Paying to open up for rappers...

[Firefly]

this is exactly why i refrain from even discussing shyt on this board with folks like you..

furthermore.. no one knows who you are, or what you're talking about.. i rarely post here anymore, besides music.. so, unless you said something equally is dumb before(which, clearly isnt far-fetched), I would have no recollection of discussing anything with someone as dumb as you..

this dumb ass said Hov in '97, was opening for Cease.. go find a dark corner, and sit in it..

Fam I don't know you so I'm not back and forthing shyt wit you. I'm saying I WAS AT a SHOW with Jay-Z performing and it wasn't a headline act back in the day. Not sure what the difficulty is. You must feel like using smileys or something.

Now to the other thing you quoted. I Addressed that too. Put up the link for you to read and everything. I don't hang out here enough to know who everybody is, but I definitely feel like you've stalked me in another thread before and I brushed you off the same way.

 

[bangedher_wholesquad]

paying to get your album plat

 

[hustlemania]

Fam I don't know you so I'm not back and forthing shyt wit you.

so.. shut the fukk up already..

 

[↓R↑LYB]

fukk that. If you're gonna go out of your way to pay a promoter out of that $$$ that u made from your shytty 9-5, your act/set better be tight. No random rambling, no awkward pauses and no having 200 of your homies on stage.

The shyt has to be tight and you can't be on the stage looking like Larry Holmes.

I don't appreciate you talking about my idol like that breh.

 

[Michael's Black Son]

I don't appreciate you talking about my idol like that breh.

Is keeping mr Holmes more popular than he was in his boxing days.

 

[Double Burger With Cheese]

This has been going on heavy for the better part of a decade now. Like someone said a few pages ago, this shyt is the essence of hustling backwards. It's mostly artist with no idea of how the business side in the music/rap game works The exposure that you will get is irrelevant. You don't build buzz off of a show like that. I have seen shady promoters overbook opening cts and nikkas who paid didn't get to perform. shyt happens often, then shyt be escalating into street shyt sometimes. That money is better off spent on a programming director or a LEGIT showcase fee where A&Rs frequent. I'm pretty sure that's how BoB got noticed. He used to be at all the lil showcases in Atlanta.

Now I do know unestablished acts that have opened up for free, but you should never pay. My boy manages an R&B group that toured with Fantasia almost 2 years ago and they didn't start getting paid to the second half and even then, I think it was like $1000 a show. And that group has 4 members and expenses, so basically they wasn't making nothing. They even had to miss some dates, because they only covered transportation by vehicle only. They covered all the lodging though.

But pay to play is ridiculous, except when talking legitimate showcases. Most of them are scams too though.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Is keeping mr Holmes more popular than he was in his boxing days.

Larry Holmes been a legend breh. You seen how he hit Trevor Berbick with the double drop kick @ 1:30



Larry da God, Ihe should be rapping with a flat top

 

[STEVE]

as a musician (not a rapper) who has played all over america and also plays locally at least 2-3x a month paying ANYONE (whether that means selling your own tickets and giving all the money to the promoter or actually straight up giving the promoter money [which i suspect happens in the hip-hop world all the time]) to open your show means you're not popular enough or practiced enough or, for lack of a better term, good enough to get onto a show due to merit. when i go to hip-hop shows or bigger club shows for rock bands and see some of the acts that are opening i can always tell if someone has done what people call "pay to play".

you should be being ASKED by the promoter to open the show. you should have a draw that brings more people to the gig. granted, i come from the punk rock subculture where the emphasis is placed on one/a group DIY (doing it yourself [booking your own shows, making your own flyers, doing your own promotion]). you should not have to give anyone a fukking thing,

 

[STEVE]

also

 

[Mac Casper]

bingo..

these the type of shows, that aint worth worth your time.. be better off getting a college kid in digital media to shoot you a video, and pay for viral promo.. more people are gonna see/hear your product, than there will be at some random ass show someones booking like that..

honestly.. those kind of events are better for DJs.. still, not worth really wasting your time..

This is the way to go

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

People throw money out the window all day every day.

Ok I'll put it like this.

Say I'm Yung Problem. Rapper from Indiana.

I have rhymes, but I don't have beats or access to a studio. I do however have $10,000 of my own money that I saved up to put into it.

