interesting payola article

[drex]

Want to Get on the Radio? Have $50,000?

In 2004, New York’s attorney general investigated pay-for-play in the radio industry. Insiders tell us the practice still lives on today

www.rollingstone.com

 

[Fade]

When I first started, it was hookers and blow

Yes! The good old days....

But yeah payola has been a huge thing and it sucks because it makes you think about how many famous songs shot up the charts because of it. What I've figured in the modern era is about online streaming - there must be a form of cheating in that too. What's stopping a label and/or artist from faking the numbers through a streaming service? Or hiring teams from a place like India to constantly stream? That's not far fetched at all.

This is why it's best to listen to music that YOU like rather than listen to whatever is considered hot today.

 

[drex]

facts
we cant blame the south for trap music or whatever is wack style that dont match. that came from payola and weak cowardly performers who wanna act like rappers. we need to own our own shit.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Yes! The good old days....

But yeah payola has been a huge thing and it sucks because it makes you think about how many famous songs shot up the charts because of it. What I've figured in the modern era is about online streaming - there must be a form of cheating in that too. What's stopping a label and/or artist from faking the numbers through a streaming service? Or hiring teams from a place like India to constantly stream? That's not far fetched at all.

This is why it's best to listen to music that YOU like rather than listen to whatever is considered hot today.

I remember years and years ago I was on some music promo website, I was second place to some unknown guy called pitbull.
I think its was around 2008/2009/2010. I was a long time ago now, but look how that turned out for him.
I think a mass promo campaign is just about getting the information out there that your product exists, its become a huge business, and a huge market for con men too. When Ive looked into promotions and even paid for it, the vast vast majority of what is on offer is fraudulent fake plays, fake views. A proper advertising campaign is fucking expensive.

 

[drex]

I remember years and years ago I was on some website, I was second place to some unknown guy called pitbull.
I think its was around 2008/2009/2010. I was a long time ago now, but look how that turned out for him.
I think a mass promo campaign is just about getting the information out there that your product exists, its become a huge business, and a huge market for con men too. When Ive looked into promotions and even paid for it, the vast vast majority of what is on offer is fraudulent fake plays, fake views. A proper advertising campaign is fucking expensive.

DIY
#centipedefeet

 

[2GooD Productions]

DIY
#centipedefeet

thats all well and good, we used to have things like street teams that would volunteer their time to help make somebody make it, they would donate their time to go out and promote for an artist they liked. But the world changed, people became self obsessed, they became entitled, they want it all with none of the hard work. Years ago I spent so much time on promotions, I had my own website with player which I programmed all myself, I put so much time into promoting on myspace and was actually getting a lot of traffic. And then myspace killed itself and it was a huge waste of time and effort, I lost my job and couldnt pay for the website, so that went too. It wasnt that long after that that I lost all my motivation to make music any more, and took a heart attack to bring me back from retirement, and thank fuck it did.

 

[Fade]

Well I've been saying that for ages about how it's all marketing and people are sheep. Plain and simple, easy fucking breezy. This is why the masses LOVE the new shit that's out like it's the best thing since running water.

Taylor Swift just came out with a new album a few days ago and everyone is going nuts about it. "OMG IT'S AMAZEBALLS BEST ALBUM EVERRRRRRRR" is the typical response. The days of actual great music is gone, completely gone. I'm not saying that it was all on the up and up because look at the payola and how far it goes back, but it's nothing like today. Today it's on a whole new level. But when I see some Youtube video of a rapper/singer/whatever and they have 40 million fucking views and yet I've never heard of them, literally never heard of them, then there's something seriously wrong. Either I'm completely out of the loop (even though I try to keep up with the new names) or something is going on.

 

[drex]

we need to BE the network. WE know whats up.

 

[drex]

thats all well and good, we used to have things like street teams that would volunteer their time to help make somebody make it, they would donate their time to go out and promote for an artist they liked. But the world changed, people became self obsessed, they became entitled, they want it all with none of the hard work. Years ago I spent so much time on promotions, I had my own website with player which I programmed all myself, I put so much time into promoting on myspace and was actually getting a lot of traffic. And then myspace killed itself and it was a huge waste of time and effort, I lost my job and couldnt pay for the website, so that went too. It wasnt that long after that that I lost all my motivation to make music any more, and took a heart attack to bring me back from retirement, and thank fuck it did.

rough. dont give up! glad yer here

 

[Iron Keys]

Well it's tricky... because even without shadyness, if you looking to break an act or yourself whatever,(without sheer luck of your YouTube/SoundCloud blowing up), you have to pay the moniessss.....!!!

I know PR people and Radio Pluggers etc, for a Single campaign, you'd have to pay £3000. And that would be the plugger taking your single to (can't remember what called) but would be meets of radio producers or such and they'd pitch your single to them. But he'd also take that radio producer out to lunch or shit, things like that.

PR as well, if you think how many people are sending emails or spamming their shit to some gatekeeper's email... or, they receive an email from someone they know, which email they gonna open??

So that's why you need these people.


Think of it like this... if hundreds of randoms on insta was spamming Fade to feature their beat, and in Fade's inbox he also had a DM from 2Good promoting someone's/his own beat... who's message you think he's more likely to open??

 

[Iron Keys]

That being said, if you're entering any battles, feel free to send hookers and blow my way for, erm... "promotional support".

 

[2GooD Productions]

we need to BE the network. WE know whats up.

the music game is very broad and we cover a very small part of it. I dont think there are enough of us here with the broad range of skills that success requires. Tour management, promotions, street teams, the people that hand out flyers outside nightclubs, lawyers, publishers, dj's, mixing engineers, mastering engineers and the list goes on. It all gets very expensive very quickly, money and funds has always been the gatekeeper to the music industry, its not what you know but who you know.

 

[drex]

true we cant do what they do the way they do it without money, but my question is do we need to do what they do if the music is actually good? if the expectations are realistic? if we are the producers and the consumers? fuck are we doin seeking a middle man to stand over us and fuck us on our work? ridiculous. my next album is gonna be a how to.