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I personally can't stand twitter I find it very over-saturated. It can be very spammy at times and it's easy for your post to get lost in the thousands of others posting about their music. It does have it's uses though. I look at it as more of a way of maintaining and engaging with the audience you already have over bringing in new people

I would love to go to a music festival they seem like an immense amount of fun. Sadly all the ones I'd want to attend are too far away and I can't afford the travel expenses, but I def plan to go at some point in my life time and see as many performances as possible

Hey what's up Mike? Welcome to the community. I'm a young producer myself and I'm always looking to work with rappers. Maybe we can collab together down the line. I'm looking forward to hearing your stuff!

Welcome to the site Balaclava! I find it very impressive you were able to teach yourself most of what you know when it comes to playing the guitar you clearly have a real passion for it. I look forward to hearing some of your music going forward

In my experience it's difficult to make online collabs come to fruition. Most of the time people say they're interested but when it never goes anywhere. It's hard to find someone who is on the same page as you creatively and so it can be difficult. I think it's best to just let collabs happen organically rather than just asking for them from random people online. However, when collaborations do go well it's one of the best ways to learn new skills and ways of doing things that you may not have been aware of before. Overall, communication is the most important aspect. If there is good communication between the 2 people then it will most likely be a productive project

Smh i tried. This will be my final statement regarding our debate. For one idk why it strikes a nerve with you that i think those most country,jazz, classical music, Reggae etc sounds the same. I even said not once, not twice, but now THREE times i am sure if I paid attention to these genres and really put in time ti listen to them I'd notice the nuance. For now I don't. Can't make it any simpler than that. I never said I value brand more than music I just understand reality. And the reality is it's the music BUSINESS. There are people who make phenomal music but don't but in nearly as much effort promoting, marketing, and making their brand appealing. They just expect that because the music is good it will move on it's own and be upset when someone who's music is awful gets more shine. It's sad that it's not all based around talent and quality of music but that's the reality. Again it's the music BUSINESS. 50/50. You gotta put just as much passion and effort into making you as artist seem just as appealing as your music. You are still stuck in the 70s and the 80s. Like the internet exists, its a thing, it's here lol. If anything the internet has made it easier for people to find new music they would have never heard otherwise. Back then like what Mike said you had kingmakers. You had people deciding what was hot. Now the power in the consumers hands. Nobody these days is turning to the radio and music statioms on tv to find new music. People go online to find it. People follow their favorite artist on twitter and Instagram and keep up with them that way. They subscribe to their YouTube channel to see when they have a new music video up. THEY KEEP UP WITH AND FOLLOW WHO THEY WANT TO KEEP UP AND FOLLOW WITH. If a consumer is tired of mainstream music and wants to hear more blues and folk guess what? They simply go to thay section and listen. Or they go online listen. Nobody just sits their thinking that whatever music is on the front page is all that exists lmao. Maybe you feel that way because you grew up in a time where consumers had less power. Surely you don't want into a bookstore and think derrrrrrrrrp all I see is twilight and Hunger games up front i guess this is all i can buy. No. If you came in for a poetry book you walk to the poetry section and look around there. It doesn't matter what is promoted up front. Same with iTunes. Yes any time Drake,Katy perry, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, or Adele drops an album it will of course be on front page. But nobody with a functioning brain thinks that they are limited to only front page music. Everyone is well aware there is all types of music out there I think of music as not secondary to the artist but on the same page. Again this isn't the 80s. Back then if you liked an artidt and wanted to know more about them you had to wait dor a magazine interview or catch it on tv. Now artist can easily connect with fans. They can live stream and answer any of their questions and have real conversations with them. Fans like feeling connected with their favorite artist. The music is not enough you need to do more to retain attention. Most music consumers are casual so they don't care if someone wrote the lyrics themselves or had someone else write it for them, they don't care what song tbe artist sampled, they don't care if you used all loops and presets to make the beat. You as a music maker may be very passionate about that but most fans won't share that same level of passion. They just want something nice to listen to while they drive, read, work out, party, smoke etc. Most people don't feel the urge to do things they hear in hip hop music. Most people can watch a movie about a bank robbery and not go rob a bank. Most people can playa game like grand theft auto and not get in their car and start running people over. You may not like that violencr is glorified but most people do. Hip hop had a brand that is appealing and fun. EDM has a brand that is a appealing and fun. Otjer genres don't have the same mass appeal (key word mass appeal as in core fans of the music will always love it). You know why that is? Because their artist and those brands don't represent things that draw people in. Other genres and artist probably have better quality music. But most casual listeners aren't going to be motivated to check it out because it takes more than just good music to get and keep people's attention. Any genre or artist can get the same shine as hip hop or any rapper. They just need to devote time in making themselves as an artist just as appealing as the music

