The New Rules of the Game

Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander

From its rather unassuming birthplace at small DJ-hosted block parties in the Bronx during the early '70s, hip-hop grew into a multibillion dollar industry by the mid-to-late '90s, dominating album sales charts and driving America's creative and commercial industries. A global hip-hop culture depicted a glamorous urban lifestyle whose appeal transcended race, religion, nationality and socioeconomic position.

Now, hungover from a long “bling” binge, the urban music industry is struggling to turn its stagger back into swagger. Hip-hop sales particularly are sliding faster than any other genre, at twice the rate of the industry as a whole. Once known for creative storytelling and clever rhymes, rap has gradually degenerated from memorable album works into disposable ringtones rifled with dime-store lyrics, tiresome gangsta posturing that lacks either credibility, originality or both.

ROLE PLAYING

The early position of a rap producer — standing behind the glass and figuratively, behind the scene — has evolved into something more akin to being “a member of the band,” thanks to people like Pharrell, Timbaland and even P. Diddy. Increasingly, the producer is becoming as much the star of the show as the artist, often sharing sticker space on the front of the CD. We're also seeing greater interaction between the producer and the artists/songwriters early on in the process, typically during the preproduction or beatmaking. Many new producers ponder the blurred line that when crossed, their role becomes that of a co-writer, warranting a writing credit and thereby a share of the publishing.

“In hip-hop, the producer is essentially the composer — a part of the songwriting process — and does share a portion of the royalties,” says Neysa Camacho, CEO and President of NQC Management, Entertainment and Publishing, and also head of Baseline Recording Studios and Fort Knocks Entertainment, which she co-owns with Just Blaze in NYC. With today's meshing of beats into everything from rock to country, she feels producers need to know what their rights are as songwriters.

“A whole song consisting of music and lyrics is 100 percent; there are people who try to argue this, but the fair way of splitting it is 50 to the composer, 50 to the lyricist. It gets tricky when there's a sample involved. You have to make sure that, once you've already started producing and your songs are going on an album, you have an attorney or a manager who understands publishing,” Camacho says.

Too often, inexperienced producers sell beats at low cost, signing away author rights in exchange for points on CD sales and downloads. Even worse, some take on projects as work for hire without understanding the consequences of abandoning publishing royalties.

“I always strongly recommend against this and in favor of them receiving their correct songwriting and publishing share,” says Trevor Gale, VP of Writer/Publisher Relations with SESAC. “All producers should receive their points when the CDs are sold traditionally or downloaded. It is crucial for people to [fill out] a split sheet.”

The changing major label financial landscape has forced established producers to better manage the dwindling bottom line of production budgets recently. Orlando-based production duo The Runners — Andrew “Dru Brett” Harr and Jermaine “Mayne” Jackson — say they like to be extra-prepared before heading into the studio with A-list artists such as T.I., Young Jeezy, R. Kelly, Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey.

“The labels are kinda conforming to a cheaper market,” Mayne says. “That's why we try to do all the preproduction at our studio and make sure we have everything done before we go in.” He adds that, to save even more money, labels will often encourage them to draw from their catalog of unused beats rather than work on songs from the ground up with the artist.

“What the labels are doing, as well, is they're trying to even out the superproducers,” Dru says candidly. “Like, they'll use The Runners or Just Blaze, and then they're gonna go back and fill in the album with a bunch of producers they can get for a cheaper price.”

It used to be that albums were envisioned and crafted by one or two producers who'd oversee the whole thing. Now, pretty much in every urban genre, the grandeur album concept has been distilled into a compilation of singles, with seven or eight producers each steering only one or two tracks. Some observers feel that actually makes it easier for new producers to break into the business.

“It is the A-list and in some cases the B-list producers who are getting more calls than they can actually answer, and that is where an opportunity might open up for a new writer,” Gale suggests. “Because if you are there with the hot song when they have too much work on their hands, your song might be just what is needed to lighten their load and meet a deadline.”

POUNDING THE PAVEMENT

Fortunately, we live in the age of Internet human resourcing, where contacting the right people is often only a click away. Traditionally, producers shopped beats on tapes, DATs and CDs through “solicited” routes: lawyers, managers, connected friends. That presented hours per week of mandatory listening for A&R staff who would sift through hundreds of tracks to find one potential hit. Riggs Morales is Senior Director of A&R at Shady Records and has witnessed the future of beat sourcing in online producer communities such as iStandardProducers.com and PMPWorldwide.com.

“One of the interesting things about the PMP site is that when I first logged on, I saw a lot of people that I had on my radar but couldn't get in touch with for whatever reasons. It's like a Craigslist for producers,” Morales says. “The difference between this pile of CDs on my desk and PMP is that I get the best of the best of these producers online because it's already filtered through.” Both sites allow producers to post profiles with examples of their beats or submit directly to “track dumps,” which are like music lockers of A&R members looking for specific songs or beats for projects they're developing.

“A lot of producers reach a certain level where they feel they don't gotta do this sorta shit [selling A&R people on beats],” Morales says. “But there's been a bit of a reality check served to established producers lately because everyone's making beats now. Someone out there is gonna be the next Dr. Dre but selling that sound cheaper. And for producers, I think this is very beneficial because beyond them getting to me, they can also deal directly with customers, ya know? So that's a beautiful option to have.” He added that he uses PMP on a daily basis to find beats for Bobby Creekwater and Ca$his, Shady's priority artists for the future.

Knowing just what to submit, though, can be challenging. It's no secret that labels have a follow-the-leader mentality; you hear a hit song today and then 100 more just like it in three months. As head of A&R at G-Unit Records, Dre McKenzie realizes that producing something totally fresh and that strays from the norm may not get accepted right away. Still, he encourages artistic integrity over following the leader or copying hot sounds of other producers.

“We all know when a record we love starts playing. We don't just hear it; we feel it,” McKenzie says. “So, I always encourage producers to make emotive music that draws the listener to one emotional extreme or the other. When a hit record is realized, executives tend to use it as an example. They want to capture the same sense of belonging that the particular hit allows the listener to feel. It's most important that a producer continues to make music that they are driven toward creating. Soon enough, your music will find its way to the right artist, and they will mesh perfectly. Think of great music as treasures buried in sand. Think of time as the breeze that blows away that sand. If you want your music noticed, give it time. Of course, keep developing yourself, and make sure it's definitely something more than a few people would consider a treasure.”

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