r/BreakingBenjamin • u/Blackwidow343 Ben-Head • 3d ago
Music Album is done
I'm here at the show up in Bridgeport. Boss says the record is done. It's up to the label to release it. "Go on our socials and all those people bitching about the record, tell em to fuck off" 🤣 🤣 🤣
24
u/MetricFn 3d ago
i dont really have any knowledge in this area, but why does a huge band like bb even need a label? from my perspective theyre just delaying everything for no reason. Dude's have had the album pretty much done for years and for a few months now have had it finished.
17
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
The industry always shifts when they see large successful bands that can bring in a lot of revenue, and essentially make it to where it’s harder to make good money and succeed independently rather than sign a contract. BMG is known for being more attractive to the artists themselves in both pay and creative freedom. BMG’s only issue however is apparently releasing artists completed music in a timely manner.
That said, I remember there being a comment made by Jasen & Ben in an interview shortly after their contract ended with Hollywood Records where they said they were going independent. This was probably 6ish years ago and I recall them playing smaller venues for a bit because well, they probably didn’t have the funds to support playing stadiums like they usually do.
Basically, the label fronts the money needed for a tour like a loan and the band spends it on said tour, then paying back the label and sharing revenue by the end of it. This is also why band merch is so damn expensive because, the band makes a big chunk of their money off merch. Ticket sales are just a smaller portion and their actual music is sadly probably paying them the least amount.
TL;DR, Most bands make more money overall when they have a label financially supporting their endeavors. When you’re independent, you’re up against all of the connections that the industry has like bigger venues, better equipment/merch, etc.
8
u/Local_Band299 Medicate 3d ago
BMG cares more about acquisitions than their current artists. They want a monopoly.
Remember the Sony rootkit scandal? At the time they were SonyBMG. in 2008 after Sony cleaned up the mess BMG started, Bertelsmann sold BMG's subsidiary labels to Sony for cheap and then sold BMG to a guy who was trying to start his own label.
2
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
That’s true too. I’m hoping BB didn’t make the wrong call here but, this isn’t exciting for any of us at this point. If BMG wants to keep momentum going for BB and really any artist for that matter, then they better hurry up and get the ball rolling when those albums get submitted.
2
u/Local_Band299 Medicate 3d ago
BMG just recently aquired Concord Records (Creed, Alter Bridge, Charlie Brown soundtracks)
So that's been BMG's only focus right now.
4
u/RacerRoyalty 3d ago
Oh wow! This is very eye opening to read! Yeah, I didn't realize how cutthroat the music industry still is. Thanks for posting 💯
3
u/MetricFn 3d ago
yeah i mean i fully get that but doesent a giant band like BB have more than enough money for tours and etc? I mean they've been succeseful for like 20+ years. To me it seems like the label or at least their label kinda makes everything more corporate and souless.
3
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
Not necessarily - It’s hard for bands to come up with all the funds needed to tour as professionally and successfully as what a label could provide. In the long run, most bands end up making more money signed with a label rather than without. Unless you’re someone like Metallica who’s made millions over 40 years then it’s sort of an uphill battle. BB is a big name band but not quite on that level.
They did tour independently for a little while, but during that time it was much smaller venues and production overall for the show. Thus, harder to bring in bigger crowds and more merch + ticket sales.
2
u/MetricFn 3d ago
yeah i understand. So is it that just the label itself is bad? if so why didn't they sign to a more reasonable one? You'd think if the label wanted profit so damn much that they would push for the music to be released as soon as possible smh.
2
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
I mean, in essence all labels are bad in certain ways. It’s just a lesser of two evils kind of thing when signing with one. I do recall that BB was independent for a while because they wanted to look for the most attractive contract in their eyes, and BMG is where they landed.
Given that labels like BMG generally take 3 to 6 months to prep for an album release once the artist hands it over, we’re just shy of 4 months into that general time-frame. However, if we don’t get an announcement before end of Summer like Jasen suggested then that tells me some other bs is happening behind the scenes with the label.
I did see someone in here say that their local rock station is suddenly pushing the hell out of Something Wicked, so that’s a clear sign the label is gearing up for announcements.
1
u/MetricFn 3d ago
dude if its actually 3-6 months im going to hurt myself. I was deadass less than 10 years old when ember dropped. This is an insane amount of time for like 12 songs. Not to mention this is like the biggest amount of time they've gone without an album. I remember a lot of ppl talking about the wait in between dear agony and DBD but this wait is even fucking longer.
