People still don’t visit the record stores.

Hands up, anyone that visited the record store with the last month or so (and if you think Best-Buy or one of the large chains count, then put your hands back down.)  Why?  Because Best-Buy, circuit city is part of the reason were in this mess to begin with!  Ya see, they have money, and they buy in bulk, and when you buy in bulk, you get better deals, and when you get better deals, you make more profit, but when your a cooporation that makes it’s real money off computers, tv’s, Appliances, and whatever else, you can take a loss on the stuff you get cheap, and make a profit off the more expensive items.  Cd’s help lure in customers, and while they brows the latest selection of releases, many of us will look at the digital cameras, and the latest personal computers; I mean, were already in the store, so why not!
Then, there’s the blog sites!  These places are addictive, and yes, I’m guilty of browsing them too!  With some diligence, you can find some super rare records, I mean, stuff that you won’t find in the record stores.  $1000 45′s are online!  $200 full length albums are online.  Who wouldn’t want to download an expensive album for free!
So what’s your take on this situation?  How do you feel about it, and how is it effecting you?  Be honest!  If your a downloader, just say it!  People need to hear whats really going on!

Ipod logo

The Creamy Apple Logo!

For Educational Purposes Only

Why don’t you buy music anymore?

Ok, so now, it’s 2009, record labels have gone through some really tough times during the last 9 years or so. Seems like as soon as Napster emerged, NO-ONE (including myself) wanted to buy music! I mean, how many of you can honestly say you have never heard a song you liked on the TV/Radio, and plugged the info in the Napster search box? Unless your over 60 years old, if your answer is “Never” then your a liar, and if your telling the truth, then I simply don’t want to believe you! haha!
But the Napster era (the free Napster) has long gone, limewire has taken it’s place, but seems to be filled with viruses, and the Ipod evolution has thus began! Still, people are finding ways to download music for free, to the point that record stores are becoming old news. Artists that once sold 3/4/5 times platinum, are barely going gold! Ringtones are selling more than albums, and many artists are fleeing long term contracts for Independent Labels; I mean, your better off making 50% 100,000 sales, then making 12% off 100,000 sales, and paying back upfront costs, while still being contractually obligated to deliver 3 more albums!
But back to the topic. Why don’t you buy music anymore? I’ve heard excuses like, “there is only 2 good songs on album” or “music doesn’t sound like it used to,” and they are all legit responses, but we now live with sites like Itunes, and Rhapsody that allow the buyer to listen, and select the songs they enjoy. The price? One dollar per download! Don’t want to spend a dollar, there are many profile pages in myspace/facebook, etc that will allow you to donate a monetary amount! Download all 15 songs for $2 if you like! If you support musicians, how? Do you go to their shows? Do you buy their merchandise? I ask this, because many artists have resorted to giving their music away in hopes that they can simply get your attention. It’s a daring move, but is it really working?

The value of music?

I can remember a time when we were proud to own a cassette tape of our favorite artists, especially if you got it a week or two before the actual release date. When EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, and Tribe Called Quest first came out, I remember being the envy of my classmates because I owned what they all wanted. Even as I grew older, it just felt good to have music blasting out my car that no one else owned. “Where’d you get that tape from?” Sometimes, you didn’t want to reveal your secret locations to everybody. I can also remember when record stores started selling cd’s. In the early 90′s, labels started sending “promo copies” to stores so they could play them for customers while they shopped.If you were lucky, the store would place the extra promo for sale at a reduced price. This meant you had a pre-released cd at a much lower price. I literally collected hundreds of pre-released cd’s throughout the years!
Fast forward to 1998. When Napster became popular, suddenly, buying music was a thing of the past. Who hasn’t listened to a song they wanted to own on MTV, and placed the artist name in the Napster search box? During this time, I downloaded thousands of songs…most were placed on un-labeled cd’s or zip-disks (remember those) that have never been played in years; downloading free music was fun and, well, inexpensive! The government ultimately had to step in, and shut Napster down. Suddenly, people were lost, and the bootleg man came to the rescue. $5.00 cd’s with artwork..some even had the cd’s printed! This was great! The introduction of the complete $300 E-Machine computers gave consumers the chance to download their own music; who needs to pay a bootlegger? The bootleggers had another plan, two cd’s for $5.00, or one for $3.00! Bootleggers win..the time it takes to download, burn, and print a cd is definitely worth $3.00..I’ll take that new R-Kelly cd..yea, the one where he’s coming out the closet! That one was classic! haha
So now, it’s to the point where folks proudly say,”Ohh, I have this album” and when you go to their home, it’s the bootleg version. If you really want to take it another step further, anyone under the age of 14 doesn’t know a life without the internet. Going to the store and actually buying their favorite artists album doesn’t even enter their mind. Visit your local record store, and can guarantee you will barely find a bustling clientele like it used to be 10 years ago. Artists during the last few years have been scrambling to get the consumers money; some even release more than one cd in a year. Lately Hip-Hop artists have been coming out with free mix-tapes to keep their names relevant. Beyonce has recently done free concerts all over the world. Labels are leaking free songs to promote artists cd’s.
With all this free stuff going on, will there ever be a time where people are actually proud to have physical album in their possession, or will an MP3 file be good enough? Do we all feel like were only getting two decent songs from an album? Is that a good enough reason to stop supporting music we enjoy?

