Would you like fries with that?
When did music become so much like the fast food industry? I mean, I remember the days when you’d wait a year or two for your favorite artist to drop an album and you’d run to the CD store to pick it up because it didn’t happen every week. Now if that same artist doesn’t drop two mixtapes in the same year as that album, you’ll say he’s fell off. Whats wrong with that thought is.. since he’s gotta drop three CDs in a year now, its ruining the integrity of his big album. Not only is it not so special anymore, but that artist is rushing through products due to the demand being so high. A lot of this the mixtape DJs should take credit for. Great thing you’ve came up with. Not only is it forcing the big artists back against the wall and assuring us that we’ll have very few truly inspiring albums to choose from on the record shelf, but now your giving birth to every idiot who can afford a $10 radioshack microphone and can’t afford beats for his album to consider himself an MC. Pat yourself on the back.
The mixtape DJs aren’t the only ones to blame though. Hip Hop producers are especially ignorant. Leasing beats? Are you serious? I get the concept, but this is just ridiculous. Hopefully they’ll wait until after I’m dead to just start putting beats on the shelves at Blockbuster. Honestly, this is hurting everybody in the game. Yes, producers.. whether your ignorant ass can see it or not.. this is hurting you too.
Before I get further into this discussion, for those of you who aren’t in the game, now instead of selling beats straight up to an artist for one amount of money (as producers did in the old days.. and REAL producers still tend to only have this one option) now producers are basically renting (leasing) the beats out to artists for a much smaller amount of money.
Lets say for instance I lease a beat from a fellow named Jackass Producer for $25. Nevermind that I could buy exclusive rights to a beat from Domingo (a respectable individual who has produced beats for Eminem, 50 Cent, etc.) for $50.. instead I was off the reservation that day and decided to rent Jackass Producer’s beat for $25. I want to lease it simply because I don’t know if the song is going to turn out to be a success or not. Thats not my line, producers have actually told me thats why they lease beats. Anyway, so I make a single for my album with that leased beat. I push it to the radio for a year or two (because thats how long it could take to push a real single without a major record deal.. for you ignorant producers who don’t know shit off of soundclick) and I FINALLY get the record in regular rotation on the radio. What are the odds that I can go back to Jackass Producer at this point and buy the exclusive rights to that beat? What are the chances, after a year or two, that he hasn’t sold the rights to that beat to someone else by then? The problem is, the MC he sold the exclusives to don’t want to sell them.. and he won’t make a hit record with it. So at this point I’d have to take my single back OFF the radio because my lease only covers up to 5000 copies of my album being sold (by the way.. what the fuck is that about? I shouldn’t lease your beat unless I plan for my project to fail?!). At this point Jackass Producer earned his name, because by leasing out beats he just fucked himself out of ever messing with major label artists due to the exposure my single could have gotten him. Good job, Jackass.
While we’re discussing producers, who’s coming up with these prices? Do y’all just write a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper between $100 and $100,000 and throw a dart? Why are cats who haven’t done anything trying to charge me $2,500 for exclusive rights to one beat? At that rate you’d have to take a mortgage out on your house to finish a fucking album.. and for what? To have some fairly nice beats on it by a producer who hasn’t done anything? If you don’t have some credentials, you have no business charging more than $250.. and thats only if the beat is a GUARANTEED hit record. If your not making enough money to live off of.. here’s a concept.. instead of trying to rape MCs by charging ridiculous prices.. how about you.. MAKE MORE BEATS.
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