Calling Macklemore out on his "indie" rise bullshit.

[God]

When I heard of Macklemore, I was wondering -- how the fuck did this guy get to the top of the charts with "Thrift Shop" and sell so many album downloads "independently."

For y'all who don't know me on this forum, I've been calling shit out for a long time.

THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY YOU GET RADIO AIRPLAY ON TOP 40 STATIONS WITHOUT SOME AFFILIATION TO A MAJOR. PROGRAM DIRECTORS AT RADIO STATIONS DO NOT SIMPLY PLAY SHIT BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT.

I don't give a fuck how good your social media marketing is, you simply don't hit up the major radio stations without major label help.

So I dug around Google and found Macklemore's "indie" story was bullshit:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013...-how-macklemore-got-thrift-shop-to-number-one

http://raprehab.com/macklemores-indie-rise-is-simply-a-white-lie/

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013...klemore-and-the-myth-of-the-indie-artist.html

What they don't explain is... who fronted them the money to market their shit? It's hard to believe there wasn't a marketing team helping this cat out. My bet is someone fronted Macklemore money and then bought a portion of an "equity stake" in Macklemore. I bet a major, like Warner did that.

Gives credibility to Macklemore while also getting an equity stake in an artist. Similar to my Illmuzik post a long time ago about a major investing in an indie record company as a silent partner: https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/thr...anies-finds-new-music-trends.3714/#post-30502

Does all the shit I write come true? I don't know. Man. I'm getting old for this shit. Fade, tell me to stop, man. Tell me to stop.

 

[Fade]

Well yeah, it's simply common sense. Like you said, no one is going to get played on the radio just because they have a nice song. It just seems to me that Macklemore used the whole "indie" title as a marketing tactic and guess what? It worked. Are you surprised though that he has a major backing?

 

[God]

Well yeah, it's simply common sense. Like you said, no one is going to get played on the radio just because they have a nice song. It just seems to me that Macklemore used the whole "indie" title as a marketing tactic and guess what? It worked. Are you surprised though that he has a major backing?

Nah, I'm not surprised. It would've been a great story if it were true though.

Reminds me of a quote from a friend of my family who was an old-time hustler: "Money talks, bullshit walks."

 

[2GooD Productions]

When I heard of Macklemore, I was wondering -- how the fuck did this guy get to the top of the charts with "Thrift Shop" and sell so many album downloads "independently."

For y'all who don't know me on this forum, I've been calling shit out for a long time.

THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY YOU GET RADIO AIRPLAY ON TOP 40 STATIONS WITHOUT SOME AFFILIATION TO A MAJOR. PROGRAM DIRECTORS AT RADIO STATIONS DO NOT SIMPLY PLAY SHIT BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT.

I don't give a fuck how good your social media marketing is, you simply don't hit up the major radio stations without major label help.

So I dug around Google and found Macklemore's "indie" story was bullshit:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013...-how-macklemore-got-thrift-shop-to-number-one

http://raprehab.com/macklemores-indie-rise-is-simply-a-white-lie/

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013...klemore-and-the-myth-of-the-indie-artist.html

What they don't explain is... who fronted them the money to market their shit? It's hard to believe there wasn't a marketing team helping this cat out. My bet is someone fronted Macklemore money and then bought a portion of an "equity stake" in Macklemore. I bet a major, like Warner did that.

Gives credibility to Macklemore while also getting an equity stake in an artist. Similar to my Illmuzik post a long time ago about a major investing in an indie record company as a silent partner: https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/thr...anies-finds-new-music-trends.3714/#post-30502

Does all the shit I write come true? I don't know. Man. I'm getting old for this shit. Fade, tell me to stop, man. Tell me to stop.

Come on man, I thought that you of all people would have seen through that in an instant.
Im surprised that youre surprised .

 

[God]

Come on man, I thought that you of all people would have seen through that in an instant.
Im surprised that youre surprised .

I actually thought he was major when I heard him on Top 40 radio. I started reading shit about him afterwards about how he claims he's "indie."

Bullshit meter hit 10.

 

[slik da relic]

well.. even tho i dont comment much on your posts, i DEFINITELY read them.. keep doin the damn thing homie.. im one person in here that enjoys the threads u post!

da relic

 

[Greg Savage]

I wouldn't call his claim bs. They were on major radio before hiring warner. Granted, there radio play was minimal doing it on their own.Warner was used for the boost, which sped things up (ALOT).

Indie/self made meaning they didn't have to sign to the label. Would it be any different if they hired another marketing firm and got the same results?

The only thing they did was seek out an investor, which is something most successful indie companies do

 

[Sucio]

But the point is they hired a major label to back them on their endeavor, and there is no way a major wouldn't help if there were no type of investment into them...I'm sure it was more of a deal where you need to make the money back or you'd owe us.....Wait...what?

 

[Greg Savage]

But the point is they hired a major label to back them on their endeavor, and there is no way a major wouldn't help if there were no type of investment into them...I'm sure it was more of a deal where you need to make the money back or you'd owe us.....Wait...what?

They hired their marketing firm. The firm didn't build them, didn't create their image, didn't control the music, there was no artist development just marketed and invested in stock.

That's a good indie move imo

Would people be giving this team shit if the firm were called? 'abnc'?

Normally the Label hires the artists

in this case the indie hired the label and stayed in control.

Of course, any investor would want their money back... would be stupid not to and with interest.

I can understand if this group got signed and marketed themselves as an indie group, but that didn't happen. They worked for years and got a investor and marketing firm in place... nothing wrong with that.

 

[Sucio]

So it's a label deal without the legalities........

 

[Greg Savage]

So it's a label deal without the legalities........

Not really, that's like me hiring Interscope's firm. Ivine wanting to invest in my company with return and saying I'm signed to Interscope.

That's not the same at all, not even close

There's a difference between having an investor and a record deal

 

[God]

There's a difference between having an investor and a record deal

Depends what the terms of the deal are. We don't know if it's just marketing or if it's more.

From what I've seen, it's enough to create the necessary leverage on the part of the label over the act while owning a far larger share of the act had they had if the label had initially signed them.

If I own 51% of your endeavor, I essentially own your project. I'm not here to do the math, but the profit margin is extremely large in such a deal.

Industry heads have been doing this to indie labels for a long time. Now, they just do it to the act itself.