A-Mafia Explains How To Get Your Money Even If You Give Away A Free Mixtape!

dre

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He didn't really answer the question I wanted answered. I was moreso wondering about artists in Houston and the Bay even ATL, how they sustain careers just off mixtapes
 

The Devil's Advocate

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He didn't really answer the question I wanted answered. I was moreso wondering about artists in Houston and the Bay even ATL, how they sustain careers just off mixtapes
he did answer it...

why do you give it away for free?

A: because lil wayne does... people expect shyt for free these days.. so what i look like saying "come buy my shyt" when lil wayne is putting his out for free


basically they ain't gonna buy your shyt... or you gonna have less people actually HEAR your music


A: all the money you put into a mixtape... the artwork, pressing them up, studio time.. i get make that back with ONE feature


so it's not wasting his money..

1. more people hear it, so he gains more fans for free than charging and less people buy it

2. once those fans talk more about him, it allows him to say "pay me more for a feature cause i got _____ amount of downloads, fans, followers, whatever" then use that money to finance the next mixtape



so all those other artists are doing the same. add in show money... cause you doing big downloads online, so you can charge a stack to appear now.. plus exposure... plus features.. that's how you survive.. y'all forget anyone can contact you now. so some no name on twitter who wants to rap, can easily get in contact, and paypal you 1000 easy for you to email him in a verse. trust me... sean price told me $700 last year... how many other people hit him up and he gave the same price... plus he does shows, plus whatever other money he gets.


people out here living off 23k a year. making 50-60k a year being a rapper ain't bad
 

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The traditional route of making money off mixtapes is straight up selling them... however that was deaded by the major label artists who turned mixtapes into a promotional tool...

Mixtapes are really supposed to be a mix of songs from different artists. Traditionally the one who got paid off of it was not the ARTIST but the DJ who put together the mix. Mixtapes used to be about song selection, theme, blending, whatever it was the DJ's niche was. Think, Ron G, DJ Screw, Kid Capri, etc... Eventually the DJ mixtape game got changed by cats who came in and managed to get new/exclusive joints that other DJs couldnt get. Think DJ Clue... Meanwhile rappers who weren't on a label dropped really albums and distributed them through the same venues and the Mixtape DJs... 50 Cent took that further by rocking on everyone elses instrumentals... now DJs had always done 'best of.. ' mixtapes about a solo artist and usually they fed off the interest of the artists upcoming album release... Think of a Statik Selecta... eventually major labels realized hey there is some money in using this as a promotional tool... so first was teaming with DJs to produce full sets of a single artist material to promote an upcoming album 'inorganically'... think who kidd, dj drama... overtime the money just wasnt in it for these djs from sale of the mixtape itself... at which point it was the labels just straight up started paying the DJs completely to release the mixtapes to promote upcoming releases... eventually the DJs got cut out the loop, and now the labels just drop the mixtapes themselves... and as its all promotional at this point, selling the mixtape isnt really necessary for the major label artist so everything is free... which was the final nail in the coffin for all the DJs and small time artists who actually used this as a means to make money...

long story short you cant make money off of mixtapes anymore... unless your datpiff or a website of that nature who uses the traffic for advertising bucks

you can possibly use it for promotion though.
 

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The traditional route of making money off mixtapes is straight up selling them... however that was deaded by the major label artists who turned mixtapes into a promotional tool...

Mixtapes are really supposed to be a mix of songs from different artists. Traditionally the one who got paid off of it was not the ARTIST but the DJ who put together the mix. Mixtapes used to be about song selection, theme, blending, whatever it was the DJ's niche was. Think, Ron G, DJ Screw, Kid Capri, etc... Eventually the DJ mixtape game got changed by cats who came in and managed to get new/exclusive joints that other DJs couldnt get. Think DJ Clue... Meanwhile rappers who weren't on a label dropped really albums and distributed them through the same venues and the Mixtape DJs... 50 Cent took that further by rocking on everyone elses instrumentals... now DJs had always done 'best of.. ' mixtapes about a solo artist and usually they fed off the interest of the artists upcoming album release... Think of a Statik Selecta... eventually major labels realized hey there is some money in using this as a promotional tool... so first was teaming with DJs to produce full sets of a single artist material to promote an upcoming album 'inorganically'... think who kidd, dj drama... overtime the money just wasnt in it for these djs from sale of the mixtape itself... at which point it was the labels just straight up started paying the DJs completely to release the mixtapes to promote upcoming releases... eventually the DJs got cut out the loop, and now the labels just drop the mixtapes themselves... and as its all promotional at this point, selling the mixtape isnt really necessary for the major label artist so everything is free... which was the final nail in the coffin for all the DJs and small time artists who actually used this as a means to make money...

long story short you cant make money off of mixtapes anymore... unless your datpiff or a website of that nature who uses the traffic for advertising bucks

you can possibly use it for promotion though.



yep yep, remember back in the days making mixtapes for myself and a few others, i jumped on it late but i knew guys that were making money selling mixtapes on some dj clue shyt. now everyone can do it.
 

