As promised, I will delve into what IMAKEMADBEATS (or nEmO for short) uses to promote himself online, as it the Internet has become the most important promotional tool for promotion of music (besides the radio, but as we all know, is impossible to tap into without a SERIOUS budget…). I believe he is a very relevant representation of a successful artist that has not yet made it to stardom (despite his increeeeeedible talent), which is the stage at which a lot of artists are, and it is relevant to look at how he promotes his music with a limited budget.
IMAKEMADBEATS is a producer (beat maker in hip-hop language) that has been quite successful as of late, (he keeps his face a mystery, as you can see, though I KNOW what he looks like haha) who has worked with such illustrious artists as Pharoahe Monch, Black Milk, Von Pea (of Tanya Morgan), RZA (of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan), Phonte (of Little Brother), and Rakaa Iriscience (of Dilated Peoples) just to name a few. He is most famous for his collab album with Roc C, “The Transcontinental“. It was released on EMI/Koch, a major label. The next album will be released independently, mostly to ensure artistic integrity and complete control of production and promotion. After talking to him, and researching on the Net, here are the tools that he uses to create online visibility and notoriety.
Blogs:
Blogs are huge in the rap world, because they are perfect at accommodating one thing that is very particular about hip-hop culture: the mixtape. Artists releasing free music is nothing new, but the conecept of the mixtape has become almost instituionalized in the world of rap. Artists are basically expected to release at least one free album (they are now released online, they used to be sold on the streets for a minimal amount or handed out for free) to promote their upcoming release. This is somewhat controversial, as sometimes the material on the mixtape gets more critical acclaim than the actual albums that proceeds it (NaS’s last mixtape is a perfect example of this). Some artists, such as Drake, are immensely popular and all over mainstream radio despite not having an album released yet (though they are signed to deals). Theoretically, every label would like mixtapes to boost record sales, as in the case of Lil’ wyane, who released free material for THREE YEARS before “Tha Carter III”, going platinum in less than a week.
IMAKEMADBEATS is no stranger to this phenomenon, and uses blogs to release free songs, to get his name out there, and keep people that know about him excited for upcoming projects. Last week he released a track featuring Emilio Rojas that was posted on such important hip-hop blogs as Nahright.com and 2dopeboyz.com. What was even more interesting about it that nEmO actually told me, is that even though these blogs seem very open to material (the administrators are somewhat underground celebrities themselves, and even have their email addresses posted for submissions), apparently it is still all about publicists. They won’t post any songs that he sends them directly unless they feature a prominent MC on the track, in order to get coverage of any solo projects or ones featuring less famous lyricists, he has to go through a publicist, which he plans on doing for the upcoming release of his album. I also learned that one can get a publicist for 3 months for the marginally low cost of about $2,500, which is pennies when one thinks of how much it costs to run a “traditional” media campaign.
The use of IMAKEMADBEATS’s website is also interesting, as it has a blog layout, but has an integrated player, which allows one to listen to his music on the site as you browse news about him, as well as watch videos and read about other of his affiliates. The video is worth mentioning, as any video that he has done has gone straight to YouTube and to other blogs. This viralization of videos is extremely interesting, as they are geared for the Internet, and an artist does not need NEARLY as much cash to make one. Even popular artists will do some very low budget videos for s0ngs other than their singles, to keep interest in the other songs on their album.
Social Networks:
The first thing to notice about this is that he does not have a Facebook page. This is unusual, although he said that it was something that he needs to get on (the fan pages are great ways to infiltrate social networks and send out constant updates to all your fans). He prefers Twitter (check him out right here!) . He has been on Twitter for about two years (much longer than most…), and uses it for both promotion and personal expression. This is what is very interesting and entertaining about following musicians and artists on Twitter. You get exclusive access to material they decide to post, but you also get some insight into what they are thinking. It gives the artist an opportunity to interact with other artists. You would be surprised how often they talk amongst themselves about collaborations, or send each other news on their projects. In this way they are able to become more accessible, which gives them a more human dimension. I for one, would be logged in on Twitter the entire 2009 NBA playoffs, and was delighted to see how many artists that i love and respect were watching the same game as I was and tweeting about it. There is a fascinating mix or who they are personally and their persona on Twitter. It is used both socially and for business, but the lines between them get very blurred.
MySpace is also a tool he uses (right here!) , as they have a special section reserved for artists, which have integrated audio players (which can be programmed for free downloads as well, on the artist’s discretion). It gives information about the artists, as well as videos, it sort of serves a blog function (as it can integrate other videos and images, but also has room for comments).
In the end, the one thing that i really learned through this, is that you have to work extremely hard to promote yourself properly, though in order to make it big you still need help from someone such as a publicist to be able to be posted on certain websites and become known to a more general audience. However, this has also shown me that it is possible to gain a significant amount of online visibility through tools like social networks and blogs, which do not cost you a dime. It is so much easier to get yourself out there as an artist thanks to the wonderful tools of the Internet, most prominently social networks and blogs. Look for H-Man, the first proffessional rap scholar in the near future…LOL?
ONE,
H.
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