That's not how it works lol. They get artists like Yachty, Joey Badass, etc. on the show because they're a professional publication and they have the connections + standing to be able to contact those artists' publicity teams and get them on the show. And without red carpet passes, you don't get the infamous Migos interview or content over something like BET Awards weekend.
And yes, it is "hard" to "rent a studio and hire some editors", you need to set up a company to do that, establish payroll, find and hire experienced people who would rather be working at a large publication like Complex, etc. You know how many producers, editors, interns probably work on the Everyday Struggle show? In order to get together news for the day, put it all together for them to talk about, set up that studio, make sure the audio and equipment is good, setup the cameras, get in touch with guests and their publicists, catering, graphics and videos and whatnot, making sure videos are uploaded on time, etc etc etc. It's a fukking operation like any TV show.
It's not just about numbers, Budden and Ak obviously get numbers. It's about platform, no different from anything else in the world. Now I'm not saying Budden and Ak couldn't go do this independently and be successful with it, but they would have a lot of things to consider in order to that
