Where did the millions go?

[Swedish]

https://medium.com/@shelrochaleal/elvis-presley-vs-the-colonel-387ce4fd52b6

[Jaime1234]

This is old news, I am afraid. Contemplate if you must, the following. There are 1.3m items catalogued and stored in a nuclear protected facility in the Graceland compound. If the 3 grandaughters of Elvis Prersley decide to auction let us say, 10 items out of the 1.3 million, they could walk away with US10m, each of the three.

Of course, one of those ten items wouldnt be a motorcycle like the one which failed to sell a fortnight ago, as there is no visual ´proof he ever used it. In addition to the income EPE generates, US$110 million last year, there's the US#35 m. insurance Lisa left. Money will never be the issue, because Elvis always kept everything, and a tiny but still sizeable portion of what he gave away, has been bought back by EPE.

[brian]

It's been well established that Colonel Parker was stealing money from Elvis. Elvis wasn't being paid fairly with publishing royalties and royalties from record sales. He was ripped off by both Colonel Parker and RCA that's been proven and he didn't make as much as he should've made. Colonel Parker subsequently spent all that money that he took unfairly off of Elvis or gambled it away. But I take issue with the notion that Elvis Presley sold 600 million records in his lifetime and should've been paid that much in record sale royalties by RCA. Elvis Presley didn't sell that many records and RCA didn't owe him that much in royalties. When are Elvis fans going to understand that selling 600 million records was PR hype to make his record sales sound more impressive. Artists from the 1950s and 1960s didn't sell huge amounts of records like that therefore record labels felt the need to exaggerate to make record sales sound more impressive. However again Elvis Presley should've had enough money in publishing royalties to fall back on that he shouldn't have had the constant cash flow problems that he had. That part is true. The reason he didn't is because he was ripped off by Parker and RCA and it's a shame he didn't have more money coming in to fall back on. He shouldn't have had to play 40 city tours every year in his later years just to stay afloat the publishing royalties should've helped immensely. But he didn't get his fair share and that's a shame.

[tinseltown]

How many records elvis sold then?

[brian]

How many records elvis sold then?

Hard to say.

[emjel]

How many records elvis sold then?

599,223,034 copies. However, that will generally get rounded up by some to 1 billion as it’s a nice round number and easy to remember.

[jurasic1968]

Elvis earned around 20 million $ in the 60's from his movies and records, but he didn't invest none of this big money. At that time Parker took only 25% of this money. It was Elvis's fault not to invest these millions of $.

[Jaime1234]

It's been well established that Colonel Parker was stealing money from Elvis. Elvis wasn't being paid fairly with publishing royalties and royalties from record sales. He was ripped off by both Colonel Parker and RCA that's been proven and he didn't make as much as he should've made. Colonel Parker subsequently spent all that money that he took unfairly off of Elvis or gambled it away. But I take issue with the notion that Elvis Presley sold 600 million records in his lifetime and should've been paid that much in record sale royalties by RCA. Elvis Presley didn't sell that many records and RCA didn't owe him that much in royalties. When are Elvis fans going to understand that selling 600 million records was PR hype to make his record sales sound more impressive. Artists from the 1950s and 1960s didn't sell huge amounts of records like that therefore record labels felt the need to exaggerate to make record sales sound more impressive. However again Elvis Presley should've had enough money in publishing royalties to fall back on that he shouldn't have had the constant cash flow problems that he had. That part is true. The reason he didn't is because he was ripped off by Parker and RCA and it's a shame he didn't have more money coming in to fall back on. He shouldn't have had to play 40 city tours every year in his later years just to stay afloat the publishing royalties should've helped immensely. But he didn't get his fair share and that's a shame.

When you say "When are Elvis fans going to understand that selling 600 million records was PR hype to make his record sales sound more impressive", are you including ALL Elvis fans, ostensibly you yourself being one of them, or are you in between the lines calling out a segment of Elvis fans, not you including, unrealistic.

The article, nor you, take into account something that even Forbes had to deal with, in their issue of Aug 16, 2013, and this was a full seven years BEFORE they launched their list of the world's highest-paid dead celebrities, a task which fell upon their then Senior Editor, Kelly Phillips Erb, And I quote from her article entitled " "Elvis Presley Topped Charts And Tax Brackets"

" After the Second World War's boosts, top tax rates wouldn’t dip below 90% until 1964, when they plunged to 77%, remaining in that range until 1982, when they dropped to 50%. In comparison, for the tax 2013, the top tax bracket is 39.6%, kicking in at $400,000. Elvis Presley remained in the spotlight since 1956 until his death, and he continued to tour despite health problems related to his lifestyle. Even when he didn’t tour, he made money, as was the case in the early 60′s, when despite having no personal appearances, he earned $5 million a year ($40,000,000 in today’s dollars). By 1973, he was still raking in money and, as if to give credit to his manager's assertion ("I consider it my patriotic duty to keep Elvis up in the 90 percent tax bracket", was Col. Parker's motto), he was allegedly the top taxpayer in the country "

