The REAL Reason Atlantic Records DROPPED 50 Artists?!

[@CurtissKingTV]

🤝🏽 JOIN MY PATREON: www.patreon.com/curtisskingtv

[@finally1111]

@@CurtissKingTV So is this what happened to Kendrick Lamar songs Humble, Poetic Justice, Alright. They’re gone

[@benisrael5169]

@@CurtissKingTV Name the artists that got dropped

[@JohnXuandou]

There's money in selling music, but it's not infinite money. The thing is, we're currently in the age of internet serfdom. We have big businesses carving out chunks of the internet that they get to own and you can't operate without them and to make sure the money never stops flowing in, they don't want to sell you anything, they want you to rent, to pay a subscription, so you have to keep going to them for everything forever. A lot of money isn't enough, they want all the money until they die. Artists are talking about how there's no money in music anymore, but I promise you the labels are making money on streaming, they're just not giving it to the artist. They hate album sales, because you sell the album once and then you stop making money on that album. You got it right with the DIY move, and your math is exactly correct. When you sell direct to consumer, you make 100% of the money rather than 30% or less, even as low as 1% or worse of the money that you'd get through contracts and streaming deals. You can sell WAY less and make WAY more. I still push this for consumers as well, it's better for the customer to buy their music, people have just been trained to not see it that way. Your power goes out, where's your music? You go hiking or camping, where's your music? You're driving through that one part of town where your reception isn't that great and Spotify can't connect, where's your music at? You're spending $10 a month to pay rent on your music library, that's $120 a year, how many albums could you buy and own permanently with that money? I've been preaching the word of music players, they need to make a comeback I'm telling you. Buy an old ipod, buy a Shanling M0 Pro, buy a music player in your price range and keep your shit with you whenever wherever. You never have to worry about "this song isn't available for streaming anymore" when you have the file downloaded locally either. More money for the artist, better security and access for the consumer, cutting bullshit middlemen out of the equation who don't do anything but landlord on digital files, it's win/win/win. The old way wasn't bad, it just didn't make the biggest people enough money so they want to change the rules.

[@BronzeJfkay]

Wow how do I make this comment go viral my god thank you for taking the time to break this down Woah Wa Wi Wa😮

[@mrbinspire]

Excellent breakdown, much respect

[@Uconnspartan]

Spot on

[@Des_Armoni]

Maaaan spot on

[@suncityfootballclinic]

Especially the dedicated music players, smart phones are being built to become obsolete and die after five years, you just lose data in the phone for no reason.

[@andreajefferson8628]

Albums, 45’s, cd’s and cassettes need to come back. You can’t fudge the numbers when it’s based on sells.

[@Tes7000]

Labels used to fudge numbers on all of those. It was extremely difficult for artists at many labels to know how many records and albums they had sold, because those details were entirely handled by the labels through distributors. Product had to be pressed up and distributed, and artists were charged for unsold product sent back.

[@andreajefferson8628]

@@Tes7000 It sounds like there’s no way they can win if it depends on people being honest.

[@Tes7000]

@@andreajefferson8628 You are absolutely correct if an artist is relying on honesty from the label, but streaming stats are more knowable for artists now than distribution stats were for artists back in the day. Data is more likely to be distorted for the public. The major problem I see with streaming is that artists are still having to adjust to what those numbers actually mean. If someone downloaded a single 10 years ago, nobody really thought about how many times the downloader might have played that single in a year or longer. I think it is safe to assume that if someone liked the song enough to pay to download it, they would probably play it 100s or 1,000s of times within a year. I think artists are comparing a billion streams to 10 million single downloads, for example, rather than the 800,000 downloads the industry accepts as representing a billion streams. It was always true that to make any real money from record sales, you had to be part of the writing and/or publishing, and/or own the master recording -- or you simply needed a massive hit. Those fundamentals are still true.

[@geneevans7885]

Remaking rap and hip hop right before your eyes.

[@joshuaBrooks.nicholas]

This is true,and you know some artists going to fail if this actually happens

[@secrettreasures9886]

Direct to consumer is the way to go. Today is a good day.