Cheap Rappers vs Hungry Producers

I’m going to write an article about this in my Magazine (Eight-O-Eight) but I thought I’d share some shizznits with the rest of you. Your responses will help me complete the column.
As a producer, I’ve invested a lot of money into my budget studio throughout the years. I bought a lot of items, sold a lot of items, and took huge losses in simply finding out what works well for me. Everything thing I bought, I had to learn how to use it. makes no sense having a piece of equipment that can do everything you ever desired, but you have no idea how to use it. Then you have to make everything work together. I sacraficed a lot of parties and pussy just to simply make beats. Seriously!
But when it comes to the MC’s, I almost feel like a lot of you expect years of a producers investment to be handed to you. Don’t get me wrong, I TOTALLY respect an MC because I can’t even spit two words out my mouth that rhyme, so to do a whole song is amazing, but some of you just have no respect for what a producer does. Unless you can come out with a dope accapella cd, you need to support your producers more. We support you! You use our beats and press up cd’s and make your little chump change selling a few joints here and there, but I’ve yet to see any of you give two cents back to the producer. From my experience, most of you come empty handed..want to drink beer, eat snacks..walk in the house with dirty shoes on your feet, want beats for free but can’t even bring a blank cd to record your own FREE music, use our time to engineer your music, and the only time you call back is for MORE FREE shit! “Eh dawg.. you made anything new lately?”  (Does this sound like you??)
Anyways, some of you really need to treat yourself as a business and stop cutting corners. You know you’ve got some lyrics in your head, and how it feels when you hear a beat that fits it perfectly. maybe you need to invest in that beat. Don’t skimp and lay the vocal to a free beat just because it’s free. “Mary had a little lamb” can be sung over a  Dilla beat, but it doesn’t mean it would sound right.  It seems like no one wants to pay for beats, but everyone needs them. The reason is because  sucka, wanksta, wannbee ass producers are selling their 2 minute creations for $20 a piece, and many of you are taking em because you don’t want to pay more for something that is better. Why do yourself like that? All it takes is 6 songs. You can open up for a group with 6 songs. You can come out with an EP with 6 songs. Wouldn’t it sound better than your catalog of bullshit that took you years to create?? Listen to some of your material! Some of that crap should never be played in front of people! Just think how small the investment really is. Six beats (lets say @ $400/piece) is $2400. What kind of business can you get into for that price? A Gas Station? No. A Barber shop? No. A Rosco’s Chicken and Rib joint with Aunt Jemma on the greens? No. You can’t even own a got-damned hot dog stand in the slum of all projects with $2400!  Even if you don’t have a job, would it hurt to flip a burger for a few months to make your dreams come true. Half of you spend close to, if not more than $100 a week on weed and alcohol. Simply being clean and sober for a month will knock out two birds with one stone! I bet you can find a quick 5G’s to put some spinning rims on that bucket ass hooptie you drive! As a producer, I’m not gonna get rich off you, but you need to support us a whole lot more. If something breaks, how we gonna keep making beats? If I need something to improve my mixes on YOUR song, how am I going to afford it? A lot of you get these free beats, and don’t do anything with the song except smoke blunts in the back of your boys car while listen to the music. You don’t push the music because it comes easily for you. I rarely see people on the streets selling cd’s with dope underground producers. Lots of times, I hear 50 Cent instrumentals with the wackest vocals. There’s so many dope producers out here, and 99% of you MC’s ain’t doing a damn thing to help this Hip-Hop shit. I’m talking to any and all emcees that have never given two nickels to your producer(s) but you always want their beats.  Shame on you!
PS. Next time you lay vocals, brush your teeth! Y’all breath is killing our Mic’s and Pop filters (that you didn’t pay for either!)
*the full story of this will be in the 808 magazine, I promise! All responses welcome*

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