So the artist WILL get paid off of those promotional joints...what about the producer?? Nobody ever knows who that person is.
In the field(s) I'm working in, "apprentices" don't get paid.
It doesn't mean these people are not highly trained, or that they don't have experience in some "professional" field.
Hell, people who sold bottled water now work for majors.
What counts is: do they have the experience for THIS particular job?
Take that concept and apply it to "mixtapes" and you see the whole picture. "Prove to me that you are not a one-hit-wonder and we will call you back for the next project".
Truth is, if you are "what it takes", why should you wait for that next call? This is a business, not love. You don't operate under "one-itis", you try to "diversify your bonds".
If you don't want to pay me for my top-quality product..........somebody will.
Promotion is nice and all that, but it's just one part of the picture.
The other is HARD NUMBERS. And if you use DJs for free, producers for free and features for free.......well, you are CHEAP!
And in the end, you shouldn't concentrate on pleasing "gold diggers", when you are a raw diamond.