[@HURRY-UP-N-BUY]

Nah I don’t agree DTC been the way to go & it’s been the way “REAL INDEPENDENTS” have always been ijs..glad y’all just finding out bout it tho...#welcometotheparty

[@BlaccLondon]

@@HURRY-UP-N-BUY how you not going to agree but agree.

[@BlackTyeChi]

The way forward for the industry is to STOP trying to push one artist/sound and to go back to giving the people variety and let each artist and sound have their own fanbase. They don't want to split promotion between 20-30 artists but that's EXACTLY what the public requires. we all have different tastes. We all look to music for different things, so trying to force an artist down my throat that doesn't even speak to my ideals just doesn't work. Radio needs to throw out these playlists and let the DJs go back to picking and choosing the songs that fit their tastes, and let them build an audience that shares their tastes. It's really not that hard to figure out.

[@jesussinaloa9300]

The reason why labels take less risk and puah the same sound is because there is less room for error. When cds were selling, the profit margin allowed labels to take risk on different sounding artist. The streaming era resulted in less financial stability with record labels so they started looking at numbers more than talent

[@geewizwiz3]

​But it's not working. They need to think of a new strategy.

[@Open-MindedSkeptic]

I want to see a list of the artist names that got dropped.

[@baconeggcheesepodcast9390]

Me too this is crazy

[@parkermudsen1063]

Temporary layoffs Good times E-Z cradle ripoffs Good times Scratchin’ and survivin’ Good times Hangin’ in a chow line Good times…. RIP John Amos

[@samiiromaar]

The party is dying . Kendrick and Katt are ... ... ...

[@everready59]

"prophets."

[@shedeserves365]

Watching the Party die‼️🆗

[@jmbeats3308]

It's crazy how fast all of these music industry falloffs are happening. A little over a year ago we were getting stories about major labels deprioritizing signing rappers, the resurgence of country music, etc, and all of those stories are happening right in front of us, a little over a year later. But that's what they get for overpromoting the most toxic subject matter, and signed trends instead of talent and art so I shouldn't be surprised.

[@Sloan-n9q]

That's prolly why Jellyroll switched to doing country music, cause Jellyroll was rapping like 8ball and MJG when his music first came out.

[@esmooth919]

I ain't neva been for that fake shit. I always looked at people funny for buying fake views and streams and followers. Organic or bust. Give me that real shit.

[@esmooth919]

7:11 I learned that a long time ago just from hearing the horror stories of people that have been signed to labels since the '90s. Literally pays to be independent

[@KJango804]

no lie lupe fiasco dealings with atlantic showed me they are a mafia if you go against them.

[@vincentpaula3184]

True, but follis want fast money. Fast money don’t last

[@esmooth919]

@@vincentpaula3184 at all

[@saint.hudson13]

It happened to movie production companies. Actresses like Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Dandridge specifically signed contracts with the likes of Warner Brothers & universal ….. then those production houses stopped signing artist and just focused on actual film production.

[@reggaeology6498]

Respect for the feature my brother..each one teach one keep and care learn and share🤜🤛

[@briscoedaking.]

Elliot Grainge…newly APPOINTED CEO of Atlantic Records…son of Lucien Grainge…CEO of UMG It’s getting dark out here

[@MakTooLong]

Nipsey was saying this! No one listened.

[@ricardoj85]

@@MakTooLong honestly no idea.. what did Nipsey say about the topic??

[@MakTooLong]

@@ricardoj85 build by yourself from the ground up. “TMC”, no middle man, all money in no money out, equity. The whole 9 yards

[@shoxx48]

Three Acres and a Mule

[@LBDRE]

But, you know, it's like, man, giants gon' crumble Big-big companies gon' crumble New companies gon' pop up outta nowhere and it's-it's gon' be dramatic And I believe that-Nipsey

[@MakTooLong]

@@LBDRE AMEN!

[@qwintisntial1792]

LOVE YOUR CONTENT MY BROTHER 💯 A BREATH OF FRESH AIR !!!