Unquote

[colonel snow]

Indeed no investments; besides the part for Colonel Parker the money goes to William Morris Agency (10% for the movie payment) – IRS and spending for a life style with a big couple of of “friends” around.




colonel snow

[brian]

When you say "When are Elvis fans going to understand that selling 600 million records was PR hype to make his record sales sound more impressive", are you including ALL Elvis fans, ostensibly you yourself being one of them, or are you in between the lines calling out a segment of Elvis fans, not you including, unrealistic.

A portion of them obviously not including me. The man that wrote the article stated the 600 million record sales claim so I commented on it. Elvis Presley didn't sell that many records.

[elvis-fan]

How many records elvis sold then?

599,223,034 copies.

That's more than I thought... but I assume that's worldwide... or I missed the mark completely and you were joking...

[Jaime1234]

A portion of Elvis Presley fans believe the notion that he sold 600 million records in his career while another portion believes the number to be less. OK. So now one of the members of this forum who believes the number to be less is telling those who believe the number to be OK that this is not the case. The exact wording of the writer of the article was and I quote "Elvis Presley sold anywhere between 600 million to 1billion records (combined singles and album sales) in his career" Unquote. This means in his active career. These numbers were exagerated. But so were those of all others. Since this is a marathon, not a 100 yard race, this is how the numbers are being handled by the media and others. As was the case the previous century, The Beatles and Elvis remain at the top, and this is 53 years after the Beatles disbanded and 46 years after Elvis passed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

[emjel]

A portion of Elvis Presley fans believe the notion that he sold 600 million records in his career while another portion believes the number to be less. OK. So now one of the members of this forum who believes the number to be less is telling those who believe the number to be OK that this is not the case. The exact wording of the writer of the article was and I quote "Elvis Presley sold anywhere between 600 million to 1billion records (combined singles and album sales) in his career" Unquote. This means in his active career. These numbers were exagerated. But so were those of all others. Since this is a marathon, not a 100 yard race, this is how the numbers are being handled by the media and others. As was the case the previous century, The Beatles and Elvis remain at the top, and this is 53 years after the Beatles disbanded and 46 years after Elvis passed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

The gap of 400 million is bizarre. And for the mystery writer to suggest that Elvis sold up to one billion records in his active career is equally bizarre - even laughable.

[sweetangeline]

just my two cents...over 45 years since his death there are not many who`s career started in the 1950`s that are still remembered and still loved so strongly to this very day. Isn't that the true measurement of the man`s success? He will most likely remain on many, many lists long after all of us are gone.

[Jaime1234]

just my two cents...over 45 years since his death there are not many who`s career started in the 1950`s that are still remembered and still loved so strongly to this very day. Isn't that the true measurement of the man`s success? He will most likely remain on many, many lists long after all of us are gone.

You nailed it.

[emjel]

just my two cents...over 45 years since his death there are not many who`s career started in the 1950`s that are still remembered and still loved so strongly to this very day. Isn't that the true measurement of the man`s success? He will most likely remain on many, many lists long after all of us are gone.

Even though his career started two decades before Elvis’, I’m sure Sinatra fans will think exactly the same way. He still has pretty decent following on Spotify with over 13 million monthly listeners and over 6 million followers.

[sweetangeline]

just my two cents...over 45 years since his death there are not many who`s career started in the 1950`s that are still remembered and still loved so strongly to this very day. Isn't that the true measurement of the man`s success? He will most likely remain on many, many lists long after all of us are gone.

Even though his career started two decades before Elvis’, I’m sure Sinatra fans will think exactly the same way. He still has pretty decent following on Spotify with over 13 million monthly listeners and over 6 million followers.

totally agree...this may surprise you but Elvis isn't the only artist I admire.

[eligain]

A portion of Elvis Presley fans believe the notion that he sold 600 million records in his career while another portion believes the number to be less. OK. So now one of the members of this forum who believes the number to be less is telling those who believe the number to be OK that this is not the case. The exact wording of the writer of the article was and I quote "Elvis Presley sold anywhere between 600 million to 1billion records (combined singles and album sales) in his career" Unquote. This means in his active career. These numbers were exagerated. But so were those of all others. Since this is a marathon, not a 100 yard race, this is how the numbers are being handled by the media and others. As was the case the previous century, The Beatles and Elvis remain at the top, and this is 53 years after the Beatles disbanded and 46 years after Elvis passed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

The gap of 400 million is bizarre. And for the mystery writer to suggest that Elvis sold up to one billion records in his active career is equally bizarre - even laughable.

