Why do rappers still sign to labels in the 2012

[Long Live The Kane]

Who would be paying to see a Bobby V show if he was signed? Being signed has nothing to do with his issues.

And I am not saying being "indy" is glamorous, but it is one less entity to have to answer to and more importantly PAY. People are not buying records, what other functions does a label serve?

I dunno man, this is a dude that's been on both sides...and is saying these things out of his own mouth...i won't pretend to know more about these dude's business than they do...you're paying the label, but it's a slice out of a bigger pie than you have otherwise...

 

[Da Jungles]

nvm...don't wanna come off like an a$$hole

 

[Rominati]

That hip hop classic that you recorded is only getting heard by Ray Ray an them

 

[Harry B]

I don't know if you think indie is a walk in the park, it's 100 times harder than major label shyt unless you sign to a dude, who has a deal with another dude, who probably has a deal with another dude (aka indie).

Rappers wanna be Jay-z, 2pac, Nas, Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick ROss not Z-ro, Mac Miller and Freddie Gibbs (all 3 giving their money to other nikkas that give their money to jews for distribution just like Master P was eating good but how were the rest of the non-miller living). They wanna be 2 chainz 2012, not Tity boy 2010.


Every rapper is not stupid, they know what they want and they know how to get it.

 

[Tuc2DaBoot]

Because you wanna be on radio, be invited to industry events, have services, be an artist and not a executive, award shows, have your music distributed all over, be promoted on spotify, pandora etc..

You say for every Jay-z there is 100000 Jeru's (even though he was kinda successful considering the type of music he was doing). The same goes for indie for every Tech n9ne there is a billion nobodies. Who is doing it indie today? Freddie Gibbs and he's still on CTE, who else? Even Mac Miller is on a kinda big label that has a big distribution deal (just not a major).

The thing with rappers is that they have mixtapes, so if they get pushed back they can still have million acquire their music and go to their shows.

Do you think that you can honestly go up to venues and just book shows? You serious? No. Mixtapes don't equal shows. And they sure as hell don't equal high paying shows.

People listen to rappers too much talking about "show money" in order to justify their indie grind. If a rapper gets paid 20k a show, he's not even seeing HALF of that 20k, depending on the deal. Virtually no rapper books his own show unless he's caked up. Why?

Because no venue is going to take that L if said artist can't sell out. Most artists are still placing deposits on their shows or willing to take a cut of the door/gate money in order to let them be booked. Some venues pay for travel, some don't. So when you start seeing those expenses add up... some people will start to do free shows in order to continue a buzz going.

So when you realize that a lot of artists aren't willing to put that money upfront or deal with investors... they're gonna start running to majors who will gladly take you with that 360 deal. These rappers aren't really caking like most think. Just making what's equivalent to a good to very good job (50k-200k a year).

 

[Mac Casper]

Kreayshawn's a good example


In further elaboration, Kreayshawn is also the result of management that knew how to retain her value after she reached that independent level of success.

These days, who knows how much was invested in her product. 3,000 first week units might be a profitable release if physical copies are only available at Hot Topic - that's a best case scenario, I doubt it - especially with her tone on Twitter lately - she sounds like her parent just told her Santa Claus doesn't exist

 

[Mac Casper]

Do you think that you can honestly go up to venues and just book shows? You serious? No. Mixtapes don't equal shows. And they sure as hell don't equal high paying shows.

People listen to rappers too much talking about "show money" in order to justify their indie grind. If a rapper gets paid 20k a show, he's not even seeing HALF of that 20k, depending on the deal. Virtually no rapper books his own show unless he's caked up. Why?

Because no venue is going to take that L if said artist can't sell out. Most artists are still placing deposits on their shows or willing to take a cut of the door/gate money in order to let them be booked. Some venues pay for travel, some don't. So when you start seeing those expenses add up... some people will start to do free shows in order to continue a buzz going.

So when you realize that a lot of artists aren't willing to put that money upfront or deal with investors... they're gonna start running to majors who will gladly take you with that 360 deal. These rappers aren't really caking like most think. Just making what's equivalent to a good to very good job (50k-200k a year).

