The music of performer 50 Cent has zero appeal to me, but the man is undoubtedly smart, as the following words (via TorrentFreak) attest:
Q: “How are G-Unit Records doing in these times of file-sharing?
“Not so good….The advances in technology impacts everyone, and we all must adapt. Most of all hip-hop, a style of music dependent upon a youthful audience. This market consists of individuals embracing innovations faster than the fans of classical and jazz music.”
“What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn’t hurt the artists.”
“A young fan may be just as devout and dedicated no matter if he bought it or stole it.”
“The concerts are crowded and the industry must understand that they have to manage all the 360 degrees around an artist. They, (the industry), have to maximize their income from concerts and merchandise. It is the only way they can get their marketing money back.”
“The main problem is that the artists are not getting as much help developing as before file-sharing. They are now learning to peddle ringtones, not records..They don’t understand the value of a perfect piece of art.”
The key parts: file sharing doesn’t hurt the artist, concert and merchandise sales are the key to profiting from music, not direct music sales and the music industry is clueless and busy peddling ringtones. Now if only the record industry would pay attention. Those looking to support 50 Cent can find his works on BTJunkie here.
“Most of all hip-hop, a style of music dependent upon a youthful audience. This market consists of individuals embracing innovations faster than the fans of classical and jazz music.””
–Heh, heh. It’s funny that in his world there’s either hip-hop or classical/jazz. Well I’m off to the opera now followed by a Big Band concert playing Benny Goodman’s stuff tomorrow.
Who is charging 50 cents for file sharing?
How’s it working?
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
That’s a pretty enlightened opinion. I had pegged 50 Cent for a buffoon after he praised Britney’s comeback performance.
It’s good to see somebody in the music industry and somebody who runs a record label recognise the flaw in the current business model. I had no idea that ‘50′ was *this* astute.
Lets hope we find a viable solution…
Something I would not expect from “50.” He has a great vision of the music world.
Very interesting opinion…
I believe more artinst share the same opinion but afraid to say it public…
If by “smart” you mean “agrees with you”, then you are correct. On the other hand, it could be the case that neither of you are.
This is pretty much a “Hi. I’m Duncan Riley. This is what I believe” piece.
“0 cent” has (-100000) appeal to me =]
Yeah, 50 Cent is “undoubtedly smart”.
http://www.brea...-backstage.html
never would have expected 50 to say that seeing how kayne whooped his a** in sales
Yeah, I have been to more concerts in the last five years or so, because I saved money on not having to buy the music, but also because I consumed and enjoy more music then prior to file sharing!
Head on over to limewiredirect com – limewire right in your browser no software needed to get some 50 cent, NIN, RadioHead and especially some Prince stuff!
While many of the loyal readers of TechCrunch are in the same boat as you – that is – not much taste for this artist or his genre. It’s really important to understand that much of the transformation in the music industry has been driven by the Hip -Hop culture. While I’m not much of a fan either, I fully understand the impact of this *lifestyle* not only on digital media but on technology overall.
I’m soon to launch a blog that will chronicle some of the very interesting
parallels of the Hip-Hop culture with that of the tech industry – namely Open Source Software and now the next permutation which we now call Next Gen Web, Web 2.0, Social Networking, Personal Expression or UGC. If you track
the rise of the Open Source movement you’ll find a very interesting “shadow efffect” with the rise of Hip-Hop music which now has led to
the emergence of “the HipHop Culture” (being of course quite different from
(Hip-Hop Music).
In fact – many technologists, VC’s and entrepreneurs would be well served to take a good hard look at how these two seemingly unrelated phenomena have introduced disruptive business models and ecosystems. The Music industry isn’t the only old school, clueless incumbents in this modern day, urban potlach. The concept of traditional software and for that manner the Sandhill Road/Silicon Valley ecosystem has been under attack by similar forces.
If you want to know where the software industry will be in 3-5 years, just take a look at the music industry. The Hip-Hop culture is a harbinger for not only what’s happening in the larger software industry but what is now emerging in the entire world of technology driven digital media. How else can you explain the cross-pollination of technology (FL Studio) and content (Soulja Boy Tell Em). And if you don’t know who or what Soulja Boy Tell ‘em
is… just ask your 11 year old son, daughter, nephew or next door neighbor.
