It Could Happen

With the explosion of home recording and the numerous websites that host mixtape, unsigned artists should not forget the value and hard work that developed their songwriting skills. I am not knocking the mixtape and its importance to the hip-hop game in this post. The purpose of this post is to help unsigned artists realize their gift for song writing and different avenues that can generate revenue from songwriting.

The first thing I noticed and I am guilty of this, is the rush process that goes into a mixtape. When I mention rushing, it is not to criticize a song that goes onto a mixtape. Most mixtape in my opinion are awesome; however, by rushing I mean the complacency and bad habits that stem from rushing. The goal of a mixtape, in my opinion is to be heard, and being heard is the ultimate goal of an unsigned artist. If unsigned artists are like me, I often neglected valuable steps needed to protect my intellectual property when creating a mixtape. A song in any form is intellectual property and an artist should make sure that they register their songs because they never know what can happen. In addition, registering a song is a good habit that should become second nature. I would like to emphasis that intellectual property is an asset just like stocks. I have included an article from Sound on Sound that describes how songwriters are paid. The 9 cent statutory rate can go along way; just asks any major artist.

In the creation of a mixtape, most of the time we download tracks from the Internet to rap or sing too. Downloading a track is not a bad idea; in fact, it is a perfect situation to develop our networking skills. Reaching out to a producer can completely change the game and the perceived value of our created content. Talking to a producer can open up doors and might even lead to the exclusive rights to use a track. When we obtain rights to use a track on our mixtape, we can consider a mixtape as a professional project because we can now shop the song without infringement concerns. I emphasis again, we never know what can happen. Obtaining permission to use a track will also help us get familiar with the business side of the music industry. Obtaining permission to use a track will also allow us to take advantage of websites that pay artists to feature ads on their videos. YouTube is a great example. Being paid for work that is not entirely our own is illegal. CDBaby has great information on how they issue sync licensing to get ads on our videos.

The whole game changes when we think like professionals and give our songs the creative rights they deserve. A mixtape is a valuable tool and it should be thought of as a professional project. No part of the song creation process should be rushed or taken for grant. We should use the mixtape process to get familiar with the business side of the industry such as: developing contacts, filing out copyright forms, and extended our brand. In order, to take our music career to the next level we have to think on the next level. The music industry is a professional industry and an amateur only gets on the field when they demonstrate that can think and perform as a professional.

~LtL