Hip Hop Music Is Timeless: Don’t Put an Expiration Date on Your Favorite Music

Music is an art and Hip Hop music is not only an art but a culture. Hip Hop artists should strive to make their music timely. Think of artists like the O’Jays, The Rolling Stones, and The Isley Brothers. They have been making music for many, many years and what if someone would have told them they could only make music until they were 25 years old?

What if the world put a time limit on how long we could create art? Can you imagine Eddie Levert doing something other than making good music? What about Chuck D from Public Enemy or KRS-ONE? I can still enjoy a good show by De La Soul any day of the week.

These artists have been around for years and they are true to their craft. They put out good music consistently and they do not let anyone tell them when to stop doing what they love.

That love for what they are doing is the key ingredient to a successful career. When you start making music just to make some money or to satisfy a record label or whom ever, then you are on the way out. The people with long careers are passionate about their music. They are passionate about their fans. They are in touch with their fans and their fans are in touch with them.

Their music is not about winning awards or fancy marketing and promotions tactics. It is about making good music. Music they can be proud of…music that will stand the test of time and create a mental shift in the mind of the listener.

We will always remember the first time we heard a song from one of our favorite artists and when we hear it now it makes us feel a certain way. That is what artists should strive to do with their music. Then, the music will be memorable and timeless!

So what is the formula for making timeless music? It can be summed up in the following steps:

1. Have a passion for your music
2. Find a way to record and distribute your music
3. Promote your music to as many people as possible
4. Give great live performances
5. Repeat Steps 1-4

Using this formula, any artist, Hip Hop or otherwise, should be able to record and distribute their own brand of timeless music as often as they want to. So what are you waiting on? Now is the time to get started creating a legacy for yourself and your music.

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

Click here for Hot Hip Hop Beats and Instrumentals

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The Pros and Cons of Being a Music Recording Artist Versus a Music Producer

How many people have gotten in to the music business game as an emcee (or rapper) and had their hopes crushed because they were “not what the industry was looking for at that moment”? The truth is, not everyone can be a successful emcee. Emceeing requires a certain skills set that most people are not willing to work at to be successful. What about being a music producer?

Music producers are the backbone of the music business. Without a producer, there is no music. Simple enough right? Many people want to live in the limelight like their favorite emcee or rock artist but there can only be so many at the top. With music production, the chances of success are much greater and the pay is greater as well.

As a producer you do not have to just work with one artist. You can have your music in front of many different artists, songwriters, publishers, movie directors, television programmers, etc. In the traditional scheme of the music business, the music producer usually gets paid upfront and if the deal is negotiated correctly, the producer is also paid royalties in the future. A recording artist is typically paid last after everyone else has been paid.

I never really liked this concept as an artist but that is the way the traditional music business game is played. Being a recording artist requires a large degree of patience and then when you do finally get paid, it is usually not what you are expecting.

A music producer can make money in other ways such as writing a jingle for radio or scoring a soundtrack. A well established producer can collect upwards of $200,000 in upfront fees for a song before the song is even released to the public. The song may not even make half as much money as the producer was paid so who really wins: the recording artist or the music producer?

Here is some homework for you to do:

Take a look at the Billboard Rap Singles Chart on any given week. Then go research which producer actually produced each song. While the recording artist and/or the producer may or may not be new, if the producer was smart, he got paid upfront for the use of the music and will continue to get paid as long as he negotiated the terms in his favor.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com
www.Beats4ADub.com
www.MusicMarketingPromotions.com

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