Reply to post: "the record company would eat the losses if the album stiffed"

"the record company would eat the losses if the album stiffed"

That would have been nice, but history shows that the record company would bill everything to the musicians anyway thanks to contractual clauses concerning advances. I urge you to take a look at the linked article, specifically the paragraph concerning said advances.

Then remember one thing : the majors are not in it for the music, they're in it for the money. Anything they can do to avoid paying, they will.