10 off-key money moves by musicians

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

MC Hammer
The music industry can create fame and fortune overnight, but it has created more than a few bankruptcies as well. The industry is strewn with examples of missed opportunities, misspent fortunes and miscalculated risks.
Take MC Hammer.

Before he was a hip-hop punch line and a reality-show regular, Hammer was a rap music pioneer valued at $33 million by Forbes. His 1990 album, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" sold 18 million copies and produced the hit single "U Can't Touch This."

By 1996, the star had $9.6 million in assets but $13.7 million in debts, basically because his vocabulary lacked one important word: "No." He spent $30 million on a sprawling estate, toured with a 60-person troupe of backup performers and hired an additional 100 people to work for him offstage.

Hammer's subsequent gangster-rap switch to Death Row Records was met with more chuckles than CD purchases.

Hammer has made strides in regaining his financial footing, but the closest he's come to renewed musical relevance was when Nelly declared he was going to "blow 30 mil like I'm Hammer" in his debut album "Country Grammar."

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Willie Nelson
When you've been on the road as long as Willie Nelson has, even a multimillion-dollar mix-up with Uncle Sam is just another stop along the way.

In 1990, the Internal Revenue Service seized most of Nelson's assets and claimed he owed $32 million in back taxes. Apparently, while Nelson was doing duets with Julio Iglesias and touring with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, his accountants were back home doing the opposite of what the musician was paying them to do.

Instead of grousing, Nelson released a double album called "The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?" for $19.95 and used the proceeds to pay his debts. He also sued Price Waterhouse for steering him into tax shelters that were the equivalent of rice-paper umbrellas -- getting a nice settlement out of the deal -- and auctioned off items that were later bought by friends.

Nelson shook off the debt about three years later and, aside from the occasional marijuana-related jail stint, has been on the road since.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Damon Dash
In 2006, Roc-a-Fella Records co-founder and Jay-Z partner Damon Dash did an interview with New York magazine in which he went into detail about his $50 million personal worth, his opulent Manhattan home -- which has a whole level dedicated to his wardrobe -- a staff of butlers and personal assistants, a $400,000 Maybach and more than 1,200 pair of shoes.

Just about all of that is gone now, as Dash's split with Jay-Z and ensuing business decisions left him owing New York state $2 million in taxes and cost him two of his condos, including a 5,200-square-foot Tribeca duplex that was put up for auction last year after Dash stopped paying the $78,000-a-month mortgage.

So where did Dash go wrong? Let's start in 2004, when he sold his stake in Roc-a-Fella to Island Def Jam Records for $10 million after a dispute with Jay-Z about the direction the company would take.

When Jay-Z became head of Def Jam later that year, he basically took sole ownership of the company that he, Dash and partner Kareem Biggs had started. He also took artists such as then-up-and-coming Kanye West with him to the new label.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Jay-Z and R. Kelly
Jay-Z hasn't often made bad businesses decisions and, at the time, a collaboration with R. Kelly seemed like a no-brainer. But their decision to work together on an album and tour proved to be less than ideal.

Earlier, Kelly had worked with Jay-Z on the tracks "Guilty 'Til Proven Innocent" and "Fiesta." But just as the pair's 2002 album "The Best of Both Worlds" was being released, a videotape surfaced of Kelly allegedly performing sexual acts on a 14-year-old girl. He was indicted on child pornography charges and arrested in January 2003, though he was later acquitted.

A tour to promote the album was postponed until 2004, but the delay couldn't save the enterprise. Friction between the musicians came to a boil during a performance at New York's Madison Square Garden, when Kelly quit the show, claiming two members of the audience had flashed guns at him.

Jay-Z went on to complete the tour with a new Jay-Z & Friends lineup. But the tour and album, which sold just 1 million copies, represent a professional low for both men.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Mariah Carey
At the end of the 1990s, Billboard Magazine named Mariah Carey the best artist of that decade. Each of her first seven albums had gone multiplatinum, and her "Daydream" and "Music Box" albums each sold more than 10 million copies. Where do you go from there? To Hollywood.

"Glitter", which starred Carey and loosely traced her improbable rise to the top of the pop charts, was widely panned when it opened in September 2001. The bad reviews came at a turbulent time in the singer's life. Carey had recently left Columbia Records amid fallout from her divorce from Sony (SNE) executive Tommy Mottola, signed an $80 million deal with Virgin/EMI, ended a relationship with boyfriend Luis Miguel and had a near-breakdown on MTV's "Total Request Live."

"Glitter" brought in less than a quarter of what it had cost to make and earned Carey Worst Actress "honors" at the Golden Raspberry awards. More importantly, it cost Carey her new record deal after its soundtrack failed to go multiplatinum. The label bought out the singer for $28 million.

Carey rebounded from the biopic debacle. "Glitter" remains the one garish, sparkly smudge on an otherwise brilliant career.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Metallica
Metallica was riding high in 1994. Its self-titled "black" album was on its way to selling 15 million copies and the heavy-metal band was walking the tightrope between "awesome" and "iconic." What came next, though, dropped Metallica into the safety net.

