Is the "Free Mixtape Album" Era Over?

What I find funny is, is that a lot of artists are starting to see that free mixtapes are actually a poor way of trying to improve their fan base.

They start to realise "Shit, I'm not doing many shows to make these mixtapes worth it"... "Shit, I'm not growing my fan base, I'm just telling my current fanbase to expect my music for free"...

THEN they come out with an EP 3 months after their realisation. Put it up on their website for $5. Sell 3 in a month.

Their mixtapes were being downloaded 3 times a day from a total fan base of 10,000... That is: according to their mailing list that they've put together over time, from downloads of their mixtapes.

With a fan base of 10,000, you'd expect at least 100 sales. I mean, that's just 1%... When I put something out, I expect 10% of my fan base to buy it. I expect 1% to go that extra mile and buy the "avid fan" product.

This guy can't even get 0.1% of his fan base buying, what's that about?

Simple: All those mixtapes you put out for free trained your fan base to expect your product for FREE. With music, that shit is easy to do too. You put out that EP. Those 3 people that bought it have only bought it to put it on Torrent sites for the others. Your EP actually got 3 downloads a day, but you didn't know.

Your fan base is worthless, they aren't buying. You might as well have a fan base of 100, the numbers would stack up better.

So what is there to do? Start a new fan base, train them to buy your music? Or do you go back to releasing mixtapes and hope something happens... Like Nike come and sponsor your Summer tour around 2 Arizona cities?

But that's none of my business.

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This gon' sound crazy, but I was kinda mad when Spitta put out Covert Coup and Weekend at Bernies for free. Nigga was ready to cop both those discs like I did for PT 1 and 2, then he turn around and expected his fans to PAY for that subpar Stone Immaculate album. Its like these rappers kneecapping the fans that want to $upport their best work, but we are forced to vote with our dollars for weak material. I'm like, "NO! I wanna support the Spitta that puts out Covert Coup and Pilot Talk...I wanna let his label know we want more of THAT kind of music, not that bland Stoned Immaculate bullsh1t".
 
What I find funny is, is that a lot of artists are starting to see that free mixtapes are actually a poor way of trying to improve their fan base.

They start to realise "Shit, I'm not doing many shows to make these mixtapes worth it"... "Shit, I'm not growing my fan base, I'm just telling my current fanbase to expect my music for free"...

THEN they come out with an EP 3 months after their realisation. Put it up on their website for $5. Sell 3 in a month.

Their mixtapes were being downloaded 3 times a day from a total fan base of 10,000... That is: according to their mailing list that they've put together over time, from downloads of their mixtapes.

With a fan base of 10,000, you'd expect at least 100 sales. I mean, that's just 1%... When I put something out, I expect 10% of my fan base to buy it. I expect 1% to go that extra mile and buy the "avid fan" product.

This guy can't even get 0.1% of his fan base buying, what's that about?

Simple: All those mixtapes you put out for free trained your fan base to expect your product for FREE. With music, that shit is easy to do too. You put out that EP. Those 3 people that bought it have only bought it to put it on Torrent sites for the others. Your EP actually got 3 downloads a day, but you didn't know.

Your fan base is worthless, they aren't buying. You might as well have a fan base of 100, the numbers would stack up better.

So what is there to do? Start a new fan base, train them to buy your music? Or do you go back to releasing mixtapes and hope something happens... Like Nike come and sponsor your Summer tour around 2 Arizona cities?

But that's none of my business.

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I think it has more to do with what Pump was saying, "bait and switch" tactics.

Put out a stellar mixtape then their paid release is some hot garbage with a track or two of decent sound. The ones that buy it out the box are gonna talk about it on forums/blogs/street and word gets around fast that it is straight garbage so don't bother paying for it. Maybe these cats need to take a real close look at what they are putting out to their paid audience and reevaluate, not the marketing so much as the actual delivery of finished product.

