the bottom line is this, it takes money to fukking make money, if you dont have money you need to know somebody.
im not gonna get into the politics of why major labels generally dont do shyt for you, but im gonna tell you this, the majors hardly back ANY of these guys, those covers, those videos, websites, that shyt is all set up by their management team and everything else under the sun. The management and the artists are the ones putting in all the work, all the major does is throw around a bit of weight in distro and a few industry connections like magazines etc, but for the most part i cannot stress to yall, labels dont do shyt for you, at all.
The only real reason to be on a fukking major is to connect you with elements that are harder to reach on your own, but money? fukk no, most of the shyt they give you is recoupable, these guys who have major label backing have a little bit of help but it aint much, dont get it twisted, majors got a shytload of weed carriers who are signed.
Example, there is a dude i know, im not gonna say his name because i know hed get mad as fukk. but his situation is fukked up, but hes also fukking lazy. He thought signing to universal as an artist would help him, instead hes fukking shelved and isnt making enough money for studio sessions, quality beats and everything else. bottom line is, it takes money to make money. those dudes from odd future, tde etc, yall have no clue who does what, so ill shed some light, having a great management team and the right people backing you along with YOUR hard work is how it gets done.
Me personally as a producer, i happen to be cool with some journalists etc so often times i have access to certain blogs that normally shut newbies and nobodies out, not to mention i made a dope album so it forced people to fukking listen because of the traffic i generated on a single blog. Unless you have edge like that, you are paying and there is nothing wrong with that. But for me being over 30, id be ashamed just because ive been in the game so long and know so many journalists no excuse for fukking paying for anything, but 8 years ago? fukk yes id do it, because at the end of the day payola is what it is.
I cannot stress to you how many fukking bums are sitting on label rosters, shelved up and doing nothing because they signed a shytty deal and have no release date, that aint nobodies fault but their own, they took that advanced money and that shyt aint my problem. Majors only give a push to those who generate a buzz, no buzz, no nothing, you have to have your own street team, your own tour manager, road manager, entertainment lawyer etc, YOU come out of pocket for that shyt.
This is a dirty game and like the homie wendy day says, you dont get whats fair, you get what you negotiate. Not one person in this thread besides me has ever seen or been in involved with a major label contract, so im telling first hand fukking experience.
at how much they'd have to save up for that.
100% truth. You are your own best asset and the team around you as well. Labels really won't push till you go yourself out there and payola in the blogs is crazy as hell. There's some that get on trough talent but thay can only take you so far.
