“All you wanna do is taste the fruit, but in the back their making fruit juice” – Lord Jamar(Brand Nubian) from “The Business”(Low End Theory/ A Tribe Called Quest classic album). Our guest today is all too familiar with that particular verse. Wendy Day has made an impressive career helping to guide artists out of bad deals, to helping secure some of the most historic artist/label deals in the industry. I recently talked with the founder of the Rap Coalition & PowerMoves to discuss the business and get some words of wisdom from behind the machine.
1. How did you initially become involved in the music industry?
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I came to this industry as a fan of rap music. Rap caught my ear in 1980 when I was in college in Philadelphia. I loved the passion and the energy of the music. In 2012, I STILL do! I started Rap Coalition, a not-for-profit artist advocacy organization, in March of 1992 because I was tired of hearing the stories about my favorite artists getting jerked by record labels, managers, and/or unsavory production companies. So I started pulling artists out of bad deals for free! Twenty years later and I’m still doing that!
After awhile, I realized that just pulling them out of a bad deal wasn’t enough, and I started helping artists who had leverage get into great deals. If an artist was selling music in his region or had a strong movement in his state, I brought him to major labels to shop artist friendly deals that would lead to long and viable careers. I have helped many artists, but the ones I’m most well known for are helping Master P’s No Limit, Eminem, Cash Money, Twista, David Banner, Do Or Die, Fiend, C-Murder, etc.
2. What’s the clear cut difference between the industry in the 90’s and 2012? Do you feel the business is shrinking and why?
The difference today is that rap is going back independent. It’s less profitable for the Majors (less pimp-able) so the dollars are decreasing at the major labels, forcing artists to find other ways to fund their companies. I believe rap is also going more pop–more dance/uptempo for the mass appeal. The industry is steadily trying to sell music to 30+ year olds though, even though the bulk of music buying fans are 14 to 30.
When I got into the industry, the music industry was young. I was 30 years old, and I was almost always the oldest person in the room. Today’s music industry is controlled by folks in their 30s and 40s and I think we are missing the boat on who the consumer is. What high school kid wants to listen to music made by artists and label execs who are their parents age???
The industry is not shrinking. It’s more over saturated that ever. Everyone is a rapper or a producer. We have more artists than fans. Hahahahhaha. No, it’s not shrinking. Just the business model is changing. But it needed to… It’s like living in the era where transportation went from horse and buggy to automobile. People didn’t stop moving around, they just traded in their horse and carts for automobiles. Technology has changed how we listen and buy music. It’s also made creating it cheaper for the artists. I think it’s for the better.
3. Since so many artists have taken upon themselves to put out their music independently and use helpful resources such as Facebook, twitter and Itunes to get their music out to the masses, is artist development even practical at this point?
Well, we’ve never really had artist development in rap, so I’m not sure how to answer that. I’ll say this–the key to success for any artist is to deliver music their fan wants to hear, directly to their fans, in the format they want to hear it and for a price they are willing to pay. Like any good business (and as soon as you choose to SELL music, it’s a business) the supplier needs to deliver what the consumer wants. Fans vote for which artists they like with their dollars.
4. How important is radio spins these days in breaking new artists?
Reaching potential fans is what matters today. If radio is the best delivery system for you to reach large amounts of listeners, then so be it. It works for Justin Bieber, Rhianna, and many other pop artists. If the internet is the best way to reach your fans, then that is where you need to be promoting. Reaching fans is hard today. They are fragmented–they are everywhere. So wherever you need to go to reach them in large numbers, repeatedly, is where you need to be promoting to them. But remember to have great music, and that will help spread your music too. Look at Adele. She’s proof of that.
5. When you started the Rap Coalition, did you imagine the impact it would have on helping to educate the artists and getting some of them you represented out of bad situations?
I knew it would have an impact, but not to the extent that it has. I get so much love and respect for doing the right thing by artists for 20 years, and that still floors me. I’m just being me and doing what I need to do to feel good about who I am. So to get love and dap for that is pretty amazing!!
6. What are the top 5 deals you help broker and what’s something people don’t know Wendy Day has accomplished in this business?
Top 5 deals? I can name only 5? No Limit (Master P, Mia X, Tru, C-Murder); Cash Money (BG, Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Big Tymers, Hot Boyz, Baby); Twista; David Banner; and Eminem.
Something people don’t know I’ve accomplished? Well, the analytic folks who study this industry already know, but I’ve helped spearhead the southern rap movement to the financial forefront just by where I’ve chosen to spend my time and whom I’ve chosen to help succeed.
Another thing folks might not know is that not only have I negotiated some of the best deals in urban music, but I’ve helped build (structure, organize, and monetize) those artists and labels to be successful enough to catch the attention of a major label. I’ve been responsible for more sales of rap music than Puffy and Jay Z combined. I just chose not to take the same path of ownership that they took because that was never my goal.
7. What’s next on the agenda for Wendy Day?
I’m working with a pop artist (he’s a rapper) out of Los Angeles, and just helped create an undeniable hit record. Up til now, I’ve been handed the ball and run with it, providing limited input on the songs on the creative side. I recently just A&Red my first project, and the song is a slam dunk hit record called Party Life
– Derryck “Nes” Johnson