As is the case with many bands whose members' egos get bloated, Metallica decided to release an album of songs that lead singer James Hetfield later acknowledged were experimental. The band called the album "Load" -- with an Andres Serrano album cover made with the members' own body fluids -- and the members cut their hair to a gentlemanly length for promotional photos. The grand result? A staggering 66% decline in sales from the "black" album. Sales of the band's follow-up album, "ReLoad," fell by an additional 40%.

Metallica further alienated its fans by filing a lawsuit against peer-to-peer network Napster and culling the names of more than 335,000 Napster users -- Metallica fans, mind you -- in an effort to get them kicked off the file-sharing site.

Fans laughed as Metallica members cried during therapy sessions in the 2004 documentary "Some Kind of Monster" and basically ignored their albums "St. Anger" and "Death Magnetic," the band's worst-selling ever.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks was the second-best-selling solo artist of the 20th century, behind Elvis Presley, with four of his first six albums selling more than 10 million copies each. The debut of his seventh album, "Sevens," was so big it warranted a concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park. Even if music fans knew nothing about modern country music, they knew Garth Brooks.

Brooks decided at the height of his powers that success meant unlimited artistic freedom. He started work on a movie featuring a country-singing alter ego he named Chris Gaines. It's a cute concept, but when you refer to that character in the third person during a "Saturday Night Live" appearance and release a "prequel" album – "In the Life of Chris Gaines" -- you're going into the dark place.

The album was easily the worst-selling of any recording Brooks has made. Today, Brooks is booked solid in Las Vegas and he has surpassed Elvis in record sales. But his nostalgia act is a big step away from Central Park and a little too close to Presley's own career path.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

The Beach Boys
Behind the Beach Boys' laid-back West Coast surf sound was an ocean of turmoil. Much of the responsibility for both rests with Murry Wilson, the Beach Boys' manager and the father of members Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson.

Murry Wilson decided in 1969 that the band had peaked and opted to cash in by selling their Sea of Tunes publishing company and the rights to their songs to A&M Records for $750,000 -- or little more than $4 million adjusted for inflation.

Never mind that at the time his son Brian's mental health was deteriorating to the point that he'd spend three years in bed gorging on food and drugs, or that the Beach Boys' catalog contained such hits as "California Girls," "I Get Around," "Help Me Rhonda," "Good Vibrations" and others.

The father's relationship with his sons seemed to be built on a foundation of criticism and humiliation. Murry Wilson died of a heart attack in 1973. Dennis Wilson drowned in 1983 and Carl Wilson died of cancer in 1998. Brian Wilson sued for the publishing rights. He received $25 million in royalties but was then sued for a share of the take by Beach Boy Mike Love, who received $13 million for his troubles.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Michael Jackson
The story of how Paul McCartney sold Michael Jackson on the importance of owning publishing rights is nearly as legendary as the musicians themselves.

After the pair had collaborated on the songs "The Girl Is Mine" and "Say Say Say," McCartney impressed Jackson by showing him a list of the song rights he owned -- including the music of Buddy Holly -- and said he was earning $40 million a year from the royalties. Jackson's alleged response: "I'm going to buy some of your songs, Paul."

When ATV Music Publishing -- which owned rights to the Lennon/McCartney song catalog -- was put up for sale, Jackson paid $47.5 million for the company, causing a rift with McCartney. A decade later, Jackson may have blundered when ATV merged with Sony to become the world's second-biggest music publisher. Although Jackson came away from the deal with $90 million and a 50% stake, the song catalog today has an estimated worth of $1.5 billion, with the Beatles' songs yielding $30 million to $45 million a year in royalties.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Decca Records
"Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, we don't like your boys' sound. Groups are out; four-piece groups with guitars, particularly, are finished. . . . The Beatles have no future in show business."

Those are the words spoken to Beatles manager Brian Epstein by Decca Records executive Dick Rowe on Jan. 1, 1962, after The Beatles had finished a 15-song audition in London.

Despite fellow executive Mike Smith's enthusiasm after seeing the band play in Liverpool the night before, Rowe thought they sounded too much like an existing band called The Shadows, and wouldn't be necessary on a label that already had Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby.

EMI was more than willing to sign The Beatles, however, and the label reaped the benefits almost immediately; the band sold $50 million worth of records in the United States in 1964.

Instead of enumerating all of the revenue deprived Decca from the sales of Beatles albums, greatest-hits compilations, Cirque du Soleil shows and "Rock Band" video games, we'll note that the label got perhaps the best consolation prize in music history when George Harrison tipped it off to a little outfit then known as The Rollin' Stones.

GilRenard · Feb 26, 2011

How about Dennis DeYoung trying to turn Styx into a traveling Broadway revue? Billy Joel being robbed blind by his manager/ex brother in law ranks up there as well.

Betallsports · Feb 26, 2011

Gil Renard said:
How about Dennis DeYoung trying to turn Styx into a traveling Broadway revue? Billy Joel being robbed blind by his manager/ex brother in law ranks up there as well.

Yes, 100% Agree on the two above.

bucsfan67 · Feb 26, 2011

amazing how they can go thru so much money so fast

10 off-key money moves by musicians

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