Mix tapes are out of control
So you may know I'm not a big fan of the modern mix tape, especially as is treated like an album, albeit with limited distribution and no direct checks for the artists. I understand, once 50 Cent and Gip-set were able to make a huge push in the streets with them, they became the accepted way to gain publicity and create a buzz, though since then, the impact has been negated because literally everyone has mix tapes, mostly full of garbage.
Let me discuss why it no longer makes business sense to drop repeated mix tapes, especially once you have signed your deal. Number one, you are driving down the value of what you will eventually release on the label. If I get an "album" for free three weeks before your album drops, why do i really need to buy that album? Then what is going to make me pay the retail price when I can go through the same channels to get that album bootlegged thus cutting you out of the loop on that part of your check. "That little check I'm not sweating that". Yeah but you should, 50 grand is 50 grand. 100k is 100k . Get your money, the label will.
Then you're doing the label's job, they're not paying you any extra for that, and guess who is reaping the benefit. Guess what happens when the label doesn't feel they should do any work to promote you, you end up like 50 Cent, Bow wow, and countless other rappers who ended up on the back burner with the label squatting on your material to hold you back. The other thing is if you have a three or four album deal, you can always release free shit and hope to do shows but the label profits some kind of way if you do get popular again and they drop a completed project. But the other thing is these mixtapes are free for the label especially once you put 'singles' out on itunes and other digital formats. You're not progressing that deal and putting that label in the position where they have to cough up more money for you nor are you getting closer to freedom to move independently.
Musically, is my biggest problem because your business is your business buddy. I'm more of a critic and you need to put out something interesting to keep my attention. Rick Ross just put out an album in November, here we are, the beginning of January and he drops a tape of all the same exact type of songs. What was the point of me buying this last album, and what was your point in releasing all of this music? You're not maximizing your content by pushing every last song out and making it special, you're letting me know you don't even take the time to do this, everything is disposable. I laugh when I hear people calling today's albums classics, or even worse, classic mix tapes. If it cannot stand for more than two or three months before you drop something else it isn't a classic.
Time for old man rant time, but I remember when you would rock a tape until it popped. You would want to cry when your All Eyez on Me cd got scratched up because it was that good an important of an album. I don't anticipate nor miss these guys because they never go away long enough for me to have a void. The only dude recently that has garnered some feeling of where has he been I want to hear this is Jeezy, and while I may have been disappointed, at the very least, me, a non-Jeezy fan was looking forward to it.
The last few mix tapes i have listened to, none have come close to impressing me and making me feel like I had to hear the artist some more. Fabolous' was especially disappointing, but then again he never fails to let me down. What is your take on the mix tape phenomenon?
Let me discuss why it no longer makes business sense to drop repeated mix tapes, especially once you have signed your deal. Number one, you are driving down the value of what you will eventually release on the label. If I get an "album" for free three weeks before your album drops, why do i really need to buy that album? Then what is going to make me pay the retail price when I can go through the same channels to get that album bootlegged thus cutting you out of the loop on that part of your check. "That little check I'm not sweating that". Yeah but you should, 50 grand is 50 grand. 100k is 100k . Get your money, the label will.
Then you're doing the label's job, they're not paying you any extra for that, and guess who is reaping the benefit. Guess what happens when the label doesn't feel they should do any work to promote you, you end up like 50 Cent, Bow wow, and countless other rappers who ended up on the back burner with the label squatting on your material to hold you back. The other thing is if you have a three or four album deal, you can always release free shit and hope to do shows but the label profits some kind of way if you do get popular again and they drop a completed project. But the other thing is these mixtapes are free for the label especially once you put 'singles' out on itunes and other digital formats. You're not progressing that deal and putting that label in the position where they have to cough up more money for you nor are you getting closer to freedom to move independently.
Musically, is my biggest problem because your business is your business buddy. I'm more of a critic and you need to put out something interesting to keep my attention. Rick Ross just put out an album in November, here we are, the beginning of January and he drops a tape of all the same exact type of songs. What was the point of me buying this last album, and what was your point in releasing all of this music? You're not maximizing your content by pushing every last song out and making it special, you're letting me know you don't even take the time to do this, everything is disposable. I laugh when I hear people calling today's albums classics, or even worse, classic mix tapes. If it cannot stand for more than two or three months before you drop something else it isn't a classic.
Time for old man rant time, but I remember when you would rock a tape until it popped. You would want to cry when your All Eyez on Me cd got scratched up because it was that good an important of an album. I don't anticipate nor miss these guys because they never go away long enough for me to have a void. The only dude recently that has garnered some feeling of where has he been I want to hear this is Jeezy, and while I may have been disappointed, at the very least, me, a non-Jeezy fan was looking forward to it.
The last few mix tapes i have listened to, none have come close to impressing me and making me feel like I had to hear the artist some more. Fabolous' was especially disappointing, but then again he never fails to let me down. What is your take on the mix tape phenomenon?
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