Despite spending over two decades in one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the early 2000s, Mike Mushok says he’s never received a single royalty check from Staind’s record sales or streams.
Speaking on ‘The KiddChris Show’, the guitarist revealed the band is still in debt to their former label Atlantic Records, years after releasing their final album under the imprint back in 2011. The conversation was sparked after the topic of Chevelle’s royalty struggles came up—a band who previously stated they had sold over six million records but hadn’t seen any direct income from record sales.
“Listen, I’ve sold I don’t know how many millions of records, and I’ve never once received a royalty from the record company after — whatever — 20, whatever, 25 years. We still owe them money. We haven’t been on the label since — I don’t know — 2011 was the last record we put out on Atlantic, and we still owe them money.”
He continued:
“And listen, I’m not gonna lie — they gave us large advances, and that’s why [we still owe them money]. But seriously, they have to be paid off. But anyways, I think it’s estimated, I think we’re saying, like, another three years it’ll be paid off and I’ll actually start making royalties on our records.”
When asked if the band might eventually regain ownership of their masters, Mushok added:
“Yeah. So supposedly after 35 years, the masters are supposed to revert back to you. But I was talking to our attorney about that, and he said that no label ever lets you do that. They try to buy you out and give you money so they can continue to own the masters — unless you fight them.”
Advances—like the ones Mushok references—are essentially loans from a label to cover recording, marketing, and touring costs. Until those are paid back through sales and streaming revenue, artists typically don’t receive additional royalties. And while artists can still earn from publishing and songwriting royalties, recording royalties (like from album sales or Spotify plays) are often off the table until the label recoups.
In Staind’s case, things might be even more complicated. The band’s major-label run—from 1999’s Dysfunction to 2011’s Staind—was under Flip Records, the label launched by Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit). Flip had distribution deals with larger labels including Elektra and Atlantic.
Fred Durst is currently suing Universal Music Group for $200 million, alleging fraud and manipulation involving Flip Records and seeking to void Limp Bizkit’s contracts. While Staind is not involved in that legal action, it’s worth noting that all of their major-label albums were released through Flip under joint deals with major labels.
No comment has been made by Staind regarding the lawsuit at this time.
[Via Blabbermouth]
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Maybe don’t sign deals without actually reading the contact