The emergence of this movement as the defacto “pop culture” of the world, including crunk, snap and swing (no, not the Java toolkit) heralds something much bigger brewing…. and it ain’t Mark’s “social graph”.
So all you TechCrunch40 wannabes – if you wanna know what’s the next wave, you need to start strolling outside your Meetups/ValleyWag/Stirr/SVASE green zones – and take a look at who and how technology is and will be used.
“The World is a Ghetto”
War, 1972
abitv
I agree Curtis Jackson is a very smart man.
it’s official, i now like 50 more than kayne
Well I guess I found my co-fanatics here at TechCrunch… This guys know what he is doing man!
Nhick
http://www.itrush.com
The music industry/major labels have fallen behind on who people want them to sign to their labels and how to promote. Every A&R guy should be fired.
We agree! Ditribution controls for digital Media are gone. Done. Over. Kaput!
The industry must accept this regardless of whether they want to or not, regardless of what it does to thier bottom line or the price strucure for some of their products. To maintain control over the distribution channels will require lawsuits against their own customers: a failing business model. Peer-2-peer distribution has significant cost advantages over direct downloads for large media files.
LegalTorrents.com is in private beta now and planning mid-January (re)launch.
We agree! Distribution controls for digital media are gone. Done. Over. Kaput!
The music industry must accept this regardless of whether they want to or not, regardless of what it does to their bottom line or the price structure for some of their products. To maintain control over the distribution channels will require lawsuits against their own customers: a failing business model. Peer-2-peer distribution has significant cost advantages over direct downloads for large media files.
LegalTorrents.com is in private beta now and planning mid-January (re)launch.
Is there any way to delete a post on this site?
If an artist has the potential for endorsements, movies and books, then 50 Cent is right. File-sharing can benefit those other revenue streams. He certainly makes more money from his brand than he does from recorded music.
For everybody else, file-sharing has different implications. Some may get more touring revenue, but that means the band has to get out on the road a lot. Not everybody can/does. And not all artists can endorse consumer products. There’s certainly a celebrity threshold that must be reached before endorsement revenues come rolling in, and a very select few ever reach that level of celebrity.
I would hate to think only touring artists can make money from their music. Sometimes a band decides not to tour for various reasons. The best and most-fair model is one that allows a band to make money from its recorded music. Besides, most people don’t attend many concerts (only 2% of Americans attend more than 2 concerts a year). If it were up to file-sharers to attend concerts to pay back the artist, I’m sure the breakeven point would be about two concerts a week. That’s never going to happen.
I’m surprised you wrote, “Now if the record industry would pay attention.” You haven’t read about 360-degree deals? You haven’t read that Warner Music Group launched a joint venture with Violator, the management firm that represents 50 Cent? You haven’t read of Korn’s revenue-sharing deal with EMI? Labels are moving into management, merchandise, touring revenues. It’s not going to happen overnight, but labels have indeed paid attention and are transforming themselves to do exactly what 50 is talking about. It’s under the radar in the tech community, but it’s going on.
Duncan,
You’re sounding like a drunken master. If he has zero appeal why do you bother spending time writing about him. Could it be that you are trolling?
50’s got courage to take side on the issue, I’ll give him that. I am sure his fans appreciate it.
But does 50 Cent still have fans?
If fifty cents travel Africa or overseas… Many people don’t know who the hell is curtis jackson (50 cent). Even he goes to hotel with bodyguard. I bet you any hotel service men say “Who are you?”
50 cent:
I’m 50 cent.
Hotel service
Uh.. ?!?!?
50 cent:
I have money.
Hotel service
Uh.. ?!?!?
My business gut tells me Steve Jobs is behind this $.50 file sharing scheme. I tell you people, it is going to fail. I give it 1 month before he goes bankrupt. A subsidized file sharing scheme is NOT – i repeat (take note) – NOT going to help Apple. Some people are sooo stupid. They jump to conclusions and embark in stupid ass projects before even getting the basics straight – something similar to talking without even having read the thing carefully… oink oink.
gotta record my “developers developers…” song.
Regardless of whether or not you like 50 Cent, or Hip Hop you must admit that this guy truly is a brilliant businessman.
Maybe he doesn’t make the best music in the world, but he knows how to make money. period.
