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Every fucking year we have to teach these newbies how it works. By the time we have them educated there's a new crop and it starts all over again. It gets so bloody tedious but I'm nice so I'll take the time to explain.

If you work your 9 to 5 and get paid like 50K a year, your 20% goes to Uncle Sam and the rest is yours.

If Adam earns a 50K fee for a gig, he loses 30 to 50% to 19 management right off the top.
He pays a further 20% of the whole 50K to Uncle Sam.
Subtract the cost of airfare for himself, the band and assistant/bodyguard, (if any).
Do the same for hotel, meals and transportation for all members.
Subtract the wages of the band members and the assistant/bodyguard (if any).
Subtract any costumes or clothing, hair stylist etc he has to buy for the gig.

If he is left with a couple of thousand he is lucky.

Multiply these costs for every gig he did the last 6 months, including things like the Jingle Balls that he does for free.
Whether its a Jingle Ball hosting thing or Oprah/Letterman/Good Morning America etc., those promotional appearances are paid for by the record label as a loan and are subtracted from his CD and single/video sales.

The cost of a decent video is 500K. Half will go on Adam's tab. Multiply by the number of videos.
The cost of pushing a single to top 10 on radio is around 500k per song per format. Add that to Adam's tab.
The cost of recording studio time, producers, songs, studio musicians, photo shoots, cover art, packaging and pressing the CDs, plus the shipping and distribution costs are all charged to Adam's tab.

This is why we say he's so deep in the hole that if he doesn't go multi-platinum, he'll probably be dropped. At the rate he's selling he has no hope of paying his bill, never mind pocketing a dime.

The label gets their debt paid first. It comes off the sales before Adam will ever see a dime. Don't forget that not only does the label get paid first but Adam also must pay a huge percentage of everything he earns to the management. If he earns any royalties or appearance fees or concert fees, management gets like half before Adam gets a check. Out of what is left, Adam gets to pay the hotel, travel and wages to his band.

There was an article a few months ago about Lyle Lovett. He sold over 20 million CDs and never made a cent. There was a similar article about Rhihanna being broke and most recently Lady Gaga is losing money on her tour in spite of it being sold out. There's a good reason why the music business has a reputation for being a dirty business. Everyone makes money except the artist. So, the bottom line is that Adam probably hasn't made any money yet and is deep in debt.