hip-hop music sales and 2006 and 2007 and decline
hip-hop music sales and 2006 and 2007 and decline for many reasons
and most of the individuals between the ages of thirteen and 23 know why.
It's called the internet. Yes, the world wide web is killing the music sales of rap artist all
around the country. Another big player within this deficit is the huge monster Google now owns called YouTube.
Oh, yeah they purchased this website and everybody is uploading videos to this place about
everything. To give you an example of the power of this is R. Kelly and his album "Double Up".
I was waiting for it to be released on June 29th and happened to come across a video on YouTube.com
to which the registered user had uploaded homemade videos of the entire album. Whoa!
Talk about killing the selling techniques of a record company there you go. If you remember it
really all started with the famous or should I say infamous Napster.
I downloaded hundreds of MP3 from those guys myself and it was fun as hell.
It's amazing that the rappers still go Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum even with bootleggers and
the web. That means that sales may be down but it is not costing them a bunch of money they are all still
millionaires and some multi-millionaires. I think this may be due to the consistent downloading of ringtones and
other deals with major network carriers like Cingular/AT&T, Verizon, Alltel, Boost Mobile and
Sprint/Nextel.
I mean you can't watch anytype of entertainment show on MTV or BET without seeing a commercial
promoting the ringtones. Speaking of commercials think about how many text messaging joints you see in just a 24
hour period. See what I mean. Large record companies like Interscope, Sony and Virgin are spending millions to help
so it's down but not like they are not making money. If you are a true hip hop fan then you can help these talented
men and women out by buying the albums they release instead of hitting up your nearest city bootlegger.
The rapper nas says Hip-Hop is dead and it may not be as of right now but I think he was on a good
topic. I can't wait to see what the number for 2008 will reflect. I will be watching the Billboard charts and
checking in the soundscan numbers of my personal artist as well as friends in the business to see as well. Maybe
they will go up next year or more importantly they may be on an incline already.
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