>What does this say going into 2015? Sure the numbers will
>get lower next year as more people stream. But there is
>something to be said about the best selling 1st week rap
>record being a joint with no radio tested singles,
>pre-released videos or any "gimmick" (other than the gimmick
>of having no gimmicks of course)
>
>Should this be a lesson for rap releases in the future? I
>mean Nicki 's budget was probably 4x Cole's and she wont
>recoup (off music anyway). Meanwhile in the middle of the
>pack.. cats like TI came out after 3-4 lousy singles and did
>the same numbers as Logic who had no singles but a solid
>growing fanbase..
>
>Should cats just drop the albums if the fanbase is big enough?
> The release cycle of 6 months which would have been relevant
>even 2 years ago is now too slow for this world?
>
>There was an article in grantland today that talked about the
>demise of pop music as a cultural mainstay and the rise of the
>pop artist as a culture in of itself.. So if your cult of
>personality is big enough.. you invent the rules for your
>success.
>
>Just thinking out loud really..

Superstars don't need six months and $12 million to market an album that drops in October. At this point they have dedicated fan bases that purchase their music. They do not need to cover six magazines in order to generate awareness for their projects.

That Nicki Minaj situation is a debacle. She sold pimped herself out and failed miserably. I won't go in too bad but she needs to go back to the drawing board and focus more on her music than showing her ass all over social media.

Certain artists need the buildup to their projects. I get it with Wale or someone that might not sell as many records. Moving forward, building a fan base is more important than marketing records. This shows that fans will show to purchase music if you cultivate an audience over the course of years. Look at MGK and Snow the Product. They tour and build their fanbase the hard way.

In a way it's refreshing that the focus has shifted from first week sales to measuring everything from tours to merchandise to video play counts. illmatic earned 59,000 sells during its first year and it took the album almost a decade go platinum so this obsession with sales is pointless.