Mon 24 Mar 2008
Lol..ouch: “The Real” addresses that confounding Rick Ross #1
Posted by Miss Info under laugh at , videos[35] Comments
Ok, honestly, everyone is saying it. But how come I’ve never heard any retail insiders or Tower Records stockboy actually dishing on record label buybacks. Is this just urban legend? Or the best protected secret in the business?
March 24th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
haha its far from a urban legend .. i believe record labels do stuff like that .. hell even artist will pay people 2 buy their records r they buy them back themselves to increase the depleted decline in sales ..
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
damn its so true what they are saying about def jam an their tactics but i wish they didnt use ricky as their example ….but hey i guess some has to be shot in da line of fire….
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
AWESOME!!!
thank you!
LOVE,
JEAN GREY******
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Miss Info
I worked at Wherehouse/Blockbuster music for 8 years and that is nothing new or surprising. I heard stories about it all the time but never had any solid proof.
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
i feel like the industry doesnt want me to love music…its only purpose is to see what swindeling marketing plans the next joe shmoe can think up…buying back albums doesnt take intelligence, its how to sell them….
for more truth…holla at me
johnny gt
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
There are a lot of rappers out there that have claimed def jam buys there own records. But the one thing all those artist have in common is the fact that they are disgruntled Def Jam employee’s so there opinion really doesn’t count for shit.
The only reliable person who has spoken out about these def jam rumors is some dude who actually works for billboard. He says there are safeguards to prevent labels from doing what people are claiming def jam is doing. So you can either believe disgruntled rappers(and 50 cent lol), or you can believe the dude who works for billboard that says there are safeguards preventing labels from doing this shady shit.
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I really don’t care Trilla is Hot!!
Ross provided us with another banger!! The Boss!! unlike Joey Ass Crack who can’t even understand a diss.
Fif told his dumb ass that he sold 46K aka that is how many people were interested in his project 50 had 400k downloads whats so difficult to understand?
Fat Joe is making hip-hop look bad Big Pun would be embarassed to see what an Ass Crack Fat Joe’s become, it’s embarrasing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_VaJUtWZdA&eurl=http://hiphopupdate.blogspot.com/
How da hell is dat a comeback? 50 Can shop that album at another label if he wants just like Jay and Big set up the Commission that they could have put out using another outlet!
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
RRRROOOOOOOSSSSSS!!!!!!
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
So thats how kanye won mmmmmm.
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Yes, rec labels buy back records Just like back in the day (dating myself) when you had those video shows that you would call in with the 900 #’s record labels would have people just sitting and calling to make sure their artist was requested over and over Also when they say their album “shipped” gold or Platinum in the rap mags that’s different from selling gold or platinum. Either way it come out of the pocket of the artist Just think it takes 3-5 mill to sell 1 million records you never gonna recoup that unless you a big name Big up relativity/sony records
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
lets see how many rick ross sells this week; is it going to be a big drop in sell like every other def jam artist. we shall see.
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
as if this is the first time def jam got shady.
i remember reading in xxl a few years back how def jam bought jay-z’s dynasty albums to make it the #1 album of the new millenium and to beat outkasts stankonia.
then came kanye and now ross.the jig is up.
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
You know the sad part about it no one is talking about the music content. I mean come on everyone is sitting around waiting to see the numbers but let me ask you something… HOW MANY OF YALL ACTUALLY BUY THE ALBUM? or are you just like the rest of us wait til the first week numbers come out and see how they did in sales. I’m sorry I am a fan of 50 cent. Hell hes from my hood but he raised the bar so high that people don’t care about Good albums they only care about how to market it, who’s the target market, and how many units will it sell. What happen to someone listening to the album and actually feeling where the artists was coming from on each record. Now you got rappers claiming to be drug dealers, ballers, and all around rich before they came into the Rap Game but the real question is if that is the truth why rap stick to what you did to make money. But i must say its a shell move if Def Jam are actually buying back albums to show investers that they are moving units. Why becuase it hurts the artist cuz guess who ends up having to eat the cost of all those buy backs…. Music industry is like this economy sinking fast and trying to swim. Mark my words BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR ARTISTS AND RAP WILL EITHER BY DEAD BECAUSE EVERYONE WILL BE OUT THE GAME OR IT WIL BE SO COMMERCIAL YOU WILL SEE AND HEAR ADS IN THE MIDDLE OF VIDEOS AND SONGS. SO SAD!!!
