some informed discussion
seems he can't get the clearances he wants so he released it as a mixtape without physical sales or product - that, by the way, would seem to be the way he is avoiding the legal mess.
Not because he is not making money but because there is no physical product changing hands - the law is taking too long to catch up to the current reality of "digital mixtape" downloads. IMNSHO, it will catch up soon enough as while the medium is digital, the sources for the downloads are very much physical. It is just going to take the right attorney to work out how to sue the internet service providers who are providing either the storage or the connectivity for these downloads to proceed
Chance the Rapper, PARTYNEXTDOOR land on charts with free mixtapes – FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music.
this next one explores the concept of lost profits i.e. actual damages vs statutory damages (which can only be applied if you have copyrighted your material) - do not copyright your material (along with the attendant clearances of samples and artists) and here is where your gravy train ends up
FSD Feature: Copyrights & Wrongs - Chance's Acid Rap Billboard Charting & How Indie Artists Can Combat Bootleggers - Fake Shore Drive : Fake Shore Drive
More justification as to why it is safer to not sell a mixtape
seems his strategy is not to sell a product but to tour only - smells like a lawyers ploy to avoid paying for the use of samples and such, although there are still issues with performance rights and mechanical reproduction rights which must be met by the promoter of each show, so they may yet get hoisted by their own petard
Chance the Rapper says he has no reason to sign with a record label | Consequence of Sound
Mixtape sales and distribution as piracy
the broader view of the mixtape industry is that it is illegal in nature and distribution and sale of mixtapes is being vigourously pursued as piracy by the RIAA - a double standard as the people who are charged with a crime are at the coal-face selling the product when the product is generally a result of cunning marketing strategies devised by major label heads.
The short term future may be summed up by the actions of "one canny store where mixtapes are on display but not, strictly speaking, on sale. To get one, you have to buy a CD holder, priced at $7.99 but worth a small fraction of that; with every purchase, you get a "free" mixtape."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/16/a...l=1&adxnnlx=1386858540-RRtXIlnyacnrzPzRcPkJYQ
Who made the bootleg Acid Rap CD that hit the Billboard charts? | Bleader | Chicago Reader
Indie Rapper Has Bootleg Land on the Billboard Charts - Fame Wizard®