I’ll have to agree with xxdesmus.
It was especially funny to read the first comment against this post: “–Heh, heh. It’s funny that in his world there’s either hip-hop or classical/jazz.” Practically just as ignorant as any other “anti-pop/anti-hip-hop” stoner who thinks it’s cool to hate pop music. It’s funny how people pretend that they’ve never generalized before. 50 cent was making a point regarding the generation gap and it just so happened that classical/jazz came to his mind first?
To the other misfits. This post wasn’t about how famous or popular 50 cent is. But, it goes to show how much of a voice mainstream hip-hop and popular music has on technology and the music industry as a whole. So, what if you don’t listen to 50 cent or don’t know who he is? It just proves you’re uh geek with tunnel-vision? Don’t get me wrong, I listen to music from all genres, but I’m sure more people in the United States know who 50 cent is more than the artists you’re listening to.
If you’re going to comment could you please address the content of the article, not rant about Duncan or 50 Cent because you’re a pissed off geek who hides behind a computer.
What 50 cent is proposing may move money from disc majors to artits and give them more indepedance. No way they’ll money slip from thei hands!
let money slip*
50 Cent is actually more famous than the majority of American or British musicians worldwide.
He is mobbed in the street by fans in many cities that don’t have English as a native language.
You don’t have to be a fan of something to understand it’s impact on various cultures.
It’s like being a fan of Unix. You may not like Windows or Leopard but you recognize their place in the world and respect them for what they contribute small and large.
It’s funny that it has taken so many musicians so long to figure out what the Grateful Dead did so many years ago. Let your fans copy your music for free, let them virally spread your music, & then make up for it at shows through ticket sales, merchandising , and lastly, licensing.
well, wait. he doesn’t say “file sharing takes money away from artists” but he does say that the business side should, essentially, raise prices of concerts and all the garbage merchandise to make up for money lost by file sharing. i guess. mainstream artists CDs are already a ripoff, as are the shows. he’s making a shitload of money either way, so it doesn’t really matter what he says about it. 50 cent isn’t setting the price of anything thats sold with his name on it.
The music industry hasn’t quite realized that when you get comfortable with your market share, you leave yourself open for attack by competitors. What has worked in the past != working in the future.
IMHO, Amiestreet coupled with their “Fantasy Record Label” application on Facebook, will become the file sharing replacement. This is why I like it:
- DRM free
- Songs start at free and increase to $0.98 as they become more popular / downloaded
- 70% share of proceeds to artists
- “social network” features that reward you for good reviews with free music
- Fantasy Record Label is ADDICTING (think stock portfolio but with music)
One feature I wish that Amiestreet or iTunes had is a discounting feature on the music in their respective marketplaces. Citing Amiestreet as an example, the price of a song shouldn’t peg to the top ($0.98) even if popularity wains. By discounting unattractive “inventory”, the artists win by making some money versus none. Anyway, this is a bit utopian as “free” file sharing will always exist but as more artists move to this platform, the balance of power will shift closer to the artists.
Links to illegal downloads. Better watch out dude, that one link is enough to take you of the air in both Germany and the UK, not the mention the actual French P2P climate.
I’d rather argue that piracy helps growing the entire industry. Infact, piracy also helps kill your “almost free” competitors. Look at Microsoft – if not for piracy, they wouldn’t have made it so big. And the ones who suffer is the Linux community. Same logic applies to Photoshop vs. Gimp.
Complete article here: http://www.plug...-bad-i-donthtml
I produce video on hip-hop artists, commercial and otherwise, have met 50 Cent and can tell you that he is an extremely intelligent person. When my dad, a local VC who knows and cares little about hip-hop, saw the interview he was astonished by Fifty – articulate and insightful. He understands how to sell better than most, and is often acting. He created Kanye vs 50 Cent, obnoxiously promoted it, and lost. But he still got paid. That’s why he’s no longer pushin mixtapes in Queens, and is now an international phenom.
On another note, I agree that hip-hop is promoting digital media. Its appeal is inherently global (yes, it is the world’s “pop culture”), it’s audience is download-ready, and bootlegging is in hip-hop’s blood. In response the majors have been much more active in digitally promoting hip-hop acts, and are much more receptive to alternative marketing approaches. They’re still generally incompetent though, which is why the savviest hip hop artists are still very involved in their online promotions. An interesting bit of market research for those who love to think about Facebook – the inner city is all about MySpace and that will never change. They prefer the clutter.
