# How does one buy music to maximize the money the artist gets?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 28, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010 "2008-03-28T03:09:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010/1 "2008-03-28T03:09:11Z")

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Does it matter how music is bought, with regards to how much of the purchase goes to the artist? For example, if I buy the CD at the local music store, or iTunes, or the [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) MP3 store, is there any difference in how much the artist gets? If so, which one gets the most bucks to the artist?

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010/2 "2008-03-28T16:50:44Z")

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bump

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010/3 "2008-03-28T18:00:50Z")

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I believe it really depends on the specific agreements that the artist has with their label (assuming these days that they are using one) and the agreements between the label and various distribution channels. I don’t think there is a hard and fast easy answer…

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**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010/4 "2008-03-28T18:05:04Z")

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Buying it at their show? (for local acts)

Probably the band’s website is a good place too, I would hope they would put the most lucrative purchasing method there.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010/5 "2008-03-28T18:12:10Z")

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I believe that the CD gives the artist the most money.

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**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-buy-music-to-maximize-the-money-the-artist-gets/443010/6 "2008-03-28T18:53:17Z")

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Paying to see them in concert would be best.