If I may add to this, here are some books that I HIGHLY recommend to anybody unfamiliar with the workings of the music biz. "Confessions of a Record Producer" by Moses Avalon. This is by far the most honest, easy to follow book on the matter. It should be required reading. They should include a copy with every Strat sold to a starry-eyed teenager so they'll know what they're in for. Also good are "I Hate The Man Who Runs This Bar" by Eugene Chadbourne, and if you relly want to get pissed off at the big corporations, try finding a copy of "Stiffed" by William Knoedelseder (hope I spelled that correctly)