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A couple years back, I ended up sitting next to someone from Spotify on a flight to Austin for SxSW. I had no idea who she was at the time but decided to pick her brain for an article I was working on. Ironically, the article was about the possibility of streaming services replacing major labels. As we discussed the huge door that streaming services opened for independents, she made a statement that I totally agreed with but still found completely unnerving.

NOBODY gets in XXL Magazine for free. EVERYONE PAYS! Whether it’s paying direct through advertising or paying indirectly through tens of thousands of dollars on PR, Marketing, Promotion, etc, it costs money!

The chances of you as an independent with only a few hundred followers on IG getting featured in XXL Magazine are practically ZERO!

In honor of valentines day we took the weekend to go through updates from our all of our active members and put together a special "Valentine Vibes" playlist. Check it out to discover some new music to set the mood on this special day. 

I recall being criticized for referring to Future as the “soul of Atlanta music”. Maybe I was premature in my assertion, but that same statement today would hardly raise an eyebrow. I can clearly remember my first time meeting Future at the Def Jam office in Atlanta, and not too long after, spending an evening in the back of Magic City for the Dirty Sprite listening party. Atlanta was buzzing; but I was still on the fence. Having seen so many independent artists come and go, there was a clear pattern of their buzz lasting only as long as their budgets. “Racks” was an undeniable record, but it was YC’s record. When “Tony Montana” dropped, it was inescapable. Even Drake jumped on the wave.

While explaining to an artist’s manager the benefit of spending nearly $1,000 to register for the Revolt Music Conference, I realized something. I sounded a lot like the many people who’ve tried to convert me to using Apple products over the years.  As I described hearing Puff speak about attending his first concert and the moment he knew he wanted to get into the entertainment industry, I couldn’t help but visualize Steve Jobs speaking to a room full of Apple acolytes at the very first World Wide Developers Conference. In that instance, I thought to myself , “Is Diddy Hip Hop’s Steve Jobs?” While this may seem like a leap for most, being both a fan of hip hop and avid nerd, stacking these two side by side offers some interesting parallels.

So… Before we dive into this list of why Tidal is destined to fail. I must start by saying that I’m a paying subscriber and as such I have every right to review and critique what I’m paying for. Now lets get started with WHY Tidal is going to fail. 

Makin’ It Magazine’s first annual Media Matters Soundstage was a huge success. Writers and representatives from AllHipHop.com, BallerAlert.com, WhyCauseICan.com, Hip Hop Weekly, HipHopSince1987.com, OMHHI.com, Livemixtapes, Worldstar and a ton of other independent media outlets came thru.

If you want to be Hip Hop’s next big Producer, don’t purchase Fruityloops or Reason.... BUY SERATO! While that may sound odd, a quick look at some of Hip Hop’s top hit makers will clearly illustrate the strong connection between DJing and great production. Just google the discography of DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Timbaland or Swizz Beats, all of which cut their teeth as DJs prior to becoming some of the most influential producers in hip hop.

When it was announced that Apple was acquiring Beats for $3 Billion, the hip hop blogosphere exploded with talks of Dre being hip hop’s first billionaire. Being the nerd that I am and having followed the acquisitions of tech companies like Instagram and Whatsapp, I understood that there were finer financial intricacies at play than cutting a check for 25% (Dre’s stake in Beats) of $3.2 Billion (The initial Beats sale price to Apple). After the dust settled and the acquisition was complete, Dre’s  post-Apple net worth was estimated to be in the neighborhood of $780 Million; leapfrogging him over Hov and Diddy, but still putting him more than $200 Million shy of the billion dollar mark.