H&R
DJ Nice // Crack City
ill o.g.
urbanconnects.com
Reality Check:Truth About Going Independent
In order to become a boss in the game you must first master it. UC is here to clear up all the industry smoke and help you see your vision clearly. Welcome to the real world!
Right now, let’s scratch the surface of the "Indy Game."
I wanted to clear the air about the independent game because there are many myths floating around out in the streets.
First of all, I think it's always a great move for an artist to do as much for himself as possible and not to sit back and wait for their piece of pie to be handed to them. However, the Indy game can be just as treacherous as dealing with the majors.
Myth: Majors are evil; money hungry bastards that will rob every dime from the artist if possible and the Indy’s are good hearted, culture-caring entities that always give the artist their fair share of the pie.
Truth: Indy or Major, they're all crooked when it comes to "fixing the books, "charging the artist for every expense under the sun, snatching all his/her publishing, etc. You want to make sure you’re working with a label you trust, better yet, start your own. If not, expect to get robbed, there's no way around it. All you can do is reduce the robbery by arming yourself with knowledge and sharp legal reps. Also, if you run your own label, the distributor will try to rob you blind as well.
Myth: You can make $6 per album by coming out on an Indy as oppose to $0.50 as an artist on a major.
Truth: While it’s true that an Indy will tend to give you more points per album sold, getting 6 dollars per album is not going to happen. Use common sense on this one. If the artist gets 6 and retail gets let’s say, 5 what does that leave for the label? The label is NOT going to put all the up front money only to get back less money than the artist per album does c’mon! Remember, if the record doesn't sell guess who takes the L? Not the artist, but the label. Now if YOU’RE putting up all the money and you’re dealing directly with a distributor that's a different story.
Myth: If I put out my own album, I'll make millions like Master P!
Truth: Yes, you can make serious money but please remember one basic rule when it comes to business: IT TAKES MONEY TO MAKE MONEY! How can you sell 50,000 copies when you can't afford to press up 50,000 copies? Even if you could, how would you get 50,000 people to buy your product? That takes a whole lot of promoting, branding, doing shows and marketing...all cost MONEY! Don't ask the distributor for help! The more he does for you the more he will dig into that pie (and that's if he's even willing to take a risk on your rookie ass).
Myth: If I sell 10,000 copies on my own the majors will give me a 30 million dollar P&D like Universal did with Cash Money!
Truth: Homie please! It takes a whole lot more than that to get that kind of deal. Truth be told, the Cash Money situation was basically a once in a lifetime deal which probably won't go down again (disregard their re-up) in the game. First, you have to prove to the major distributor that you’re actually a full operating record company and not just some rapper selling his CDs hand-to-hand. Also, you must have a TRACK RECORD of success, not just with one project but with several projects and different artists (which Cash Money did before their deal). Also, it depends on the markets you got a buzz in (having New Mexico on lock is way different from Louisiana), your BDS history, retail relationships, etc. This is chess not checkers!
Myth: Artists on majors are broke, artist on Indy's are rich.
Truth: Most artist period are broke because the success rate in the music industry is only about two percent. Indy artist make more money per album and the major artist have more opportunity to make money from non-musical sources. So the question is would u rather make 100 grand by generating 2 million for someone else or 100 grand by generating 100 grand for yourself? The only difference is the first situation, the artist didn't have to risk a dime of his own money, the second one the artist is risking his dough. Cormega is making good money on his own terms, which is great. 50 cent is making money Cormega will NEVER see (if he stays in his current situation), which is also great. Choose your own adventure.
Next time around, we'll get down into the specifics concerning putting out your own product. These are just basics on the topic, nothing too deep.
My Advice:
If you love to kick verses and you’re not trying to get rich off of it I suggest doing it all yourself, press up a few copies, slang them in your hood, get the money back and do it all over again…have fun with it. If somebody seriously hollas at u, go for it! If you’re trying to get rich off of beats and rhymes then be prepared to deal with the truth. The game is based on money, relationships, know-how and talent (in that order). If you don't have money then your goal is to attract investors (which is all a label really is). Either way you need gunz before u can go to war. Arm up!