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The traditional route of making money off mixtapes is straight up selling them... however that was deaded by the major label artists who turned mixtapes into a promotional tool...

Mixtapes are really supposed to be a mix of songs from different artists. Traditionally the one who got paid off of it was not the ARTIST but the DJ who put together the mix. Mixtapes used to be about song selection, theme, blending, whatever it was the DJ's niche was. Think, Ron G, DJ Screw, Kid Capri, etc... Eventually the DJ mixtape game got changed by cats who came in and managed to get new/exclusive joints that other DJs couldnt get. Think DJ Clue... Meanwhile rappers who weren't on a label dropped really albums and distributed them through the same venues and the Mixtape DJs... 50 Cent took that further by rocking on everyone elses instrumentals... now DJs had always done 'best of.. ' mixtapes about a solo artist and usually they fed off the interest of the artists upcoming album release... Think of a Statik Selecta... eventually major labels realized hey there is some money in using this as a promotional tool... so first was teaming with DJs to produce full sets of a single artist material to promote an upcoming album 'inorganically'... think who kidd, dj drama... overtime the money just wasnt in it for these djs from sale of the mixtape itself... at which point it was the labels just straight up started paying the DJs completely to release the mixtapes to promote upcoming releases... eventually the DJs got cut out the loop, and now the labels just drop the mixtapes themselves... and as its all promotional at this point, selling the mixtape isnt really necessary for the major label artist so everything is free... which was the final nail in the coffin for all the DJs and small time artists who actually used this as a means to make money...

long story short you cant make money off of mixtapes anymore... unless your datpiff or a website of that nature who uses the traffic for advertising bucks

you can possibly use it for promotion though.
This is more of the type of posts that we need in here.

Everything you've mentioned is pretty much how I remember it going back to the late 80s, early 90s
 

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The traditional route of making money off mixtapes is straight up selling them... however that was deaded by the major label artists who turned mixtapes into a promotional tool...

Mixtapes are really supposed to be a mix of songs from different artists. Traditionally the one who got paid off of it was not the ARTIST but the DJ who put together the mix. Mixtapes used to be about song selection, theme, blending, whatever it was the DJ's niche was. Think, Ron G, DJ Screw, Kid Capri, etc... Eventually the DJ mixtape game got changed by cats who came in and managed to get new/exclusive joints that other DJs couldnt get. Think DJ Clue... Meanwhile rappers who weren't on a label dropped really albums and distributed them through the same venues and the Mixtape DJs... 50 Cent took that further by rocking on everyone elses instrumentals... now DJs had always done 'best of.. ' mixtapes about a solo artist and usually they fed off the interest of the artists upcoming album release... Think of a Statik Selecta... eventually major labels realized hey there is some money in using this as a promotional tool... so first was teaming with DJs to produce full sets of a single artist material to promote an upcoming album 'inorganically'... think who kidd, dj drama... overtime the money just wasnt in it for these djs from sale of the mixtape itself... at which point it was the labels just straight up started paying the DJs completely to release the mixtapes to promote upcoming releases... eventually the DJs got cut out the loop, and now the labels just drop the mixtapes themselves... and as its all promotional at this point, selling the mixtape isnt really necessary for the major label artist so everything is free... which was the final nail in the coffin for all the DJs and small time artists who actually used this as a means to make money...

long story short you cant make money off of mixtapes anymore... unless your datpiff or a website of that nature who uses the traffic for advertising bucks

you can possibly use it for promotion though.


Dap this man.

dap.gif
 

FreshAIG

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Show money is really fukking good. I don't think people understand that

If you get any kinda buzz, minimal/regional, you can live good off show money. And if you're a "real Hip Hop" head kinda rapper and willing to travel, that overseas money is OD. They pay big money for legends and underground rappity rap nikkas

So you put your mixtape out for free, get good reviews/create a small buzz, you can get anywhere from 500-2000 a show, depending on your level. Now, let's say you do about 7-8 shows a month. That's decent to really good money doing what you love to do, and mad freedom. No boss, wake up when you want etc...
 

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if your really dope you could sell mixtapes and they'll sell. nipsey changed the game selling his shyt, just watch..

spitta woulda made a killing selling mixtapes a few years back. smokee robinson woulda went gold on the streets if he sold em for 5 buck s a pop.
 
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you can actually use your mixtape, as marketing/promo for something else(how Nipsey did with the concert tickets)..

you can also work it in other avenues, to get a wider distribution(Styles,and Curren$y both recently did this with Diamond for instance).. basically, the distributor(Diamond) buys them in bulk at a ridiculously low cost, and promotes it through their respective brand.. matter of fact, Curren$ys first mixtape, did this exact thing with DC Shoes..gave him a ridiculous amount of exposure that would've taken him thrice as long to gain had he not..

mixtapes are excellent promotion tools, if you know what you're doing and who to work with.. alot of folks also tend to forget- it takes money, to make money..
 
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