The thing you fail to take into consideration with your rant is that people pay attention to bloggers and forum posts in regards to laying their hard earned dollars out there. Did they get any feedback from those supposed 10k fans or is that just the DL numbers with no response either positive or negative?
 
In 2014, personally? I believe Mixtapes are a waste of time, money and resources.
I want to say albums too but an old part of me doesn't want to see the album die.
I guess cause i'm a fan of the format and like seeing artists build catalogs... with that
being said though, the album might as well be dead too.

You are better off trying to craft and push the shit out of a hit single than a mixtape.

Honest to god i don't understand why in 2014 artists are not getting this. Music
consumption habits have changed drastically. People don't sit and listen to full blown
mixtapes and albums like that anymore (myself included).

Even from a touring perspective, when have you ever heard a major artist perform
albums on stage? It's always the hits catalog, everything else is irrelevant. The album/
mixtape is kinda like a way for the artist to cement his legend, his brand... but from a
consumption standpoint? As much as we love albums, we're not consuming music like
that anymore SPECIALLY not the 13 year old.
 
In 2014, personally? I believe Mixtapes are a waste of time, money and resources.
I want to say albums too but an old part of me doesn't want to see the album die.
I guess cause i'm a fan of the format and like seeing artists build catalogs... with that
being said though, the album might as well be dead too.

You are better off trying to craft and push the shit out of a hit single than a mixtape.

Honest to god i don't understand why in 2014 artists are not getting this. Music
consumption habits have changed drastically. People don't sit and listen to full blown
mixtapes and albums like that anymore (myself included).

Even from a touring perspective, when have you ever heard a major artist perform
albums on stage? It's always the hits catalog, everything else is irrelevant. The album/
mixtape is kinda like a way for the artist to cement his legend, his brand... but from a
consumption standpoint? As much as we love albums, we're not consuming music like
that anymore SPECIALLY not the 13 year old.

I get what you are saying and agree, the difficult part is albums in many cases are a continuous story from start to finish and are arranged that way. With todays digital consumption that arrangement is no longer valid since we hit shuffle and listen to them as stand alone songs instead.

So a concept album such as (taking from rock since it is more prevalent) Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Smashing Pumpkins) which is a great album when listened to from start to finish, but as a singles release has no frame of reference to judge the individual songs on. Once the album is consumed ass a whole then the singles become more relevant and stand on their own.

Even hip hop albums do this to a degree but I am drawing a blank right now on good examples and just putting out club bangers get tiring to listen to. We need to return art to music instead of the ADHD style here today gone tomorrow style that has become the dominant thing in music.
 
This gon' sound crazy, but I was kinda mad when Spitta put out Covert Coup and Weekend at Bernies for free. Nigga was ready to cop both those discs like I did for PT 1 and 2, then he turn around and expected his fans to PAY for that subpar Stone Immaculate album. Its like these rappers kneecapping the fans that want to $upport their best work, but we are forced to vote with our dollars for weak material. I'm like, "NO! I wanna support the Spitta that puts out Covert Coup and Pilot Talk...I wanna let his label know we want more of THAT kind of music, not that bland Stoned Immaculate bullsh1t".

Can anyone tell me an album that wasnt subpar from last year......
Most were better off being mixtapes.....
It's not that ppl dnt want to pay exactly....
But the value that was spoken about isnt being put out to be purchased....
- i woulda been mad if i paid for Pusha's or Jays album last year....
Lets be serious here
 
Can anyone tell me an album that wasnt subpar from last year......
Most were better off being mixtapes.....
It's not that ppl dnt want to pay exactly....
But the value that was spoken about isnt being put out to be purchased....
- i woulda been mad if i paid for Pusha's or Jays album last year....
Lets be serious here

There were a few but they were the exception not the rule by a long shot.
 
