Quote Originally Posted by ThomasKDye View Post
I remember there was a BIDDING WAR over Helmet! In fact, that's the only way I remember their name --- grunge was so big the record companies were desperate to find the next big one!
I remember hearing some of their stuff when their first album, which was an indie release, came out. I wasn't too impressed. But then, not much during that era did it for me.

Anyway, I believe after the first album, they signed to, I think it was, Atlantic. Now, what I heard a year or two after that second album came out, was that the record company Fed Ex'd promo copies of the band's album to the various media outlets that they wanted to promote the band or whatever. And they used the overnight service! And they billed the band for it! So before they saw any royalties, apart from everything else they had to pay for, they had to pay for their label overnighting promo copies of the album to everyone. And the band weren't given a choice in the matter, as in "Why don't we just send the promos out a couple weeks ahead of time and save money".

I remember hearing that on a college radio show, as an example of one way that major labels screw over the artists and bands they sign.