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Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

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#1

Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:39pm

This has been sitting on my mind for awhile and I was wondering if Original Cast members make some sort of profit from the recordings of the Original Cast Albums

Like does Idina and Kristin and the OC of Wicked get a profit from the Album.
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#4

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:48pm

I'm wondering if the question actually means a share of the profits. Really, since they are paid for their work, they are turning some sort of profit, but I'm guessing that wasn't the question. As most albums don't even turn a profit, I'd say probably not. In a case like Wicked, where the album was a huge success, the girls still probably don't get what they were paid beyond recording it, unless they negotiated something else. Performers are generally just paid a flat fee and make no royalties from it, so the answer is most likely no, unless it's a special circumstance.
"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey
#6

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:52pm

I believe the cast members receive two weeks salary for the cast recording (it's either one week or two, but I'm pretty sure it's two). Unless they specifically negotiate in their contract for anything else, they do not typically share in any profits.
#8

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:52pm

Like in the cases of albums that are making good money like...

RENT the movie soundtrack
Wicked
Spamalot
The Phantom of The Opera..OBC
The Lion King
and there are many more.

Like regular music artist make money from there albums and I was wondering if the same goes for Broadway Show Casts. To me it seems only right that they should.
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#9

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:56pm

No, unless it's been negotiated in their contract - which I would be surprised if anyone has actually done.

Also take into consideration that most cast albums are produced at a loss and never recoup let alone turn a profit.
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men" - Willy Wonka
#10

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:59pm

Cast members are paid for the rehearsal/recording sessions and like what others have posted, it depends on the actor's contract with the production company. The actors I know get a very small percentage of every album sold.
"I love acting. It is so much more real than life." Oscar Wilde
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
#11

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 12:59pm

It's still just ONE week's salary for a cast recording, but a performer can make more than that if he/she has solos. You get $182 for each solo or duet you do. And if any song is longer than three minutes and 10 seconds, then it's considered a song and a half, and the performer is paid accordingly.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#14

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 1:04pm

Just a clarification, performers are paid a full week's salary for every eight hours of recording, so -- given that many shows take longer than that to complete -- performers often do end up making significantly more than one week's salary for a recording.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#15

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 1:08pm

What is the typical one week salary range?
(Martha Graham from a letter to Agnes de Mille) "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium And be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, Nor how valuable it is, Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, To keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware Directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, A blessed unrest that keeps us marching And makes us more alive than others."
#16

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 1:10pm

Broadway Equity minimum is $1422 which is what ensemble members typically make. Salaries obviously go up from there (into the tens of thousands for major stars).
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#17

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 1:13pm

As you can see it is very expensive to record a cast album. Not only do you have to pay for the studio time, technicians, and equipment but all of the performers as well (the amount defined by recording time, number of solos/duets, etc). This is another reason why bryan will never see cast recordings for Lennon, Good Vibrations, and In My Life!
"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man
#18

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 3:41pm

A very interesting discussion indeed.

I know that some performers receive residuals, albeit generally small, every so often from album sales. I'm not sure how common this is, though. Maybe someone else will have more information on this.

- Charlie Piane
charlie@pianeproductions.org

Updated On: 2/22/06 at 03:41 PM

#21

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 7:40pm

On a major cast album that actually does turn a profit (many don't), cast members receive residuals in any year when it makes money. I knew a woman from the OBCR of Cats who, 20 years after its release, still made anywhere from $25 to $300 a year.
#22

re: Do Original Cast members make profit from Original Cast Albums?

Posted: 2/22/06 at 10:51pm

Joan Roberts reported a few years ago that she still gets payments for her OKLAHOMA! cast album, but in the early days Decca contracted each performer individually. (This allowed the label to change performers they didn't like or who were under contract to other labels. So Kitty Carlisle is on SONG OF NORWAY, Eileen Farrell on UP IN CENTRAL PARK etc.)



Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com

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