I have no idea what their verifying criteria was back then but the 1973 Guinness Book of World Records had Elvis' record sales at 350 million.

[Jaime1234]

Although his advent came more than two centuries before any of us saw the light of day, Mozart fans are also extremely proud of their love for him, and his music. In fact, Mozart's home in Salzburg garners 1.3m yearly visitors, with his home in Vienna rounding up an additional 500,000. I have no idea how many follow him on Spotify, but the actual effort, and cost, his image alone commands for tourists to visit those two homes ( and I know about it, because I have done it), is certainly outstanding for a person who passed away in 1791. For me, as it was for Robin Williams, it's Mozart and Elvis.

[Jaime1234]

Robin Williams, the last in the clip, in an episode broadcast on June 10, 2001, talks about having a front seat at a heavenly concert with Mozart and Elvis appéaring together, plus another artist of anyone's choice. George Clooney's answer which is from January 31, 2012, imagines his mother singing, Nat King Cole, at the piano, Buddy Rich on drums and Louis Armstrong on sax playing in heaven.

[drjohncarpenter]

Cheeseburgers, Cadillacs and Percodan.

[Greystoke]

A portion of Elvis Presley fans believe the notion that he sold 600 million records in his career while another portion believes the number to be less. OK. So now one of the members of this forum who believes the number to be less is telling those who believe the number to be OK that this is not the case. The exact wording of the writer of the article was and I quote "Elvis Presley sold anywhere between 600 million to 1billion records (combined singles and album sales) in his career" Unquote. This means in his active career. These numbers were exagerated. But so were those of all others. Since this is a marathon, not a 100 yard race, this is how the numbers are being handled by the media and others. As was the case the previous century, The Beatles and Elvis remain at the top, and this is 53 years after the Beatles disbanded and 46 years after Elvis passed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

The gap of 400 million is bizarre. And for the mystery writer to suggest that Elvis sold up to one billion records in his active career is equally bizarre - even laughable.

I have no idea what their verifying criteria was back then but the 1973 Guinness Book of World Records had Elvis' record sales at 350 million.

In January of 1964, Variety stated that Elvis's record sales were over 72 million, with 49.3 million singles sold, 11 million albums, and 12 million EPs.

In January of 1968, Billboard reported that Elvis's domestic record sales were over 200 million domestic.

[emjel]

A portion of Elvis Presley fans believe the notion that he sold 600 million records in his career while another portion believes the number to be less. OK. So now one of the members of this forum who believes the number to be less is telling those who believe the number to be OK that this is not the case. The exact wording of the writer of the article was and I quote "Elvis Presley sold anywhere between 600 million to 1billion records (combined singles and album sales) in his career" Unquote. This means in his active career. These numbers were exagerated. But so were those of all others. Since this is a marathon, not a 100 yard race, this is how the numbers are being handled by the media and others. As was the case the previous century, The Beatles and Elvis remain at the top, and this is 53 years after the Beatles disbanded and 46 years after Elvis passed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

The gap of 400 million is bizarre. And for the mystery writer to suggest that Elvis sold up to one billion records in his active career is equally bizarre - even laughable.

I have no idea what their verifying criteria was back then but the 1973 Guinness Book of World Records had Elvis' record sales at 350 million.

Probably just guesstimated as the correct info would have had to come from RCA and I’m pretty sure they themselves would take great pleasure in making an official announcement at appropriate times. These days, they cannot it seems give a proper figure preferring to state he is the best selling solo artist, which is hardly surprising considering the number of records RCA/BMG/Sony have released in the last 65 years. That said, the inclusion of the word ‘solo’ suggest he is not or might not be the overall best, but whatever it is, I guess we will never know the number with complete certainty.

[emjel]

just my two cents...over 45 years since his death there are not many who`s career started in the 1950`s that are still remembered and still loved so strongly to this very day. Isn't that the true measurement of the man`s success? He will most likely remain on many, many lists long after all of us are gone.

Even though his career started two decades before Elvis’, I’m sure Sinatra fans will think exactly the same way. He still has pretty decent following on Spotify with over 13 million monthly listeners and over 6 million followers.

totally agree...this may surprise you but Elvis isn't the only artist I admire.

No, it doesn’t surprise me at all.

[Alexander]

Elvis earned around 20 million $ in the 60's from his movies and records, but he didn't invest none of this big money. At that time Parker took only 25% of this money. It was Elvis's fault not to invest these millions of $.

$20 million is $165,320,435.97 in today's money. That's a lot of money to spend.