Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog

News, notes and ideas on music marketing, self-promotion, artist empowerment and more

March 23, 2007

Signed, Sealed ... See Ya!

Ever since Nelly broke onto the national scene, my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, has been a hotbed of hip-hop activity. No artist has come close to Nelly's numbers (but who does these days?), although acts such as Murphy Lee and Chingy have made a dent.



But that hasn't stopped a new army of St. Louis rap and hip-hop talent from taking a stab at it. And in recent years, a number of major labels have tried to get in on the action by signing several St. Louis artists who have great potential.

But, according to an article in The Riverfront Times, the big alternative weekly here in town, getting signed does not equate to getting anywhere in the music business.

The article's subhead reads, "Local rappers ink major-label contracts, only to be left wondering: Deal or no deal?" It chronicles several hip-hop acts that are bound to contracts with production companies and labels -- who have waited months and years with no album release and no career development.

Here's a quote from artist Ruka Puff, who learned a valuable lesson from record label stagnation:

"This is really the era for the independent hustler. Back in the day, the record labels used to do a lot of this stuff for you, but in this day and age the mindset is more entrepreneur. That's the mindset of most of the artists that are winning: They're super entrepreneurs.

"A lot of the artists coming out don't have backbone," he continues. "They don't have no kind of fan base, they don't have the streets. So you might find your little ditty pop that the record label built from top to bottom, but most of the people that are winning is the entrepreneur cats that were able to get it on their own -- without the record companies."

But you knew that already. I just wanted to remind you :-)

-Bob

posted by Bob Baker @ 9:07 AM   1 comments

1 Comments:

At Mar 25, 2007 9:59:00 PM, Blogger Corman said...

I have heard of major labels signing artists in order to "shelve" them. In essence, signing artists to eliminate the competition.

Just a thought,

Corey :)
www.coreystewartonline.com

 

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