Movies | July 29, 2009 | 4 comments

The Posies: How Do Bands Make Money Now?

source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111172341

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atomiclegion
The Posies' members were barely out of their teens when they got a major-label record deal and saw their power-pop records storm commercial radio. But that was 15 years ago, and they've been absent from the airwaves for a while now. Still, they've managed to continue making a living with music, even through fluctuations in the industry and in their own careers.

That relic dates from an era defined by the music of Kurt Cobain, from the days when major labels raided Washington state's nightclubs in search of the next Nirvana. The Posies were snapped up by Geffen slightly before Nirvana's ascent, and they scored a few '90s hits: "Dream All Day" and "Golden Blunders." The Posies had songs in two definitive '90s movies: Reality Bites and The Basketball Diaries.

"We made a lot of money," Auer says. "I mean, I think we had a $250,000 publishing advance, and I think just off those two movies, we managed to recoup that entire advance and make money on top of that."

But the band still owes Geffen money. At the time, Auer says, he was having too much fun being a rock star to pay attention to all the expenses label reps charged to the band's account.

"If you look at what they send you — eventually — these amazing itemized statements, you're gonna find every hotel room they ever stayed at," Auer says. "I mean, if [an A&R guy] went and bought baseball cards, they probably put it on your account. It was amazing to sit down and look at and realize it was all on your dime, basically."
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4 comments // The Posies: How Do Bands Make Money Now?

  • jfill
    • 0
      jfill  

    • and there you go

      "Auer says, he was having too much fun being a rock star to pay attention to all the expenses label reps charged to the band's account."

      boo hoo.

    • 2 years ago
  • adamwgarland
    • 0
      adamwgarland  

    • This article is more about how bands lose money than how they make it. "How Bands Make Money" would be a great VC2 or has someone already covered it?

    • 2 years ago
  • elchivo
    • 0
      elchivo  

    • Frosting on the Beater was truly one of the best records of that decade. Still every bit as relevant today (with WAY better guitar sounds than most) and the song writing is ages beyond most of even the good indie records of the past few years.

    • 2 years ago
  • theaveragelebowski
    • 0
      theaveragelebowski  

    • That's why the music industry is dead and we're all just a bunch of "independent artisits" these days. The only people making serious coin these days it seems, are the bands writing sap-crap to sync up to 'make-out' and 'break-up' shots for the background of shitty reality shows like "The Hills".

    • 2 years ago
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