Read Steve Albini’s 1992 letter to Nirvana: “Paying a royalty to a producer is ethically indefensible…there’s no fucking way I would take that money.”

Today, the music industry is mourning the sad, sudden passing of Steve Albini, a legendary producer, engineer and musician. Known to many as the mastermind of Nirvana’s 1992 In Utero, Albini was beloved for navigating the industry with a unique, no-BS approach. His 1992 production proposal letter to Nirvana, which has now resurfaced, illustrates such sentiments perfectly.

Posted to Nirvana’s social media, the four-page letter from Albini to band members Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic — whom Albini refers to as ‘Chris’ in the address — sees Albini advise the trio on how to record their album.

He speaks on payment (“there’s no fucking way I would ever take [royalty payments]”), the suggested recording gear, (“the same Neve console AC/DC’s Back In Black was recorded and mixed on), and his creative methods as a producer (“I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existence”).

Albini seemingly sent the letter several days after a previous meeting with Cobain about recording In Utero.

Speaking on the industry-standard means of paying a producer, Albini says: “I explained this to Kurt but I thought I’d better reiterate it here. I do not and will not take a royalty on any record I record. No points. Period. I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. The band write the songs. The band play the music. It’s the band’s fans who buy the records. The band is responsible for whether it’s a great record or a horrible record. Royalties belong to the band.”

“I would like to be paid like a plumber,” Albini continues. “I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,000 dollars or so. There’s no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

Albini was renowned for speaking his views on the music industry — and payment, in particular. In an article published by The Baffler in 1993, Albini wrote about why he feels the music industry is “a trench filled with decaying shit.”

“[Hypothetical band] decided to go with the producer who used to be in [David] Letterman’s band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old ‘vintage’ microphones. Boy, were they ‘warm.’ He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very ‘punchy,’ yet ‘warm.’

“All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies!

“Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are…”

Albini breaks down how the royalties system then pays the band and concludes:

“The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-Eleven, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month…

“Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.”

Albini went on to record, engineer and produce Nirvana’s In Utero. It sold over 15 million copies. He was paid a flat fee of $100,000. Still, he offered to produce it for free if Cobain, Grohl or Novoselic could beat him in a game of pool.

“Anyone who’s got the stones to gamble something that large must be amazing [at pool],” said Grohl. “So everyone said no.

“Plus he had his own stick. We didn’t want to fuck around with that.”

RIP Steve Albini.

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