 

[MegaTronBomb!]

a lot of these cats just know how to make music... they don't know shyt about promotion, marketing,networking,placement, or understand the business side of the industry.

signing to a major takes a lot of the work out of the equation... they pay folks to do the legwork for these rappers.


on top of that, a lot of these dudes don't work hard enough to be independent artists

 

[Harry B]

Do you think that you can honestly go up to venues and just book shows? You serious? No. Mixtapes don't equal shows. And they sure as hell don't equal high paying shows.

People listen to rappers too much talking about "show money" in order to justify their indie grind. If a rapper gets paid 20k a show, he's not even seeing HALF of that 20k, depending on the deal. Virtually no rapper books his own show unless he's caked up. Why?

Because no venue is going to take that L if said artist can't sell out. Most artists are still placing deposits on their shows or willing to take a cut of the door/gate money in order to let them be booked. Some venues pay for travel, some don't. So when you start seeing those expenses add up... some people will start to do free shows in order to continue a buzz going.

So when you realize that a lot of artists aren't willing to put that money upfront or deal with investors... they're gonna start running to majors who will gladly take you with that 360 deal. These rappers aren't really caking like most think. Just making what's equivalent to a good to very good job (50k-200k a year).

I don't know which rappers you are talking about.
But rappers making 50-200k a year are these fairly unknown street rappers. 1 show a week for a g note is what you are claiming that rappers are earning which is laughable. A longshoreman makes 2x that. A fukking feds starting salary is a lot more than that.
I've seen what type of money they get for shows, someone like Wiz Khalifa charged 100k in Europe per show just after his album was released and he did like 10 dates in 10 days. Mac Miller charges what? 50-100k nowadays. I'm talking about actual rappers, someone like the dude Mike Knox is not a rapper to me, he's an aspiring rapper.

The tax man can't come and ask you for quarter man if you are making 200k. All these 6 figure tax things and stuff means that you are caking.
And I don't know if you are answering to the right person, I meant rappers on major that get their shyt pushed back (or are yet to release their debut) like Asap with his latest tape or Ross with Rich Forever. If you read my posts I'm the last person to ask why rappers sign to majors.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

I don't know if you think indie is a walk in the park, it's 100 times harder than major label shyt unless you sign to a dude, who has a deal with another dude, who probably has a deal with another dude (aka indie).

Rappers wanna be Jay-z, 2pac, Nas, Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick ROss not Z-ro, Mac Miller and Freddie Gibbs (all 3 giving their money to other nikkas that give their money to jews for distribution just like Master P was eating good but how were the rest of the non-miller living). They wanna be 2 chainz 2012, not Tity boy 2010.


Every rapper is not stupid, they know what they want and they know how to get it.

You still dont get it brae

The major label rap game is dead... how much $$$ is a nikka gonna make w/5 points on 250K albums, when he got a loan from the label to make his album

And you talk like the majority of rappers who are signed are living the high life and caking... yea they get to rub shoulders... but for how long? A year or two? Then they wind up being in debt and being famous for being a nikka who USED to be hot. No dough, bad fame, and worst of all a sour taste in your mouth from an artform you used to love

Thats why Im saying, fukk the labels, history shows odds are very slim working with them will work for you in the long run, and you have to be a hoe to sign your life away for a year or so of pre-packaged fame. The only nikkas who should rap are dudes not in it for the $$$$... if your shyt is hot it will come... if not but at least you can go on living not owing anyone anything or being recognized for being an ex-celebrity.

 

[Tuc2DaBoot]

I don't know which rappers you are talking about.
But rappers making 50-200k a year are these fairly unknown street rappers. 1 show a week for a g note is what you are claiming that rappers are earning which is laughable. A longshoreman makes 2x that. A fukking feds starting salary is a lot more than that.
I've seen what type of money they get for shows, someone like Wiz Khalifa charged 100k in Europe per show just after his album was released and he did like 10 dates in 10 days. Mac Miller charges what? 50-100k nowadays. I'm talking about actual rappers, someone like the dude Mike Knox is not a rapper to me, he's an aspiring rapper.

