Band Members Post Depressing Royalty Cheques

Ever wondered what kind of money some of metal’s biggest and most respected names can rake in? You might not want to after this.

A blog has been put online listing some rather depressing royalty cheques collected by some relatively heavyweight names from metal and beyond.

The images shine a light on the harsh reality faces by bands trying to make a living through their music and reemphasises the need for fans to get their asses to shows and buy merch if they’re prone to a cheeky bit of illegal downloading.

Trivium: $1.31. Posted by Matt Heafy. As in the Matt Heafy whose band co-headlined Brixton last week. Oh dear.

Darkest Hour: $0.01. Yes, someone really did go to the effort of posting the melodic death metal mainstays a royalty cheque for 1 cent. We kinda assume that that amount was rounded up, too.

Isis: $0.03. Well, they’ve nabbed themselves three times the amount that Darkest Hour got, so they have to be grateful for that, we guess…

For more shocking non-amounts, check out Aux.tv.

Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.