Hip-Hop Economics
As we learned earlier this year in class, Napster initiated the digital boom in the music world. In the end of the 1990s, musical artists were making $15 million a year from physical record sales. Following this digital boom however, these sales fell by 60%. Nonetheless, the music industry has not stopped growing and artists have continued getting more money. The key? Diversification.
When record sales declined to become just a minor revenue stream, hip hop blazed the trail for modern music economics. Concerts and record revenues were no longer sufficient to sustain hungry artists, so the music industry had to look for other streams of revenue.
The obvious first answer is with the internet. Songs and albums were internet commodities that could be bought and sold virtually just as they were being bought and sold in stores. However, a crucial reason why rap and hip-hop has risen to the success in our current day and age is because they were able to find an even better way to make money. Instead of just selling music, they sold a lifestyle.
Widely regarded as the pioneer for rap entrepreneurs, Russell Simmons started Phat Farm in 1992. The company was a clothing line created in an "attempt to market the ghetto-quixotic lifestyle preached in hip-hop's lyrics." This revenue model coupled with the captivating culture of hip hop was a recipe for success, and nearly all of the rap figures that came after tried to replicate this.
Sean John and Jay-Z created the Rocawear line which sold for $219 million in 2007. 50 Cent also created the successful clothing line G-Unit and also partnered with Vitamin Water. Because of their major influence and street credibility, these rappers were able to use their platform and craft to generate huge amounts of profits.
Works Cited
I liked your post Andrew! There are many hip hop and rap artists that have turned to selling products with their names. Nicki Minaj created Myx Moscato, a luxurious line of wine. Her popularity in the industry has helped to bring attention to the beverage, increasing their sales. This is similar to Sean Combs and DJ Khalad, who have made their own flavors of the popular alcoholic drink, Ciroc. Having big names attached to these items will draw buyers to try out their product.
ReplyDeleteReally cool post! This post is very relatable as hip hop is very mainstream today, and many enjoy the culture and lifestyle. The hip hop industry was worth $10 billion dollars in 2013 and has been growing ever since, with almost half a million people attending concerts of various artists. However, the reason why hip hop could become this big is because it is a free market. A free market consists of voluntary exchanges and supply and demand determines consumption and production. This process influenced this genre to how it has become today. From its inception, there were "emcees", who rapped over beats, competing with each other. This attracted many people around the neighborhood, and people wanted more of this competitive rap. Hip hop grew across the country and many put their own spin to it, and eventually people bought CDs and tapes, increasing the demand. Today, there are a diverse array of hip hop artists and those who can attract attention with their own hip hop music, like Blueface, are those who stand out.
ReplyDeletehttps://fee.org/articles/hip-hop-a-free-market-history/