I pay someone for beats= $250
I pay a studio for studio time= $500
I pay to get 100 CDs printed and pressed professionally with artwork on the CD, a cover, jewel cases, and liner notes= $500-$1000
I pay someone like MP3waxx to promote my music online by doing an e-mail blast to send out to 90,000 radio DJs, DJs, bloggers, publicists, etc.=$2,500-$5,000 for 45-90 days.
I pay someone to shoot, record, edit, and make a video to put on youtube (for free)= $500-$1000
I pay someone to screenprint 100 t-shirts for merch (two color print/CMYK) (to be sold for $15-$20 each)= $500-$1000
I pay someone to make 500 stickers for merch (to be sold for $5 a pop)= $100-$250
I put my mixtape on itunes= however much that costs
I put my mixtape on Datpiff= Free
I put my music on Soundcloud= $25 a month
I put my music on Bandcamp= Free
I pay to open up for Trinidad James and Iggy Azalea at The Brooklyn Bowl= $1,000

At this point, worst case scenario...I have already spent my $10,000 trying to fund my rap career (not counting the monthly fee for SC). Now for a dose of the hardest thing to swallow...REALITY

I play the show, and the crowd wasn't really feeling my like that and I was told by the promoter to cut my set off after the 5th song I play to make way for Lil Buffett (who also paid $1,000 to open for Trinidad James and Iggy Azalea).

At the TJ show, even with my 1,342 facebook friends, 724 twitter followers, 621 youtube subscribers, 500 soundcloud followers, etc...I only manage to sell 10 Cds..= A gain of $100...a loss of $900!
I only sell 2 t-shirts at the show= A gain of $40...a loss of $980!
I sold 10 stickers (and was forced to give away 50 during my performance by throwing them in the crowd)= A gain of $50 dollars...a loss of $200!
After paying Mp3waxx, no stations or DJs pick up my music for their station rotation (why would they when they're controlled by corporations and billboard charts?)= an indefinite loss of $5,000!

$1,750 went into the actual CD between beats, studio time, and the physical product manufacturing stage. Let's look into how it fares online...

132 Free Dls on Datpiff= No money
2,142 youtube views in a year= No money
125 Free Dls on Bandcamp= No money
20 people DL'd my album/mixtape and donated me 1.00 each (you can set a name your own price option) on bandcamp= $20
40 itunes DLs for 10 each= $400
So, the grand breakdown.
In the time period in which I was trying to 'break through the game as Young Problem...
I have made $600

BUT I have lost $9,400!!

 

[Master Teacher]

Ok I'll put it like this.

Say I'm Yung Problem. Rapper from Indiana.

I have rhymes, but I don't have beats or access to a studio. I do however have $10,000 of my own money that I saved up to put into it.

I pay someone for beats= $250
I pay a studio for studio time= $500
I pay to get 100 CDs printed and pressed professionally with artwork on the CD, a cover, jewel cases, and liner notes= $500-$1000
I pay someone like MP3waxx to promote my music online by doing an e-mail blast to send out to 90,000 radio DJs, DJs, bloggers, publicists, etc.=$2,500-$5,000 for 45-90 days.
I pay someone to shoot, record, edit, and make a video to put on youtube (for free)= $500-$1000
I pay someone to screenprint 100 t-shirts for merch (two color print/CMYK) (to be sold for $15-$20 each)= $500-$1000
I pay someone to make 500 stickers for merch (to be sold for $5 a pop)= $100-$250
I put my mixtape on itunes= however much that costs
I put my mixtape on Datpiff= Free
I put my music on Soundcloud= $25 a month
I put my music on Bandcamp= Free
I pay to open up for Trinidad James and Iggy Azalea at The Brooklyn Bowl= $1,000

At this point, worst case scenario...I have already spent my $10,000 trying to fund my rap career (not counting the monthly fee for SC). Now for a dose of the hardest thing to swallow...REALITY

At the TJ show, even with my 1,342 facebook friends, 724 twitter followers, 621 youtube subscribers, 500 soundcloud followers, etc...I only manage to sell 10 Cds.= A gain of $100...a loss of $900!
I only sell 2 t-shirts at the show= A gain of $40...a loss of $980!
I sold 10 stickers (and was forced to give away 50 during my performance by throwing them in the crowd)= A gain of $50 dollars...a loss of $200!
After paying Mp3waxx, no stations or DJs pick up my music for their station rotation (why would they when they're controlled by corporations and billboard charts?)= an indefinite loss of $5,000!

