Wendy Day is an entrepreneur, author, and artist career builder with nearly three decades of experience in the music industry. As Founder of Rap Coalition, she has helped pull countless hip-hop artists out of unfair deals while educating them on the music industry. Day also runs the for-profit music consulting company PowerMoves, music incubator Artist-Centric, and is the author of the book How to Get a Record Deal: The Knowledge to Succeed, which was updated and re-published in March 2016 with audiobook narration from Slick Rick. She will launch a new music business education website in 2020. Throughout the 1990s, Day made her name by brokering several landmark deals in hip-hop: Master P and No Limit Records’ 85/15 distribution deal with Priority Records, Twista’s 50/50 joint venture with Atlantic Records, and Cash Money Records’ $30 million deal with Universal Music Group. She also was instrumental in securing Eminem’s first contract with Aftermath/Interscope, David Banner’s multi-million dollar deal with Universal Records, and a few other leveraged deals. In addition, Day has played a role in the careers of Lil Wayne, B.G., Juvenile, Hot Boys, C-Murder, Fiend, Do or Die, Boosie, Webbie, Lil Donald, Ras Kass, Trouble, Young Buck, and many others. Her clients have collectively sold over 1 billion sound recordings thanks to her guidance.

Wendy Day has been kind enough to give HNHH a full list of resources and tips to help any up-and-coming artists right now. Read Wendy’s exclusive tips and recommendations in full below. This piece was written by Wendy.

Feel free to comment with additional resources or tips for artists who might be struggling right now! Listen to our up-and-coming Soundcloud artists playlist here.

– Rose Lilah

In these unprecedented times, artists are unable to make a living from performing, the #1 way most of them make money. Thanks to the necessity of preventing or at least reducing the spread of the Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, life as we know it has been canceled for the foreseeable future with no solid end date in sight. We have watched festivals cancel, tours cancel, performances cancel — any event where more than 10 people can gather has been canceled. 

The ramifications from social distancing and self-quarantine will most likely be felt for quite some time, including tremendous financial fallout. Many, many artists depend on money from live performances to support themselves. Additionally, club owners, restaurants, performance spaces, and venue owners depend on the revenue from ticket sales and food and drink purchases from music fans to keep their doors open. If we don’t find a way to support the musicians and venues we love now, they may not be there when this pandemic is over.

To that end, I’d like to share some tips and resources to help artists make some sense of all this, get through it, and emerge stronger than ever.

Release New Music

Since so many fans and potential fans are also stuck in their houses, this is a good time to reach them with new music and content. I have noticed that my distributors, Stem and DistroKid, are understandably taking a bit longer than usual to get music onto DSPs such as Spotify and Apple Music, so please allow at least a week, possibly 10 days, for your music to release commercially. But even with the delays, this is an ideal time to reach a captive audience. Remember, continuity is a main tenet of marketing. 

Create and Sell New Merch

This is a great time to bump up your merchandising efforts. Through Shopify ($30 a month), you can set up a merch store if you don’t already have one. They also feature an app for a company called Merchly that will print and ship your merchandise for you. Basically, you use their template to design your merchandise for a basic wholesale price. After you set your retail price (make sure it’s above the wholesale price), Merchly will then print and ship your promotional items on demand. You keep the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price. It’s a great way to offer merchandise without having to spend money out of pocket, build a merch website from scratch, or stand in line at the post office to ship the merch to customers. 

Livestream a Performance

Cherie Hu has created a Google Drive doc of events that have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus, as well as places to tune in to streamed concerts/events. Be sure to get on this list if you’re performing online. Most importantly, there’s a list of resources for those of you who want to stream shows live and don’t know where to turn.

In addition, if you’re looking to create live VR content or pre-recorded shows that can work on any device, webLinkVR is a great resource. After creating an account, you can do a concert or series of shows with them. And if you’re wondering about their bona fides, they were responsible for Conan O’Brien’s CONAN360 shows. Here is a PowerPoint and a White Paper from webLinkVR that explains how to upload 4K, 8K, and VR content.

