11 replies to this topic

[scabs]

more of a micro-rant during some downtime at work, parden the incorrect grammer:

The Internet, our instant gratification generation, the iPod, P2P. Consumers take a step back (no longer is "hi-fi" a standard), what use is it to create tiptop recordings. Along with the demise of the quality product is also the demise of the intelligent marketing strategies our brethen of yesteryear employed. Its almost as if the Internet has destroyed the creativity of so many want-to-be-artists by training the
to believe the Internet is the most effective method of self-promotion.

This is, in fact, false; the Internet is not a very effective marketting tool as many want to believe. Yes the Internet is great for networking, but how do you really address the needs of EACH individual would-be-supporter? What good is the internet if nobody notices you, case in point: myspace. There are some people that rely solely on social networking sites, we all know this is not how we should go about it but don't notice how dependant we really are on them. It's important to take a break and re-evaluate your method of self-promotion.

Many forget the days of cassette tapes, simply because many people in the "game" today are young, they didn't live through the glourious days of cassette tapes. Remember when budget drum machines of today's generation cost $400 and people traded beatTAPES, plugged a pair of headphones into the 1/8" mic input, then hit record on the dual cassette deck.

That time was a time of power, much like what many see this age as. The core difference between then and now was THE HUSTLE. It took a lot of creativity to convince a person to eject their WuTang tape to get your demo some playtime. Remember when people would pause your tape, write down your lyrics, rewind, repeat until they memorized your song? Nobody does that nowadays. Wonder why?


These days there are only a few select artists that stand out with ingenious marketing plans. These are the popular names of the underground you will see tomorrow. My question to everybody else is: are you doing your part to be one of these? Music only takes you so far, hustle takes you the other 3rd. Ultimately it's up to the people, will you satisfy the people?

[sugoisounds]

So, to paraphrase:
Recording quality is lower than the tape days (?)
The internet is not a good medium for marketing and developing an intimate relationship with a fan base
People with good music still have to work hard to get noticed

You sound like a luddite. I think of Klipmode as the counterpoint to what you are saying. As far as I can tell, they hooked up initially through myspace, make good, original, forward thinking music, get picked up by influential blogs and online radio stations/podcasts and get known - I'd say most cats on this board, producers at least, now about the klipmode artists.

Schlomo is a good example too. Free beattape > dope > blog coverage (e.g. xlr8r) > MAH plays on radio 1 > live shows at Low End.

If anything, the internet allows producers beatmakers to do what they do best and leaves the quality of the music and the viral nature of the internet to do the rest.

I'm not really into hustling or self promotion, but I've had at least 5,000 downloads of my beat tapes without any effort on my behalf (other than posting them here). Whether people are listening to this more than once or not, or at all, I've no way of knowing, I can't really see how I'd have put things out as far and wide and in the same quantity for £0.00 and 0 effort in pre-internet days.

That my tuppence worth...

[scabs]

sugoisounds, on Mar 5 2010, 06:32 AM, said:

If anything, the internet allows producers beatmakers to do what they do best and leaves the quality of the music and the viral nature of the internet to do the rest.

What happened if the entire World Wide Web crashed tomorrow? How would that affect how you make music and market yourself? What would you do about it? Why aren't people doing that now? All I wanted to do was raise a thought. Not looking to be disproven or argue or any of that. Just trying to remind people there's other ways to gain attention than blogs and twitters.

Your currency is welcome in these parts none-the-less.

[sugoisounds]

scabs, on Mar 5 2010, 03:34 PM, said:

Just trying to remind people there's other ways to gain attention than blogs and twitters.

Fair enough...

So what do you suggest? If it's not on the net then it's in the real world....

[WIGWAMone]

the internet is perfect for us joe nobodies to share our creations with like minded people.

