well, in a way, signing to a label, especially Warner, is exactly like trading your life away for money. When you sign on to a label as a musician, you are bound to whatever contract they set you, which is a major impact on their lives. Not to mention, from what Mike has said in a blog post quite awhile back (i think last year) that the band only sees about maybe 1 percent of the profit for album sales, while the majority of it goes in Warner's pockets. Thats why you see a lot of artists being independent now, so that they aren't bound to record labels such as Warner, so that they can put out what they want, and see that more money goes to them, instead of a record company.
I have a LPU transcript, for quotability's sake: *** (16:16):Welcome to Linkin Park Underground , mshinoda ! mshinoda says to (16:16): Sorry...I tweeted it this time! mshinoda says to (16:17): YAAAAAY RELEASE DAAAAYYYY mshinoda says to (16:17): ding dong mshinoda says to (16:17): Were you guys surprised by it, or did you already hear enough on the remix contest and trailers that it felt like you had already heard the song? mshinoda says to (16:18): Chester said the NICES things on his interview today. The Zane Lowe one was out of control-nice. mshinoda says to (16:18): The REAL version is a bit longer than what most radio stations played (5:45 ish?) mshinoda says to (16:19): YAY mshinoda says to (16:19): spraypaint = a fast food poop LOL mshinoda says to (16:20): I love Spraypaint. You're the best. mshinoda says to (16:20): Why are people talking about my hair? mshinoda says to (16:20): I didn't cut it. mshinoda says to (16:20): where's this picture? mshinoda says to (16:21): HERE'S that pic is ols mshinoda says to (16:21): old mshinoda says to (16:21): ATS = 15 tracks ranging from like 20 seconds to about 6 minutes. mshinoda says to (16:22): The album is 99.9999% done. If we had to put it out today, it would sound finished. We're trying some extra credit (burningdaylight says to (16:22): 20 seconds is probably like "intro" on meteora) mshinoda says to (16:22): "intro on Meteora" = no way mshinoda says to (16:23): There are a lot of sounds on A THOUSAND SUNS. Most are layered like The Catalyst, but many of them have different energy. mshinoda says to (16:24): As for Catalyst, we thought it was a good introduction to the nucleus of the record. mshinoda says to (16:24): I want to see #TheCatalyst and #LinkinPark trending on Twitter *** (16:24):Moderator activated moderated-chat function. Adam says to (16:25): Please don't spam! only passing questions! MERMAIDSEIRA6 says to mshinoda (16:25): Mr. Shinoda, what is your absolute favorite thing about #AThousandSuns? Firari95 says to (16:25): Mike, is Blackbirds gonna be on the lp.com preorder cd? linkinparc says to (16:25): Mike: can you tell us more about the secret person on the catalyst cover? mshinoda says to (16:25): Catalyst: That effect on the voices is a layer of a flanger, a modulation effect, and some other stuff. We had fun with effects on this record...lots of "ear candy" leesuh011 says to (16:25): Blackbirds shows up on the iTunes list roxybella143 says to (16:25): Why did you choose the name A Thousand Suns? mshinoda says to (16:26): ...on many instruments. mshinoda says to (16:26): Blackbirds is iTunes "exclusive track" rctexas says to (16:26): Are you worriied about replicating the album live? mshinoda says to (16:26): Not worried. KATHYxx says (16:26): do the lyrics on the Catalyst tie into lyrics elsewhere on the CD? Somewhere1Belong says to (16:27): Mike, what gave the band the idea to write about "Jornada Del Muerto"? how much historical reference are you pinning in that song? Ian from Tampa' burningdaylight says to (16:27): when will we hear about US/CA tour dates? mshinoda says to (16:27): Going to be a challenge at times, but no more of a challenge than some of our other tracks (Breaking The Habit, Leave Out All The Rest...) mshinoda says to (16:27): I'm not going to talk too much about ATS right now. We'll save that 4 later. roxybella143 says to (16:28): Do you think you will do a Projeckt Revolution again? Anstice says to (16:28): How did you choose THe Catalyst remix winner? mshinoda says to (16:28): I felt like doing a "chat tour", so I decided the right place to start is LPU! mshinoda says to (16:28): Remix winner was voted on by band. mshinoda says to (16:28): A TON of the entries were awesome. We loved a lot of them. Mtreants says to (16:29): So that means, there will be a video chat later? :O TekMasta19 says to (16:29): Mike: Love the virality of the marketing leading up to the Catalyst. Is there something in the works for the lead up to ATS? mshinoda says to (16:29): what do you say we take this over to LP.com...? mshinoda says to (16:29): bye bye *** (16:29):mshinoda lost connection, left the room *** mass LPUers leave
Thanks Kathy, I missed the chat as per usual. mshinoda says to (16:21): ATS = 15 tracks ranging from like 20 seconds to about 6 minutes. Nice to have that confirmed.