Hip-Hop - breaking news, gossip, slander, lies etc

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Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
If you must know...

the undisputed truth said:
Whats the fascianation with shifting units and numbers being posted ???
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Due to the growing digital hole in the music marketplace, sales are down between 15%-20% across the board. This means less labels, less artists and MORE people getting dropped due to low sales...it ESPECIALLY hurts hip hop music. That's why people that normally don't give a goddamn about sales numbers actually is concerned about the Soundscans every Tuesday. If albums continue to not sell, than the hip hop music industry is in deep shit..this is why having majopr hip hop albums sell well is a concern (Diddy, Jay-Z, Nas, Clipse, Snoop Dogg, The Game, etc.).

I personally could care less about sales...I'm an underground hip hop fan. That doesn't mean I want to see the rap industry suffer, though.

One.
 
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gumdrops

Well-known member
Poisonous Dart said:
I personally could care less about sales...I'm an underground hip hop fan. That doesn't mean I want to see the rap industry suffer, though.

One.
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hip hop is the only genre obsessed with first week sales. its pitiful. who gives a fuck. when the clipse album doesnt do that well, will everyone take the piss out of them, even though the album is excellent? (despite the discomforting joy they take in talking about crack every single fucking line).

xpost - re: kris ex, it shouldnt be an issue whether hes a little drug addict in his private life or not, the article wasnt about him, for something as important as the trapstar obsession in hip hop, he should have done a bit better. maybe xxl should have gotten greg tate to do it.
 
C

ChineseArithmetic

It is what it is
If albums continue to not sell, than the hip hop music industry is in deep shit..this is why having majopr hip hop albums sell well is a concern (Diddy, Jay-Z, Nas, Clipse, Snoop Dogg, The Game, etc.).

It's the 'hip-hop industry' that I find so depressing, with rappers always going on about their 'career' all the time. The music is pretty much just an after thought. The Clipse album's really good though.
 
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gumdrops

Well-known member
mms said:
is this on planet gumdrops?
every album is judged pretty much on first week sales any genre.
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ha
well, true
but hip hop artists are a lot more vocal about it
and so are the fans
go to any message board for hip hop and you can bet theres a dozen posts about how such and such did these sales
if i went to popjustice i doubt a lot of girls aloud fans would be rabidly discussing what GA did in their first week (i could be wrong of course)
in a way, its great, this internalising of industry spiel into wider discussion, its demystifying etc etc (im sure scritti politti would approve) but IMO hip hop is past that point now - as q-tip said in a recent interview, its essentially won all its battles with the industry (something even jay-z alluded to in his xxl interview) for better or worse, the focus now has to be on the creative end again
but then, its a difficult thing to separate in a way as 'getting paid' has been an explicit aim of rappers since day one, by and large

simon reynolds via tom breihan on modern hip hop:
http://blissout.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_blissout_archive.html#116414354390077219
 
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Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
Here's my thing about rapping about sales as an argument (and I actually like MONEYSGUNSDRUGSBITCHES rap):

It seems that beyond a certain number of sales, the rappers can be happy about the money they made from it, but the sales really don't say anything about their credibility amongst each other.
I'm willing to bet over 50-60% of hip hop record sales go to teenage suburban high school kids.

And that isn't really saying much, is it?
 
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Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
True

Sick Boy said:
Here's my thing about rapping about sales as an argument (and I actually like MONEYSGUNSDRUGSBITCHES rap):

It seems that beyond a certain number of sales, the rappers can be happy about the money they made from it, but the sales really don't say anything about their credibility amongst each other.
I'm willing to bet over 50-60% of hip hop record sales go to teenage suburban high school kids.

And that isn't really saying much, is it?
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The other problem is that the only people for the most part with enough knowledge to really tell what's quality from what sucks pretty much get the shit for free (like myself) because I review it and write about it all the goddamn time. If it wasn't for this era of ageism (and I actually felt like trying to gain a fuckin' fanbase rapping) I 'd be making material myself...as a 31 year old I can write, act or direct until the cows come home...whereas you have braindead broads like Remy Ma saying that you shouldn't rap after 30...that's just fuckin' ignorant on her part (too bad she's FAR from the only one that thinks this way).

