Major record labels don't control sh1t so the artists are putting out this music..

[Suicide King]

You don't even have to be a super star to make money anymore. You just have to be a lil famous.

Pretty much. You got artists getting $1,500 a show, and doing 5 full shows in 3 days. 15k a month after taxes and expenses is damn good, when you are pretty unknown.

Patti Labelle hasn't dropped a record in 20 years, and she can go on tour right now. These guys don't understand the math or science behind making money.

You sell 1 million records, and you don't get a dime because of the 2 million dollar advance (living stipend) they gave you, some artists record for advance money and to tour their new record.

 

[Ninjaz In Paris]

Deets?

Not sure... I only know skeleton details...

That's how most artists getting signed work tho. It's EXTREMELY difficult in Hip Hop to get far without financial backing... even those stories of artists selling CD's out of their trunks (atleast since 1998) are exaggerated beyond belief... Drug Money has jumpstarted 75% of all rappers careers & the other bulk is from real estate investors...

Before 2000 u could find some artist that got discovered based on talent alone but once cats found out the Music Industry was a great place where you could turn your dirty money clean they took advantage...

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

Steps to make major money without 'the majors':

1. Be little-known/unknown unsigned artist

2. write/produce/perform/record a song solo (so you can have all possible rights to it and barely have to share any future profits with anyone else); make sure song is good enough and high-quality enough so that average person would download it

3. make sure song is properly copyrighted, and registered with Soundscan (so it can show up on Billboard charts) & ASCAP (so you get songwriter/publisher royalties when other people play it)

4. put song on itunes using a service like Catapult/CDBaby/Tunecore

5. put song on youtube with music video that has viral potential (make sure it's something most white internet nerds would like and would share with others); monetize video and make sure itunes link is underneath the video

6. somehow get song/video to go viral like Harlem Shake/Chocolate Rain/Bed Intruder Song/Friday by Rebecca Black

7. ???????

8. PROFIT!!!!!!!!!

Y'all are both tripping. Hard. You can't do that shyt and make a living.

I'll say again. If you already famous or semi famous. Maybe you did a rack of features. You already had a deal and got dropped. You are some huge Internet sensation. Then MAYBE it'll work


But this is rap. So again. You gotta record an album. You doing it in your basement with sound click beats and think you blowing. fukk no


You in the studio for a whole album. That's at least a G just on studio time. Ok fukk hard copies. You gonna spend 60 to put it on all the music sites right

Here's where you will ALWAYS get fukked up and where the labels will always have the win. PROMO



You can put your album up and think nikkas gonna buy it. You ain't selling 1000 records with no promo, no radio, no tv. How are you even gonna let nikkas across the states, let alone the world, know about you????


Twitter is not promo. Dudes are famous with 1 mil plus followers and can't do 50k a week. And that's with features, singles on radio, billboards, yours, interviews, ads, etc etc


Now you think nikkas gonna buy your little album off iTunes based off it just being there? nikkas don't download the promo Mixtapes off datpiff for unknowns. Let alone buy it off the strength.


And that's where labels come in. They give you all their resources. You just rap, they handle everything from buying you gear to putting you in newspaper articles.


Ain't no way in hell an unsigned nobody is getting that exposure or favors just being a regular nikka


Like dude above said. Most the people you think did it alone, really had backing. You need money to get in this game. Lots of it to make a dent. Which is why it's always either a favor that gets them in, who they know, or they had money from other things

 

[youngmeezy]

Not sure... I only know skeleton details...

That's how most artists getting signed work tho. It's EXTREMELY difficult in Hip Hop to get far without financial backing... even those stories of artists selling CD's out of their trunks (atleast since 1998) are exaggerated beyond belief... Drug Money has jumpstarted 75% of all rappers careers & the other bulk is from real estate investors...

Before 2000 u could find some artist that got discovered based on talent alone but once cats found out the Music Industry was a great place where you could turn your dirty money clean they took advantage...

I'm assuming this is why Molly is referenced in every other hip hop song.

 

[Tuc2DaBoot]

Pretty much. You got artists getting $1,500 a show, and doing 5 full shows in 3 days. 15k a month after taxes and expenses is damn good, when you are pretty unknown.

Patti Labelle hasn't dropped a record in 20 years, and she can go on tour right now. These guys don't understand the math or science behind making money.

You sell 1 million records, and you don't get a dime because of the 2 million dollar advance (living stipend) they gave you, some artists record for advance money and to tour their new record.

Who the hell is going to give an unknown artist $1500 a show? That's what washed up one hit wonders get... that's what a Young Dro or Petey Pablo would get.

And doing 5 shows in 3 days ain't easy. At all. And you're not seeing even half of that $1500. You really don't understand how much money is taken out.

