Artists in the music industry, while not shackled to signing a deal by just one singular, hegemonic record label, are constrained by the fact that they must be signed somewhere in order to have success. Although these record labels give these artists a platform to universally sell their music, they take a healthy portion of profits while also having an influential hand—if not the most influential—in the actual creative process of making music. In essence, most artists end up feeling trapped. They are torn between wanting to maintain complete creative autonomy over their own music, and wanting to be signed to a label in order to increase their chances at having monetary/billboard success. This is a common dilemma for artists in the music game, and the problem is amplified even more for up-and-coming stars, who labels tend to exploit due to their lack of experience and established fan base.
Nonetheless, one musician is challenging this hegemonic process by electing to remain independent from record labels altogether. Chance the Rapper is one of the biggest names in the music industry today, and the fact that he is so popular grants him an immense amount of influence. He has turned down multiple offers from different labels throughout the years, choosing to maintain in control of his own music and branding. He has made multiple references to this decision in his songs, stating, “labels told me to my face that they own my friends.” This reference, along with others, has stirred up some backlash from certain labels, as some of them have refused to allow Chance work with some of their artists (thus only further validating the above line). While this method of climbing the music ranks is definitely unorthodox, Chance’s proving that it is in fact possible could lead other artists to attempt to remain independent in the future, which may lead to the fall of these hegemonic industries.
For the last decade and half, Soundcloud has provided unknown rap artists with an opportunity to break through into the mainstream. To Ashwin’s point, Chance ran a major publicity stunt to “Keep Soundcloud alive”. With one song, artists are able to break into the mainstream circumventing major record labels. Though up and coming rappers often get their start on streaming platforms like Soundcloud, and Datpiff, they often do not follow Chance’s model of remaining independent. Since Soundcloud is one of the major scouting platforms for labels, is it really counterhegemonic, or is it just another tool for the record labels?
I wrote about something similar in my original post for this week, and definitely agree with the points you are making. The internet has provided numerous pathways for musicians to develop a platform and become successful outside of major record labels. The artistic freedom that the internet platform provides has certainly also pushed record labels to give their own artists more freedom in order to retain them as well. People like Chance that prove that the independent model can work offer leverage for artists who want freedom under a traditional system.
I still not sure if this was largely a publicity stunt or not, but Chance’s supposed efforts to “save” the once in jeopardy website SoundCloud was especially compelling in the context of your post. Given that the website was among his primary means of gaining his huge following in a direct user-to-user format without the need of a label, the action seemed like Chance was hoping to preserve the pathway that led to his own unfiltered success.