INDIE VS MAJOR:LOW ALBUM SALES

[TNGlive]

Cos even if you did hustle for Studio Time, Beats, whatever, where do you get money for proper mixing, mastering,cover art,printing CD's,videos,promotional posters,advertising in Hype Mag,tshirts,etc

^^You "hustle" to get signed to Pioneer Unit.  :wink:

[A pimp named Sarkozy]

I feel what DPlanet is saying, but the problem here is FINANCE.I know a lot of talented cats from my hood who would love to put out their projects themselves, but they are often forced by circumstances to look to the majors for help. Majors got money, can book you in nice studios,etc,etc. Cats don't even care about the fact that they gonna end up owing the record companies money and shit, they just want someone who can offer resources to put out their projects. Believe me being independent is a real hustle. And i aint talking independent on some LandMynz Entertainment/Pioneer Unit cos at least we got some studio equipment, funds,etc,etc. Im talking about cats who got NOTHING and have to go around hustling people for beats, studio time,etc. For most of them Majors are the only real option.

Cos even if you did hustle for Studio Time, Beats, whatever, where do you get money for proper mixing, mastering,cover art,printing CD's,videos,promotional posters,advertising in Hype Mag,tshirts,etc

Good points there.

[MrC The Rap God Almighty]

LOL ! I feel you T, i feel you. As an artist i would love to get 3 videos as well.

[Dpleezy]

I feel what DPlanet is saying, but the problem here is FINANCE.I know a lot of talented cats from my hood who would love to put out their projects themselves, but they are often forced by circumstances to look to the majors for help. Majors got money, can book you in nice studios,etc,etc. Cats don't even care about the fact that they gonna end up owing the record companies money and shit, they just want someone who can offer resources to put out their projects. Believe me being independent is a real hustle. And i aint talking independent on some LandMynz Entertainment/Pioneer Unit cos at least we got some studio equipment, funds,etc,etc. Im talking about cats who got NOTHING and have to go around hustling people for beats, studio time,etc. For most of them Majors are the only real option.

Cos even if you did hustle for Studio Time, Beats, whatever, where do you get money for proper mixing, mastering,cover art,printing CD's,videos,promotional posters,advertising in Hype Mag,tshirts,etc ???

but that's what hustling is. when you got nothing, you gotta hustle your way to something. i know it's not easy, but that's what separates the players from the people who ain't in the game.

the more independents (like pioneer unit, landmynz, beats against the beast, outrageous, monopoly etc) that spring up and show that there's an alternative to majors, the more opportunities there will be for aspiring artists.

[MrC The Rap God Almighty]

True dat.

I was just highlighting that most cats want to sign to majors cos it's more attractive for them.

[Dpleezy]

True dat.

I was just highlighting that most cats want to sign to majors cos it's more attractive for them.

yeah,,, it's tempting but signing to a major is a pyrrhic victory.

you think it's all gravy cause they lend you some cash upfront to make you feel like you're flossing (which they recoup before you see a cent).

but like any ghetto money-lender, they own your a** (well,,, they own your only a**et - your music). you become their slave.

if you sign with an indy you become a partner with a share in your a**et.

[cash]

real talk!
the majors are for the beauty queens in hiphop!
cats like selwyn,tuks,jubjub,pitchblack....the cats who need MONEY behind them to powder them up, get them their manicures and pedicures done, have a stylist(hidden force), image consultants, gimmicks done!!!!etc.

some cats NEED that Borrowed MONEY to make their lies look CONVINCING! aka GOOD TIME OF UR LIFE whilst u spending advance money! 8O  dumba**!!!!!! now u gotta pay it back! WITH INTEREST!!!!!

[Blizzard]

BOARDROOM THINKING.....

to start any business u need

1. Raw material
2. Capital
3. Worker

U use the capital to buy the raw material and u need a sucker who is gonna make sure u have the desired product and then to get your investments back pay that sucker close to nothing.
 

