Topic: Record Earnings

[Gerry Clarke]

I was wondering if anyone had evidence of blues artists from the late 1920s or early '30s taking the option of royalty payments?  My belief is that standard recording company practice was to offer $20 per side (plus travelling expenses) and no royalties, or, a much smaller sum plus some promise of royalties based on sales.  My belief is that most ethnic musicians in those days opted for the flat fee.  Does anyone know the details of the royalty payment scheme in operation and have evidence that any particular artists opted for that route?

Thank you in advance for any info.

Gerry

[Bunker Hill]

You may have already plowed this furrow but Godrich & Dixon's 1970 monograph Recording The Blues cites a few instances of 1930s from Bluebird and Vocalion company files. Memphis Minnie was paid a flat rate of $12.50 per side and Curtis Jones $7.50. Little Buddy Doyle was paid $67.55 which broke down as - $5 per side for Doyle ($50), $10 to Hammie Nix, plus $7.55 for expenses (!)

There's details of the Lester Melrose Bukka White 1937 session: $17.50 per song, $33.50 for Washboard Sam totalling $263.50

I think there are other examples from the "classic era" but the above I could easily locate with my "mind's eye" because they've stuck in my conscience all these decades.

[Lyle Lofgren]

This sounds like chicken feed, but, according to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve website (http://www.minneapolisfed.org/), $1 in 1935 is the equivalent of almost $17 today. Thus, Memphis Minnie was paid the equivalent of $212 per side -- still not enough to live on, but probably enough to tilt a flat-rate-vs.-royalty decision (if she was given one) in the direction of a sure thing. I suspect some of the 1920s performers got even less in terms of today's dollars.

When we (The Brandy Snifters) recorded 4 cuts for Elektra's String Band Project in the 1960s, we were paid a flat $200 with no offer of royalties. Since the record sold poorly, we made out a lot better than if we had insisted on royalties, particularly since that $200 would be worth almost $1500 nowadays. Nobody today offers us $1500 for anything, and, if they did, it would all go for travel expenses.

Lyle

[banjochris]

Quite a few old-time country artists received royalty payments -- the big stars like Charlie Poole ended up getting flat fees PLUS royalties. But I think the industry standard was something like half a cent for each record sold. I think there are some royalty statements reproduced in Kinney Rorrer's Poole biography "Ramblin' Blues" (although they're not Poole's statements). And in the liner notes of the Doc Roberts County LP some of his statements were shown. For an artist like Roberts who made his own fiddle records as well as playing on vocal selections by Asa Martin and his son James there was a decent amount of money being paid. Those statements were from Gennett.

BTW royalty vs. flat-fee was one of the sources of bitterness between Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton -- Darby wanted a flat fee, Tarlton wanted royalties; they went with the flat fee and their first record released (Columbus Stockade/Birmingham Jail) was an enormous hit -- I think it ended up selling 300,000 copies. I believe they did get royalties after that. In Calt's bio of Skip James I remember it saying that James opted for royalties from Paramount but only ever got about sixty bucks.

[oddenda]

Artists, both Black and White, took flat payments in the 30s... it WAS the Great Depression, and a bird in the hand... . Buddy Moss told us that he received $15/side at the beginning, getting $35/side once he became popular regarding record sales. On the other hand, before the Depression in the late 20s, the  Peg Leg Howell was paid regular royalties, according to George Mitchell from interviewing him. The social situation had much to do with who got what, and when.

pbl

[dj]

Georgia Tom Dorsey, in an interview with Jim O'Neal that's reprinted in The Voice Of The Blues, stated that he got royalties when he worked with Mayo Williams, because "...if he got his, then we got ours".  And after Sleepy John Estes was rediscovered, a lawyer working on his behalf was able to recover $800 in royalties from Estes' Decca recordings.  In both cases, these are likely to be composer rather than performance royalties.   

[TallahatchieTrot]

Some points from H. C.Speir. He said the musicians never trusted royalties or for a company from New York to send them any money. So they took CASH for each song. He did try to get his talent as much as $50 a side in the 20s. And Bracey said he got paid $900 by Paramount for 18 songs.and a white store owner wouldn't cash the check from PM cause "a nigger shouldn't have this kind of money." Speir cosigned the check for him. Walter Vincent told me in 1965 that when he went to record for PM that he told Speir they would not record for less than $75 a song or $1,000 a day that he said they were getting from OKEH. They got that amount for the last PM blues session done in 1932.
   But Speir was more honest in helping his talent. Polk Brockman (Okeh) and Harry Charles of Birmingham h said PM would pay them what they could "get them for."
  Since most musicians knew that a record would get them more money at places they played they were happy on their first session to take what the record scout gave them or the company. Charles and Brockman both said' you'd give them a little more the second time" to get them back in the studio.
    By the 1930s it was different as money was very tight compared to the 20s.  I have a contract here from a relartive of Tom DArby who recorded for Columbia and his uncle saved it. I remember it as saying that Frank Walker the recording director paid them only $20 or $25 a song for the first session that produced "Birmingham Jail/Columbus Stockade Blues."  After that they tried to get more. Will look for that contract.  But Speir said they always preferred cash as they didn't trust anything else and they were also moving around so thay had no fixed address to receive a royalty check.  I seem to remember in Charters first book that Ralph Peer convinced some of the Memphis Jug Band members to take royalties after they had recorded for him.
But Peer got the copyrights includuing Gus Cannon's "Walk Right In" that he apparenbtly bought from Cannon as those guys had no idea of publishing royalties in the future or how to copyright songs. Biggest rip off of all was "Coirine Corina: that had original composer credits to Bo Chatman and Mayo Williams on the label. But later it ends up being bought from Williams and becomes a massive hit for everybody. Bo got little or nothing for the song. Williams probably bought it from him fora few dollars and resold it. It ended up being  owned by a pop writer later. gdw

[Gerry Clarke]

Many thanks to all.  I appreciate the responses. 

Gerry