The tax man can't come and ask you for quarter man if you are making 200k. All these 6 figure tax things and stuff means that you are caking.
And I don't know if you are answering to the right person, I meant rappers on major that get their shyt pushed back (or are yet to release their debut) like Asap with his latest tape or Ross with Rich Forever. If you read my posts I'm the last person to ask why rappers sign to majors.

And the artists you just named are signed to big labels. Of COURSE they can charge 100k. The venues KNOW they're gonna make that back at least times 5 PLUS the labels will act as investors for the cost.

Why would I be talking about them? I'm talking about these random rappers people love to big up on the regular. Yeah, they make the salaries of other jobs... that's my whole point.

 

[Harry B]

You still dont get it brae

The major label rap game is dead... how much $$$ is a nikka gonna make w/5 points on 250K albums, when he got a loan from the label to make his album

And you talk like the majority of rappers who are signed are living the high life and caking... yea they get to rub shoulders... but for how long? A year or two? Then they wind up being in debt and being famous for being a nikka who USED to be hot. No dough, bad fame, and worst of all a sour taste in your mouth from an artform you used to love

Thats why Im saying, fukk the labels, history shows odds are very slim working with them will work for you in the long run, and you have to be a hoe to sign your life away for a year or so of pre-packaged fame. The only nikkas who should rap are dudes not in it for the $$$$... if your shyt is hot it will come... if not but at least you can go on living not owing anyone anything or being recognized for being an ex-celebrity.

If you want to talk history, history shows that on average you are a lot more successful on a major than indie. The best of both worlds is a distribution deal like cash money, death row or a fat cash advance like Roc Nation. But we all know the actual artists on these labels are not making more than any other major label rapper just the bosses.

History shows that going indie you'll have to grind a lot harder for a lot less.
And I can't hate on cats who want to be on radio, have endorsement deals, have a world wide promotion and contact range. And yes a lot of rappers dry up after a few years, but the fact that they ain't smart enough to flip what they had to something good has nothing to do with what label they signed to it has to do with their skills in these other areas, their egos and more. LL, Will, Mark Wahlberg, Rza all the way to Uncle Luke, Q-tip and on could certainly flip their hiphop careers into something good.

 

[Omar Little]

Think of it as a "Loan"


Most nikkas get a loan so they can get money upfront.

 

[MegaTronBomb!]

You still dont get it brae

The major label rap game is dead... how much $$$ is a nikka gonna make w/5 points on 250K albums, when he got a loan from the label to make his album

And you talk like the majority of rappers who are signed are living the high life and caking... yea they get to rub shoulders... but for how long? A year or two? Then they wind up being in debt and being famous for being a nikka who USED to be hot. No dough, bad fame, and worst of all a sour taste in your mouth from an artform you used to love

Thats why Im saying, fukk the labels, history shows odds are very slim working with them will work for you in the long run, and you have to be a hoe to sign your life away for a year or so of pre-packaged fame. The only nikkas who should rap are dudes not in it for the $$$$... if your shyt is hot it will come... if not but at least you can go on living not owing anyone anything or being recognized for being an ex-celebrity.

history shows that being an independent artist will most likely leave you working a 9-5 or being a nobody.

the only folks who truly get fukked over at majors, are the ones who aren't smart enough to learn anything from the business side of the industry...or think they're going to be hot forever.

being an ex celebrity>>>>>being a dude who never got on


you gotta be real about this, it's better to be a top dog at a Fortune 500 company, than the dude who owns his own hot dog cart.


being your own boss is this dream thats sold far too often... that same dream is what got the folks at Amway rich..and MCA/5Linx scamming people.

 

[fukkyalifestyle]

when you sign to a label you have access to huge corporations. if you sign to interscope you have access to anything universal owns, beats by dre, ciroq etc. now a days as long as you on your business a 360 can be beneficial. mgk signs with puff now he doing shows on the road, performed at wrestlemania and has his songs in commercials. I don't know his contract but as long as its not completely raping him he making out pretty good. Ideal situation would be do what wiz did and create a buzz aka get leverage and then you sign.