Before getting into the Hip Hop business, you have a lot of decisions to make. You have to decide if you’re a mainstream or underground artist, whether you want a deal or to be independent, if you want to buy studio time or build one, and then there is the question of distribution and marketing. They are probably the two most important assets of the record industry.
While record companies have a lot of power through their marketing resources, digital distribution is another story entirely. Let’s talk about some of the major changes that have occurred over the last decade in the world of Hip Hop and the music industry as a whole. Read the rest of this entry »
In this very straight forward and informative video interview, Jun Mhoon, an expert in digital media distribution, argues that the traditional music distribution model can no longer sustain itself economically.
Music Pin is a company that has developed a way for artists to put music, that can be downloaded by their fans, on a format about the size of a business card. I’m really feelin’ this one. Hope it catches on.
I posted an article yesterday about the relevance of CDs in this “digital age”, and I got a lot interesting emails from artists. I was surprised to get replies from artists who said that the CD is dead. This to me explains why some independent hip hop artists are having a hard time making profits from their music. If you don’t take advantage of the profits you could make from selling CDs, you’re missing out on a potentially large amount of cash flow from your music sales.
I don’t know them, but here are couple of artists in Miami getting their hustle on. I always love to see this because it reaffirms my faith that artists can do it by themselves with just a little hard work. In Chicago, I’ve personally seen artists move dozens of CD’s at $5 a pop, in a short amount of time. I can’t see how you can do that with an mp3.
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I was recently asked by an artists if he should only make his project digitally available and totally ignore the process of pressing up CDs. I told him that this would be a very unwise decision.
There have been a lot of reports of slumping CD sales in the media, but don’t get it twisted. These are problems that major labels are having. Actually, most indie hip hop artists have increased profits from their CD sales. Recording costs are low (most people are doing it themselves), it doesn’t cost much to press then up anymore, and the closing of music retail stores nation wide, forced artists to go back out and get in touch with the people. Read the rest of this entry »