-Urban Connects
Reality Check:Truth About Going Independent
In order to become a boss in the game you must first master it. UC is here to clear up all the industry smoke and help you see your vision clearly. Welcome to the real world!
Right now, let’s scratch the surface of the "Indy Game."
I wanted to clear the air about the independent game because there are many myths floating around out in the streets.
First of all, I think it's always a great move for an artist to do as much for himself as possible and not to sit back and wait for their piece of pie to be handed to them. However, the Indy game can be just as treacherous as dealing with the majors.
Myth: Majors are evil; money hungry bastards that will rob every dime from the artist if possible and the Indy’s are good hearted, culture-caring entities that always give the artist their fair share of the pie.
Truth: Indy or Major, they're all crooked when it comes to "fixing the books, "charging the artist for every expense under the sun, snatching all his/her publishing, etc. You want to make sure you’re working with a label you trust, better yet, start your own. If not, expect to get robbed, there's no way around it. All you can do is reduce the robbery by arming yourself with knowledge and sharp legal reps. Also, if you run your own label, the distributor will try to rob you blind as well.
Myth: You can make $6 per album by coming out on an Indy as oppose to $0.50 as an artist on a major.
Truth: While it’s true that an Indy will tend to give you more points per album sold, getting 6 dollars per album is not going to happen. Use common sense on this one. If the artist gets 6 and retail gets let’s say, 5 what does that leave for the label? The label is NOT going to put all the up front money only to get back less money than the artist per album does c’mon! Remember, if the record doesn't sell guess who takes the L? Not the artist, but the label. Now if YOU’RE putting up all the money and you’re dealing directly with a distributor that's a different story.
Myth: If I put out my own album, I'll make millions like Master P!
Truth: Yes, you can make serious money but please remember one basic rule when it comes to business: IT TAKES MONEY TO MAKE MONEY! How can you sell 50,000 copies when you can't afford to press up 50,000 copies? Even if you could, how would you get 50,000 people to buy your product? That takes a whole lot of promoting, branding, doing shows and marketing...all cost MONEY! Don't ask the distributor for help! The more he does for you the more he will dig into that pie (and that's if he's even willing to take a risk on your rookie ass).
Myth: If I sell 10,000 copies on my own the majors will give me a 30 million dollar P&D like Universal did with Cash Money!
Truth: Homie please! It takes a whole lot more than that to get that kind of deal. Truth be told, the Cash Money situation was basically a once in a lifetime deal which probably won't go down again (disregard their re-up) in the game. First, you have to prove to the major distributor that you’re actually a full operating record company and not just some rapper selling his CDs hand-to-hand. Also, you must have a TRACK RECORD of success, not just with one project but with several projects and different artists (which Cash Money did before their deal). Also, it depends on the markets you got a buzz in (having New Mexico on lock is way different from Louisiana), your BDS history, retail relationships, etc. This is chess not checkers!
Myth: Artists on majors are broke, artist on Indy's are rich.
Truth: Most artist period are broke because the success rate in the music industry is only about two percent. Indy artist make more money per album and the major artist have more opportunity to make money from non-musical sources. So the question is would u rather make 100 grand by generating 2 million for someone else or 100 grand by generating 100 grand for yourself? The only difference is the first situation, the artist didn't have to risk a dime of his own money, the second one the artist is risking his dough. Cormega is making good money on his own terms, which is great. 50 cent is making money Cormega will NEVER see (if he stays in his current situation), which is also great. Choose your own adventure.
Next time around, we'll get down into the specifics concerning putting out your own product. These are just basics on the topic, nothing too deep.
My Advice:
If you love to kick verses and you’re not trying to get rich off of it I suggest doing it all yourself, press up a few copies, slang them in your hood, get the money back and do it all over again…have fun with it. If somebody seriously hollas at u, go for it! If you’re trying to get rich off of beats and rhymes then be prepared to deal with the truth. The game is based on money, relationships, know-how and talent (in that order). If you don't have money then your goal is to attract investors (which is all a label really is). Either way you need gunz before u can go to war. Arm up!
-Urban Connects
