Let’s get this straight guys. Topping the billboard 200 for your first week in sales is sorta big, but let’s talk about relation. 158,000 sales is really, really weak compared to what people used to sell back in the day! I got this handy little book over here called, “All You Need To Know About The Music Business”, by Donald S. Passman. It basically breaks down the music industry, and is the bible for mostly everyone in the recording industry. Let’s talk about money. Most CD’s cost about $9.99. Right now Rick Ross’ album sells for $11.49 as CD and $8.99 as a MP3 download.  How royalties are calculated…. Well for the most part some awesome artists get 10 points for royalties. I would not imagine that Rick Ross even at his third album was able to negotiate a more aggressive deal than this. So let’s do the math, there is usually a 25% packaging fee that the record company recoups from the artist for pressing the CDs.

Retail CD: $11.49 (current cost at Amazon)

Less: Packaging (25% of $11.49): –$2.87

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Royalty Base: $8.62 (Retail minus the 25% the record company is owed)

Let’s just assume that Rick Ross got a 15% Royalty. 15% of $8.62 is $1.29 per every CD sold. 158,000 (album sales) * $1.29 = $204,294.00. This is how much money Rick Ross would have made if he got a 15% Royalty. While that may seem good, I already told you, I seriously doubt Rick Ross gets even 10% a royalty. The sad fact is that his royalty is more or less around 7.5% to 8.5%. So back to the mathematics

8.5% of $8.62 is $0.73

158,000 * $0.73 = $115,766.60 (his first week income)

About a month or so ago, 50 Cent exposed Rick Ross’ chip game and showed the kid is in the red already based on his life style. So even if the kid may a note fifteen in his first week, I bet at least 30% of that has to go back to the record company for advancements. Let’s not forget how much is owed to his featured artists!

What I really want to know is why he keeps calling himself, “Boss”? Shots FIRED!!!