Well go onto itunes, google trends, andything you want you'll see that it's not very popular. It has it's place amongst niche fans but thats it. Again you are missing the point. Nobody is forcing them to listen to the music or seek it out. They do so on their own because it is intriguing to them. espescially to someone who has not grown up in an urban neighborhood that way of life is intriguing because it is so different that wgat they know. It's not like you wake up and automatically have rap albums downloaded on your phone, or get in your car and the rap station automatically comes on and you can't change it. It's not being force fed it's what people seek out the most.Ultimately I agree with you. It's sad that most rappers portray a lifestyle they don't actually live and promote it as the only way to be successful. But again it is attractive to people. People have the ability to control themselves. Most rap songs released this year talk about doing all types of drugs but I have no desire to do them myself. But when it comes on at a party it's fun to go wild to. That's all it is for most people. It's a lifestyle that looks fun and exciting.

You don't have to like it lol but that's how i feel. I even said i am sure if i listened to these genres closely and invested a lot of time into it I'm sure i would notice all types of idfferences. But because I don't they all the sound the same to me as a less than casual listener looking it.

Considering a classical and jazz song hasn't been in the billboard hot 100 or any other sales tracking site for decades i'm going to disagree. But i'm jduging on what's popular in America perhaps they are bigger world wide but I doubt it since there hasn't been a new popular jazz or classical musician in forever. I'm not saying these other genres aren't big in their own right they just aren't appealing to mass audience. Hip Hop culture just outside of music is fascinating to people because of the dangerous lifestyle it promotes. People want to be apart of it and feel badass. Metal doens't have that same appeal and so it will only appeal to fans of the genre. Hip Hop dictaes cultre. A few years again everyone was saying YOLO because of drake. Now everyone says it's lit and turn up because of what they hear and rap songs. Other genres don't have that appeal. People keep gravitating to hip hop and those music channels because it is cool and popular. Young people like feeling cool and popular. Until other genres make younger people want to listen to that music it's going to keep being this way. People love the brand of hip hop. People don't necessarily care about other genres because its not cool to them.

You keep using exapmles of bands and teams that have multiple people. But like you said the lead singer is handsome and the teen girls love him. That got people interested in them already without hearing their music. If they were all very unnattractive they wouldn't have the same appeal. It is cool what they did with the music but i gurantee you the intial interest in them came from their looks and their brand. WHy do you think people shop at the same places? because they know what to expect going into that store. They know the clothes they are going to get. A random pop up shop is going to have to get people interested in their brand first before their clothes. It's why people will spend hundreds on shoes that probably aren't as high quality of other shoes but they wnat them for the brand.

I think the same can be said for just about every genre of music. On the outside looking in classical music, jazz, rock, country, metal, and EDM all sounds the same to me. But if i were to heavily invest time into listening to these genres i'm sure i'd notice all sorts of differences. If artist want to get more people listening to their music they need to brand and market themselves in a way that draws people to them. Labels aren't to blame for this. They are simply chasing after what has a buzz on the internet and then trying to capitalize on it and monetize it so that it's appealing to the masses. There are some who don't mind selling out for the money mainstream attention brings and others who love the integrity of their art and will refuse to water it down. The key ( and many independent rappers have done this well) is to get a folloowing on your own so that if a label ever does show interest someday it's because they need you more than you need them and then you can dictate your terms. If you were to go to a resturaunt and you found out the chef didn't actually make your meal with passion and love and he just used tools to accelarae the process will you care? Probably not. As long as the music taste good that's all that matters. You could say to any casual listener you know the person that made this record just used a bunch of loops and presets they aren't going to care at all they just care if it sounds good or not. That is why i stress branding so much because when you make music the people who listen to it probably are not musicians themselves. So they aren't gooing to care how long you worked on your chord progression, how many hours you put into desiging your sytnth just right, or how long it took you to write your lyrics. I find the only people who really care about this are music makers themselves. I agree it would be cool if more artist do this and promote the artist they sampled but I don't think most people will care. Lex Luger is a popular hip hop producer who samples a lot of opera but I will never go back and listen to the opera songs he used because i don't care for the music. That's just me maybe others will

