Hip Hop

I have always believed that mediocrity kills. In the music industry, specifically the Hip Hop market, I feel that artist and labels are dishing out mediocre products. The labels get in the way of artist creativity and request artist to perform what sells. With the power of the Internet, you hear artist who are not ready for the long haul in the music industry, but since the decline of music sales, labels jump after artist who have a local buzz and a hit song. Yes, these records generate monetary sales via ringtones, licensing on film/TV, and radio royalties. But, I believe that these mediocre artist and songs will be a detriment to the essence of hip-hop. Even Asher Roth stated "if we keep rapping about this nonsense and this unattainable materialism, we’re screwed." 
 On just about every well-known hip hop blog you will find topics about the exploitation of the music. Fans are starting to tune out at the redundancy of the radio’s playlist. I mean come on, how many of you have said to yourself while riding in the car “ man, didn’t they just play this?” If the music execs of these labels don’t consider the long term affects of how they conduct the business of the hip hop market, then they will continue to see drop in sales. The time will come when artist realize that iTunes, amazon.com and other internet retailer’s will give them the distribution needed without the major labels backing. The emergence of the Internet has transformed the traditional business module for all major recording labels. The World Wide Web has enhanced the brick and mortar ways of marketing, promoting and retail. The Internet has given birth to the new era of music, but will consumers embrace these artists that are not carbon copies?