what the topic says?? ive met alot of A&R's over the years and i always heard, "make me something sounding like so and so; then we can work". Thats when i would just say fuck you thats not what i do. but recently ive been thinking about giving in. getting away from samples and just banging out junk. thoughts?
Ever think about selling out?
- Thread starter P_1
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Agent Smith
IllMuzik Junkie
ill o.g.
composing beats as opposed to sampling does not equal junk first of all. the era of oversimplified beats is almost over anyway. its just a matter of being creative but also keeping in mind what the average listener can listen to without it going over their heads or under their radar. Major label music can be good music and it should...thats not the case all the time but it is possible...
sorry agent smith i didnt mean to say that composing was junk. i was just pertaining to me staying away from sampling. i actually agree that composing can be good too but im talking about the shit thats constantly on the radio. I do believe that major labels are just more concerned about making money RIGHT NOW instead of creating good music (its a business, i understand). Heck even Kanye sold out.
Bobby Ffitch
ILLIEN
ill o.g.
if I could 'sell out' like p_1 is talking about, I would do it in a second. I've tried a bunch of times to switch up my style, and I usually just end up getting too bored. Also, I think a lot of people who consider making radio-ready music to be 'selling out' are really underestimating the skill-level it takes to make those tracks. Granted, 'Laffy Taffy' was probably an easy 10 minutes of work, but i've tried a million times and I definitely don't have the skillset to consistently make those kinds of beats.
edit: also i dont think kanye sold out. the dude is making completely different music, but at least hes doing something new. now, i would say Alchemist sold out...
Sincock
Fucking Wankers
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 8
It's a really personal issue. IMO it comes down to what you believe to be right or wrong not how much money you make or who else is doing/did it.
If you can live with yourself and are able rationalise it as others do then go ahead knock yourself out.
Bobby, it's selling out not because it's easy or hard but because you're making music you don't believe in purely for $$$. If that's the music you love and you make money out of it then it's not selling out; it's getting paid to do what you love.
If you can live with yourself and are able rationalise it as others do then go ahead knock yourself out.
Bobby, it's selling out not because it's easy or hard but because you're making music you don't believe in purely for $$$. If that's the music you love and you make money out of it then it's not selling out; it's getting paid to do what you love.
T
The Arkitekt
Guest
How's that? he's still doin his thing
exactly, even if you wanted to you can't wake up tomorrow morning and think you're gonna make a hit or think your gonna start to make hits. It would take a few years at least, 1 or 2 if your really really really lucky, still chances are it's not happening at all, but still, if you tried you would get bored from it.
I guess you could think of it as real shitty job that pays a lot, but it doesn't pay haha
spartan265
ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
the phrase ''selling out'' has such bad connotations attached to it. but lets examine the phrase... it means your product is good. it means its popular. it means the general majority think its good. so good that you've sold out, or are currently ''selling out''. being commercial means that your good. thats why i hate it when people say things on the charts are junk. i concede - musically, they are probably very simple and repetitive and in no way challenging to the listener, but the reality is that the people love it. so is it that we are geniuses and the rest of the world are sheep?.. i think thats a bit arrogant. a good song is a good song. shit.. would i sell out?.. i say sign me the fuck up.
Lol @ "selling out"
Hmm:
"Hey Sucio this is (industry dude) I like your beats but they aren't what we're looking for right now. If you can make some tracks sounding like (popular radio track) then I think we can make a deal"
If I say no to that. I deserve to be shot. I would love to do music for a living, no matter what type of music I have to do. And if you wanna change the game, you gotta do it when you're in it.....
Selling out is just another way of hatin on people who have made it...
And big ups to the dude who made Laffy Taffy... That beat sucks balls musically but it became a hit...Dude spent 10 minutes on the beat and made some decent money on it.
Hmm:
"Hey Sucio this is (industry dude) I like your beats but they aren't what we're looking for right now. If you can make some tracks sounding like (popular radio track) then I think we can make a deal"
If I say no to that. I deserve to be shot. I would love to do music for a living, no matter what type of music I have to do. And if you wanna change the game, you gotta do it when you're in it.....
Selling out is just another way of hatin on people who have made it...
And big ups to the dude who made Laffy Taffy... That beat sucks balls musically but it became a hit...Dude spent 10 minutes on the beat and made some decent money on it.
Man I dont care if I had a hand in making a country song go platinum...at the end of the day I want to call myself a musician and get paid for it. Thats not selling out. Thats called versitility and just being plain knowledgeable of music. Just think of those people who are capable of pulling off different musical styles.
Selling out has nothing to do with the status of your lifestyle.
I dunno why many people always try to equate the two?
If you work a 9-5 and stay underground, that doesnt mean you havent sold out.
If you still live at your moms house and do countless shows locally but still dont have the following you think you deserve, that still doesnt have shit to do with selling out and you could have easily already done so.
How fat your wallet is has nothing to do with selling out.
If you begin to sacrifice the creativity of your music, the ability to think for yourself, drastically alter your ideologies for someone else's, or degrade the core elements that represented who you are and what your music was about in the first place - THEN YOUVE SOLD OUT.
I dunno why many people always try to equate the two?
