“Does the Taylor Gang Buy Records?” by @RubyHornet

I came across this read by Alex over at Ruby Hornet, and figured some of you may find it interesting.

“If there is one thing that I learned from being at SXSW last week, it’s that nobody really has any answers as far as making money in the music business is concerned. I sat through panels with marketing experts, label heads, musicians, producers, creatives, you name the music related profession and they were there scratching their heads, throwing out old models and asking the same questions of, ‘where do we go from here?’ It was a pretty profound experience considering I was sitting in many of these panels just days after the release of our first official release, Closed Sessions: ATX, from our newly minted Closed Sessions label… It’s not exactly the steak and champagne I was expecting. But, venturing into the streets of Austin and it’s a slightly different outlook as buzzing artists are all smiles as packed crowds go from venue to venue to see their favorite stars. In fact, Hip Hop wise, the artists with the most buzz were all ones either without any product for sale (Odd Future, Big Sean, Lil’ B, Big K.R.I.T., Mac Miller, The Cool Kids), or plenty of free releases to bookend their for-profit material (Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, Slaughterhouse, Freddie Gibbs, Yelawolf).

So while the convention center offers one picture of the music biz, the Internet and artists offer another. It’s not that the demand for music has dwindled, or people are onto the next thing… There is no next thing. The music is here, and will always be here. The thing is, nobody really wants to pay for it. If it took “X” amount of effort to sell a single ten years ago, it probably takes “X” times a thousand to do that now. And let’s not even talk about now vs. 20 years ago. Really, the artists with the most success are those that stopped selling music a long time ago, gave away quality material for free, invested their fans via twitter and social networks, and hit the road… hard. The poster child for this is Wiz Khalifa, who has lived on the road since the release of his critically acclaimed Kush and Orange Juice Mixtape. He toured all over the country, packing venues, and initiating thousands and thousands into his “Taylor Gang”, a name reserved for his most diehard fans. Wiz then captured the attention of the whole country when his “Black and Yellow” struck a chord with Steelers nation, hit the Superbowl, and made the underdog pothead from Pittsburgh a household name. This is something not lost on Wiz, who recognizes the great opportunity that comes with still being considered “Hip Hop’s Rookie of The Year” (Rolling Stone) to a mainstream audience. He now must balance the new fans, and those diehards, those chanting “Taylor Gang”. The question is, does Wiz’s Taylor Gang buy albums? With one week until the release of his major label debut, Rolling Papers, Wiz and everyone at Atlantic is hoping that his fans are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Sure, Wiz can pack The Metro, but he is now going to change his relationship with his fans as he asks them to do something he has rarely asked before, actually buy the music. I say rarely because while Wiz commercially released Deal or No Deal, it happened at a totally different time, and was an independent release. This album is a major label release, with the whole world watching… But anyway, it seems like a fair trade. After all, Wiz has supplied his fanbase, and anyone else breathing, with tons of content from songs, music videos, even gossip via his relationships with Amber Rose and Natalie Nunn. He’s got a movie coming out with Snoop Dogg, as well as a soundtrack. Further, Wiz cares enough about people’s well-being to be a staunch opponent of smoking blunts, even halting his Chicago listening session at the first whiff of grape cigarillos. As of now, Wiz has 1,297,870 Twitter followers. I don’t think anyone has ever done a Twitter Followers to Sales Ratio, but in the era of the new music business and new music marketing, Wiz presents a great opportunity to do so. Why not? As execs scratch their heads to project sales numbers in order to craft budgets, Wiz is a perfect place to start…“

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