i read somewhere the woods sold like 73,000 copies which i thought should have sold more?
any idea how the one beat,hot rock,all hands on the bad one,dig me out,call the doctor,and s/t sold?

I'm not sure. I thought I posted this, but it looks like I didn't?

After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus. The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings.

We feel lucky to have had the support of many wonderful people over the years. We want to thank everyone who has worked with us, written kind words about us, performed with us, and inspired us.

But mostly we want to extend our gratitude to our amazing fans. You have been a part of our story from the beginning. We could not have made our music without your enthusiasm, passion, and loyalty. It is you who have made the entire journey worthwhile.

With love and thanks,
Sleater-Kinney

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I have crawled so far sideways
I recognize dim traces of creation

Yeah, you posted this.

I know they sold one each of everything (almost wax & cd) to me, up until the Woods. Eh, but not for lack of interest, or content. Huh, I guess that doesn't come close to the #s you're looking for. I bet you could contact Chainsaw (are they even around anymore?), KRS, & Sub Pop to get close approximations.

73,000 would seem about right. what would you expect? they weren't exactly top 40.

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It does seem about right, but anything can sell, if luck strikes. I've always been impressed that Laurie Anderson has had a number 2 hit in the UK.

honestly i was expecting around 250,000 and hoping for closer to 400,000 and thinking at worst 150,000.

i realize they werent top 40 as you put it.they never quite went mainstream even though i thought they would have .however they did quite well on critics lists winning best band by time magazine and doing great on spin,rolling stone and of course their placement on the village voice yr end critics polls plus with the net and all youd figure they would have had alot of exposure considering their yrs in and should have grown a much larger fanbase.a ton of people missed the ship on them oh well their loss.

i would love to "lol" at this, but for the sake of kindness, i won't.

400,000 is almost gold. not happening. if i can put it in perspective for you:

sonic youth, who have been around much longer and who are generally considered to be a bigger band, have only sold about 60,000 copies of their last few albums. their three largest sellers - good, dirty, and jetset - didn't even pull 200,000 a piece.

bjork, on a major label and of international acclaim, sold 170,000 state-side of her last record.

as for S-K, i would venture that the other records probably sold less than/around the same as the newer one. the lowest numbers are probably on the self-titled and call the doctor.

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I really think some of those numbers are wrong, particularly with Sonic Youth. I know i've heard that a couple or so of their records eventually went gold. This article says so about Dirty: http://www.emusic.com/artist/11486/11486892.html

Besides, I hear Soundscan is bullshit. I think S-K probably sold around 70,000 each with All Hands and One Beat, maybe a bit more with the Woods.

Money doesn't come from album sales, really, anyway. S-K are never gonna be rich because they charge Fugazi ticket prices, can't sell their songs to movies or ads (too jarring) and probably don't sell much merch. But who cares, eh?

RIAA doesn't seem to think so.

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Sleater Kinney was on On Demand awhile ago. Made me think The Woods would be a bit bigger then it was.

I heard Dirty sold 1.5 million.

73K is really good.

73,000 x 15 per album = about 1,000,000

There's very little marketing for the albums.

Let's say the band keeps 30% of that. That's 300K. So 100K per member.

Then there is touring. Let's say that generates $60K per year.

So that's 20K per year from touring, plus 35K (because albums take like 3 years). Then there is radio play (which won't be much).

That's 55K per year.

That's pretty good for band members. Bands really don't make very much money, at all. This is why so many musicians go bankrupt: they figure "I did pretty well, so now I can do some spending" -- when really, you don't get much cash overall.

Okay... i feel like... a nerd. I always imagined that Sleater-Kinney sold like millions, same with Sonic Youth. Actually I always imagined that any band that got to make a record and be on TV and do concerts would be really fabulously rich and sell lots.

Not even close. There was an article about the band in Entertainment Weekly a few years back that said that Dirty was their biggest-selling album and had only sold about 300,000 copies.

Not that it didn't deserve to sell more, mind you...

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For the reasons presented above, the Panel concludes that relief shall be DENIED.

Accordingly, the Complaint is DISMISSED.

yeah. i was one of those people who thought that America's Sweetheart could still go gold, even after the Letterman thing.

when you consider that that record sold like 120,000 (with radio promotion and other financial support), the woods selling 75,000 makes sense. plus, it was sleater-kinney's most challenging record since "Call the Doctor" (wow...in 6 years, i don't think i've actually had the chance to use the origin of my username in a post...woohoo). and there just aren't that many cool people in America.

its actually about 0.0002% of the population. god, now i'm REALLY depressed.

pretty sure every number in this post was pulled directly and indiscreetly out of your bum.

i think your figures are extremely optimistic

all i know is, until all hands came out, SK had proper jobs as well as the band (corin said that in an interview). also kim and thurston only bought a house, what, 4 years ago? they used to live in an apartment over a store somewhere, i don't think any of them have that much money

Bands that aren't mega huge mainly make their money selling merch.

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I have crawled so far sideways
I recognize dim traces of creation

going slightly off topic (sorry), how is the money worked out for the sale of every record... what percentage does the band, company etc get?

It varies by contract. The labels make the money though. Smaller bands can barely afford to tour. It's a small amount per "unit" sold. It's under a dollar for major labels. ( Last I checked.) And also off topic - this is why most mom n pop shops in the US went out of business. Their cost would be aroung 10-11.00 and sell for 15.00. Labels cost is debateable once you figure in promotion. But they clean up. They have to because so many records fail. But it's when the labels started letting Best Buy / WalMart etc sell cds at or often below cost that indie shops went under. Then Best Buy and WalMart raised their prices. Music for them was always intended to be a loss leader. You go in for a cd and hopefully buy a tv or stove etc etc. Now that there aren't many outlets for smaller labels to sell their music we shall see what happens. But the industry is going to have to change completely. Artists who are savvy make sure they have songwriter percentages if not ownership. They make a lot selling to adverts or tv shows.

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I have crawled so far sideways
I recognize dim traces of creation

and why should we give a flying fuck about financials in the first place if they don't...if you don't mind me asking.