In other news, both Ghostface Killah's "More Fish" and Mos Def's "True Magic" have leaked....Nas' "Hip Hop Is Dead" will leak in the next couple of days. Here are a couple of songs of his NOT on "Hip Hop Is Dead...The N". If you haven't seen the video yet, you must've been under a rock but here are links to these songs:

Nas - I Already Know
http://www.sendspace.com/file/sk4bp1
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4fr36y
http://www.sendspace.com/file/djuba7

Blitz ft. Nas - hush
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ucz00q


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Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
Just Blaze Speaks!

I thought that this was interesting. Just Blze talks about his beats, sample clearances, publishing issues, equipment, Saigon, the bullshit that is "the industry", his records with Jay-Z, etc. I think it's good shit for anyone involved in hip hop: producers and emcees alike to watch...we need to make the youth understand that THIS shit is the essence of the music..the REAL REAL shit and not the "fake" real shit that's portrayed in the videos...it's a lot of work and business and red tape. It is the music BUSINESS after all.

http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/TUTORS.9.0.html?id=9&act_session=312

Also...ANOTHER Nas joint:

Nas feat. Chrisette Michelle - Can't Forget About You (prod. Will.I.Am)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e9oimr
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gampgr
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1gcrxc


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nomadologist

Guest
GO BUY THE NEW CLIPSE ALBUM. maybe this has been said before upthread but it deserves saying again
 
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the undisputed truth

Banned
...some thoughts

FUCK ALBUMS !!!

3 x 4 trak EP's spread over a year timed to go off with digital release and enhanced CD/dvd with download offers like cheap merch and tickets for concerts in exchange for building a database of online fans who would be used to paying using the net...

...release 4 EP's a year with each one better than the last if you can keep the buzz going longer and get more guests/remixes done as the label sees it's worth the investment

major labels would probably sign an artist to a short term multi EP deal than invest A&R money into development and a multi album deal...

...timing the digital release to avoid leaks and building up some customer loyalty through added value on line experience would cut down on pirating

it will also eliminate the need for filler trax on albums and the pressure to come up with 14 trax of heat which no-one can do...
 
hint

hint

party record with a siren
major labels would probably sign an artist to a short term multi EP deal than invest A&R money into development and a multi album deal
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Artists and labels make money on album sales, not singles.

- Releasing a string of EPs will lose money.
- Offering cheap merch and tickets will lose even more money.
- Filling the EPs with guest spots and remixes will lose even more!

If it made good business sense for the majors to follow this kind of model, they would have started doing it years ago.
 
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the undisputed truth

Banned
yeah sure albums are how they've traditionally made money but they are currently running round like headless chickens not knowing how theyre going to keep making money. Even sync rights, advertising revenue and copyright doesn't work with digital media...

...they won't change models unless they absolutely have to so they didnt, thinking they could legislate or scare off the pirates. That won't ever happen

so why do you think my suggestions will lose money ???
 
hint

hint

party record with a siren
the undisputed truth said:
so why do you think my suggestions will lose money ???
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Manufacturing and promoting 4 EPs per act per year is not cost-effective for major labels. Singles are generally considered to be part of the promotion for an album, since it's more likely than not that they will never recoup (this applies throughout all levels of the music industry, in fact). Artists need to sell albums to pay for the expenses that singles chalk up - videos, press, advertising.

Merchandise and live shows are big money earners for major label acts. Therefore, offering fans any kind of money off these things in return for a purchase of an EP will lose money.

Guest spots cost money. If the guests demand a writing credit, they cost even more (in the sense that there is potential revenue lost). The same applies to remixes.

Major labels have changed the way they operate. There are a lot more "soft" releases nowadays, for example. Fewer acts are being signed and developed too. They're fully aware that piracy will never go away... they're just treading water until they can thrash out the deals that suit them. That's good business sense.

Of course, your suggestions could work in certain cases. People in the industry have been speculating for years that Radiohead might sign EP deals now that their album deal is complete, so what you're saying isn't all that radical... but Radiohead are in a pretty unique position. Also, they have nothing to do with Hip Hop. ;)
 
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