Ask Your Fans for Support

If you have a large fanbase, consider adding yourself to Cameo to generate revenue by sending your fans personalized video messages. You can also offer this yourself through your social media using CashApp, Zelle, or Venmo for payments. Be careful using PayPal though, as fans could reverse their payments if they aren’t trustworthy.

You may also want to spend this time researching Kickstarter so that you can create a campaign to release new music, more content, or something even more creative. And of course, Patreon exists for those of you looking for a virtual tip jar or a way to rally fans who love you to support you on a monthly basis.

Set Yourself Up for Sync Licensing Success

Have you joined an online sync community yet? These sites give musicians guidance on how to write and pitch music for use in films, TV shows, commercials, and more, a great revenue source that every artist should take advantage of if possible. Currently, The Sync Community is offering a free 30 day trial so you can test them to see if they’re helpful for you. After you click on “Become a Member,” just use the code SYNC30DAYSFREE.

Stay Informed

Keep an eye on organizations like A2IM, which is offering financial support to indies, and consider whether you need the assistance. Although I’m NOT a fan of royalty advances due to their similarities to payday advances, Sound Royalties is offering no fee advances for artists who have some income from royalties. If you qualify and find yourself in a pinch, you can receive up to $25,000 with no fee or interest rate provided you pay back the advance within a year.

The good folks at NPR have put together a list of resources for musicians and people working in the music business, and The Washington Post offers an example from the past relating to live music. Also, be sure to balance the doom and gloom, like this article from Rolling Stone, with an upside, like this article from Afropunk. Billboard also released a helpful list of resources; be sure to check it out!

In addition, Microsoft is providing a Covid-19 tracker through Bing so you can see for yourself where the virus is spreading instead of believing what you read on social media. Forbes is also keeping track of all known Covid-19 scams. Finally, take the time to learn from pre-outbreak contractual mistakes, particularly as it relates to “force majeure” clauses. Many companies simply didn’t anticipate a pandemic (and who can blame them), so it will be imperative to know exactly what is covered in contracts and insurance agreements going forward. Here’s a great article from Chris Castle at Music Tech Solutions that runs through it in detail.

These are just some basic ideas available to artists who are being crunched by the inability to perform live or do paid shows. Hope you find this helpful, and hope we are back to normal, or as close to normal as we can get, relatively soon and with as little damage as possible. Stay safe and healthy — now go wash your hands again.

– Wendy Day

The Game has been around for nearly twenty years, having spent time at his fair share of record labels: Aftermath, E1, Geffen, Interscope, and many smaller subsidiaries. With nine studio albums under his belt, Game has earned the right to drop gems and lead by example. It's no secret that the music industry landscape has shifted to a drastic degree, with the arrival of streaming having a major impact on record deals. Not to mention the rise of social media as a promotional platform -- one that lends artists a refreshing amount of control. And yet many young rappers have still fallen prey to predatory record deals. 

Evidently, Game has had it up to here. He recently took to Twitter to fire off a passionate warning to any young artist looking to sustain a lucrative and long-lasting career. "This rap shit will KILL YOU. Literally," he begins. "The labels sign young artists to slave deals & their only concern is how they can use you to make more money. They don’t even advertise or market you no more, they let u do it yourself on IG while they sit back, steal & wait 4 the next you. Stay INDEPENDENT. OWN your masters. Do the work yourself & the payoff will be worth it. Almost 20 years in music & not once did anyone tell me this. Shit, I’m still waiting on them to tell YOU."

It's unclear as to what prompted his rant, but it's not uncommon to see artists begin to veer away from the major label route. Royce Da 5'9" spoke in-depth about ownership on The Allegory, warning rappers to focus on the art lest their investments fail to last. Russ has continuously preached the importance of self-sustainability, essentially rebranding himself as an independent guru of sorts. Game's point falls somewhere in the middle, his incendiary language emphasizing the importance of acting fast. Otherwise, there's no telling what might happen when that dotted line is signed. 

The death of Pop Smoke has sent many rappers, particularly those with street ties and gang affiliations, into a reflective state. With newly-emerging details indicating that Smoke was targeted in a hit, the conversation surrounding security in hip-hop has only intensified. Fellow New York rapper Casanova, who actually found himself embroiled in a brief misunderstanding with Smoke, decided to instill some wisdom upon those who might find themselves on a rapid ascent to hip-hop stardom.

