>What about all the other <BR>>people that are on the album? <BR>>You gonna send money to ?uest <BR>>or even MC Lyte for their <BR>>work that they did and deserve <BR>>to get paid for.<P>It is my understanding that artists who are guests on an album are paid out of that album's recording budget. so, that means Quest, Lyte, et al, have already been paid for their musical contributions.<P> Yes there <BR>>are means for Common to put <BR>>out the album himself. But that <BR>>requires money that Common may not <BR>>have. Maybe if he goes platinum, <BR>>he could have enough money to <BR>>start his own label.<P>Ha. Some rappers who went platinum can barely pay their rent.<P>> Maybe he <BR>>doesn't want to worry about all <BR>>the marketing, promotion, distribution, etc. and <BR>>just concentrate on making good music.<P>And maybe Broke doesn't want to pay the label for any of that, he only wants to give his full $15 to Com. Basically, he's fucking over the record company and Com may get dropped. But if, and this is a HUGE if, say, 10,000 Com supporters decided to pay Com directly after downloading an MP3 (as Broek suggested) rather than buy his album at a store, Com would make $150,000, which is probably more than he will likely make even if the album goes platinum, after everything is recouped.<BR> <BR>>Also, being on a label provides <BR>>more stability than being indpendant.<P>Tell that to countless rappers who were dropped or underpromoted or saw their albums delayed for years, only to be released to an apathetic audience.<P>>on a project) but I still <BR>>get paid, if I was indpendant <BR>>I'd be assed out. While it <BR>>is true that the system sucks, <BR>>but instead of saying "fuck it, <BR>>I'm not supporting MCA" and in <BR>>the process screwing the artists, work <BR>>within the system, support the artists <BR>>so they can make money and <BR>>maybe one day start their own <BR>>company to put other people on.<P>That's like saying buy cotton from the plantation, so the sharecroppers can eat a little better. I don't know why everyone on here believes so firmly in the major label system. Hieroglyphics, as a collective, is probably making more money now indie than they ever did on Jive and Elecktra (after everything was recouped).<BR> <BR>Broke's idea sounds nuts in the abstract, but if he could mobilize enough people to follow his lead, the economic effect would be measurable.<P>Spread love,<P>Spirit<BR><a href="http://amphibians.iuma.com" target="_blank">http://amphibians.iuma.com<;/a><BR>www.soul-sessions.com<BR>Hip-hop forever...power to the people<P>R.I.P. Filli (Amphibians)<P>"There will be no peace until God sits at the conference table" - Chi-Lites