Revenue and Distribution

Rap artist are now expanding their opportunities by endorsing various brands to increase revenue. These business ventures have opened up opportunities for artist to expand their brand while endorsing others. Recently music moguls have partnered with liquor brands such as Ciroc Vodka and Ace of Spades. Sean “Diddy” Combs for example endorses and develops the Ciroc brand Vodka, which he utilizes product placement in his records and videos to endorse the brand. Other artist have followed suit such as music mogul Jay Z who recently began endorsing “Ace of Spade” in 2007. Jay Z does not officially have and endorsement deals with the owner of the brand Armand de Brignac but is said to receive 4 million a year for product placement. Other Product endorsement includes Dr. Dre’s (Andre Young) partnership with Monster Cable who produces high quality cables used to transmit audio. He and partner Jimmy Iovine created the “Beats by Dre” professional headphone line. Dr. Dre utilizes his connections with artist and athletes to endorse the brand by product placement in videos and appearances. These partnerships have created another revenue stream for artist other than the declining music industry.

With the decline in the music industry artist have been forced to become more creative to gain potential album sales. What was once effective is now obsolete in the music industry. In the last couple of years artist have taken a more aggressive approach at marketing and creating their materials. Social networks give the artist an advantage to staying in touch with their fan base and an opportunity to market for free. In a more independent approach artist have also utilized inexpensive ways to record more music and distribute it themselves. The” mix tape” has become a staple in the music industry as a marketing tool. With the growth of the cellphone industry, the mixtape websites have now created apps that allow its users to download music directly to their wireless devices. This now gives consumers the ability to always have access to their favorite artist.