Just so I'm clear on this: The number 1 song on the US charts (EDIT: and a bunch of others, according to wikipedia) isn't on a major label, is a white guy rapping about going to the thrift store, and the hook is sung by a software test engineer?
Somebody should call Alanis Morissette and explain the concept of irony, because this is about as golden as opportunities get.
A sign of times. In the end the majority will be geeks like us. But if Software Testers can be hot on Billboard, there's hope for the rest of us ;) PS. Wanz retweeted link to this HN. Universe bless the Internet.
NPR talked about this the other week. It hasn't quite 100% independently gotten to where it is without major label help. They hired a Warner Bros owned marketing company to help with distribution once they were relatively big enough in the Pacific NW, and then signed to a major to get them on the radio to get where they are now.
So they've gotten further on their own than they would have in years past which is a good thing.
Which major label did they sign to? Their song "Jimmy Iovine" is a pretty scathing indictment of major labels.
"We’ll give you a hundred thousand dollar.
After your album comes out we’ll need back that money that you borrowed.
So it’s really like a loan, a loan? Come on, no.
We're a team, 360 degrees, we will reach your goals!
We’ll get a third of the merch that you sell out on the road.
Along with a third of the money you make when you’re out doing your shows.
Manager gets 20, booking agent gets 10,
so shit, after taxes you and Ryan have 7% to split.
That’s not bad, I’ve seen a lot worse, No one will give you a better offer than us.
"I replied I appreciate the offer, thought that this is what I wanted.
Rather be a starving artist than succeed at getting fucked."
Yeah, I can't find any evidence of this deal, I'm guessing it was publishing only. The Heist debuted at #2 without any help from anyone. It's not like Macklemore is totally unknown, he was in the XXL Freshman Class in 2012 and had success on iTunes going back to 2011.
It goes to show you how desperate the industry is that they would do something like this if they did sign a distro-only deal. It's happening more and more. Tyler the Creator had a similar deal for Goblin, it was a one-album deal with XL, almost no strings attached and a lot of conditionals for the label in regards to their rights. I'm not sure if he's self publishing Wolf but what need does he have for a major now? He has a freaking TV show and Williams Street is going to pimp the hell out of it. I wouldn't be suprised if Williams is putting it out, they put out Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music last year and that album both sold pretty well and was almost universally considered one of the top albums of last year.
There's plenty of indies out there who are willing to come to incredibly favorable terms with artists and have just as much pull in 2013 as a major does.
The truth is that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis hired a company to help them get their music into stores. That company, Alternative Distribution Alliance, is an arm of Warner Music Group, one of the most major of the major labels.
To carry them across the finish line, get to top 40 radio, get the number one song in the country, they went old school. They tapped Warner Music Group, not some quasi-independent subsidiary but the real deal. Warner gets them on the radio in exchange for a cut of the profits.
Those were the major points. They just used an arm of WMG to get bigger exposure both on the radio and via distribution. I shouldn't have said 'signed' above when stating that is how they got to number one on the radio, they just signed a deal for a major to take a cut of the profits for the exposure and help that that brings to get them to #1.
I just went through my activity log on Facebook, because it knew I shared it a while ago. It was mid November, I got it from a German Radio station. (It wasn't played a lot back then though) Not trying to be all hipster and stuff but: "Called it!"
I don't get this. It is clearly a hip hop song (albeit with a bit of old school 808 influence rather than the current Hit Boy/40 production style and made by two white guys with a black singer on the hook), why was it not the Billboard hip hop charts all along?
Hip hop radio is an incredibly conservative, staid, and boring format. You have to remember that for almost a decade and a half (basically until The Chronic forced the issue) they wouldn't even really play rap music that wasn't also dance music. It was mostly C&C Music Factory, MC Hammer, etc. No Public Enemy, no Tribe Called Quest... Those things were supported by college radio first. Think of everything that's popular and critically acclaimed they won't play today from all the Odd Future stuff to Killer Mike to Lupe Fiasco...
Radio in general serves mostly as background music for ads. A song that rejects consumption in very specific terms is the last thing they want to see.
Good question. Parent seems to imply Hip-hop/R&B charts are just from Hip-hop/R&B radio (e.g. "which means this is getting played on actual rap radio"), but Billboard's description of the charts says it is across all radio formats.
Catchy song, lots of fun - On a side note, while I was in Australia last fall they were playing Thrift Shop uncensored on the radio. We'll never hear that in the states. How about the rest of the world? Does it get uncensored air play in Europe, Asia, etc?
In Europe, stations play the grown-up versions of songs, and even play songs for which there is no hope of a censored version. Example: The Ballad of Chasey Lain, which received some radio play in Germany a number of years ago.
Outside of the UK, almost no one makes the distinction between 'continental' Europe and those islands on the coast of France.
Also, that water between England and France? Most of the world refers to it as 'the Channel', while the British tend to refer to it as 'the Atlantic'. Both are correct, of course, but it does show how significant the British find that 4 mile wide gap.
I'm British and I have never heard anyone call the Channel the Atlantic. I'm not saying your generalisation is wrong (there does seem to be a very us|them mentality here) but just thought it was worth a note - in fact, we call the tunnel, The Channel Tunnel.
> Yes, in Europe we're mostly treated like adults.
Mostly. But in many European countries, instead of fines you'll face jail-time if you broadcast words that have been deemed unacceptable by the government. For example:
Well, for Germans it's ok to NOT be treated as adults, because last time they played the grown ups they killed around 20+ million people.
I'd say, though, that there are far more words you cannot broadcast in the US, free speech and all. If not because of law, then because either the networks wont let you or because some people will "crucify" you.
I remember some years ago there was a huge brouhaha even because Janet Jackson showed some tit on a live show...
You never set a standard based on a worst case scenario. Just because 30% of 12 yr old kids (btw I made that number up) are swearing left right and center does not seem logical to not protect the other 70% from swearing.
Though I sometimes suspect that radio stations wouldn't play certain songs during the day if the average listener actually understood the English lyrics. (I'm from Germany.)
It's funny how content doesn't play into whether a song is censored or not... I mean this song is about shopping.. and a few 'bad' words are censored.. It's also probably one of the more innocent rap songs out there. Maybe we can drop this censoring bullshit when people realize the words aren't really the thing thats bad..
I've heard uncensored 50 Cent & Eminem in the toy section of Japanese department stores (as well as elsewhere in the stores, but hearing in the toy section was most memorable). Many of the locals don't understand most of the lyrics, but liked the tune or beat.
Girl Talk had a similar "dual life" experience at the start of his career where he was working as a biomedical engineer during the days in a cube farm and jetting off to Europe on the weekends to do gigs.
Jim Eno, from Spoon, was a semiconductor chip designer up until Spoon released Gimmie Fiction. They released four albums before Gimmie Fiction and had multiple international tours.
I just downloaded this album about a week ago after finding another story about it on HN. I was blown away. First album I have listened to on repeat over and over again since Pink Floyds Animals. Its really brilliant writing and just on point.
Somebody should call Alanis Morissette and explain the concept of irony, because this is about as golden as opportunities get.