The Music Business Is Not A Talent Show

Success brings haters, it's surely true. This is an old story and we've seen it out here many times before. When you're impossible to avoid hearing about, it's impossible to avoid hearing everyone's opinions about your music, your moves, your fit and your face. And it's all happening again.

There have been some ridiculous rumors lately. First is that Jax only got signed because he has family in the industry: not so, bud. There are also narratives that he's a "rich kid" who "bought" his label deal. This is both wrong and deeply stupid. Marks in the cheap seats think a record deal is a neverending open bar, but it's contractually negotiated debt. If you've got capital and collateral, you can just get a fucking loan, and that's exponentially less work than a music career. (Hell, you could just start a label and sign yourself, something that hundreds of local rappers have done over the years, to varying degrees of success.)

None of that really needs to be said. This isn't about North Ave Jax at all: it's about pretty much everyone else.

Critiques about successful artists are beside the point — no, worse: pointless. Music is an artform, the music industry is a business. Those artists are providing a product that people want, and that is why they are successful. In a marketplace where consumers are constantly bombarded by product after product, it takes a lot of work, strategy, money and luck to build a fanbase and maintain your fragile grip on their attention span.

That part about work is lost on way too many aspiring artists. The industry has been so glamorized for so long that every Lil Sniffy with big dreams thinks "the grind" is just some big party, rather than straight up hard work.

Another misconception is that once you're signed, you're set. In reality, the vast majority of artists who get record deals never see much come from it. Almost all of them, in fact. Signing that contract isn't the culmination of your career, it's the beginning of the longest and hardest stretch of your journey to the top.

That said, there's a reason the phrase "Fake It Until You Make It" exists. The music industry is built upon a fair amount of bullshit and trickery; it was founded by the mafia, after all, and still enjoys an intimate relationship with organized crime to this day.

Perhaps the most famous example is XXL's "Freshman Class" cover shoot -- those spots are mostly, if not entirely, bought by labels or management teams. It's understandable if that strikes you as fraudulent bullshit, but it's also an investment.

It is absolutely true that major labels utilize click farms every bit as much as hungry independent artists do, but the goals are very different. Independents are trying to buy clout, majors are trying to buy momentum. Their goal is not to fake stats, but to get media and playlist attention in order to generate revenue when it's finally time to drop an album.

The product has to connect. There's no faking that part. So no matter what you think about Nothing,Nowhere or 99 Neighbors or North Ave Jax, there's no denying their product is finding an audience, forging a real connection with their fans. That is why industry professionals are tapping in. They're trying to invest in winners, not create them from scratch.

So where does that leave you? With a lot of work ahead of you. Rappers are quick to congratulate themselves online for putting in work but that shit needs to be a daily habit, a regular routine, taken for granted.

The question you need to be asking yourself is not "how can I get put on?" but "how can I put myself on?"

Who is the actual audience for your music and how can you reach them? Are you really doing enough to promote yourself? How can you make the most of every single and video you release? How can you improve the feedback and response you get? Is it possible that your product just isn't up to par yet? Are there skills you need to learn in order to achieve that? Are there important jobs you're no good at or don't want to do? How can you get people involved in your team to fill those gaps?

If you made physical copies of your albums, how many could you sell? What about shirts, hats and hoodies? Is your live set converting new fans or do you mostly have the same people coming through for every show? Do you have a plan for the next six months or are you just releasing songs as soon as they're done? Are you setting specific goals, like doubling your Spotify numbers or getting 500 new plays for your latest single? If you did have a manager, what would you expect from them, and what do you have to offer them besides talent?

That's only the beginning, of course. There are a lot of questions you'll need to ask yourself this year, and you'll need to figure out answers for every single one of them, too. Maybe focus on that instead of whoever is blowing up right now. Happy Easter and good luck.