HipHopMusiq.com

First Radiohead now Trent Reznor, rock and alternative artist are starting to understand the true power of the internet and its respective communities, now it’s time for Hip Hop artist to get on board. Rappers have a hard time understanding a model unless it gives you cash in hand. That’s why Hip Hop artist are so proud of their ringtone money. That is money that is in your hands quickly and its a pretty basic and simple formula. But the ability to utilize a web audience has so much greater potential than the ringtone audience. But it takes more than just have a basic site and a myspace page.

Myspace is a good first step to utilizing the web properly but it’s just that, a first step. A Myspace page is a very basic and limited way to use the power of the internet. You can not set up the proper forms to get the email and other information of your core audience. You can not get the stats of what time did they visit the site, where did they come from, did they get to your site through a mobile phone or through a web browser. Did they use Firefox, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer to get to your site. These are all questions that the artist may not be able to take advantage of but his marketing team can. these are all concepts that will get you closer to your audience and therefore able to target them better. With your own web page you are able to get this information and more. Every artist has a web page now but mostly it’s just the record company set up web page. It may look nice but they are getting the valuable information and not you.

Remember that there are other social networks out there. Myspace is just one of many social networks out there. The most obvious are Youtube and Facebook but that is only the beginning of a long line of social networks. Bebo, hi5, Twitter, Pownce, Imeem, last.fm and others. Here is a nice list on wikipedia to help give you a large list of others. Instead of having 20 body guards on your team get someone who knows the net and not just the guy who set up your Myspace either. A real tech guy. This is the guy who can decide wether you sink or swim in the new media. Don’t depend on your record company to handle these details for you. They hate the Internet, it takes away their control of the product. So they are trying to fight against instead of utilizing it.

Make sure that you hire the right people to handle this tech excursion for you. Yes not re re’s cousin who does Myspace in the afternoon either. Also not a the record companies site guy because he is going to be to busy to talk to you. You need your own team to handle this. You need a tech guy, an SEO guy, a designer, and a programmer. They do not have to be full time but they must have enough time to handle

your needs and help you squeeze all you ca out your web presence. You also must build a community of blogger contacts that you talk to on a regular basis. These can kill a career and they know it. Remember to be nice. 

This list isn’t for Jay Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent(who by the way is doing a good job on thisis50.com) and other A level artist. This post is for B level and below artist who are signed to a record label but are not top priority. This is also for artist in indie labels as well. You have the ability to take control of your own future through the Internet and not just wait for the label to notice you. Use it!. Chuck D is a good example of someone who is harnessing the power of the Internet and he started early. The only problem that chuck has is that his name recognition is not what it use to be. Somebody who has a buzz on the street right can really take hold of that power and get things moving.