If you're an unknown artist, there is no desire for a venue to pay for your travel or expenses at all. And for ANY artist to get paid any sort of money upfront for a show, there has to be a demand. Where's the demand coming from that you didn't spend out of pocket?

 

[L&HH]

Steps to make major money without 'the majors':

1. Be little-known/unknown unsigned artist

2. write/produce/perform/record a song solo (so you can have all possible rights to it and barely have to share any future profits with anyone else); make sure song is good enough and high-quality enough so that average person would download it

3. make sure song is properly copyrighted, and registered with Soundscan (so it can show up on Billboard charts) & ASCAP (so you get songwriter/publisher royalties when other people play it)

4. put song on itunes using a service like Catapult/CDBaby/Tunecore

5. put song on youtube with music video that has viral potential (make sure it's something most white internet nerds would like and would share with others); monetize video and make sure itunes link is underneath the video

6. somehow get song/video to go viral like Harlem Shake/Chocolate Rain/Bed Intruder Song/Friday by Rebecca Black

7. ???????

8. PROFIT!!!!!!!!!

The problem with this is w/ the exception of Baauer, all those "artists" are novelty acts that havent become shyt once the "novelty" wore off. If you want to be taken seriously and be in it for the long haul (hell for more than a couple months) then this is def not the route to go. There's always going to be a viral sensation but your 15min going end right when the next person's begins.

 

[concise]

Y'all are both tripping. Hard. You can't do that shyt and make a living.

I'll say again. If you already famous or semi famous. Maybe you did a rack of features. You already had a deal and got dropped. You are some huge Internet sensation. Then MAYBE it'll work


But this is rap. So again. You gotta record an album. You doing it in your basement with sound click beats and think you blowing. fukk no


You in the studio for a whole album. That's at least a G just on studio time. Ok fukk hard copies. You gonna spend 60 to put it on all the music sites right

Here's where you will ALWAYS get fukked up and where the labels will always have the win. PROMO



You can put your album up and think nikkas gonna buy it. You ain't selling 1000 records with no promo, no radio, no tv. How are you even gonna let nikkas across the states, let alone the world, know about you????


Twitter is not promo. Dudes are famous with 1 mil plus followers and can't do 50k a week. And that's with features, singles on radio, billboards, yours, interviews, ads, etc etc


Now you think nikkas gonna buy your little album off iTunes based off it just being there? nikkas don't download the promo Mixtapes off datpiff for unknowns. Let alone buy it off the strength.


And that's where labels come in. They give you all their resources. You just rap, they handle everything from buying you gear to putting you in newspaper articles.


Ain't no way in hell an unsigned nobody is getting that exposure or favors just being a regular nikka


Like dude above said. Most the people you think did it alone, really had backing. You need money to get in this game. Lots of it to make a dent. Which is why it's always either a favor that gets them in, who they know, or they had money from other things

The problem with this is w/ the exception of Baauer, all those "artists" are novelty acts that havent become shyt once the "novelty" wore off. If you want to be taken seriously and be in it for the long haul (hell for more than a couple months) then this is def not the route to go. There's always going to be a viral sensation but your 15min going end right when the next person's begins.

you dudes glossed over point number 7 in there.

 

[L&HH]

you dudes glossed over point number 7 in there.

Ive seen that man times and I still dont know what it means or what it's referencing

 

[Steve Murray]

The problem with this is w/ the exception of Baauer, all those "artists" are novelty acts that havent become shyt once the "novelty" wore off. If you want to be taken seriously and be in it for the long haul (hell for more than a couple months) then this is def not the route to go. There's always going to be a viral sensation but your 15min going end right when the next person's begins.

I agree that most viral songs/music acts are only from either people who aren't actually music acts at all, or they're music acts that are really bad and that's why they got attention in the first place

Chocolate Rain - Tay Zonday: only got popular because of his freakishly low voice and the weird movements in the video. I don't think he actually made money from the song's sales rather than from the youtube views. He keeps putting out crap songs that people only watch on youtube for free but don't buy. He's not taken seriously as an artist

Friday - Rebecca Black: only got popular because of her horrible nasally voice and the horrible song itself. For some reason, the song actually sold and even hit the charts (I guess some people will even pay money to try to be "part of" a meme while it's hot). But she wasn't able to sell any other song after that, and she's seen as a joke. She wants to be taken seriously as a singer and that will never happen unless her voice improves

Bed Intruder - only got popular because the original video was already popular. The song actually being catchy also helped. The song even hit the charts and was certified gold. But the people behind it aren't real music artists that go on tour. All they can do is keep autotuning videos for youtube views and maybe a few song downloads. And they never quite got another song nearly as big as that one