I don't necessarliy like it but I understand it's how the world works now. You can either be upset and complain about it or try to adapt to what's going on. I'm sure there are people that hate the way netflix works but the times have changed and most people wanna watch their shows when they want. It's the same with music. Rather than complain about people pirating music plenty of artist use it to their advantage. They make the people invested in them as a person and give their music for free but make money other ways. The fact is if someone likes you as a person and likes your personality they will support just about anything you do. However, there are others who do not brand themselves properly and focus just on the music. What happens when that person wants to try something different? they lose a large portion of their fanbase because they don't want to hear you do something other than the music you got popular for. All they care about is your music they don't care about you as a person or what you stand for and that's a big part of keeping fans. They have to like you for more than just your music. I can flip that question and ask why is classical music, jazz, and rock only popular amongst very niche audiences instead of mainting the mass appeal they used to have?

Yes they all targeted specific audiences but it wasn't the same audience. The difference between your example and music is that sports is a team effort. With music espescially if you know how to brand yourself it's all about you and your creation. You may not be one of these people but for a lot of others they like feeling like they know the artist themselves and that that artist speaks for them and is their voice. When i find a new artist i like I listen to their music but then i look for interviews they have done because i am curious about who they are as a person. There have been artist i have never listened but i've stumbled across a random interview and gave it a listen to and decided to give their music a chance because I liked what they stood for. That is part of branding. If it was just music and nothing else there's a lot of artist I wouldn't have given a chance. But because of artist knowing how to brand and market themselves I bought into their music. They made me interested in them. I think of music like a mall. There are tons of stores in a mall. Maybe you open up a brand new clothing store in the mall. You could have the best clothes ever and it can be innovative and cutting edge. But if you don't market and promote your store and make people want to come in and look around nobody is going to care. You have to make people care and make people interested in your clothes because there are so many other stores they can go to. So in that regard branding is just as if not more important than the quality of music because you have to make people care.

Quite a lot actually I can name you more but I know you haven't heard of them. For example, Jcole did what he called the dollar and a dream tour. He'd show up in a random city and tweet the location of the venue he was performing his show at and all the fans had to pay to get in was a dollar. You can look it up yourself but he sold out evry single venue and the lines were blocks long. J.Cole can do something like that because of the fanbase he has built for himself not because a label promoted it. And yes I know kanye was singing and rapping way before that but it was never for an entire album. I never stated i think all rap is good i think a lot of it is garbage. I simply said if you think rap in say 2005 sounds the exact same as rap now then you are very mistaken. 90's hip hop sounds nothing like modern hip hop. Yet what they have in common is that they are appealing to the youth and as long as that is the case it won't die. Rap has clearly evolved it just doesn't have 30 subgenres like other types of music. But you can see it by artist who were once popular that are no longer popular. 50 Cent once upon a time was the biggest rapper a live but times have changed and hip hop changed and now nobody cares to check for his music. Trap is popular now but it wasn't a thing in 2006. Autotuned rap lyrics wasn't a thing in the early and mid 2000s but now it's very common. For better or for worse you can clearly tell the difference between hip hop at differnt points in time. Hip Hop (i'm not sure about other genres) is pretty much a young mans game. People who loved rap in the 90s hate what it is now and people now think rap in the 90s was corny. What's new and interesting to 18-25 year olds isn't going to be interesting to someone much older. There are rappers for people who want to hear substance but there are more rappers for people who want to party and turn up because that's what the core fanbase at the moment wants to hear. But there is something for everyone with rap

Why would artist not having to rely an record labels to push them be a bad thing? they can focus on their own core fanbase and keep all the money for themselves instead of having to split it.I'm not saying it's easy to become huge like these artist i'm just saying it's very possible. You do not need anyone's help to gain a fanbase. I think you are blind if you can't realize this. It doesn't leave the music industry stagnant. 20 years ago EDM was nothing but because of the internet it has become enormous espescially in other countries and has had a big influence on other genres of music because of the interent. I agree it should be about what the consumer wants but at the end of the day these are business and they are here to make money. Quality of music means nothing it's all about branding and marketabliity. You can build a following for yourself doing the music you like to do that isn't mainstream it'll just take a little longer to catch on