My email to Scratch Magazine
HollywoodCole
184 Posts
They put Eminem on the cover of the new issue and I took time out of my day to say:Ok, first I just want to say that I love your magazine and what you are doing is excellent and looong overdue. You represent an important piece of the Hip-Hop puzzle that other magazines either ignore completely, or give minimal coverage. Now I know selling magazines is a business, but I have to disagree with your marketing tactics when you put major rap figures on your cover just to try to get ???The Source crowd??? to buy your magazine. You have to understand that your magazine caters to a certain group, and that group is not impressed with Eminem, Lil Jon, or Neptunes covers. Don???t get me wrong. I???m not one of these Old School haters. In fact I???m a fan of all those people, but when you put out a magazine about producing, Djing and other technical aspects of the culture, people will take it seriously, especially with your excellent coverage. So it???s almost like you???re compromising your integrity. I doubt you???ll sell more magazines with Eminem on the cover than you would if you had Premier or Pete Rock because you already have a core audience and people who are only interested in celebrities don???t care about 2-channel mixers. Matter of fact you???ll probably sell the same amount of magazines if you just had equipment on the cover instead of people. Your magazine is too good and too important to insult and/or alienate the people who respect it the most. And yes, I say insult because I know a lot of your readers are going to be pissed that you put someone on the cover who is a mediocre producer instead of established legends. Now like I said, I???m a fan of Eminem. He???s an excellent MC, but everybody knows that his production is not the best. So why is he more relevant to your magazine and its readers than The Beatminerz, for example? C???mon, that???s like a slap in the face. Now that I???m done bitching and moaning, I hope your magazine goes monthly and as soon as I get a permanent address I will be buying a subscription. Peace.
Comments
Eminem though, I don't know.
But seriously, the Beatminerz? What record have they made in the last 10 years that makes them worthy of the cover?
I don't know why it's so hard to fathom, but most producers and musicians, outside of this insular community, want to read about the current hitmakers, not some guy that had an acclaimed underground record last year or 10 years ago. I mean, sure, run an article, but the cover??? Again, why is this hard to fathom?
I think the people that buy this mag work in studios or run project studios or aspire to be producers themselves.
Don't get me wrong, a Lil Jon, or Eminem album might not be my cup of tea, but i still find it interesting to read about what they are using. As a producer I try to keep up on everything coming out, and alot of times I do want to know what the hell Neptunes are using. I'm gonna buy the magazine no matter whos on the cover, because so far they have been on point with the info.
Relevance is your key man.
And, is there really a stone left unturned somewhere about Beatminerz, or Pete Rock, or Premiers production techniques, bio, history, or discog somewhere. Get your googe on for that.
as a producer shouldnt you at least be curious to read about the hottest producers in your game?
i mean lil john and the neptunes held shit DOWN.. whether you like them or not you have to acknowledge that they have their game on lock and you can always learn something from somebody who has mastered their game.
one of the best articles i ever read about production / sampling / makin tunes was an interview with fatboy slim fer pete's sake. Didnt make me want to hear his music or anything but it did clue me into a bunch of interesting things i hadnt stumbled across myself at the time.
i mean you really want to read ANOTHER article with some dude harpin on and on and on about his sp1200?
don't we already know it makes "beats real grimey"?
and as much as eminem is musically worthless to me i'd still pickup the mag flip thru.. skim the article.
i think there's always something to be gained from reading about another producers working methods... ESPECIALLY dudes who arent doin the same thing as you.
"I hope somebody got fired for that gaffe."
I kind of like that its main stream in a way. Keeps me updated.
Oh Man....That comment made my day. That's real though...
Usually if I read about a producer I ain't heard of, i'll usually track something down they've produced.
I don't think you understand - Dre, Neptunes, Timbo etc ARE more respected by people that buy the magazine... just not by you.
Why? It's a business, not some sort of philanthropic tribute to bygone beatmakers. They need readers to sell advertising. Pop music is called pop because it's popular. Makes sense to me.
As someone who is interested in the technical side of hip-hop music, I want to read about the production techniques of people who have huge studios, racks and racks of equipment, and hit songs.
I do not want to read about Pete Rock, Primo, Walt, Dee, or anyone who I've already read about a million times and who use a 950/MPC/SP/ASR like this was 1993. The most interesting article I can think of like that was the Scotty Hard article in Wax Poetics a while back, and I can't see that on the cover.
Again, as someone who is interested in the technical side of hip-hop music, I would not buy the mag if it had some DJ mixer on the cover. I could care less. That has zero to do with how a record ends up sounding. I would, however, buy the magazine if I saw Just Blaze or Jazze Pha or Battlecat or Buckwild or Dre on the cover.
EXACTLY. I feel everything you're saying, but I'm just dissapoited they put someone on the cover who doesn't deserve it, when others do, like the ones you mentioned. I saw the Eminem cover and I was like "Are they serious? Eminem beats are THAT hot?" Swizz Beats gets more props. Shit even Jermaine Dupri. Thats like Wax Poetics putting Puffy on the cover and doing a whole article on his beat-digging and sample useage.
I'm sure thats exactly what their answer would be...It's a money making business.
But on anonther note, I know nothing about the magazine business, but doesn't most of the money come from ads? I know all in all the more copies you sell the more you can charge, and the more adds you get, but does the most revenue come from ads?
Breaking it all down...
word
and while we are obviously in agreement about the quality of em's music... in particular his beats.. there seem to be plenty of fols out there feelin them... not least of all Dre and 50... so who are we to say his beats suck???
by what quantitative analysis do they suck??
they sell.. they're popular, they're all over the radio / mtv, he's got no problem finding mc's to spit on em
sounds like dude's obviously a good producer.
but yeah i wouldnt exatly consider skratch all that informative.. esp the cover stories.. the real meat seems to be on the inside ... i was feelin that article with some producer runnin various synths through their paces last issue..
yeah my main problem with the Em cover isn't some anti-pop hateration.
it's because he's not a producer first and foremost.
put Swizz on there, he's KILLIN IT right now.
lil jon, neptuens, swiss beats....they all have an interesting sound and would be great articles to read....but i have never heard an eminem beat that has made me wonder "how did he get that sound"
i never read scratch, so my opinion doesn't really matter on this one caues they are selling me anything....maybe if they put rich harrison on the cover i'd pick up a copy