Aaron DaCosta
Professor Williams
Digital Media
27 March 2014
Label Expiration?
“Revolutions are still televised, but they get Tumblr'd, tweeted
and YouTubed first (Weiss, “Odd Future Wolf”). Since the year 2000, advances in
technology and changes in public taste have tested the very foundation of the
United States music industry. Traditionally, several large record labels such
as Interscope, Atlantic, and R&R controlled not only the when and how music
was released to consumers, but who could release it. However, with the genesis
of digitalized music, declining CD sales, and online piracy, music has become
more easily accessible and distributable. Unlike in the past where artists
would take their demos and mix tapes to a record label that would decide
whether or not the public would like it, social media platforms give the
artists the necessary tools to share their music directly with listeners and
get immediate feedback. Numerous new upstart groups and artists took advantage
of this change in music distribution to share their albums and gain notoriety.
Passion Pit, Chance the Rapper, and Tyler the Creator all utilized the internet
and social media to further their respective careers to previously unimaginable
heights without record label backing.
In 2008, Michael Angelakos started
what would become Passion Pit when he recorded Chunk of Change EP as a Valentine’s Day present for his
girlfriend at the time. Prompted by his friend, Michael put the project on MySpace where the lead single, Sleepyhead,
has racked up over three million plays. A testament to the speed and power of
social media, Angelakos’ relatively quiet life was completely up ended almost
overnight.
“After Angelakos' first Passion Pit project-- 2008's Chunk of
Change EP, a Valentine's Day present to a soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend-- generated
a swarm of buzz, the band shuttled from Boston house parties to upper-tier
indie label Frenchkiss to major label Columbia in less than a year”
(Fitzmaurice).
Social and digital media not only
helped launch Michael’s career, but held it together through some extremely
stressful times. He was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder at the age of 18. This
serious condition can make life very difficult, let alone embarking on a
national tour. While working on their most recent album Gossamer, Michael fell into a deep
depression but was able to keep working on the project through the power of the
Internet. Since high fidelity sound files can be shared almost instantly,
recording no longer has to happen in one take at the same studio, allowing
Angelakos and his band mates to collaborate from different locations.
Social media helped the band reach out to fans and promote good
will when it was forced to cancel several tour dates to give Angelakos a mental
health break. Passion Pit shared details via their official Twitter page and could answer fans questions.
Chancelor Bennett, a Chicago, Illinois rapper, known by his stage
name of Chance, has rocketed to the forefront of the hip-hop mix tape scene in
the past two years and is beginning to draw national mainstream attention.
Chance recorded his first mix tape 10
Day while he was serving a
suspension from his high school in 2011 (Weiss). The stabbing death of Chance’s
close friend Rodney Kyles Jr. in 2011 drove him to do some serious soul
searching.
The tragedy eventually inspired Chance to redouble his efforts on
his rap career. He brilliantly coupled using the traditional tactics of
unsigned rappers like passing out copies of his work on the streets and
appearing at local venues with social media coordination through Facebook, Twitter
and online distribution of his work through the popular sites DatPiff.com and Fake
Shore Drive. These strategies and hard work
soon paid off; Chance became a Chicago celebrity almost overnight selling out
multiple venues and attracting massive crowds everywhere he went (Hyman).
“Barely out of his teens, Chancelor Bennett has already transformed himself
from a suspended high school student to the young Chicago rapper universally
adored” (Weiss, “Situation Critical”). His success has proved that maybe it is
not ever necessary to sign a record deal.
Not content to be a much talked about
rapper, Chance parlayed his newfound fame into spots as an opener for Childish
Gambino and Eminem’s national and international tours. This decision gained him
even more notoriety, instantly attracting record labels. “Chance … took
business meetings with "nearly every major label," including a
sit-down with Epic Records CEO L.A. Reid. But for now, he says he's holding off
signing with anyone.
"There's still more time," he says, "and still so
many stages to Acid Rap" (Hyman). However, these companies did
not see that the attention also gave him the ability to launch a national solo
tour, The Social Experiment
Tour, and book huge festival and college show dates as a completely independent artist. The concept that a performer
could not only put together such a massive tour, but sell out almost every
venue without any record label sponsored promotion or interviews was virtually
unheard of until Chance.
Tyler Gregory Okonma, the eccentric
and sometimes obnoxious young rapper/producer, perhaps has utilized the freedom
that the Internet and social media afford artists more effectively than anyone
else in the industry has. During the past four years, Tyler grew his content
from horror-core and shock-core rap
with great potential to some incredibly musically and thematically
complex work.
He was able to do this because he developed at his own unique pace
and worked without the limitations of censorship or commercial viability via
the social media site Tumblr. Tyler spoke about the informality of this process
with SPIN magazine
“When
you started posting songs to Tumblr, did you have a plan in mind?
I don't know. I'm half-half.
Sometimes I know what I'm doing, sometimes I don't. Some people say, "What
were you thinking when you made Bastard or Goblin?" I didn't know it was
gonna become sequenced like movie albums that you have to listen to beginning
to end. I didn't do that on purpose but I did, it's like my subconscious knew
what I was doing... I just made a website just to put all of our shit on, just
all the skate videos and songs and shit, and people just latched on” (Shepherd).
As Tyler learned and became more professional, his YouTube
channel functioned as a digital demo tape of sorts,
allowing him to share his work, receive criticism, and grab the attention of
labels. By the time he inked his one album deal with Sony; he already obtained
a massive fan base, had millions of twitter followers, and won an award for his
music video Yonkers. Social media empowered Tyler so
much that when he eventually signed his contract he had all the leverage.
Since Tyler was already so popular when he decided to accept a
record deal, he had a lot more control over the terms of the contract.
“His hands-on approach is beginning to reap rewards. Odd Future
just signed a deal with Sony/RED for distribution rights to its albums, but
nothing else. The group will retain “100 percent creative control” and there
will be “no third-party participation,” the co-manager Christian Clancy said in
a statement” (Caramanica).
Tyler has used his autonomy to branch out from just composing
music. He produced a sketch comedy TV show, directed a music video that went viral, and designed his own exclusive clothing line.
Passion Pit, Chance the Rapper, and Tyler, The Creator all rose
from relative obscurity to national fame in the blink of an eye. Each performs
a different genre of music, began their careers in different cities, and
interacts with fans in different ways. However, the power of social media and
the Internet allowed them to develop in ways previously unimaginable. Their
success is a testament to the ability of a format to change longstanding
industry traditions.
Works Cited
Caramanica, Jon. 3Angry Rhymes, Dirty Mouth, Goofy
Kid." The
New York Times. The New
York Times, 07 May 2011. Web. 24 Mar.
2014.
Fitzmaurice, Larry. "Inside the Brilliant and Troubled
Mind of Passion Pit Leader Michael
Angelakos." Pitchfork.
Pitchfork Media Inc., 19 July 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Hyman, Dan. "Chance the Rapper: High Times and Wild
Nights in Chicago." Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone, 24 May 2013. Web. 24 Mar.
2014.
Shepherd, Julianne E. "Odd Future's Tyler, the Creator
on Race, Broken Homes, and Waking Up
Rich." SPIN.
Spin Magazine, 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Weiss, Jeff. "Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Is
Performing Rap on Its Terms." Los
Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr.
2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Weiss, Jeff. "Situation Critical." Pitchfork.
Pitchfork Media Inc., 7 May 2013. Web. 24 Mar.
2014.
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