Harlem Shake - only got popular because it was an essential part of a stupid meme. Once the meme died down, the hype died down. Song hit the charts, but does anyone really care what Baauer will be releasing next? Nope, because we all know he just got lucky with that song. Nobody is anxiously awaiting to see him on tour

The only 2 viral acts I can think of that can still potentially have a real music career after their claim to fame, is OK Go and Psy (Gangham Style). OK Go is a real band that can still tour and have success; their name was put out there because of that treadmill video, and they had a wider audience and a better opportunity to build up a fan base. Psy already had a career back home before he blew up, and you can be sure he's gonna ride the K-Pop wave for a long time, especially after being the one to make K-Pop hot around the world with that song. He might not maintain interest in the U.S., but he'll still make money and have a respectable career, because he actually performs and puts on a show, and makes catchy dance music


Oh yeah, I forgot about Soulja Boy............wait, never mind.............

Point is, I just can't see most artists being able to get popular with a silly viral video, then somehow turn it into a respectable career filled with other hit songs, that became hits because people geniunely liked those other songs - and not because it's a song from a popular youtube video. I'm not saying it's impossible, but very difficult

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

you dudes glossed over point number 7 in there.

you got that one


7. - find a rich person, drug dealer, well off family member, or local label to finance your career. they will sign you to a worse slave deal than ANY major.. and when it's time to sign to that major, they gonna be all up in your contract, getting money off you, because they have to let you out of that fukked up contract just to sign another fukked up contract.

7.5 - alternate route... sell drugs yourself.. this will help your finances plus give you real street cred to back up those rhymes you spitting...

7.9 - if you cannot find a way to finance your career... find a new career.. "i met some dude in the barbershop and spit a hot 16 and he signed me..... i passed my mixtape to Hova at the club and he signed me..... is fukking dead"

 

[Suicide King]

Who the hell is going to give an unknown artist $1500 a show? That's what washed up one hit wonders get... that's what a Young Dro or Petey Pablo would get.

And doing 5 shows in 3 days ain't easy. At all. And you're not seeing even half of that $1500. You really don't understand how much money is taken out.

If you're an unknown artist, there is no desire for a venue to pay for your travel or expenses at all. And for ANY artist to get paid any sort of money upfront for a show, there has to be a demand. Where's the demand coming from that you didn't spend out of pocket?

When I say pretty unknown, I'm talking a small buzz like Nipsey Hussle or French Montana before he got signed.

People get paid in the South, I see low level rappers being booked all the time down here.

All Clubs gotta do is sell 1 Vip table to get their $1,500 back. They gotta have entertainment either way, and people gonna come out anyway.

 

[Tuc2DaBoot]

When I say pretty unknown, I'm talking a small buzz like Nipsey Hussle or French Montana before he got signed.

People get paid in the South, I see low level rappers being booked all the time down here.

All Clubs gotta do is sell 1 Vip table to get their $1,500 back. They gotta have entertainment either way, and people gonna come out anyway.

A rapper doing 7 shows a week does not mean anything. A lot of these "unknowns" get signed into 360s before they even get a regional hit out. So desperate to get started that the labels just get their money right then and there.

Very few... and I mean VERY few... rappers are really doing nicely off just touring. They owe that money to someone... a label, an investor, dope boys, somebody is backing their whole operation unless you're a Mac Miller who was born into money...

 

[Suicide King]

A rapper doing 7 shows a week does not mean anything. A lot of these "unknowns" get signed into 360s before they even get a regional hit out. So desperate to get started that the labels just get their money right then and there.

Very few... and I mean VERY few... rappers are really doing nicely off just touring. They owe that money to someone... a label, an investor, dope boys, somebody is backing their whole operation unless you're a Mac Miller who was born into money...

I understand, but artists and comedians been doing shows in hole in the wall clubs since Miles Davis and Richard Pryor. Some of these guys are just happy to be doing shows and selling 50,000 mixtapes like Young Jeezy before they even get a deal. 212 (Snoop, Nate Dogg, Warren G) was doing shows before they were known. Happens all the time.

I was driving home today, and I saw a no name artist doing shows on Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun. at this club in Miami. Ar-Ab said he was doing shows every weekend. There are a lot of people getting booked, just because the club wants to have some type of entertainment.

You talking about it at a whole other level or scale, but the smaller guys still do things the simpler way.

 

[Mac Casper]

A rapper doing 7 shows a week does not mean anything. A lot of these "unknowns" get signed into 360s before they even get a regional hit out. So desperate to get started that the labels just get their money right then and there.

Very few... and I mean VERY few... rappers are really doing nicely off just touring. They owe that money to someone... a label, an investor, dope boys, somebody is backing their whole operation unless you're a Mac Miller who was born into money...

Damn son, where'd you find this?

 

[Ninjaz In Paris]

This nikka @Venem spitting some harsh truths in here...