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
so true
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
big up Estelle from all of the uk massive!
ONE BLUD!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy4fNxZ1o-A
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
lets face it records sales are at a all time low!
panic button time
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=47615505&blogID=366795322
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
but, if def jam really does it, then why wouldnt every other label do it?
Also, why even bother to manufacture the CDs? Wouldnt it be more cost efficient to just “buy back” digital copies of the album….or does that not help your billboard debut?
It just seems like the added production cost and the shipping etc, would defeat the purpose of increasing sales for marketing bragging rights.
Reply
March 24th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
co-sign post no.15!! big up Estelle !!
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Def Jam ? come one yall all labels do this just like payola this is nothing new Yall acting like def jam is the only label .Lets see pay X DJto play X single and big it up or if I dont pay him directly I hire his promotional /record pool company to handle my artist and the single so his has to now play it in the clubs and on air and its all legal . I remember a friend of mine worked at a recorded label that a basketball player just released an album ( yrs ago ) with some top name artist on it She was laughing at the fact that they label was buying most of the albums back hint : FL Superman
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Missinfo all your questions can be answered by simply believing that def jam isn’t doing shady shit. If they were then they would have gotten caught by now; especially since people think its happening.
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 3:40 am
@ Lee – What do you think mainstream hip hop videos and songs are now? Commercials. Look at and listen to all the brands that get shouted out and shown in a song and its video. It’s called product placement, my friends.
Even back in the day – Run DMC with Adidas. Jay-Z and Roc A Wear, Jack of Spades. Biggie said Versace and Coogi a good number of times. Everyone mentioned Timberlands, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. Not everyone was getting paid, and many just wanted to get free gear.
@ Info – I think all the labels do it. Where do you think these CD clubs get their CDs? Plus, doesn’t iTunes contribute to soundscan numbers? Payola is real and so is this. I’m sure there are just a lot of middlemen to make buy back schemes work just like payola.
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 3:47 am
PS
@ Info – do you think labels are really into cost efficiency? Def jam dumps millions of promo dollars into Jay-Z’s and Rihanna’s albums, and how long did it take each of them to go platinum? Pretty damn long. Ditto with Interscope and 50’s last album.
Buying back albums makes a lot of sense. People are such followers, if they see an album is # 1 on Billboard, wins a Grammy or any of the dozens of other b.s. awards, then they are more likely to buy. This is just another cost to market an album for records companies.
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 5:56 am
@bon1bon
I hear what you sayin.
Anything can be possible under the sun,but I highly doubt that record companys are buying there own cd’s that they spent there money to produce and manufacture.
that’s like sayin you bought a brick,broke it up and put it out on the streets,then you Gave somebody some MORE money so they could buy up some of your product so it looks like its selling fast,huh!(scratching my head)
the idea of business is to flip it over and turn a profit,and I don’t see how buying your own cd’s contributes to that goal,its counterproductive.
now if you wanna tell me that there’s payola,corny friendships,and favor for a favor going on at soundscan and billboard,now that sounds more believable.
If its like that at B.e.t.,m.t.v.,and these radio stations,what makes you think these record companys didn’t try the same thing with soundscan?
Its all so corny and fake man.
People are choosing money over principles and they’re playing themselves and going along with the program just to be down.
Its like high school but with grown ups,LoL!
I’m just laughing at these dumb asses at these record companys who think there sooo smart.
They’ll tell us about our own music like they know it better than we do but they keep under and over shipping artist cd’s.
Oh,and I like how they ignored the net and now there losing
Money.
Stupid…
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 6:29 am
@randyg
Your right,people are dickriders,but I just don’t think there buying there own cd’s,I think there reporting the numbers inaccurately at soundscan.but even with that trick I don’t see people buying a wack cd because of that.
word of mouth spreads quick,especially in this era of downloading and bootlegging.
so the bottom line is,if you don’t have good product it won’t sale and if the record company isn’t behind the good product,it won’t sell.