[@CharmedLocks]

I didn't know they had 50 artist to drop? #NoCap

[@baconeggcheesepodcast9390]

Right this is crazy

[@2good2leaveunow]

These labels are not making the money they used. They have been consololidating and merging for years. Like every other industry, they are cutting expenses. Streaming killed the industry. Straight economics. These hot artists used to move 100s of 1,000s of units. Now they move 20 to 30,000 and that is seen as "success." The layoffs are basic math and the shareholders want returns. Talent has become disposable. We hear it in the music.

[@MattyDeRosie]

Universal music group owner son runs Atlantic records now, he use to own 10k production with artist like trippie redd & 6ix9ine So universal & Atlantic records will be working a lot together And 10k did amazing, not one of there artist flopped they slways recouped there money and some

[@phillipwattsjr.4714]

"Work for a RECORD LABEL? You're better off working for CABLE! Labels is DEAD--it's the grind instead..." Sadat X

[@baconeggcheesepodcast9390]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@freshskittles92]

reaggaeology got them damn cyberpunk 2077 glasses on

[@baconeggcheesepodcast9390]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@apriloliver3872]

This is my first time listening to/watching any of your content, as this video randomly popped up in my feed. Aside from the awesome information, and professional coverage found within it, I just had to comment on your voice. I know, since anyone can buy a microphone, that everybody now-a-days has a podcast. But, this is the first time I felt compelled to comment on the the sound of a voice, and the fact that you actually have a voice for radio. It's smooth, and mellifluous, indicating that you definitely found, at least one of, your calling. Keep doing you, hun! Love & Light.

[@babyfacedkayos]

Lucian and Elliot Grange are going to merge Atlantic and Universal. That’s what’s happening

[@freezhollywood]

All the industry secrets we all thought were true. Are true. Everything’s crumbling. Not only the strong. But the real will survive.

[@LitCrease]

We call ourselves DIYers because our guess is as good as these idiots💀 that was a bar fs

[@baconeggcheesepodcast9390]

😂😂😂😂😂😅

[@EconomicWarfare]

They haven't been recouping the front money. We've been talking about Titanic records way before the Diddy indictment.

[@Hexogentrinitro]

I just think you should know, I like it here. And your music is dope. My wife walked in (on a different video of yours) and heard a snippet of one of your songs. 4 bars in she was like, who is this!

[@SeenHeard]

The insustry will always course correct to stay in business with or without artists. The whole model went from distributing sheet music to 78s to vinyl 33/45 to 8 track to cassette to cd to downloads to streams. They sell music not artistry.

[@CED.Dweller]

That "financiers and investors" conversation... 🤣 Nice editing, TOOFLESS! Curtiss, you're a comedian hiding out as a music maker. 😆

[@kaysha]

In the streaming world, it makes more sense to get 10% from indie artists than building careers. From their point of view.

[@Leonard_Washington76]

We definitely need to go back to buying albums and leaving streaming alone.

[@rylion2920]

I always thought that streaming was shady because it was easily manipulated to the advantage of record labels and it didn’t benefit the real artists. In my opinion physical copies is the way to go, it felt more real to me

[@DemetriusMilton-dcbaudiomix]

Direct to consumer moving forward is going to best move, and physical copies will make a come back, in my opinion.

[@822I79I]

brah you gotta link your patreon in the description

[@afrobutterfly]

16:57 "Baby oil aside" - Curtiss King

[@IAMYUNGGAF]

Great so does this open up opportunities for truly talented people like myself and others ..

[@siyagee1000]

Atlantic just dropped more bombs than Flex in a Day😔👏

[@donnytheflow]

the next step I see, sadly, is to corner the consumer. imagine the majors going the disney route and positioning themselves as streaming platforms where you can only listen to your favorite major artists only on their platform (UMG already treaded these waters with the tiktok removal). Fans will be subscription fatigued out by the end of following all the indies they want to support on various platforms that they will eventually settle for the netflix and disney+ of UMG and the like. DIY and D2C will still be viable but harder in the face of them repositioning. They'll give you the luxury of being on the flashy & well supported platform and streamable next to drake while collecting all the streams and monthly costs fan pay while sliding you fractions of pennies still for being "signed" to Major Label Distribution. The work is nasty.