$1,750 went into the actual CD between beats, studio time, and the physical product manufacturing stage. Let's look into how it fares online...

132 Free Dls on Datpiff= No money
2,142 youtube views in a year= No money
125 Free Dls on Bandcamp= No money
20 people DL'd my album/mixtape and donated me 1.00 each (you can set a name your own price option) on bandcamp= $20
40 itunes DLs for 10 each= $400
So, the grand breakdown.
In the time period in which I was trying to 'break through the game as Young Problem...
I have made $600

BUT I have lost $9,400!!

your not going to regain your investment in one night unless your selling drugs breh

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

your not going to regain your investment in one night unless your selling drugs breh

True...but with the examples I was throwing out there, it might take a good amount of time to make that money back. Possibly over a year or two.

 

[Mac Casper]

Ok I'll put it like this.

Say I'm Yung Problem. Rapper from Indiana.

I have rhymes, but I don't have beats or access to a studio. I do however have $10,000 of my own money that I saved up to put into it.

I pay someone for beats= $250
I pay a studio for studio time= $500
I pay to get 100 CDs printed and pressed professionally with artwork on the CD, a cover, jewel cases, and liner notes= $500-$1000
I pay someone like MP3waxx to promote my music online by doing an e-mail blast to send out to 90,000 radio DJs, DJs, bloggers, publicists, etc.=$2,500-$5,000 for 45-90 days.
I pay someone to shoot, record, edit, and make a video to put on youtube (for free)= $500-$1000
I pay someone to screenprint 100 t-shirts for merch (two color print/CMYK) (to be sold for $15-$20 each)= $500-$1000
I pay someone to make 500 stickers for merch (to be sold for $5 a pop)= $100-$250
I put my mixtape on itunes= however much that costs
I put my mixtape on Datpiff= Free
I put my music on Soundcloud= $25 a month
I put my music on Bandcamp= Free
I pay to open up for Trinidad James and Iggy Azalea at The Brooklyn Bowl= $1,000

At this point, worst case scenario...I have already spent my $10,000 trying to fund my rap career (not counting the monthly fee for SC). Now for a dose of the hardest thing to swallow...REALITY

I play the show, and the crowd wasn't really feeling my like that and I was told by the promoter to cut my set off after the 5th song I play to make way for Lil Buffett (who also paid $1,000 to open for Trinidad James and Iggy Azalea).

At the TJ show, even with my 1,342 facebook friends, 724 twitter followers, 621 youtube subscribers, 500 soundcloud followers, etc...I only manage to sell 10 Cds..= A gain of $100...a loss of $900!
I only sell 2 t-shirts at the show= A gain of $40...a loss of $980!
I sold 10 stickers (and was forced to give away 50 during my performance by throwing them in the crowd)= A gain of $50 dollars...a loss of $200!
After paying Mp3waxx, no stations or DJs pick up my music for their station rotation (why would they when they're controlled by corporations and billboard charts?)= an indefinite loss of $5,000!

$1,750 went into the actual CD between beats, studio time, and the physical product manufacturing stage. Let's look into how it fares online...

132 Free Dls on Datpiff= No money
2,142 youtube views in a year= No money
125 Free Dls on Bandcamp= No money
20 people DL'd my album/mixtape and donated me 1.00 each (you can set a name your own price option) on bandcamp= $20
40 itunes DLs for 10 each= $400
So, the grand breakdown.
In the time period in which I was trying to 'break through the game as Young Problem...
I have made $600

BUT I have lost $9,400!!

This is a grim reality for many that've embarked down the path, the thing is . . if this dude got shot outside the concert because the content of his music invited that to his life the news would report that an "aspiring rapper" was killed. Even though he does everything required of him at this point he is only validated by success. He believes in himself and invested in himself like any entrepreneur would because he knows that even after his most uncertain times, someday it'll pay off . . meanwhile people that work at McDonalds will talk down on you