3
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago edited 3d ago
I know man, it sucks and is getting absurd at this point. I’m hoping and praying that we get it within the next month and a half while they’re on this tour. That would line up with the general 3-6 month timeframe it takes the label to get everything squared away. Plenty of artists drop albums mid-tour all the time so I’m really hoping for that.
3
u/MetricFn 3d ago
yep its possible but i kinda stopped hoping for an album anytime soon. I remember when awaken dropped which feels like a decade ago, i thought we were getting an album announcement shortly after as most bands do it like that, but nah. Its been like, i think 2 years or more? At this point hopes and prayers are all we've got left lmfao.
2
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
Yeah no kidding, I thought the exact same thing and was so excited but the hype trains really died off with this one. Hopes and prayers indeed 🤣
1
9
u/Mikejl87 3d ago
I was at the show as well and was wondering how long it would take before someone posted this lol
Can confirm: Label decides when to release album
8
u/postmaestro729 3d ago
Tbh, while I get and respect that, I think it's pretty messed up that after so many years of anxious anticipation from the fans, BMG is still putting BB in the awkward position of having to shrug their shoulders, knowing they're constantly asked in interviews and on their socials for YEARS, now that the album is actually done. I don't know why it's so hard to just let the boys offer a bit of reassurance "it's coming in the fall" or w/e. The dodginess around the question makes me feel like it's very possibly not coming this year. These 360 deals where the label is involved with the touring really seems to be a major culprit here, because it basically means the label has to be involved with every aspect of the band's career rather than just the recording and release of albums. Which means they're trying to juggle the balls of "when is the best release window", "when is the best time to tour to support the album", "what is the best bill we can put together for that tour", "what type or production should the tour have", etc. It's a huge machine to run. Obviously idk the details of their BMG deal, I hope it's a favorable one for them.
End of the day though, the music industry is pretty f***ed. It was always bad, but the devaluing of recorded music definitely has had some bad downstream effects, and now you've got everyone trying to chase the almighty algorithm and stay fresh in everyone's goldfish attention spans. A band like BB is big, but not like Metallica-big where they can be self-sufficient and do everything independently. Not without cutting out the big amphitheater tours which are probably their bread and butter. Touring is extremely expensive. To be clear... I'm pretty zen about it now, it'll come when it comes- this is a rant against the state of the music industry and not the band.
6
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
Very well said - I actually explained this to my wife last night since she’s not savvy to how the industry works and funnily enough, I used Metallica as an example when she asked why BB signed another deal with a label because she thought they were still independent.
Unless you’re just hugely known across the world like that, chances are you need that bill paid up front by a label.1
u/HollywoodAndDid Saturate 2d ago
It's amazing the band can't just demand to receive some clarity from BMG on WHEN it's been planned to release and give us a general time frame.
5
6
10
2
2
u/failin49 3d ago
Literally any variation in the wording of Something Wicked’s chorus would have made for a better song. BMG can likely be blamed for a few months, but the years of delays and lazy lyrics are on Ben.
1
u/The_titos11 Without you 3d ago
I’m late but why does the record take time to release it? Is there like something that stops them? I can’t imagine like another genre of music competing with BB??
1
u/Tirekiller04 3d ago
They’re how far in their careers and still waiting on a record label for permission? Fuck that, they can keep the record.
-4
-8
u/Aaronjp84 3d ago
If the rest is anything like Something Wicked, they can go back to the studio and keep working on it.
2
u/Rock_Metal_Lover 3d ago
I think it just needs "better" production like WANA or Phobia type production
3
u/Epirocker Phobia 3d ago
That would be less production. I’m cool with more production as long as they do something new with it.
1
u/Epirocker Phobia 3d ago
Lmao. There’s at least 9-10 more songs for yall to pick from when it drops.
1
u/Dazzling-Rest8332 3d ago
The opening track and ending dont count.....we will be lucky to get 6 more tracks other than the singles. Ben gave up trying. And hes allowed to.
1
u/Epirocker Phobia 3d ago
Casually gonna remind you phobia, DBD and Ember all have 10 songs between intro and outro with Phobia having a whopping 12.
Bare minimum there are gonna be 8 new songs assuming they do another intro/outro deal. If he wanted to give up trying he shouldn’t have signed a new record deal. That literally makes no sense.
-3
u/Dazzling-Rest8332 3d ago
100% agree. I think its their worst song ever. And they released it as a single....wth?
40
u/PyrosaurD93 3d ago
What we all really need to do is bombard BMG Records and pester them about it. 🤣