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No. The rap industry especially especially embraced blogs long before Macklemore got his number 1 hit. In fact, now it's become routine for major labels and art

by nchlswu 14y ago

No. The rap industry especially especially embraced blogs long before Macklemore got his number 1 hit. In fact, now it's become routine for major labels and artists to seed music and do releases through blogs. These same blogs push unsigned hype and labels respond by signing these artists for a major debut. Drake is probably made the best use of the internet and blog to grow his stock and ignite a bidding war among majors. Many people speculated that he could remain independent and still be successful. He opted to sign to a major and he's now a superstar. The relationship between artists and labels has shifted for a long time. From what I know, Macklemore made use of the internet in a way that's more or less routine nowadays. I'm not going to take away from him hitting #1, but the dynamics between a label and artists have been different for a long time

ryusage 14y ago
You're right that his use of the internet wasn't new, but I think you're seriously downplaying the significance of this. The difference is, before now, the record companies could still say, "Sure, that internet stuff might be really useful...but no one, in the history of ever, has made a number one hit without the help of a label. You need us." Macklemore just became the first example that an independent musician can point to and say, "He did it independently, and so can I." Who knows, maybe if Drake had had that example, he wouldn't have signed that contract.
- InclinedPlane 14y ago
  Indeed. The "don't you want to be REALLY rich and famous?" and "don't you want to be heard on the radio?" FUD has been a pretty powerful selling point to up and coming artists, I think. The fact that there are so many examples of successful musicians doing it a different way only helps at the point where someone is trying to counter-sell, but for obvious reasons there aren't roving gangs of salesmen out there pressuring artists to go it alone. In order to make a big dent in the nature of the industry there needs to be a shift in the popular perception of how one succeeds in the music industry, and this sort of thing can have a big impact on that.
- nchlswu 14y ago
  Okay, I can see your point. I think it's important to note that labels still have a much larger promotional push than going indy does. If we run with the Drake example, I think he would have easily gone #1 without them, but I don't think he could have become a household name or gone on worldwide tours without the support of big business. The original post suggested that artists would leave labels. I still think this is more or less another data point that suggests a more balanced artist-label relationship, and not a massive tipping point. But I realize it could be - it's just something i'd have to wait and see

by nchlswu 14y ago

ryusage 14y ago

You're right that his use of the internet wasn't new, but I think you're seriously downplaying the significance of this. The difference is, before now, the record companies could still say, "Sure, that internet stuff might be really useful...but no one, in the history of ever, has made a number one hit without the help of a label. You need us." Macklemore just became the first example that an independent musician can point to and say, "He did it independently, and so can I." Who knows, maybe if Drake had had that example, he wouldn't have signed that contract.

InclinedPlane 14y ago
Indeed. The "don't you want to be REALLY rich and famous?" and "don't you want to be heard on the radio?" FUD has been a pretty powerful selling point to up and coming artists, I think. The fact that there are so many examples of successful musicians doing it a different way only helps at the point where someone is trying to counter-sell, but for obvious reasons there aren't roving gangs of salesmen out there pressuring artists to go it alone. In order to make a big dent in the nature of the industry there needs to be a shift in the popular perception of how one succeeds in the music industry, and this sort of thing can have a big impact on that.
nchlswu 14y ago
Okay, I can see your point. I think it's important to note that labels still have a much larger promotional push than going indy does. If we run with the Drake example, I think he would have easily gone #1 without them, but I don't think he could have become a household name or gone on worldwide tours without the support of big business. The original post suggested that artists would leave labels. I still think this is more or less another data point that suggests a more balanced artist-label relationship, and not a massive tipping point. But I realize it could be - it's just something i'd have to wait and see