[@vernonfelix9218]

Wow! You have just given these major labels an idea. And it's a very good idea I may add. Subscribe to a record label to stream their artists music. And if that happens, it will be all your fault . Just joking.

[@LouJefe]

My song got taken down and they stole my money 💰 they blamed it on each other 😠 saying I had bot streams with a major artist feature on my song! They did that to not pay me!

[@blackbeasley23]

Chad focus has a whole interview about streaming farms and doc. Breakfast club gave him donkey of the day when the executives tried to throw him under the bus.

[@Allthatwethink]

I need to review billboard charts… can a real indie artist chart and be nominated for a major award? Label artist still have that advantage.

[@Okaythen193]

Probably not but honestly we should just stop caring at this point. Having an award doesnt make you a great artist. I do get your point though.

[@Allthatwethink]

@@Okaythen193ughhhh having an award and charting matters to me & I’m sure some other indies. If anyone has info on this feel free to comment 😊 thx

[@jerrodkilla23]

My man said Sprout sandwich lmao

[@elenebarnhill4321]

What happens when they give an artist an advance but they don’t produce any music 🎶?

[@whatsittoyou5801]

4:52 😂why he reminded me of Beetle Juice..😂.. 😂😂NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESTS 😂😂

[@bamboohare4312]

What's happening is that the record labels are looking at what is happening to book publishing. A large chunk of the Top 20 is from independent writers selling their ebooks via Amazon Kindle. The 'Big 8' is now the 'Big 4'. It's contracting. They see this and look in the mirror and realize they're next. There is too much infrastructure to support. They have to downsize. But they still want that cheddar.

[@titushill7031]

It seems to me, that we need a social media platform that is FUBU...Community driven, advertised, and powered by us. We organically took over the "Twitter space", and witnessed the world follow the trends of "Black Twitter". Some saw that as a threat, and shut it down (Elon Musk). Though, I never used twitter, all the important hashtags reached me. That, to me, was proof that the movement was bigger than twitter. We need a platform that is not manipulated by the "powers that be". I believe that this is how we can connect the artists/creators directly to the consumer.

[@da0club0sol]

I would not make any positive comparisons to FUBU. It was a black owned clothing company for black customers but over time, black folk abandoned FUBU for bigger, corporate brands, turning FUBU into a shadow of its former self. The owner said it himself, when he lowered prices to make the brand more affordable for everyone, it killed FUBU. Ironically, I would not be surprised if your theory came true and followed the downfall of FUBU overtime. Nothing lasts forever

[@titushill7031]

​@@da0club0sol You missed the point. I was speaking about an independent platform that is community created, driven, controlled, and advertised. The concept of "for us, by us" is NOT limited to a clothing company's track record. Which, by the way still has it's original founders, has made billions throughout the years. I'm not sure if you noticed, but there are Black people who still wear FUBU and the company is STILL SUCCESSFULL. Finally, FUBU is a privately owned company, which is the complete opposite of what I was talking about.

[@djkameronblaze]

I started bursting out of my chair laughing at 10:47. @CurtissKingTV you a fool. 🤣🤣🤣

[@GOLD_BTC]

Anyone not paying attention or in doubt of this man and the thousands of us who been saying this for ages, better listen up, the New Music Economy is here! 💯

[@Sarah-vi4cx]

Question: besides physical copies of vinyls, cd’s etc. how do people sell their music digitally? What platform is left for that? Does itunes even exist anymore?

[@thelastdon9000]

Kdot fucked up they money with this battle

[@deewoo2776]

"Record Companies" have been haunted in losing sales since Napster came out and everything else followed. Also a certain percentage of the public no longer buy music. I buys music all the time with complete packaging.

