The Vallies Of Devon part 04

Sheet music was quite expensive, costing about 3/- (3 Shillings) when the average workers weekly wage was £3 6d, meant that they were purchased by a mainly middle and upper class audience. A popular song could sell as many as 80,000 sheets. Lyricists and composers were usually paid a very small amount for their work as they were usually 'unknown' and these music sheets are sometimes the only record we have of them. Publishers and printers made a profit as paper quality was poor and the printing process was cheap, and artists could command high fees for the production of a detailed cover sheet.