Old but relevant.

[kansascitycat]

Some of you wonder why Strange doesn't do what most labels do to promote their artists. Some of this is a bit slow but you should watch the whole thing.
One statement that stands out is that most rappers have to go platinum just to be able to pay back their record company advance. Another statistic is that almost 80% never pay back the initial advance they get because they simply cannot generate the necessary revenue to do so.

Strange tries to put artists and the label in a situation where they can both operate in the black as soon as possible on each project. That way guys can have rap careers. Not just get into debt on both sides quickly.

Take into account that this was made when rappers were making LOTS more money than they do today from record sales.

They start breaking down numbers at about 1:30 if you wanna skip the fluff.

 

[casperog]

i didnt know there was so much money in production haha

 

[Roz]

I'm surprised MTV produced this show... A lot of this has been known for along time by those who understand the business of the industry, but not by average fans. Most of what you see on TV, or in magazines is for show, for image. That image plays into creating more material for future projects, and can push an artist for years.

How does this relate to Strange though? Does this mean they have less confidence in the artists they sign to arrange more money for promotion? Or does it mean that they don't have the resources to push artists to the best of their ability?

I might be wrong, but I think they've failed on a few occasions to fully promote and push talented artists on their roster. If their name isn't Tech N9ne, then they don't get the labels full attention and to me that would be a deterrent to sign with them.

 

[Asmodeus]

lol @ eminem not doing sponsored products.... Especially, yep you guessed it, cola.

 

[kansascitycat]

I'm surprised MTV produced this show... A lot of this has been known for along time by those who understand the business of the industry, but not by average fans. Most of what you see on TV, or in magazines is for show, for image. That image plays into creating more material for future projects, and can push an artist for years.

How does this relate to Strange though? Does this mean they have less confidence in the artists they sign to arrange more money for promotion? Or does it mean that they don't have the resources to push artists to the best of their ability?

I might be wrong, but I think they've failed on a few occasions to fully promote and push talented artists on their roster. If their name isn't Tech N9ne, then they don't get the labels full attention and to me that would be a deterrent to sign with them.

It relates because this subject is regularly brought up in this forum in regard to the artists on Strange.

I remember Kutty saying that of course he wishes that he was more well know than he is, but that his situation at Strange is a great one.

They absolutely have the resources but they move at a pace that supports growth, not stupid over costly promotion that is for the most part fruitless. Look at all the labels and artists that have disappeared or are broke because they threw a bunch of money at an artist or project only to see that the rap demographic did not support enough just to break even.

Tech did not get the amount of promo that other Strange artist do now at the beginning, and that is THE truth. Hell he didn't make his first video until his second album on Strange.

R. Kelly just lost his house and the dude sold millions upon millions,his label says he owes upwards of 5 million to them. Young Buck declared bankruptcy, and 50 Cents lawyers just turned down his repayment plan, and the list goes on.

Strange wants the label and artists to become financially stable and successful, and you can't do that if you are constantly in debt to someone else. They are becoming more and more famous slowly.

The big difference is now they have plenty of dough to make that happen, but that doesn't mean you roll the dice to do the same things that are losing Major labels millions every day. Use your head bro, the industry is failing. Why play the game the same way they do.

 

[HomoErectus]

Lol @ Fatlip from pharcyde dancing around in a diaper. if only the pharcyde was still around...

 

[pyromanaic414]

there was a really good article with a full breakdown about where all the money goes when you get signed and after the album comes out and all that. i remember it being pretty long and i havent seen it in at least 5 years....but iirc, i read it on allhiphop. if anybody finds it, i'll give them imaginary props.

 

[rmillerpacers31]

Wasn't there a pdf that showed Strange's yearly planned budget or something where it had how much they were spending on radio and billboards in each state? I could have sworn I saw that somewhere on these boards before.

 

[Kain]

What you're thinking of is probably not a yearly budget, but rather the advertisement strategy for each album. For All 6's and 7's, they reportedly spent $75,000 on TV ads and $45,000 on billboards. However, it also said they were going to distribute 300,000 samplers nationwide. Did that ever happen?

 

[rmillerpacers31]

Ah yea thats what I was thinking about. I knew I had seen some type of budgeting before.

 

[pyromanaic414]

i found that article. its written for bans and not rappers, but its not like theres too much of a difference. its also old, but relevant (see what i did there?)

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

 

[Zer0.MediA]

There's a huge difference between bands and rappers. Bands rarely have to clear samples, the don't have to buy beats, they don't pay for features, and they split their money at the very least, between 2-3 people.

I remember that article from a few months ago... Also I'm pretty sure that guy doesn't account for digital downloads, and more current forms of revenue and/or advertizing.

 

[Asmodeus]

Sawyer, I believe your mixing up the list previously stated with a file pulled from the Strangemusicinc.net site before they figured out using public domain for storage was a bad idea.... At least thats what I seem to remember.

 

[Bones Justice]

I believe those 300,000 samplers never came out. On one hand, I was wondering at what point would Strange nix the cd samplers, considering how most folks are bumping mp3 players instead. On the flipside, these would help put more people on to the other Strange releases, even if they already knew of All 6's ad 7's.