Too Much Joy was an alt-rock band that gained a good following throughout the 90s off the heels of their numerous albums, including humor-laden titles such as Green Eggs and Crack and Dr. Seuss Is Dead. After gaining the attention of Warner Bros. Records, they signed to the major label to release their 1991 album Cereal Killers. What transpires between Too Much Joy and Warner Bros. Records after that is a great lesson in the eccentricities of the music industry that should be included in every “Introduction To The Music Business” class offered at colleges and universities around the world.

At the end of 2009, the band received a royalty statement from Warner that details the digital sales of their Warner-controlled music. Thankfully, Too Much Joy celebrate transparency and posted an extremely detailed, thoughtful, and funny explanation of their experience with Warner and the ensuing royalty statement. I highly encourage you to give it a thorough read as it eloquently illustrates what I feel is the type of behavior that is rapidly leading to the end of the major label era in recorded music.