How Nipsey Hussle proved ethical consumption of music can work
The late Nipsey Hussle, an LA native was a true pioneer in the independent artist space. Before his untimely passing, Nipsey would often advocate for artists to take ownership of their careers and take advantage of the opportunities that arise from independence.
A legendary example of Nipsey’s incredible foresight and self belief in his own art, was the infamous release of his $100 Crenshaw mixtape in 2013. What at the time was considered a crazy move, a gimmick and definitely not a sustainable business model. Despite the large amount of attention and press this release made, with the likes of Jay Z purchasing 100 copies and being covered by forbes. I believe that this move made by Nipsey has been overlooked in regards to how much the current day music industry can learn from this concept of artist led monetisation of their music.
In the streaming age the power to dictate how much your music is worth has been regulated to streaming platforms, with a ubiquitous pricing of £10.99 across most of the streaming landscape. This pricing model values the collective music contributions of millions of artists under the same bracket of £10.99. This process devalues music and is only being exacerbated by the ongoing proliferation of AI music and fraudulent music uploads.
This is where I feel Nipsey was on to something. As his individual pricing of his work presents a way in which artists are able to regain a level of control and ownership on what their art is worth.
It is important to highlight that Nipsey wasn’t just selling his mixtape alone for $100, a purchase of this mixtape also included
This is what makes Nipsey’s approach so applicable to the current state of the music industry as Nispey looks beyond the music and content when valuing his art. He understood that music can act as a tool to connect with his audience on a deeper level and in turn dictate the price of his own work.
“We shouldn’t force people to buy it, what we should do is create different methods to monetise the connection.” Nipsey Hussle.
For artists today there are so many more opportunities to cultivate a deeper connection with your fans and leverage this into producing art that has real value to them. The Nipsey Hussle model also alleviates the strain of needing to appeal to a massive audience as you are able to generate income from a smaller and niche fan base.
I believe what made Nipsey Hussle’s $100 Mixtape so impactful is how it counteracts the notion of certain artforms being less valued than others. For years music which has been a form of art historically accessible to the masses has been devalued compared to other art forms such as fine art and fashion which has historically been attached to the wealthy. This difference in monetary value has nothing to do with the effort needed to produce each art form or the artistic complexity; rather it is merely the way in which audiences have been accustomed to value the different artistic mediums. Streaming has conditioned audiences to value all music the same regardless of its artistic merit, effort to create or even the cost it takes to produce.
The industry is beginning to understand the power of the micro base of an audience that is willing to support an artist through purchasing their work in multiple ways whether that be attending live shows, buying vinyls or merch. Naming this subsection of fans “Superfans” which Spotify claims to be 2% of an artist fan base. There are also companies such as SERENADE and BANDCAMP that give artists the ability to dictate the price of their work.
I hope to see the 2% of fans who are considered superfans to grow and more opportunities for ethical consumptions of music to arise that allow for artists' work to be valued at a true level that gives space for artists to make a living.
Image by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
