Much like screen writers and film producers. They jack up prices of making movies so its hard to recoup all the money and not pay writers royalties. On paper the movie (album) lost money but everyone got paid their due dillegence. They can only make so much money off touring and merch and other medias that they probably cap their advances based on estimated success, the bigger the star power the band has the more advances they can claim when signing a contract.
Much like screen writers and film producers. They jack up prices of making movies so its hard to recoup all the money and not pay writers royalties. On paper the movie (album) lost money but everyone got paid their due dillegence. They can only make so much money off touring and merch and other medias that they probably cap their advances based on estimated success, the bigger the star power the band has the more advances they can claim when signing a contract.