[@MannyThaMadridista]

love this channel cz brother teaches and shows how to be Independent and how to invest on ur self. big ups brother keep going.

[@janeprompeng]

This is the ONE 💯

[@charlottebanks7903]

So the music industry is working like . . . the US debt?

[@carltonmanoxide6268]

You definitely called it my guy

[@cvaderx]

That new online download system is the problem..Its easy to duplicate stuff as well...And those cloud systems are set up in a way to have artistic people own nothing, not even the upgraded software that they are forced to use to create their art. We are to blame

[@sonniebabble941]

Flossy is the homie, his from the IE & he preaches independence ☀️

[@cynthiatolliver7327]

How can you download every song first you need a bluetooth speaker so you can listen and enjoy and how you keep up all the files unless you're a DJ i like apple music.

[@letssee9]

Remember when Prince pulled all his music off the streaming platforms and had a new website for each album release so fans could buy direct?

[@nerd1858]

The only labels I know that are making good money and haven't downsized are the ones under HYBE Labels

[@RealMadTheftDistrict]

the stars are falling and being exposed

[@somerandomhomeboy]

How long before the first AI record label, with only AI artists?

[@matt_FUGA_UGC]

Hey - hit me up cause I noticed the two tracks I checked of yours have zero monetization here on KZbin. Always happy to chat about it.

[@carlosgil4196]

Hey Curtis I checked out the Beige ep album very well put together brother s/o to you and the artist you worked with also yeah things about to change stay tune and continue your excellent work

[@josephaparker]

Which artists were dropped? What are there names?

[@TazBailey313]

How can I do direct to consumer? Instead of going to streaming?

[@MsSoFruity]

Love this!!!

[@buddhafyre]

Record labels aren't over, Atlantic signed a lot of drill rappers and is simply cleaning house of underperforming artists.... Now you'll actually have to be good to get a label deal.... Imagine that

[@awizonme3060]

Are we, “WATCHING THE PARTY DIE”

[@brianwrite]

I didn’t pay Tunecore and they dropped ALL MY MUSIC. I instantly though damn they have more control than I do. I don’t like that and the fact that people can get your music for free. Means they never pay for it. You never give away anything free because it loses its VALUE. Good luck artist!

[@prod.bycheese]

Direct to Consumer.

[@_RobDmusic_]

14:24 🛑 wait…. WHAT?!?! (insert baby rubbing hands gif) Oooh yea! Finally an explanation!

[@yolandacharlesmusic]

Great work. My release is being planned listening to the experiences of people like you man, thank you!

[@sunnyholiday6700]

😂 GUCCI MANE DROPPED ALL HIS ARTIST EXCEPT 2

[@DashNash-z7k]

A friend of mine was a VP at Atlantic for 7 years and was a dropped. I thought it was weird that seasoned folks were getting dropped

[@stevenpop2746]

I feel like labels ain’t making money from BLACK artists like they used to…this is the issue!

[@Des_Armoni]

This one was deep

[@DIXIFREELY]

I see the legendary Doug Rasheed chimed in (2pac, Coolio and Montel Jordan producer).

[@darrylanderson2786]

Man i know you would have a great convo with Tech N9ne.

[@tomlebeau7921]

Prediction: KZbin and other platforms, ALL platforms... will use AI to analyse the content of every video/post/whatever on their platform, flag it as an ad (if you ever talk about or have links to something for sale, including your music) and charge you for the fact that you are using their platform to sell your product.

[@tomlebeau7921]

They will take all ad revenue from you until you pay the bill...

[@MwtcultureisSHE]

@tomlebeau7921 very possible and plausible.

[@BigUnicorn7]

For an artist like me who needs a machine behind them who people don’t really even want to fucking help because of who I am, for who people don’t even want to be a part of my team because they don’t even want to be associated with my community… a label is still essential for a Broke like me. I have no clue how to run my business of making music and there is too much information out there to begin a curriculum on how to even begin. I need a label still I had a DSP for about four years that cost me about $39 a year, and I never once made that money back in any of those years. I have no knowledge on how to mark it and when trying to set up a curriculum, there is too much information being thrown at me on the worldwide web and I basically just need a fucking machine and a team behind me and if it has to be a team such as a Label, then I’ll do that because trying to build a team in this day and age being the type of artist who I am where people don’t even want to see the potential but just want to see how they are going to be perceived is hard.

