). I was worried an alarm would go off as soon as the salesperson swiped the barcode, but I lucked out. I'd encourage other people to check there if they don't have it yet. Now it's a collector's item!

rachelle

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:34:52 -0600

this hasn't been released yet? i've had it for WEEKS, maybe even a month?