Bennett Raglin/Getty Images 

“MAN TO ALL UPCOMING RAPPERS FUCK WHAT THE LABEL SAY ROLL WITH YOUR N***AS EVERYWHERE YOU GO,” he writes, in an IG story grabbed by Akademiks. “IF IT AINT NO ROOM FOR THEM IT AINT NO ROOM FOR YOU PERIOD.” While not making direct reference to Pop Smoke, it’s clear his words (including the typo he corrected in a comment) are in part inspired by the tragic incident. Whether you choose to read deeper into his message is entirely up to you.

Either way, his implication that labels dissuade young rappers from keeping an entourage in their circle remains troubling; some labels seem content to make money off cultural movements like trap music and drill while cherry-picking certain tamer and more “marketable” elements. One has to wonder if Pop Smoke’s death might have been avoidable under different circumstances. For now, Casanova has made it clear where he stands — strength in numbers.

The past year in music brought with it a plethora of new faces and milestones, some of them more applause-worthy and conspicuous than others. Given that we’re still very much in the early transformative stages of the streaming era, understanding the shifts that are happening now will provide a window into the future. With all that said, let’s take a look at how the music industry is evolving as we head into the new decade.

Going Global

Beyond hip hop’s success in the U.S., where it’s now the biggest music genre in terms of total consumption, it has rapidly grown into a worldwide mainstream commodity. The unlimited connectivity of the internet has exponentially sped up this globalization and has amounted to substantial revenue opportunities. Expanded operations and an influx of capital on the African continent, as well as in Asia and the Middle East, are beginning to transform once dormant markets into legitimate players in the music economy, with the potential to not only reach billions of new users, but also expose more localized talent to a wider audience. Democratization and collaboration are the cornerstones of modernity, and hip hop’s forging of international bonds has the power to crack all manner of charts. The past year alone delighted fans with the mainstream arrival of acts ranging from Billie Eilish to BTS to Burna Boy, as well as increased visibility surrounding the UK’s effervescent grime scene and Asia’s experimental music fireworks.

A Post-Genre Era

Lil Nas X and 6lack attend the 2019 GQ Men of the Year After Party – Randy Shropshire/Getty Images 

Music journalists and industry gatekeepers have long had an unhealthy obsession with pigeonholing artists into categories. Yet thanks to the unfettered expansion of hip hop’s cultural footprint, diversification and hybridization were in full bloom in 2019, a year in which the stars aligned for several of music’s boldest and brightest trailblazers. None were more distinguished than Lil Nas X, who marched (spurred cowboy boots in tow) to the gates of Billboard to take on the charts giant, where he ultimately emerged unscathed with the longest running No. 1 song in U.S. chart history. The inescapable rise of “Old Town Road” would not have been possible without forward-thinking curatorial outlets like TikTok and Triller that allow users everywhere to repurpose and share their music. Such platforms have facilitated in breaking down barriers between genres through their capacity for virality and fueling of “music as memes” all manner of remixes, edits, and mashups. Prejudices and preconceived notions continue to crumble beneath the blossoming conception of music as a fluid frontier, capable of supporting the lush sonic smoothies of Koffee, the stylized he-loves-me-not musings of Tyler, The Creator, and the drill-based provocations of Pop Smoke.

More Breakout Success For Female Emcees

Kehlani & Megan Thee Stallion attend Rihanna‘s Diamond Ball, 2019 – Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

One female emcee after another grabbed the public’s attention in 2019, whether it was Lizzo with her triumphant theatrics on “Truth Hurts,” Saweetie and City Girls with their call-and-response anthems, or Megan Thee Stallion and her devoted Hot Girl Summer “hotties.” Others like Noname, Rapsody, Rico Nasty, and Tierra Whack further contributed to the astounding resurgence of women in hip hop. In fact, 2019 “yielded the highest total of (female) rappers making their mark on the Billboard Hot 100 this decade,” a statistic that speaks to just how electrifying the conversation has become in recent years. While there’s no denying the outsized impact of women in hip hop over the course of the genre’s history, it finally feels as if the narrative is beginning to shift to appropriately honor and celebrate both the veterans who paved the way and the new faces who are preserving and building upon their legacy. 

