The Economic Impact of Hip Hop on the Music Industry

Hip Hop’s Impact on the Music Industry

Hip Hop is a genre that has been noted for playing an impactful revolutionary role in changing how the music industry makes money. This essay proposal suggests a look at how the rap music economically revolutionized the industry. Initially, music businesses primarily made money through record sales. However, in an article post in The Atlantic

The Introduction of Tertiary Revenue Streams

Titled “Hip Hop Invented Modern Music Economics,” Derek Thompson shades light on how the makers of rap music introduced tertiary revenue streams and gave birth to the economic diversifications utilized in the modern music industry. The essay will explore how the internet and the advancement in information technology caused an immense drop in record sales (Thompson). Furthermore, the essay will elaborate on how the change in the primary revenue source prompted music businesses led by the rap category to think about alternative revenue streams and salvage the industry from dying. Citing “OK Go” band as an example, Thompson explains the contributions of rap music in setting the pace for diversifying the means of generating income.

The Economic Machine Behind Hip-Hop

Another relevant source for the essay will be an article by Ali Abidi published on Madamenoire website titled, “The Economic Machine Behind Hip-Hop.” The article is basically a detailed interview between Abidi and journalist Dan Charnas who is interviewed to discuss his book, The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop. In the interview, Charnas gives insights about the economic contributions of rap music in the corporate evolution of industry and giving rising to outstanding CEOs such as Charlie Steller. With his first-hand experience as one of the people behind the scenes in making the Hip Hop music, Charnas gives a detailed economic acumen of the genre.

Works Cited

Abidi, Ali. “The Economic Machine Behind Hip-Hop”. Madamenoire, 2010, https://madamenoire.com/104975/the-economic-machine-behind-hip-hop/. Accessed 4 Nov 2018.

Thompson, Derek. “Hip Hop Invented Modern Music Economics”. The Atlantic, 2011, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/hip-hop-invented-modern-music-economics/68986/. Accessed 4 Nov 2018.