I have been looking on myspace for talented producers to do some remixes of my tunes and I can't believe what some people are asking or even expecting for doing remixes and it reminded me of how gullible people are and how the music business is so corrupt

I though I would share an adjusted version of one of my recent emails to a MySpace producer who I asked if they would be interested in doing a remix for me.

I was told that they wanted a 50/50 deal on the remix which meant that they wanted to be paid 50% of all sales of the remix of the record (which sounded like a deal you would give the artist for making the record not to someone just for remixing it?)

I asked how that would work and ..
I was informed that many labels are offering a no fee just a percentage on sales deals and it all came rushing back to me on how record companies make “the pot of gold promises” then never account or account as a total loss… i.e. zero sales no profit to pay out

I feel the need to explain How Strictly Underground has worked for the last 20 years

We sometimes offer to swap on remixes (we do one of theirs they do one of ours) and we even get many djs and producers offering to do mixes for free just to be part of the track and what we are doing.
Sometimes we ask people if they would do a remix for a small one-time fee and that’s it.

Every deal Strictly Underground will do is clear
No false promises of getting rich.
No promises of accounting on sales and then not doing it
Come on this is an underground label and it’s only a remix of a track that might have 6 other different remixes?

Q-Now why don’t we don’t offer percentages on sales for remixes?
A- we might end up with many remixes and varying terms of every mix would be an accounting nightmare

In the big record business game they do sometimes offer big producers points on sales ( 1% or 2%)and anyway this would only be normal for a big record full release all formats like Madonna or Michael Jackson) but we are an underground label, we don’t sell millions of one record let alone 1 remix of a 1 record.

Its the record companies who pay out for a remix and it normally as a 1 off fee

But this producer is asking for percentages just for 1 remix of an underground track and 50% at that?

? Its only one mix of many and if you are a honest record label (not many about) you have to account for record sales on all mixes to everyone that’s expecting it and all that accounting for an underground record?

So lets see…. if there were 6 different mixes all asking for percentages on sales then it becomes more expensive in accounting than is possible for it to make in total?

Why would anyone offer a deal that would never make money for anyone except the accountant?

I know things are changing but to all djs and producers out there that think mixing a record for FREE with the promis of getting a percentage of sales is going to make you rich, just consider this....

Unless you know the true accounting you must know that a percentage of zero is zero and the labels offering percentages on sales don't strike me as being bang on it with a dedicated accounts department to handle royalties.

Its always been a long standing tradition for record companies to take out expenses before calculating the amount in profit and that profit (if any) has always been so low that the artist never gets paid so how a producer doing a remix of an underground tune thinks he's hit the big time with a small record companies just proves that still today it’s a messed up business where people just can not see the reality.

Strictly Underground doesn’t pay big but we are honest and pay so we don’t agree terms that involves complex accounting, as it’s an expense and totally unjustified in the every day market of underground music.

Having been in the game for many years I know how percentages sound so like a path to the big time but in reality I have found that money talks and percentages generally end up as nothing but smoke but these deals allows many record company's to get remixes for 'free' but by using lies of promising percentages of sales that they don't intend to follow.

I like free but I won’t lie to get it

I like to be honest and I say it as it is, that's why I have been around for so long.
I’m a realist in a fake business
I never offer the world, as I don't own it

WORD to the WISE!
Strictly Honest Underground Bizzness
Currently looking for talented and realistic producers to do some remixes free is very good but we do pay also if you can get the results we want.

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