
“Let’s look at what the value of a record label is in this day and age. We’ve already cut artist development, so you need to get your music right on your own without A&R guidance.
Promotion and marketing: Labels are good at going from 60-100, but not 0-60; artists still need to get their buzz going themselves.
Videos: Labels can provide the true budgets needed for traditional videos, but now with technology, artists can team up with great up and coming directors to create visuals for next to nothing.
Radio: Labels again are good at going from 60-100 but often look for early starts they want the artists to contribute.
Setting up distribution and monetizing: Selling/getting your records in stores is obviously important, and, to their credit, labels have gotten better in the last year at monetizing other avenues, yet still aren’t great—a good manager and team is much more crucial in this role, in my opinion.”
An extremely well-written article by DJ Skee for XXL Magazine in which he analyzes whether Drake would have been better off continuing on his independent route instead of signing to a major label. Personally, I agree with a lot of what Skee says, as with the digital revolution, it is now possible for artists take advantage of new technology (with a little bit of creativity and connections with the right people) to make their product as professional as someone with a major-label budget. In my opinion, signing to a major label in this day and age is the right thing to do only when you have already firmly established yourself and need them to supply more capital to take you to make you a household name. I think Drake probably felt that way and also felt a certain sense of loyalty to Wayne, which might played more of a factor than anything in his decision, and I can definitely respect that, but like Skee said, he had the perfect setup to change the game. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE and drop your comments below.

