What up fity!
First off I am a fan of fity and he is a great marketer as well as a smart business man.
Let’s remember though he came from the streets where thuggin and stealin was a way of life. As Chirs Rock said he’s been shot in the face more than Jenna Jameison.
So he’d be a hypocrit if he said that all the illegal downloads are wrong. Fa-shizzle!
This also gives him a leg-up on understanding the youth of today versus the suits in the recording industry. Who else would better understand illegal shit than a friggin’ former hood.
Think about though folks……if he were to say anything different (a) his fan base would think he sold out, which is terrible for anyone in the hiphop scene and (b) his fans wouldn’t listen to him anyway…so what’s the point of saying anything at all then.
Wow, 30+ comments and no one got that
Duhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Guys, READ BETWEEN THE LINES. While it may sound like 50 is defending file sharing and sympathizing with the common fan, he’s actually doing something much more subversive.
He’s towing the new company line.
50’s opinions mirror the shifting attitude of the music industry. The old attitude was: “File sharing is bad. We must crush it or die.” The new attitude is “File sharing is bad but we can’t crush it. We must identify new sources of revenue or die.”
To fill its ailing coffers, the music empire has concerts set squarely in its sights. Live shows have long been the anchor of artists’ income and consistently represent their strongest source of revenue. Its also been the one source untouched by the major labels’ grubby hands.
Record companies used to take in cash hand over fist by selling records, a rev stream artists see virtually no share of. There used to be little reason to touch concerts — artists have been able to survive and profit by touring like crazy.
Now, the record companies are realizing, “If we cant stop file sharing, we need to make up the revenue somewhere else.”
That’s a marvelous epiphany, and its been a long, hard time coming. But instead of innovating and developing a new revenue stream, industry magnates are just identifying the most profitable existing revenue stream and raping it, without adding any value whatsoever.
The best way to do justify this egregious practice this is to have marquee artists like 50 Cent validate it. And here he does, first saying something surprising to establish credibility with the music community (i.e. ‘File sharing doesn’t hurt artists’); then using the goodwill created by that statement to endorse rev sharing on live concerts, a practice the public does not yet have enough information on or experience with to completely understand.
Its not illegal and its not a conspiracy — its actually good business sense. But don’t think for a minute that this is just “50 Cent thinking out loud.” This is a well-timed, well-prepared statement fed directly from the music industry’s talking points.
If you’re still skeptical, consider this: 50 Cent makes TONS of money from his live performances and shows. Do you think he would willingly suggest the record companies start siphoning an undeserved share of his receipts? Especially from his most profitable source?
Fifty may be in da club but he ain’t in da dark…
Finally!!! Someone is talking sense. More artists like 50cents should speak up and let the record industry know that P2P filesharing is not a threat in anyway. 50cents is right. The record industry should capitalize and make money by focussing on income from concerts and merchandise.
Duncan, not surprisingly, continues to miss the point. Disagreeing with a business model is not an excuse to steal. The smart guy he quotes does specify it’s stealing. He’s just saying the guy may be a real fan. Big wow.
It’s just totally irrelevant to the actual point– that stealing is a crime. If 50 Cent believes what he claims, he can abandon the model completely and give the music away. Until then, he’s just blowing hot air for certain types of people to whiff heartily. Any band can choose to give it away, and people should feel free to take it, and share it that’s what the artist allows. But because a few guys claim to believe it, does not allow everyone to apply that belief to artists who do not.
What Duncan says, by selectively agreeing with and then directing people to pirate copies of copyrighted material, is that since some customers dislike the method of direct selling music, that musicians should be actively denied the ability to try to make that model work. That people can’t make the adult choice to just NOT BUY PRODUCTS THEY DON’T AGREE WITH, but that if they want something, and don’t like the terms of purchase, they should steal it. It’s a childish point of view.
50 is REALLY that smart… actually, there are a lot of smart hiphop artists.
he DID buy 10% glaceau (vitamin water) before it got bought out by Coca Cola for $4.1 billion. $400 million paycheck.
