Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Broke?

[lonn3k3]

let's all feel sorry for her

 

[eternitygoddess]

this is perplexing.

she's one of the hottest artists right now and most of her songs have been major hits. She should be worth at least a couple of million.

If this is true, management needs to be fired. Why are they dumping 100k on music videos? It's not like they're cinema productions. I don't even recall much of her videos.

 

[magpie]

I think that Rihanna probably has more than 20k, but it's believable that she doesn't have very much money in the bank. As people on this board have been saying - the music industry is cutthroat, and if you don't surround yourself with the right people then you can end up signing away all your money and getting ripped off by everyone, your agent/manager/crew included. Plus, the thing with stars is that they need to lead the star lifestyle. I think a lot of people buy into it and think that they need to spend that sort of money in order to attract the bigger money later. He's not a popstar but a good case in point is Tod Volpe, who was an art dealer to people like Jack Nicholson and Madonna, and ended up going to jail for fraud. He basically over-spent trying to keep up with his new superstar buddies and then got himself into a lot of trouble.

Rihanna's young and it makes sense that she's being exploited. Plus, while it's ethically wrong - it makes sense from the record label and managers to put all the costs onto the artist. I mean - they make her pay for everything, and then they get all the profits. Sounds like a good deal for them.

 

[dazed&confused]

this reminds me of some show I saw on MTV quite a long time ago, it was a special about the hip-hop lifestyle, and how most of these artists actually do live beyond their means, and every 'advance' they get isn't really theirs to spend on whatever they want, but rather to finance their music videos and distribution etc
This certainly comes as a surprise though, I see Rihanna's face plastered everywhere at the moment! And she certainly has had veritable hits.
But things aren't always as they seem! Interesting read.

 

[Danish]

Though, this came from a fired manager. We know what happened to Britney's one month bodyguard. But then again, she's a high profile professional manager.

 

[honeyisle]

This sounds true and it doesn't surprise me. Same thing happened with Toni Braxton, who was also EVERYWHERE back in the day. It's sad really.

 

[GasolineRainbow]

All this talk of her being a singles artist is overstated. The music industry has been hurt by the internet, and nowadays very few musicians make money from album and singles sales, including "big name" artists. They make money through touring, endorsements, and licensing their music to media outlets, such as movie soundtracks. I find it very hard to believe that Rihanna isn't raking in tons of money right now, but she is also young and "green", and some record labels, notoriously Def Jam, have a bad record of dealing with business well. Bad money handling can exist on every level, whether you're a millionaire or living in poverty.

 

[Harumi]

That story is true. To make money today in the music industry you need to write and produce and tour. Otherwise, you get peanuts. Beside, R&B artist get notoriously bad contracts.

Re: Beyonce, I can stand that no-talent diva but she is very well managed and very successful.
She doesn't write her songs (probably couldn't since she didn't even finish high-school) but whenever a song is submitted to her, she changes a line or a word to take hafl the writing credits. She is powerful enough so that the writer won't complain. They know the song will be a hit so they play ball.
Also, she takes production credit and involves her family as a management team. Her father may be a control freak but he was never a Michael or Dina Lohan type: also made his daughter work her *** out for long-term success, never was out for a quick buck, and that's why Bey is a multi-millionaire and Lyndsay is broke. Entourage is everything.
Lasty, Bey isn't dependant on album sales anymore because she get gigs in place like Dubai where she is paid $1 million a pop to perform for royalty. Alicia does the same.
These girls will never go broke.

 

[XavierRaphael]

Things will look up for her, her vast fame will do it for her. I'm sure this is just an obstacle that she will no doubt smarten up and overcome.

 

[Danish]

I don't believe she's famous, I mean it's more of her singles

 

[saucer-like]

Sounds believable and to be honest I wasn't surprised when I first read this news... never am when I hear about someone who seems like they're raking it in isn't getting that money like one would expect at the end of the day. Especially in the music business! (I don't know if I believe that she only has 20K in the bank though.)

 

[á la Balenciaga]

if she's such a professional business manager she shouldn't be talking to the media about Rihanna's financial problems - that's her business. IMO, she lost all credibility as far as her working for another celeb. Who's going to trust her? she's obviously bitter she got fired.

 

[honeyisle]

That story is true. To make money today in the music industry you need to write and produce and tour. Otherwise, you get peanuts. Beside, R&B artist get notoriously bad contracts.

Re: Beyonce, I can stand that no-talent diva but she is very well managed and very successful.
She doesn't write her songs (probably couldn't since she didn't even finish high-school) but whenever a song is submitted to her, she changes a line or a word to take hafl the writing credits. She is powerful enough so that the writer won't complain. They know the song will be a hit so they play ball.
Also, she takes production credit and involves her family as a management team. Her father may be a control freak but he was never a Michael or Dina Lohan type: also made his daughter work her *** out for long-term success, never was out for a quick buck, and that's why Bey is a multi-millionaire and Lyndsay is broke. Entourage is everything.
Lasty, Bey isn't dependant on album sales anymore because she get gigs in place like Dubai where she is paid $1 million a pop to perform for royalty. Alicia does the same.
These girls will never go broke.

Exactly. I love business savvy women, and love or hate Beyonce the woman can sing. Whenever i hear stories like this I'm always reminded of the time Oprah said, "I sign EVERY cheque, dot every "i" and know where my money is going at all times. When it all comes down to it it's your name and money on the line".

If this is true(and it sounds like it is)I Think Rihanna will be ok when she makes some serious changes.

 

[honeyisle]

if she's such a professional business manager she shouldn't be talking to the media about Rihanna's financial problems - that's her business. IMO, she lost all credibility as far as her working for another celeb. Who's going to trust her? she's obviously bitter she got fired.

I guess she's protecting her name and rep from being slandered. If I knew I wasn't at fault I would do the same maybe.

 

[LolaSvelt]

Well she's talentless, so is it wrong that I think that she deserves it?

 

[KhaoticKharma]

The sad thing is, in the music biz, it really does seem like management is a "pay what you get for" sort of thing; there are plenty of "b" team artists that are swimming in dough because they have management, labels, handlers et all that let them do their own thing for minimal financing (though they never quite get the fame, endorsments and media attention as their a team counterparts), while the smaller "a" team artists are surrounded by handlers, hoping one day they will get to that Mariah/Whitney/Britney level where they call the shots and get their own.

 

[Danish]

Well she's talentless, so is it wrong that I think that she deserves it?

Nope because you're right

 

[ponytrot]

Well she's talentless, so is it wrong that I think that she deserves it?

the same (evil) thought crossed my mind...

 

[honeyisle]

Well she's talentless, so is it wrong that I think that she deserves it?

No it isn't and she needs to start putting pen to paper and write her own songs. Oh yeah and maybe sing better

 

[LolaSvelt]

No it isn't and she needs to start putting pen to paper and write her own songs. Oh yeah and maybe sing better

I couldn't have said it better. Her career just screams Robbie Williams to me. People write songs for her, she becomes a big phenomenon...now I just hope the writers dump her and she attempts to write her own music and fails.