Last but not least,if you have less customers because of some other product(downloading,bootlegging)it will sell less…
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I think a lot of labels we’re buying records back in the mid-late 90’s. No way in hell Drama really went Platinum.
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 7:56 am
i dont know !! theres not alot of bootleggers in miami i never chilled up in wet willies sipping on a call-a-cab and had a someone stroll up there trying to sell me some bootlegs cd-dvd-cd-dvd !lol !! and miami they stand behind there artist ross is to miami what jay is to us true story !
ps that album is fire that “maybach music” oh man ! a problem
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 8:37 am
industry rule #4080…
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 8:41 am
i worked at a tower records in the mid 90s for a couple of years. every promotional poster and/or cd on display costs hella loot to put up.
a promotional poster? that’ll cost you a couple of stacks. cd on a listening station? you don’t even want to know how much that shit costed. ever notice how there was hardly any titles from indie labels on those blue listening stations?
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Red dirt says:
i worked at a tower records in the mid 90s for a couple of years. every promotional poster and/or cd on display costs hella loot to put up. a promotional poster? that’ll cost you a couple of stacks. cd on a listening station? you don’t even want to know how much that shit costed. ever notice how there was hardly any titles from indie labels on those blue listening stations?
*******************
Exactly!!!
Reply
March 25th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
17 miss info i think the thing is you can sell more if folk see the album as the no1 on the shelf in shop then sell some later at a smaller price to recoup some of the money back, and yes true do think def jam is not the record company that has done this.
there you are, it is the best protected secret in the business
Reply
March 26th, 2008 at 3:42 am
is dat surprising! come on people if aint no hit single in rotation you already know what time it is! i was thinkin like damn,how did he out sell snoop like dat! def jam should’ve payed 4 radio spin and some video spin and it might wouldve worked! it was 2 damn obvious,so dats why they jump on it like dat! respect da game doe
Reply
March 26th, 2008 at 4:26 am
@ agnostic I know its hard to believe but trust me why I tell you they do buy the records back. Lest say mmm Shaq or a Def Jam artist had an album out and to get it to number one on Billboard / in the country they have to make sure that the sound scan reflects it a hot selling album that other will buy based on number and it being number on. So lest say Walmart orders 100,000 units said record label will buy the records and this will count as a sale for Walmart So without anyone buying any records they have “officially” sold 100,00 units.
Reply
March 26th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Ok heres an artical from the hommie Wendy Day from the Rapcoalition :
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
SoundScan has a tremendous image problem and they do NOT seem to care. I called at 8:30 this morning to find out Young Jeezy’s first week’s numbers (352,392 thanks to Warner Music Group and a BIG fuck you to SoundScan!!!)and some corporate idiot told me I could “buy a report” because they “don’t give info away for free.” Buy a report, Chris? To find out how many CDs one artist sold in his first week to mention on a free Blog? You are a joke, sir! Chris is an idiot who “works” in Client Services at SoundScam: (914) 684-5525–ClientServices@soundscan.com. Way to tote the corporate line, you dweeb!
So I called a friend at Warner Bros and we had a long talk about why SoundScan is so hated in the industry. Aside from the fact that their numbers are not 100% accurate in urban music (yet they repeatedly claim they are), and that one can even affect the charts by “buying” soundscan scans from stores (I have personally done this in the past so I know it’s possible), they charge exorbitent rates from the labels to access this less than perfectly accurate data. Perhaps that’s why Universal told them to “fuck off” last December, and got rid of their soundscan access until SoundScan came back to them with a reasonable price to access their data… I can’t blame them. SoundScan has gotten crazy with their policies and pricing.
They have always been all about the money, but they’ve gotten REALLY outlandish with it lately. So the moral of this story is that if you want some quick info from Soundscan about an artist, don’t bother. They are assholes and proud of that fact!! Better to call a friend at a label and get the information… or pay those dweebs at soundscan close to $20K a quarter to access their not-so-accurate data that they seem to feel is worth more than it really is.
posted by Wendy Day
Reply
March 26th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Trilla was the best album that dropped that week. He deserved to be number one. Snoops and Fat Joes werent bad either, but I dont think 100,000 records calls for yelling buybacks.
Reply
March 28th, 2008 at 3:16 am
I knew something was up.
Reply