"When you find your passion, the best is going to be demanded of you. Not by the expectations of the world, but by the beating of your heart. - Ryan Leslie #truth
I'm so angry at the industry for not accepting this man for his raw talent. I remember producers from way back when beats were being bought at 500k to 1mil a pop. Those beats was decent but nothing like what RL have to offer. But.... that's the music industry for you. Raw talent gets the crappy deal while the lesser talent goes Platinum.
ok Mr Les has, in recent years, become all lights, camera, action... so I was a little skeptical about this video. THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST VIDEO I'VE SEEN THIS YEAR (that pertains to my career, of course)!!!
This guy is just fantastic and really inspiring! However, 2 things come to mind based on this video. Through the aid of Remarketing tools, wouldnt it be possible to know exactly who your consumers are if they purchased any form of merchandise or music? Secondly, the need to have your music available on the key online distributors such as Spotify, Itunes, etc. is important I feel. I am an independent musician and I feel that not having my music on these outlets would act as a barrier. Mainly since people merge all their songs into playlists these days. If its just an MP3 file on your computer you probably wont listen to it as often as you might just play a playlist of urs randomly during the day.
I hear what you're saying and I think that idea depends on your audience and the "sense of value" as he mentioned. Personally, I think more people would likely listen to music they have purchased. Why buy something that you won't use? As far as the streaming and download outlets, remember he mentioned the cost to have his album on these online distributors, versus distributing it himself using the same technology. As an artist, you want to get paid for what you do, not spending money you don't have to, to make someone else more wealthy off content you are providing for them that helps them to function as a business. Let's say if iTunes was a storefront and he had CDs printed, w/ the cost of that CD ranging from $3 to $5 per CD for a finished product. Of course there will be a mark-up to gain profit so you won't be breaking even. You go to iTunes to ask if they would sell your CD and right off the bat they are telling you it would be 30% of each sale that you would have to pay them to sell your product. Then they tell you, you have a cap [which is $10] on the price you can sell YOUR own product. Basic math as a business owner....do it myself and the cost be $0.003 [+ consumer data] per unit or ask iTunes/Amazon/Spotify to sell for me and pay $3.00 [no consumer data] per unit.
I didn't mention....I don't really like iTunes and don't listen to Spotify. I'll listen to certain streaming sites like Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or something similar, just to get an idea of what an artist sounds like and would rather purchase from them directly. I'm a DJ [but still a consumer] and most of what I have purchased is either directly from artists via their own online stores and their concerts, or I get it from record stores.
First of all; imagine getting 12 million plays on Spotify and getting a check for $200.00 ! Bette Midler. Pharell and partners had more than a billion plays of "Happy' and received $12,00.00 ! That can't make sense to any musician.
Love Ryan and his insight. But someone should've told him to invest in or work with Bandcamp instead because they have been doing the same thing his new platform is offering. Still - much respect to this guy!
It's crazy how he's talking about paying off Radio Stations when it is illegal. This is a nasty system…thank God for the internet in which we don't have to go through labels anymore but we can be independent and still make a million through proper marketing.
