**KID CUDI  MAN ON THE MOON: THE END OF DAY 79,495

**TYLER THE CREATOR  GOBLINS  62,541

**KID CUDI  MAN ON THE MOON 2: THE LEGEND  50,3011

I think we can all agree that Jay Z gets it. Every record exec (or wanna be record exec/mogul/brand) talks about how artists development is what’s lacking the most in the music business, but Jay Z is the only one that gave a clear example of how it can still work in today’s music business. J Cole’s debut album put music and 218,000 fans in a store with their money in hand. Only thing I can say is…artist development. It doesn’t happen any other way.

Source

 With wholesale prices as high as $11.99 per disc,  an estimated $80,000 has been billed or already made off  of Young Money CEO Lil Wayne.  Not ONE, but TWO of his mixtapes have been scanned into sales history and hit the Rap Album Chart.   Lil Wayne’s “I’m Back” has sold over 5,000 units to date and “No Ceilings” has sold close to 3,000 units to date. 

I swear I tried to think of something funny to say about this.  But nothing came to mind.  It all came out corny.  So I will save the sarcasm for the next piece I write =0)

~TRC

Rappers are lame.  Yes, I’m sorry to say this.  But if you are a just a rapper, most likely you are lame to the following people:

• DJ’s
• Major Label Artist Managers
• Music Industry Executives
• Producers (that have Billboard charting songs or mixtape hits)
• Bloggers
• Major Label Artists
• Club Owners
• Promoters

Yeah, I think that about does it.  There may be a couple of titles that I left off the list but you get the picture.  As far as they are concerned, you are signed to NO BUDGET RECORDS.  Kind of sucks huh?  All the people you think you need to make it really don’t want to hear from you.  As a matter of fact, they don’t read your emails, ignore your tweets asking them to listen, and hate it when you post your (bleep bleep) content on their facebook page.  Personally, I think you should go another route.  Take the road less traveled, and go after the people who matter.  The people who like your emails, retweet your tweets, and comment when you post musical content on your facebook page.  There’s beauty in numbers.  No matter how big or small your fan base is, you should focus on them.  If you focus on the people who like your artistry versus those that aren’t interested, you’ll come out a winner. 

Moral of this post, don’t be a lame rapper, be a cool artist. 

~TRC

So, I get emails with music everyday. But this email came from a guy that I respect.  Now when I opened the first email he sent me about Trouble, it was strictly based off of the respect that I had for him (him being Derek aka @WhiteBoyD on twitter). I had heard of Trouble DTE. Seen people I know tweet about him on twitter and considered him just another ATL rapper; and if I was late hearing his music, I would really be ok. Then I watched this guy on this video tell an amazing story, with this amazing visual, plus this amazing track behind it and I was floored. I should have known better. Derek doesn’t do anything half ass, and he is one of the most creative people that I know in Atlanta. Funny enough, I had @famuatlien call me shortly after that and say “Des, I want to write music reviews on your site, and the first one should be about this guy Trouble that @hoodrichrip told me about.” So that’s when you saw this Authentic Artist Spells Big Trouble for the Industry.  After that was posted, I got a call from a friend of mine that checks out my site and works with **blank major record label & major recording artist blank** asking me who was this guy that had this amazing video.  Of course I gave him my spill and told him who to call.  I say all that to say this, now when I get an email about Trouble or see a tweet with a link, I open it up to see what Trouble has going on.  Moral of the story is this:

• email blast with musical content work best when people know who they are coming from
• the musical content in the email has to be phenomenal
• music should be shared with those you know and not blasted to those you don’t know

I pretty much only listen to new music that is referred to me by friends and people I respect in or out of the music business.  PERIOD!   Believe it or not, that’s how it works with the rest of us too.  With that, check out the new video “I MUST GO HARD”.  I will tell you just like I told Derek about it via email “dope sh*t. hook is inspiring.”

Going Hard on like Trouble with my TRC ish…

~Des…That Retail Chick

Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday has done very well for UMG & Cash Money Records.  Her sales in dollars and cents made the investment of pressing up CD’s and shipping them out to retailers well worth it.  Especially on the physical side of things.  For those that are unfamiliar with the major label system, 1 million CD’s = $10 million.  For this reason, artist that can only sell “a few” tens of thousands of their major label debut album, may not see a second one.  Also like I said before in THE DEATH OF MUSIC RETAIL AND IT’S AFFECT ON HIP HOP MUSIC the loss of physical shelf space is a constant threat to urban music as a whole, not just Hip Hop.  Sometimes it’s just a little easier to notice the effect, when you can see how much of a difference it makes in dollars and cents.

**Graphs based on album sales as of May 2011 & wholesale distribution cost (physical & digital), margin of error 3-5%