Photo: Instagram
So much for rock stardom!
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Oct 13, 2019
The music industry is a strange beast, indeed. Musicians sometimes go into it thinking that they'll be rich and famous, without realizing that even though they'll probably get the latter (since it really takes nothing to become famous these days), they're probably not going to get the former. And that's the case with this Scottish musician, too. So who is Lewis Capaldi, and why is he living with Mum and Dad?
Lewis Capaldi is a name that's achieved global mainstream success in 2019. His breakthrough song, "Someone You Loved," recently spent seven weeks at the top of the UK singles chart. That run at the top of the charts made Capaldi — a previously unknown name — a record-breaker, as "Someone You Loved" was one of the longest-running number-one singles in UK chart history. And he followed up that success with the success of his debut album, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, and that also broke records, because it remained on the UK charts for six weeks.
Yet with all of these accomplishments, Lewis Capaldi still lives with his parents.
Let's look at why.
1. He admitted he still lived with his parents in an interview.
"It feels lovely; it feels like I might make enough money to move out of my parents’ house next year. But it’s very weird to see my name up with those people. If it’s a one-hit-wonder thing...at least it happened [once]," he said to The New York Post in an exclusive interview. It should be noted, though, that he might have been "taking the piss," or joking around, about his financial state.
2. Could Lewis Capaldi be famous & broke?
The infamous case of TLC — "This is how a band can sell ten million records and be broke!" — should give us all some insight as to how predatory the music industry can really be. But let's break it down with some numbers, with a little help from Business Insider. In the past, musicians would make their money after their label recouped their losses, usually through album sales, touring, and merchandise. Since the dawn of the digital era, streams from Spotify and purchases from iTunes are also factored into the profit. However, the concept still remains the same: if a record label advances money for touring, promotion, and recording, those advances must be paid back before a musician sees even one dollar.
And even assuming all of those advances are recouped, there are still more payouts to be made — such as to a manager, to an attorney, and to a publicity firm — before an artist can receive a paycheck.
So, to use some simple math, let's say a record label advances an artist $100,000 for touring, promotion, and recording. (This is an extraordinarily low number, but for the purposes of these calculations, we will accept it.) In a typical recording contract, an artist is only entitled to a portion of the profits received from touring, recording, and promotion, until such time that the advance is paid off. After the advance is paid off, a label will typically hold on to a portion of the songwriting royalties, and thanks to the advent of the legendary 360 deal, many record labels will "eat off" profits received from touring and merchandise, as well.
To make the math easy, let's say that this percentage is 10% — that is, each transaction gives the record label 10% of whatever the sale price is.
Let's now finally say that after Lewis Capaldi finishes paying all the record label's advances, he's left with $500,000, which is not an unreasonable number. He then has to pay a percentage of that to his manager, another percentage to his attorney, and another percentage to his publicist. To make the math easy, let's also say that each person receives about 10% of the income (though that percentage can sometimes go as high as 20%). This means that each person receives $50,000 from Lewis Capaldi, which now means that he's parted with $150,000, leaving him with $350,000. Since the UK has income taxes just like America, Lewis Capaldi now has to give the Crown her due. According to Mile IQ, he falls in the 45% tax bracket in this hypothetical scenario, which means that he's parting with another $157,500, leaving him with a grand total of $192,500 when all is said and done. And that's assuming that he's really got that much in touring, recording sales, and merchandise.
Granted, $192,500 is not chump change. But this is to show you that a musician can, indeed, sell 10 million records and be broke (with thanks to the late, great Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes).
3. He seems to be enjoying the ride, whether he lives with Mom & Dad or not.
In an interview with The Guardian, Lewis Capaldi said that he was being called "America's Sweetheart," and even though he appreciated the compliments, he thought it was "wild" that he was getting that kind of love from people. He also said that he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it.
4. Lewis Capaldi credits social media with his success.
Ryan Walter, Lewis Capaldi's manager, told Music Business Worldwide that part of the reason Lewis Capaldi is so successful is because he interacts with his fans on social media. He also said that he works directly with Lewis to help "build his brand," rather than have him release new music every three weeks or so, the way today's artists often do.
5. He's related to Dr. Who!
Does Lewis Capaldi's last name sound familiar? It should — because he's a cousin of Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi! The Daily Record reports that Peter even came to one of Lewis's shows when he was still "on the come-up."
6. Lewis Capaldi loves it when people cover his songs but jokes that "he's trying to be a singer too."
In a video interview with B96 Chicago, Lewis Capaldi said that he loves it when people like the Jonas Brothers and Camilla Cabello cover his songs but joked that he was trying to be a singer too. "Don't sing it too well. Because you're making me look bad. I'm trying to be a new kid on the block. I'm only 22 despite the fact that I look 47, and I need you to just cut me some slack," he said in the video you can see below.
7. And maybe, he hasn't had the time
Consider this — with the number one single, new album, touring and press and everything that goes along with being a rising star, it could be that Lewis Capaldi simply hasn't had to time to find his own place to live.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.