50 cent is perhaps not all that smart. But he has seemed quite thoughtful and analytical for a quite long time, and that’s more than you can say about most people. And he makes very calculated moves, business and marketing-wise. It does not always pan out so well – look at the declining sales of his CDs – but getting stock in Glaceau was obviously a smart move.
I would not object to getting cheap or free music because record companies get to take a cut out of concert revenues. Sounds like a great deal to me.
Give away the razors (MP3s) and sell the blades (concerts and gear).
Give away the printers (MP3s) and sell the ink (concerts and gear).
It’s going to take a changing of the guard — dying off of music execs living in yesteryear — for the momentum to build, but this is where it’s going.
Gee…I wonder if this brilliant opinion was offered before or after he was caught doing lines of coke by a Croatian TV crew.
More brainless opinions on an issue where there are no good answers…so everyone just makes up their own rules. Or declares anarchy…which is especially popular among those who don’t care for rules and want to trash someone.
Wouldn’t it be nice if, just once, people actually had to come out from hiding behind their anonymous internet screen names, to discuss real issues, real business concerns and things that are really important. Nah…it’s more fun to hang back and hate and throw stones, right?
Correction…
“Those looking to support 50 Cent can find his works on BTJunkie here.”
Actually that should have read”
“Those looking to support 50 Cent can *STEAL* his works on BTJunkie here.”
Which leaves me thinking… hmmm.
“The main problem is that the artists are not getting as much help developing as before file-sharing.
Is they key quote in the whole thing.
Artist development and marketing is what record labels spend their money on.
It’s funny to hear this from a guy who has millions of dollars of OPM invested in his career
The file-sharing debate ended with the explosion of online social-networking. Now you can stream music on-demand in an endless array of options so your computer becomes your stereo system and the URL’s are your radio stations. The main reason a person purchased a record was to hear it on demand but now the Internet has done that and it has little to do with file-sharing. Napster already came and went when 50 dropped his first album and sold over 10 million worldwide back in 2003. So of course file-sharing is not the issue so lets not make this 50 cent comment turn into some “brilliant revelation”. File-Sharing was in full effect but the consumers we’re not fully connected with each other until myspace came and they no longer had to go past the promotional stage for their music experience. Then you throw the I Pod in for when you was on the go and that was the end.
The real problem is the labels are obsolete (recording not publishing) because its no longer about purchasing music its about gaining the rights to use it. They can no longer nurture the next Jay-Z’s or 50 Cents because they’re slaved to radio paradigm that forces them to only push out worthless ringtone rappers of the moment. How can you talk about 360 deals when the labels have abandon artist development over 10 years ago? Instead of building careers that may last for a decade you have artist that only last 3 business quarters. With all the layoffs how good of a job can a label do in the touring and merch sectors when there is no one in the office but interns and underpaid assistants?
50 is saying this because after years of marketing off the success of his album sales he now has to switch his angle to appear “tech savvy” since his last album flopped. The last 4 G Unit projects have failed to reach Gold status so he know in order to stay relevant he has to now support the same thing that finished him off but he’s ok with it because he already made his millions prior to “the collapse”. When 50 can actually come with some SOLUTIONS to the lack of official revenue streams for the artists (especially the new ones) then you can come with all that “he’s so smart”.
This future of music is music is free. Artists should do it for the love of it. If people like it then they will pay. Touring is where the money is. Artists should leverage the internet to get distribution. The future is like there smart guys from Google who gave us this demo http://www.gruu...ing_artists.php
50 Cent is an uneducated idiot. If all of you think he is smart you must be stupid. Shame on all of you people.
Yo litta homey g, don’t be stealins his l00t!
He just gonna getit at da concets anyway. He stills gonna be buyin mad cribs and caddies n’ sh1t.
I translated it to ebonics just in case we get any rappers that come by TC and can’t understand what Duncan wrote.
The Hip Hop industry was built on DYI and Illicit Mix Tapes (the record companies hate the Mix Tape Scene) .
50 Cent is Right Music Has become a commodity and I was talking with a Online Music Distribution executive recently that told me in 2008 expect Music to be free after the record companies see a massive revolt from thier shareholders and a massive drop in thier market cap and a huge cut in music industry executive salaries. This same Exec told me that DRM would die in mid 2007 .