Teh Raps - mixtape explainer
Duderonomy
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So once in a blue moon there's a new rap track that I want to buy, and it's almost (or totally) impossible to purchase. Can somebody break down the mixtape sales model for me? To avoid copyright they limit releases to streaming only and hope to make money from tour bookings? Or... what? Is there some super-duper top-secret website that physical OR digital is actually being sold?
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GJ
I can normally find the stuff (legally) through some distribution site.
Any examples you can think of where you couldn't find it to purchase it?
Btw, Datpiff was a good shout for mixtapes Ketan, cheers!
One of my pet gripes is that there's been a number of Soundcloud/vine/youtube rappers who have been signed to a label and then put out nothing but dross - never releasing HQ versions of those first tracks that got them noticed.
Going back to the legal aspect, I always thought for promo purposes artists were allowed to be much more flexible with the law. Limiting the run of a release and distributing it for free etc.
This doesn’t work?
Are you talking about a track that a new artist recorded over someone else's beat (unauthorized)?
GJ
i don’t know how strict the law is anymore, but it seems that it used to be easier in the past to either sell licensed or give away unlicensed music.
All of this is with a view towards sample-based music (hip-hop etc) or DJ mixes.
It's always been an issue, but sometimes it is not pursued legally due to lack of knowledge, resources, or time, or-- because some groups and artists encourage a more "open source" approach. But the law is clear-- profit or no, unauthorized use and distribution of someone else's intellectual property is illegal and actionable. The fact that the law is routinely ignored, or that various rationale or legally-incorrect stretching of the "fair use" doctrine is out there on the Internet only serves to confuse the matter. But copyright laws apply to any intellectual property (in this case, music) that comes out of one's head and is put into a "fixed form" (record, CD, cassette, sound file, written chart or lyric sheet, etc.).
Copyright issues and understandings, sample clearance and proper attribution (and $$$) have been a part of the parlance of Hip-Hop/Rap since at least the Biz Markie case in 1991.
I'm saying this coming from a songwriter's/artist's/publisher's/indie label owner's perspective, not just a fan, if that lends any credence to my comments...
GJ
Basically, it seems to stymie creativity.
But thankfully there is still so much undiscovered music to get to, sometimes I hardly notice the negative state of things!
GJ