you see? So no matter rather somebody listens to your tape or not, they've already made their money. They also look for money from artists. You have to pay, for their PR services, such as mixtape hosting, single promotion, tour packages,video promotion, performance oppurtunties , and so on and so on.
LiveMixtapes, pretty much wants you to pay prior to be able to post a mixtape at all, and pretty much it's the same thing with MyMixtapes. There aren't as many ad's. However, if you have the free MyMixtapez app you may see an ad or two.
Not only do you have these sites, but you also have DJ's and Mixtape Distribution companies that are making a profit as well. Think about it you have DJ's charging $25 to $150 a slot, and depending what they are going to do with the mixtape. They have 3 things to really consider when they make up these prices. First, what sites they are going to use, and what are their cost. How much of a profit do they want to make? Lastly, how much are they going to put behind their promotion?
With all this being said (I'm pretty sure I'm gonna catch some flack though I'm simply just stating the obvious), what are the pro's and the con's of the mixtape industry? Well, if you are willing to put in the work and the money, you can develop a fanbase like no other. What I mean by work is make sure your mixtape shows that you put forth some effort. Make sure the production is decent, your rhymes are tight,and relatable. Obviously, if you really want views, then you gonna have pay some money to get your mixtape to the front page of the websites. Another pro is this paticular industry or niche has allowed for entreprenuership, not only for the websites themselves, but also for the artists as well. As an artist you can brand yourself with your mixtapes, and get people ready for your album.
There's quite a few artists that I can say I never heard of, but soon became a fan of because of the websites. There are so many artists now that are doing tours, booking shows, and selling merch from their mixtapes and not with an album.
What are some of the con's? Well the only con that I can really see with the whole mixtape game, is that if you are doing it on your own without a label, and without a budget then you are going to be limiting yourself to self promotion, which is not a bad thing. However, I know that most artists want to focus on making music rather than promoting it. There are also many artists that put money behind their mixtape's but they get nothing out of it. What I mean by that is that they paid for studio time, production, mixing and mastering, but failed to pay for promotion. It's pretty much like the drug game or any business really. You have to increase your clientle to make a profit, and then keep marketing to your clientle. Though it may be free music, you have to strategize how you can make a profit with it.Learn how to flip it. The main con here, is there so many artists that have talent, that will probably never be recoginize or seen because of the lack of funds. There are also artists that have the funds, because either they were just born rich, they have a team, or to simply put it they know how to do good business.
So do mixtapes help or hurt the game? I would say it's a little bit of both. It helps, because everyone has an oppurtinity to put a mixtape out there rather they pay for promotion or not. It helps because websites, DJ's, and artists can establish themselves as brands and entreprenuers. How does it hurt? Too, much trash and not enough talented artists make it to the forefront, and it's just over saturated.