"Is there anyone seriously suggesting we worry about "taxes, lawsuits and bribes" ?

I'm just curious where this straw man is, exactly."

The same people who have blogs and report on the mainstream, since there's nothing else going on than taxes, lawsuits, and bribes..and it's people who think like this:

"the goal is to build up enough momentum outside of that mainstream media system in order to essentially FORCE the Fiction Factory to start giving you coverage and acknowledging you exist. It's about using this free shit as leverage to force your way into their game."

Why should we try to force our way into their game like millions of sperm trying to all fertilize the same egg? There are millions of amazingly talented independent artists all over the world that you or I have never heard of, and as a music lover, that's a big problem. Now, with the internet, If you can't change the environment to include you, you can create your own environment. That's what Beat-Play is for independent artists.

My service is not even out for beta yet, and has not had the chance to prove it's ability to earn indie artists real attention and revenue, but it's whole design is strictly for this purpose, and we operate like no other service I've ever seen. We should be launching in May by invitation. Check us out to sign up. Can't hurt to try, there's no risk, it's free promotion.

When we think of time, for reasons too complex to get into here, our culture tends to focus on the immediate present. When faced with the question of learning a new skill, 99% of the friends and family that I have would assess it in terms of "available time right now" but I think that's definitely the wrong approach.

The fact is, if you're alive right now, odds are pretty good that state of affairs will continue.

Granted, it "takes" more time to learn how to use your own pro tools setup. It also "takes" less time to just go to a professional and hand them a medium-sized wad of Federal Reserve notes in exchange for having them Do It All for you. But I'd argue that buying your own setup and learning it will actually give you time, give you money and give you options.

If this is what you love to do, investing in it = no-brainer. Especially for music like your own, you've got a style that lends itself to DIY recording, just like hip hop. $2000 will buy you a powerful home studio setup as long as you've already got a computer capable of running robust Pro Tools.

That's my vote and logic, hope it helped.

In addition to already having the attention of millions of young viewers in the US and Canada, he had a boatload of money from the TV show to invest in his music. He dropped 25K to get Trey Songz on "Replacement Girl", then hired a solid director to make a high-quality music video; then hired a marketing firm to get that song to be BET's "New Joint of the Day". Not many have those resources, so his case is a rare one.

I think the mixtape is important to the hip-hop scene, but in other genres, artists (and fans) still need and want the album. The only reason I'm going to give (cause this post is getting too long), is there is more money in selling the album. They can take advantage of their 2 or 3 good singles to get customers to purchase the whole CD. 1.99 vs. 9.99 and if customers still want to buy the single, they can. It's more of an option thing. I don't know. I've thought too hard about this.

Also let's not forget the fact that traditional radio (due to his hiring of an Independent Promotion company) played a LARGE part in breaking Drake. His songs were all over the radio. You don't think that the PD's picked up his mixtape and decided that it was so good that they just had to play his songs?

Drake press of rising from mixtapes and social media, while it makes for good press.... it's not an entirely true.

I remember Dubbers myth buster report written on this topic some time last year. Who is right? I side with the independent community on this. However, having a box set will only work if Sales - C.O.G.S. = Profit.

As always, thanks for your commentary and more importantly your work with W.A.R. The data cowboys aren't ready for you. Here's to hoping they catch up real soon!

--Kevin