Can anyone tell me an album that wasnt subpar from last year......
Most were better off being mixtapes.....
It's not that ppl dnt want to pay exactly....
But the value that was spoken about isnt being put out to be purchased....
- i woulda been mad if i paid for Pusha's or Jays album last year....
Lets be serious here

I can name a few albums from last year that I bought that were worth the purchase to me:

-Robert Glasper-Black Radio 2
-Janelle Monae-Electric Lady
-Skyzoo & Antman Wonder- Ode to Reasonable Doubt
-Disclosure-Settle
....and thats just the few I can name off the top of my head and not including the old jazz albums I cop regularly.
I think the whole "there isn't anything worth buying" is just a weak, self-serving excuse for not supporting the artists and music that truly is worth buying. Its impossible to say that the "value" isn't out there to be purchased, saying that tells me more about your limited taste and scope in music than anything else, and I don't mean that as a diss, just sayin'.
 
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If you couldnt tell... what i said was to be taken as being exaggerated....
The statement i made says nothing at all about my taste nor scope of music...
nor of me being self serving.....
If you couldnt tell i was speaking mostly in terms of hip-hop....
- The point that you have countless albums that you find better then subpar (in hip-hop)from this pass year...
Says either your taste isnt that great....
Or you listen to real artist....
In which nor was those the albums i was speaking of....
-My opinon states:
Mixtapes aint goin nowhere b/c they keep the artist on the fans mind awaiting this great album...

But I agree wit wat pump was sayin....
The spitta n route my shit....
But the artist aint pickin all the songs on they album(mostly) ....
Mixtapes give them the freedom to do them....
Not to mention it helps artist like curren$y go on tour...
so his fans can see him perform....
 
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The thing you fail to take into consideration with your rant is that people pay attention to bloggers and forum posts in regards to laying their hard earned dollars out there. Did they get any feedback from those supposed 10k fans or is that just the DL numbers with no response either positive or negative?

Well, if you want me to discuss every element of what many rappers/labels get wrong then give me a week. I'll bring back a 20-30 page analysis on what are the best possible steps for many rappers to take. Might as well put it on Amazon and sell it LOL...

I should have addressed this in my original rant, but my rant was directed more towards the emcees/rappers that I've dealt with personally in the past 12 months. Those in question put out solid music across the board which their fans soak up and love. Maybe some of you are fans of someone like 2Chainz, and then the lack of consistency for such rappers is probably true. I wouldn't personally know cause I don't give the aforementioned rapper the light of day.

Word of mouth is the strongest form of advertisement. If you're putting out "good" music (which is mainly set on tastes) then you will get a lot of play/downloads/sales compared to "bad" music, on word of mouth alone. That can be through blogs/forums/etc. Though you are right about the quality of music being a factor, as I previously explained, the rant was addressing artists who put good music out consistently which there are many. They still don't get sales.

I'd also like to point, everyone here, in this forum are in the music industry. We're not actually the average consumer. Many consumers of music believe that if music can be downloaded for free, why the Hell buy it? I know my family are such consumers, as are most of my closest friends. We, as a forum, know that downloading music instead of purchasing it can have a huge effect on the artists we love and so we take a different approach to consuming music.

As for the whole feedback statement, that seems pretty irrelevant nowadays. Most consumers of music tend to stream the albums they want to buy, through the likes of Spotify, You Tube, or Band Camp. Some even go as far as listening to the 30 second snippets on iTunes or Amazon instead.

If they like what they hear so much that they want to listen to it again, they'll download/buy. Obviously, the feedback can be given in many more ways than just a download, and in much more qualitative detail. Not all your fans will e-mail/tweet you to tell you how great/bad the album was. And that can't really be measured accurately/fairly, can it?

Many labels and artists opt for an e-mail in exchange for the download. Though the download is essentially free, the consumer still has to give something up in exchange. An e-mail.

Did you know that many consumers nowadays, with the saturation in the music industry, are actually valuing their hard drive space much more than they did five years ago? So in fact, that's two things of value in exchange for a free download.

When I referred to 10k fans, I meant the mailing list. For one artist I know personally, their download numbers were significantly higher than their mailing list. Why? Many people unsubscribed from the list after they had their download.

