The State of Hip-Hop

n a Time magazine article published this week, Ta-Nehisi Coates speculates on the rapid decline of hip-hop record sales, down 44% since 2000 and moved from 13% of all music sales to 10%. She tracks the rise of 1990s rap entrepreneurs, which arguably reached its apotheosis in 2001 during the height of enterprises such as Roc-A-Fella, No Limit and Bad Boy, through to the industry's current diminution.

The article interviews some insiders, such as Steve Rifkin, the CEO of SRC Records, who stick to dubious platitudes about rap music needing to "get more creative." It mentions Russell Simmons, who recently made an admittedly half-assed call for rappers to start censoring themselves as well as cut down on the flaunting of their wealth.
Maybe a bit more convincing is the Roots' manager Richard Nickels, who claims that hip-hop has lost some of the excitement it gained during the 1990s' gangsta rap. "You had these black guys who came out and had guns. It was exciting to white kids ... It's collapsing because they can no longer fool the white kids." Q-Tip suggests "In rock you have ... all these different strains. And there are different strains of hip-hop, but record companies aren't set up to sell different strains."

Coates' overriding paradigm is that rap is a product that needs to be updated. What do you think '' is this correct way to think about the hip-hop problem? Does the term 'gangsta rap' even apply to today's rap? Would ditching the bling-blang and foul language or 'maturing' boost sales?

courtesy of Prefixmag.com

The Inside/Out

Here is a list of the most common mistakes unsigned artists make on MySpace...

1. No Customer/Fans shown in the top 40 friends list.

The fans are the most important thing when selling your product. If you have your favorite artist in that list you are giving visitors an open door to leave your page. The most dedicated fans should "ALWAYS" occupy the friends list. You should make you fans feel like they matter because they are the ones who will spread the word about you to others.


2.Irreverent Content

There is nothing wrong with promoting your friends music, but your MySpace page should really just pertain to "YOU ONLY". You must remember you are trying to gain fans not confuse them. Before 50Cent could introduce Lloyd Banks you had to grow to know 50 first.


3.First song played

It is not usual for most artists to have the auto-play feature start their first song. Too many times artists do not place their best song first. Check it, you have one time to make a good impression so the only way your gonna know which song is your best is by doing "market research" on your material first. Most MySpace sales are not made because of this known mistake.


4. Page Layout

Your page should always reflect what your music and image is about. For example, if you are suppose to be a conscious rapper and all the images have dollar bills and hoes all over the page, you are giving true fans of conscious rap ever reason to give "YOU" the finger. Most times artist pages won't load right because all the extra junk that is on the page. Use discretion when being creative on the images you want to display. Trust me it matters. Whatever you do just don't give anyone a reason to leave your page! That's your money walking away!


THIS IS A COMPETITION
THE HATERS WANNA SEE YA FAIL... I WANNA SEE YA MAKE IT!!!

Strike Three.......Your Out!!

"Rumors are swirling about the pending demise of Napster creator Shawn Fanning's Snocap, says former MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson. 'Articles mention a sale, but more likely it will be a shuttering and quiet bankruptcy,' he believes. 'Snocap represents a commonplace occurrence in the music business — an unprofitable retailer which withers and eventually dies.'"

courtesy of SlashDot.org

Producer Watch

Artist Quote of the Week

"The whole music industry is twisted on it's f**king head. And Britney Spears shaved her head - that's how I know the Apocalypse is coming,"

Method Man

Year 2008 -The New Style

Listen, we all know that Compact Discs(CD) are just about to be obsolete very soon. Not only that but music sales are steady declining due to file sharing online and also the general public disregarding most of the music that major labels are promoting.

Well before you start to panic, you might want to peep this. Web-Site companies such as FizzKicks, DropCards, and Discrevolt have come to save day. These sites provide digital download prepaid cards for your fans. So instead of walking around the mall and security looking to catch you selling them Cd's, you can now just hand out the pre-paid cards and collect the dough. For more info go to...

http://www.fizzkicks.com
http://www.dropcards.com
http://www.discrevolt.com

Check this Out!!

Guerilla Marketing Tip #1

Question:

Where can else can I sell my album besides online music stores and live shows?


Answer:

Local businesses are some of the best places to start. Establishments like(Barbershops,urban coffee shops,Nightlife Bars and Pubs,etc) are overlooked as places that artists think would help them promote their music. Ask to speak with managers/owners and explain to them what it is you are trying to accomplish. The first impression is everything so you better come correct or you'll just f*ck it all up. You'll be surprised to find many of them are willing to help. It's all in that approach though. Make it professional when you speak to them, also one thing owners love is another way to make money(hint).