Trapital - pump, p-pump it up

memo 003: pump, p-pump it up

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This is your weekly breakdown on what matters most in the business of hip-hop.

I wrote a new essay on the business of independence in hip-hop. This memo also has breakdowns on The Joe Budden Podcast's departure from Spotify, Lil' Wayne's No Ceilings mixtape that's "now available everywhere" but not really, and recent developments in music VR.

new essay:
Why Hip-Hop's Indie Economy Has Taken Off

NLE Choppa (via Travis Shinn / Financial Times)

Hip-hop’s indie economy has damn near exploded. Every few months, there’s a new program launched to make life easy for the DIY artist.

Wanna text your fans? Done. There are several apps for that. Need to manage social media? There are more apps for that than there are social networks! Want to distribute music from your phone to all the digital streaming providers? Several companies got you covered.

These services support the rise of individual creators. Each company is on an aggressive quest to unbundle the services offered by legacy institutions. It’s a pivotal shift with tons of venture capital betting on it.

But each service will reach a point where it makes a tough decision. Will it serve the upstart indie users who love the platform? Or the corporate partners who help cut the big checks? Most will try to do both, but it’s harder than it sounds.

Read or listen to the full Trapital essay here.

The Joe Budden Podcast is leaving Spotify

The Joe Budden Podcast will end its two-year exclusivity on Spotify. It may no longer be on Spotify moving forward because the company is "pillaging" Joe's audience.

First the Fat Boys break up, now this. Budden doesn't believe Spotify properly compensated him. On last week's pod, Budden said that his show exceeded Spotify's audience expectations by 900%. But he never received a bonus and couldn't take a desired vacation.

Budden watched Spotify cut nine-figure checks to acquire Gimlet Media, The Ringer, and sign Joe Rogan to an exclusive deal. Budden--once famous for his hit song "Pump it Up" the group Slaughterhouse--had one of the most popular podcast on Spotify, but never earned anything close to those big checks.

In my January 2019 essay How Hip-Hop Podcasts Will Adapt to the Streaming Era, I predicted that Spotify and Joe Budden's partnership might not last given his past record with media partnerships, most recently with Complex Media and the show Everyday Struggle.

No leverage. Budden's frustration is understandable, but it's not the full story.

When Budden and Spotify teamed up, the podcast didn't generate ad dollars. The show had monetized through live shows and merch. Budden repeatedly said he didn't want ads to compromise the product (even after partnering with Spotify). In last week's podcast, he said it's hard to get into the ad business without knowing "ad people." Had Budden's podcast been a full-fledged ad business before Spotify, he would have been treated differently.

All that said, this is not the first time podcast creators have had issues with Spotify. The Nod's hosts Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings called out both Spotify and Gimlet for their lack of ownership.

Spotify could have revised Joe Budden's compensation sooner since his show's performance solidified the company's business model shift. Budden could have built a stronger business around his product before partnering with another company. Both things can be true.

For more on this, listen to this clip from The Joe Budden Podcast and this response from Charlamagne Tha God.

The mixtape announcement that wasn't

Lil' Wayne got fans excited when he announced his seminal 2009 mixtape No Ceilings would be available on all streaming services. But Lil' Wayne let some fans down when just 12 of the 21 tracks were available.

Rockstar mixtape might don't make it. Making previously released mixtapes available on digital streaming providers has been a growing trend—especially on mixtape anniversaries. Sample clearance issues have blocked the process for many artists.

Now, most fans can accept if one or two songs couldn't be cleared. It's an understandable challenge. But nine?! Come on. Yea, some of those songs were skits, but some of those songs were mixtape classics like "Ice Cream."

This means that Dorrough, a borderline one-hit wonder, said no to Wayne to clear the sample for "Ice Cream Paint Job". That's hilarious.

A new precedent. I hoped Wayne would have released No Ceilings last October, which would have been the ten-year anniversary. It's one of Wayne's three best mixtapes (Dedication 2 and Da Drought 3 are the other two). But if Wayne could only clear 12 songs now, he was much further back in the process last October.

Read more about the songs not included at XXL.

Virtual reality heats up

Last week, MelodyVR bought Napster for $70 million, Tidal bought $7 million in virtual tokens to partner with Sensorium, and Facebook announced the launch of the public beta for its social VR experience Horizon.

The interest has grown. VR has been on the music industry's radar for a while. But things have heated up in the pandemic—especially after Travis Scott's Fortnite event. Wave, the virtual live performance startup that helped put on The Weeknd's recent experience, just raised $30 million.

Music's emerging tech scene has shown its potential in several areas, but VR has lagged behind for several reasons: The clunky hardware has been a barrier. VR isn't mobile (yet), and past concerts have had technical issues.

But recent efforts have been less focused on the hardware and more centered on the Metaverse, interactivity, and leveraging the IP that artists have built with their music.

Expect more DSPs to want in. It's only a matter of time before Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube step up their games too. The VR companies will gain traction, but they will likely partner with the big DSPs or the major record labels to strengthen distribution.

Read more about Tidal and Sensorium at Music Business Worldwide.

Trapital Player of the Week: Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Boseman's death is heartbreaking. I still can't believe he accomplished all he did since his colon cancer diagnosis in 2016. I also appreciate how tight-knit this all was. Him and his loved ones released all the details on their terms.

There was a running joke that Chad needs to star in every Black biopic. He already did Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall. Now someday, someone might play Chadwick Boseman.

Coming this week: new podcast with Donald Albright

New podcast dropping later this week with Tenderfoot TV President and cofounder Donald Albright. His company is behind hit podcasts like Up and Vanished, Atlanta Monster, and To Live and Die in LA. Tenderfoot TV has amassed half a billion podcast downloads.

We talked about his career in Atlanta's hip-hop scene, rise in podcasting and more. In the meantime, read more about Donald here and subscribe to Trapital Podcast!

P.S. - thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions of books and materials to share with my cousin who wants to be a music producer. Appreciate y'all! Thanks again.

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