15 years ago we may not have had the motivation or the oppurtunity to try making music. the internet must be credited not only with greatly enlarging the selection of music available to the casual listener, which increases the chance of them becoming a serious listener etc, but also providing a wealth of info on music in general, production techniques, equipment, music theory (via forums etc) and of course pirate production software, allowing the casual consumer a chance to try-before-you-buy (both in terms of music, and beatmaking).

you accuse the internet of killing creativity both in music and marketing, but i think the opposite could be true, in as much that anyone could make anything they wanted and distribute it without any cost, essentially removing the risk factor, the need to sell your product to recoup your outlay or whatever they say. it allows people to focus on creativity unhindered by what is expected of them, or what will be accepted. they are able to work entirely on their own terms. the way music is consumed has changed so drastically since the days of cassettes there may even be an arguement against prerecorded music being a commercially viable product at all (ie if you put out a cd it WILL end up rapidshare, when was the last time you bought a cd? live shows, merchandise etc seem to be where its going).

ultimately i would say that the internet has opened many doors for a large majority of the planet, which i think fundementally is a great thing. however it is always up to the indivdual to take these oppurtunities, and make the best of the risk free environment in which they find themselves, with regard to artistic integrity.

what i am getting at is that its much harder to sell out (in terms of compromising your creativity for whatever reason) when you are not selling in the first place (when there is no real reward for what you are doing, other than feedback/encourage etc). Schlomo is just one of several beatmakers who im sure would not have the following they do today were it not for the internet, and maybe would not be making what they make at all (perhaps inspired by other beatmakers online, or indeed anything else they may encounter online which they would not have seen/heard first hand).

lastly, it seems the issue is money. those who wish to sell their music will usually have to compromise themsleves in some way at some time. for those who make music because they like music im sure have much to thank the internet for. working hard on your music is not the same as working hard on getting people listening to it. why do you want people to hear your music? is it because if no one did you would have no reason to do it? when i make stuff i will share it between friends and drop a few links around online. i do it because i enjoy it. if the web went down tomorrow, there would be no links, but it would have no effect on the way i make music. as we have seen with other beatmakers, free beat tapes COULD kick start something, but it will always be because of the music, and that must remain the focus.

i kno, sugoi said the same with less words...

[scabs]

sugoisounds, on Mar 5 2010, 08:20 AM, said:

Fair enough...

So what do you suggest? If it's not on the net then it's in the real world....

I'm young, 21 going on 22, but not nearly as young as many of the other members here. Most of them never grew up with tapes, CD burners came around in the mid 90s. Tape-to-tape-to-tape-to-tape took a lot of discipline. It's gone in these DAW days.

I guess what I'm suggesting is, before you go and upload random tracks, spend a few weekends handing out tapes (these days CDs), get some feedback, build some local buzz, put in work. Make it happen for yourselves on a local level. Nobody loves you like your hometown (or your momma), smell the streets/roads/hills.

Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you've personally convinced someone to give you a listen and they bug out on what's under the hood, so to speak, especially when you're so young.

I remember being in high school going to Hollywood and Vine and hooking people up. Hah, I even remember slipping free copies of discs in Virgin with the word FREE written on the paper sleeve, placing discs in the S section, then that night getting emails.

Nevermind.

[scabs]

Wig, this was the perfect response. Thanks man

[TroN]

im 21 as well.

i remember when i was young, i knew i wanted to do something in hip hop but not sure. so like all beat makers. i tried rapping.

i rapped onto a small sony beat box machine. straight into the mic, with golden eye 64 in the background, using guns shots as snares.

[captaincookie]

whatever works for the individual shall work for the individual...

[scabs]

I just thought people would have stories to add on how their hussle has changed, since a lot of cats on the board have been doing this for the better portion of their lives.

[Jadoe]

TroN, on Mar 5 2010, 01:47 PM, said:

i rapped onto a small sony beat box machine. straight into the mic, with golden eye 64 in the background, using guns shots as snares.

that's amazing

[shakey finch]

scabs, on Mar 5 2010, 03:34 PM, said:

What happened if the entire World Wide Web crashed tomorrow?

alot of people without girlfriends would be very upset?