^Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.
*A lot* of Japanese artists don't sell a lot yet they're never dropped by their labels which makes me think that the Japanese record industry must somehow be different from the US one in how they make/use their money.
If every artist on a major label had to make a profit from their physical releases, then people like hitomi and alan from Avex would've been dropped a long time ago. I'm starting to think that the JP industry must work differently if it's still feasible to keep some acts signed despite "low" sales.
I know that salaries come into play when it comes to contracts, so I wonder if for most of these acts, they're really not making that much more money than they would by working at a regular job?