If you work a 9-5 and stay underground, that doesnt mean you havent sold out.
If you still live at your moms house and do countless shows locally but still dont have the following you think you deserve, that still doesnt have shit to do with selling out and you could have easily already done so.
How fat your wallet is has nothing to do with selling out.
If you begin to sacrifice the creativity of your music, the ability to think for yourself, drastically alter your ideologies for someone else's, or degrade the core elements that represented who you are and what your music was about in the first place - THEN YOUVE SOLD OUT.
word most people (i would think) try to craft their beats to get them sounding like the beats you hear on the radio. i mean not imitating exactly, but quality-wise and structure-wise. that way it's more appealing to major labels or whoever.
but ya i had some people willing to pay if they sounded like jeezy's beats, or swizzy's beats, or w/e.
i really do think no matter what type of beats you're making, if they're reallllllyyy good then you'll be fine. i guess most of us on here just haven't reached that bar where if someone hears you're beat, they'd wana pay. u know what i mean? i personally don't think i'm that good. i know some of you do. i thought i was when i was like 2 years into making beats. but over they years as i get better, my ear gets tuned to the differences.
or something like that. PEACE.
but ya i had some people willing to pay if they sounded like jeezy's beats, or swizzy's beats, or w/e.
i really do think no matter what type of beats you're making, if they're reallllllyyy good then you'll be fine. i guess most of us on here just haven't reached that bar where if someone hears you're beat, they'd wana pay. u know what i mean? i personally don't think i'm that good. i know some of you do. i thought i was when i was like 2 years into making beats. but over they years as i get better, my ear gets tuned to the differences.
or something like that. PEACE.
7thangel
7th Angel of Armageddon
ill o.g.
you guys are making the term something it isn't. it's when you purposely make something/do something/etc that goes against your moral code, feelings, way of life, your people/folks/community, etc, all to achieve a certain goal, sometimes money or success or acceptance. ask yourself what you wouldn't do for cash or success and there's half your answer but then some folks have wavering standards from the start. being successful or commercial doesn't mean they're sell outs but it also doesn't mean they aren't, selling out is a 50/50 gamble, actually not even. i remember when a bunch of acts switched up when the conscious movement took full force, all of a sudden they were acting all righteous (still sayin' nothin'). funny thing is, one person, known to adjust with the times not sellout, failed to do so... ll cool j, and that was probably the closest he has been to being chased out the biz by the fans. they booed his ass at fresh fest (i think that was the name). even though i was doing my r, b and g thing to the fullest, organizing and shit, i respected the fact that he didn't fake the funk.
would i create something that i personally couldn't stand to listen to, do some damn near cooning , shucking and jiving in front of a camera, play the role because it's not enough to just make the music, just to get some love, cash, attention, acceptance....naw. never mind that there are no guarantees, think of the acts that did a 360 or dudes who joined a studio-made boy band leaving their own band only to be flops and never-were's. there's plenty of ways to get cash, some illegal, that would be less onerous or fucked up.
i'm not a full fledged musician and i'm not a chameleon, but if i was, i'd be in the industry that appreciates that kind of talent...advertising/jingle, scoring film/tv, etc, not wasting my braincells, patience, or stress lines on some wishy-washy industry with the people who are making the decisions just as wishy-washy and full of it trying not to get downsized while not looking for new talent or developing the ones the have. every time i read an interview involving some a&r i have to laugh as they deliver the same old tired line referring producers/beatmakers/artists about not paying attention to the radio because that was 6 months ago getting played now, bring something new, when the truth is they want what's on the radio now and what's been on the radio for those last 6 months, lol.
all that being said, this is more of a recording artist dilemma, their movements are seen from jump, so easily judged from outside. otherwise, it's a question and answer only you can honestly come up with truthfully, but being completely honest with ourselves is one of the hardest things for most.
now i'm going to the titty bar
would i create something that i personally couldn't stand to listen to, do some damn near cooning , shucking and jiving in front of a camera, play the role because it's not enough to just make the music, just to get some love, cash, attention, acceptance....naw. never mind that there are no guarantees, think of the acts that did a 360 or dudes who joined a studio-made boy band leaving their own band only to be flops and never-were's. there's plenty of ways to get cash, some illegal, that would be less onerous or fucked up.
i'm not a full fledged musician and i'm not a chameleon, but if i was, i'd be in the industry that appreciates that kind of talent...advertising/jingle, scoring film/tv, etc, not wasting my braincells, patience, or stress lines on some wishy-washy industry with the people who are making the decisions just as wishy-washy and full of it trying not to get downsized while not looking for new talent or developing the ones the have. every time i read an interview involving some a&r i have to laugh as they deliver the same old tired line referring producers/beatmakers/artists about not paying attention to the radio because that was 6 months ago getting played now, bring something new, when the truth is they want what's on the radio now and what's been on the radio for those last 6 months, lol.
all that being said, this is more of a recording artist dilemma, their movements are seen from jump, so easily judged from outside. otherwise, it's a question and answer only you can honestly come up with truthfully, but being completely honest with ourselves is one of the hardest things for most.
now i'm going to the titty bar
