The Free Music Downloads Industry

     Today, it would seem as though the music industry is more of a business rather than a form of self expression for an artist.  Mixtapes became a way for hip hop lyricists to showcase their work when a well known DJ was hosting the release.  The first person to do this was Curtis Jackson also known as 50 Cent back in the early part of the 2000's.  He brought along Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo to form the G-Unit crew with DJ Whoo Kid as the widely known host, promoter, and distributor.  After all the buzz he generated using these products, 50 Cent went on to sign a record deal with Shady Records and go on to sell 8 million+ retail albums in the first week of release for the album titled "Get Rich Or Die Trying" in 2003.  Over the years, he continued to drop G-Unit Radio mixtapes to keep the buzz going that he had created.  As the years went by, it would seem as though he didn't have it in him anymore to create that unique sound he once had by taking popular records and putting his own lyrics over the beats.  The other two members of the crew, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, also released retail music, but they did not do as well.  Eventually the group would break up, but not before they brought west coast emcee, The Game, into the picture.  The New York City hip hop group released a few popular mixtapes with him before The Game released his first solo retail project labeled "The Documentary" with help from California icon Dr. Dre.  This was a highly successful release, as it would go on to sell 5 million+ copies.
     The internet has put a huge twist on the way we listen to music today.  Record stores that were once a very popular place for music fans to hangout at, have now disappeared and gone out of business.  The mp3 format which first emerged in the late 1990's has taken over the industry as it has made once very large wav files, into a much a smaller acceptable file size.  Mixtapes that were once sold on cassette tapes and CDs, now use the format of free mp3 downloads as an easy, fast, and cheap way of distribution.  They can be downloaded from a website within a matter of minutes.  This saves a ton of money on the cost of distribution with the time it takes to print out artwork and press up CDs.  It also saves fans weeks of waiting for a distributor to obtain copies and then ship out orders to their customers.  Some music artists have taken advantage of this method by giving their audience a release date, but then pushing back the release of their mixtapes in order to build up hype.  This can leave their fans frustrated and disappointed as many industry artists have done this.  Free music downloads are very popular, but with the ease of obtaining transferring music, people also want the music released on the date they were told.
     Streaming music has become very popular over the past few years.  One of the first streaming companies, Spotify, began in 2006.  Since then, they have become a major way for people to listen to music.  The downside to these services is that once you cancel your subscription, you lose all access to any music you had as it is only a streaming service.  Mixtapes have begun to pop up on some of these services, but many people do not like the fact that they can only stream the music and not download it.  This can also become an annoyance to people because the ones that do not have a subscription to these services would have to pay in order to hear them.  Smart phones have made these companies very popular as users are able to access music anywhere they have an internet or wi-fi connection.  Another drawback to these streaming companies is that you have to hunt and peck for one song at a time when creating your own playlist.  On our site, you will find mixtapes full of the newest music mixed by professional DJs with the hottest new songs currently out.

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