[@LBDRE]

But, you know, it's like, man, giants gon' crumble Big-big companies gon' crumble New companies gon' pop up outta nowhere and it's-it's gon' be dramatic And I believe that- NIPSEY

[@rockerrockstar]

What about sales taxes doing direct to consumers what you do. use tax jar or something else. To me the idea of having to worry about sales tax and income taxes and franchise taxes for multiple states is kinda scary. Also, GDPR compliance another pain. Not sure why congress dont do something make it easier for small business. Also, what time of insurances should we have to make sure we covered for any potential issues. Are you using E and O insurance.

[@anthonybrito8682]

never expected to see flossy on here. man a legend resposible for a lot of chicano rap hip hop hits.

[@ANTICTRL]

what mic are u using omg

[@durrellbowden5495]

As a former MC who found out y is so hard to make it independent. People are CLUELESS. Back in 2010 u could just purchase the numbers. I won't say the prices cause I heard they aren't that different now but TRUST me. U could purchase comments. Views. Shares. U could purchase stream numbers. Not to mention places like Miami where u can rent ANY vehicle for some hours for video shoots. Jewelry etc. Jack Harlow told y'all all his caps turned to facts. They ALL do it. How else will u peak the interest of millions of people at once. U have to look like you're already a celebrity lol. The whole industry is fake as hell. I found out the hard way how much it costs to make it independent. My life choices didn't align with my dreams

[@nicholascartagena814]

Whats your take on the Sonny Digital producer union activity?

[@bettyrocket999]

👑 🌞 We Are All We Got! Balance Out✨

[@notfunnybutfunny7333]

you know who aint got fake streams? BTS

[@DERTMY1]

We are in a recession

[@shango7942]

Do you mean selling CDs? Who is buying CDs? Where can you get a CD player? Modern cars are not even being made with CD players. Or do you mean downloading music from the artist website? Who's doing that?

[@FromTheHipp]

i guess anybody can call themselves a media mogul now. he didnt say anything we didnt already know about chasing trends. also, labels are basically distribution services now. but they are also largely marketing companies as well. conflating them with distrokid is lazy and disingenuous. ADA(and other versions of this) literally have existed for nearly 15 years. if you had the budget, they were the label services. A la Macklemore. Ultimately, there is no direction and nobody has vision. Everybody has been selfish and thought that mentality would last forever instead of actually cultivating talent. along the way labels thought they were more important than they were and they are finding out that they, are in fact, more important than the IP...which is the artist/creative. A great artist to invest in(much like how the NBA is looking for a face of the league) saves them and they put everything they have into that artist. we just hope that its a great artist that cares about the art.

[@CyrusIsnt]

Forget the Diddy case, the FBI arrested a man how was bot farming music streams. We all know these labels were gasing numbers. Spodify and its ad vertisers is tired of getting robbed.

[@DRACOFURY]

Unfortunately this isn't entirely true... They did last month laid off staff worldwide and a few A&Rs and some artists.

[@Sloan-n9q]

They shoulda kept Rico Nasty though. She was nice.

[@MsNerdsRevenge]

Atlantic Records!! Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles. Yes drop the 50, for the 50 stars for the Flag 🇺🇲🗽

[@Glowsaphinebaker]

Too much money buying bots for certain cough cough artist who aren’t selling records or have never been on tour.

[@carlosgil4196]

It’s a hip hop apocalypse run 🏃🏾‍♂️ 😆

[@r.williamcomm7693]

They're picking artists who van be bought cheap. It's a form of money laundering buying views to milk platforms that eould rather pay the money than admit tbe fraud. Then they pay the artists next to nothing.

[@french.toastman]

"Diddy did not unalive himself"