Essentially, the mailing list "fans" I spoke of would typically be made of people who joined through downloads, shows, etc. You wouldn't have expected your whole fan base to buy from you, in the 70s. Naturally, some wouldn't, but you'd still consider them fans.

Same applies to the mailing list hence why I consider conversion rates so important, and why I applied so much emphasis to training your fan base. If I gathered the average conversion rates in the music industry, it would be a joke. Seriously! Imagine the numbers! Imagine how much better they could be too...

Can anyone tell me an album that wasnt subpar from last year......
Most were better off being mixtapes.....
It's not that ppl dnt want to pay exactly....
But the value that was spoken about isnt being put out to be purchased....
- i woulda been mad if i paid for Pusha's or Jays album last year....
Lets be serious here

In 2013? In no particular order:

Madlib/Quasimoto - Yessir Whatever
Black Milk - No Poison, No Paradise
Marco Polo - PA2, Directors Cut
Papoose - Nacirema Dream
RA The Rugged Man - Legends Don't Die
Deltron 3030 - Event Two
Vast Aire - Space Iliad

I've probably missed a couple of things off of my shopping list but there's a bunch of albums I bought/came out in 2013. I think Ghostface put out a fantastic album/mixtape but I can't recall it. Or was that 2012? Oh, Joell Ortiz!! He put out a fantastic track for Funk Flexs mixtape, and he's following it up with his House Slippers album by the end of this year (hopefully). I imagine that will be insane.



To conclude:

If you're disappointed in the music your "favourite" artists are putting out, then perhaps they shouldn't be your favourite.
 
Wow well said. Making the attention grabbing 1 hit banger and marketing is where the focus is at now I guess.
 
Drake is an artist who shows how the shift in the industry works. He was hot in 07/08 off of two mixtapes in Comeback Season and So Far Gone but today he stays hot in the streets largely thanks to hot singles. 5 AM in Toronto... Started From The Bottom... All Me... Worst Behaviour... Draft Day... 0 to 100... Drake always seems to benefit from the shift in attitude in the industry
 
I've noticed in recent times that the amount of mixtape albums being released by established artists (major and indy) have slowed up considerably. Are we witnessing a temporary lull in the action or is the "Free Mixtape Era" over?

the value of music as a whole has changed...... consumers rather stream and get to know (or hate) the artist on a personal level (reality tv shows, live shows, etc..) hell its better for an artist to have that corperate mind state (Dr. Dre) and have a product or/and game plan to get themselves heard...... if you cant build or learn what "community" and "Branding" is than you have no chance in music post 2014....

its actually time for producers to stop selling beats and sell albums TBH...... and starting building your own brand if your not doing that right now
 
I still think the reason tha people aren't buying music no more is because the mystery is gone. The belief that an artist being away for months to work in some secret producers lab to create an album isn't there anymore. Rappers are too exposed, so even if an album DOES have quality, it feels like its nothing special anymore, because the curiosity behind the artist is gone.
 
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I still think the reason tha people aren't buying music no more is because the mystery is gone. The belief that an artist being away for months to work in some secret producers lab to create an album isn't there anymore. Rappers are too exposed, so even if an album DOES have quality, it feels like its nothing special anymore, because the curiosity behind the artist is gone.

I think you're onto something right there. I mean 10 years ago, when your favorite rapper disappeared for a year, you just assumed he was working on new music. Taking his or her time to whip up something better than their last shit. Now with things like twitter and reality shows, you know exactly what they are doing and it kinda makes it less exciting. You learn that your artist is actually touring not working on new music and even then you see the making of the music because they keep dropping studio vids throughout the process so when the song actually drops you heard most of it already and it's not big.

Over exposure on social media is big. A few cats do it the right way though. Let them know a little bit about their personal life, but they leave out that prof life. That leaves some mystery and some suspense
 
I don't think artist should put out a lot of mixtape. I would prefer a Mixtape in between them working on there album but I wouldn't want no lil wayne every week dropping a mixtape. It takes the value and excitement out of the artist
 
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