Studio Time, Beats, whatever, where do you get money for proper mixing, mastering,cover art,printing CD's,videos,promotional posters,advertising in Hype Mag,tshirts,etc quote MRC

All these are raw materials u need to start a business AND ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE STANDARD you cant mess with them, there is a standard price for them; except maybe marketing and ONE OF THE THINGS YOU COULD MAKE HUGE PROFIT MARGINS from is if you pay the artist (worker) peanuts, if he/she decides to leave its cool, exploit the next sucker. SO PROFIT IS A RESULT of EXPLOITING A WORKER.

[A pimp named Sarkozy]

SALES TALK WEEK 7 :lol:  




Start your week with two interesting music-related pieces from the Economist. :lol:  The first is a look at how, in the face of shrinking revenue, major labels are moving away from relying on recorded music sales and toward all-rights contracts. These “360 degree” contracts offer artists a broader range of services that encompa** live music, merchandise and endorsement deals. Yeah and everyone wins, right?

 

The problem is summed up succinctly by Edgar Bronfman, chairman of Warner Music, when he says, “The music industry is growing, the record industry is not growing.”

 

The second article relates to the chart above which pertains to performance rights collections revenue for 2006. Britain’s collections equate to 7% of total music sales for the year, while Malaysia’s comes in at 22% and the Russians a lowly and unsurprising 0.4%.

[A pimp named Sarkozy]

So what’s news? Well, this in fact:

Universal Says No To Apple

Universal Music Group has declined to renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. The label has instead chosen to adopt an approach that allows it to market music to Apple at its initiative.

At the heart of the development appears to be a dispute over the entrenched 99c price point that has been a feature of the iTunes store since its launch. The move is seen by many as a indication of Universal’s intention of pulling its content from iTunes altogether, a move that would effectively see the digital store lose access to almost a third of new US releases.

New York Times has more

Previous iTunes coverage

EMI To Sell Through 3rd Parties

EMI Announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with Snocap to enable is music to be sold through third party websites like blogs and social networks. The move makes EMI the first major label to step outside the boundaries of recognised online retailers like iTunes.

We’ve previously reported that Snocap and Myspace have partnered to enable the sale of digital music over the social network and that a coalition of indie labels have already signed up to Snocap

Deadline For EMI Sale Extended

Still on EMI, the private equity firm that agreed to buy EMI back in May has extended the deadline for shareholders to accept a cash offer recommended by the label’s board.

The announcement leaves the door open for a rival bid from Warner Music Group which rumoured to be in the offing.

Business Week has more

Band Of Horses Album Out In August

After 2006’s surprise success, Everything All The Time, Band of Horses have completed their follow up album despite only vocalist Ben Bridwell staying on.

The band released the following on their myspace blog today:

RECORD IS DONE!!!
That’s right folks. That little bastard’s in the can and soon will be set free on the Sub Pop record label. We’re looking at doing that sometime in October if CD’s and Records still exist in 4 months. And although this is a spoken word record with no musical accompaniment, we believe you’ll be happy after 100 listens or so. xoboh

RIAA Get Sued

After hara**ing a disabled single mom and her 10 year old daughter, RIAA found themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit for a change. All quite insane really.

Crowdsource Your Album With SliceThePie.com

British band Gilkicker have become the first band to successfully fund their album through a combination of their fanbase and start up Slice The Pie. The four-piece managed to raise the necessary £30,000 in just 10 days.

Slice the Pie provides the platform for fans to pre-purchase albums in order for bands that don’t want or can’t get a record label to get hold of the necessary capital to record their album. The site is in direct competition with german start up Sellaband in commercialising a concept that as far as I know was pioneered by our very own Verity.

Prince Now Giving It Away

To quote Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the U.K.’s Entertainment Retailers a**ociation, “If it turns out to be the case, The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behavior like this, he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores.”

[SolitaryNative]

The hardest thing to do is leave a label and go back to being independent. It's freedom up , message out but beefing and shit up- people makin threats- YOU AIN"T NOBODY IN THIS GAME!!  Hehe.  We'll see.

Agreed, independent is where it has to be.  Major labels run your message, your access and your identity and having worked closely with some cats who just straight up jumped off that shit, I would ask anybody to reconsider signing to any major label, particularly in SA.

We're waking up t the independent revolution about seven years too late, but it's worth it.