Social Media’s Cult Of Personality

If Tekashi 6ix9ine’s dramatic rise and fall taught us anything, it’s that self-made stars and precocious personalities are hoisted by the masses of the social media age. Universal access to smartphones, and by association social media, is empowering artists to keep pace with their audiences at a previously unprecedented rate. Now more than ever, artists are encouraged to develop bold branding strategies and imagery that sticks, and they’re choosing to connect with listeners directly rather than through the squeaky clean lens of their handlers. All of this has produced a completely new and refurbished pop landscape in which music makers are firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to nurturing media presence, while labels in the traditional sense of the word have resigned themselves to a more hands-off role as financial overseers and talent investors.

The Intersection Of Videos Games, Online Entertainment, & Live Music

Blueface performing at Rolling Loud LA edition 2019 – Photo by Evie Hoffman for HNHH exclusively

Virtual reality and live streaming are tech spaces with endless possibilities, and they’re aiding artists in orchestrating massive cultural moments that unfold in real time. In February, Marshmello’s historic Fortnite concert brought in upwards of 10.7 million live “attendees” in what could very well prove to be the tip of the iceberg for virtual viewership. Meanwhile, 800,000 users tuned in to the YouTube premiere of Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” while over 600,000 scampered to Twitch to watch Ninja and Drake take a crack at duos in the aforementioned battle royale. Rolling Loud, “the largest hip-hop festival in the world,” boasted a throng 60,000 strong at its inaugural New York set this past fall, and with plans to take the show overseas, there’s no telling what the ceiling might be for high-end livestreaming experiences. Who knows: VR capabilities that enable Adam Levine and Jonah Hill to share courtside seats at a live Lakers game could translate into groundbreaking new avenues of engagement for those looking to snag virtual concert tickets and take in the action up close while still in their pajamas.

Riding The “Content” Tidal Wave

Content diversification on streaming services was never a matter of if but a matter of when. Investment in exclusive and original content is well underway: we’ve already seen Spotify take ambitious steps to monopolize the realm of podcasts with their purchase of Gimlet & Anchor, and Pandora established a Podcast Genome similar to the one that powers its internet radio service. Given how scalable technology has become, it’s no surprise that multi-format creative agencies are thriving. The crossover between music and gaming has taken video outlets YouTube and Twitch by storm, while music-based platforms such as COLORS and Lyrical Lemonade are creating compelling blueprints for the future and re-envisioning their role in the space along the way. This entrepreneurial spirit has resulted in the convergence of different areas of media, whether that be music, fashion, film, etc. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Action Bronson’s “Fuck That’s Delicious,” Offset’s partnership with esports organization FaZe Clan, and Drake’s involvement in the revival of Top Boy are but a few example of artists re-envisioning themselves as entertainers and content creators.

No End In Sight For Album Tug Of War

Augmented by the boon of major platform playlists, the discussion surrounding the fluctuation of the album format has been defined by two distinct schools of thought. On one hand, homogenized and inoffensive music devoid of creative merit has engendered passive consumption on a massive scale, as vastly popular algorithms continue to dictate the prosperity of bloated releases. It’s a trend that isn’t going anywhere: lengthy tracklists do numbers, and artists will likely continue to submit desperate, long-winded bids as a means of gaming the system. Elsewhere, more succinct and palatable releases, most notably those comprising Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music rollout of summer 2018, have garnered equal attention if for different reasons. All of this is to say that both ends of the spectrum are finding success in the pursuit of replayability, further bolstering the eternal struggle between quality and quantity.

An Appetite For Conceptually-Conceived Music

The Trump-born melange of crisis and confusion has opened the door for artists to explore ideas of identity and rich, politically-tinged narratives. It’s an environment ripe for socially-literate creatives looking to voice their anger and frustrations with the state of the world. Ambitious vessels such as Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly are the audio equivalent of an escape from modernity’s fractured state, and their success in blurring the lines of fiction and reality underlines a demand for forging deeper connections with artists and the environments they weave.

What do you predict for 2020? Let us know in the comments.

If you liked this, check out:

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