Jay-Z and Apple to Launch Record Label at Macworld?

[beatzfreak]

Yeah it did, much like all forms of older music mutate into something different. The style of disco is gone but the remnants remain as house and to some extent techno. I am no music junky however, so I could be wrong.

Kind of, but house like hip hop has many influences because of the way it's produced.

But Hip-Hop in the early 80s turned into rap during the early 90s, then the God awful, and where many uneducated listeners get their angst from, "gangster rap" during the mid 90s with the rise of Snoop Dog, WuTang Clan, etc. Now we are seeing the return of true Hip-Hop, which Jay-Z is really a part of, that really stresses capitalism at its finest on one end, and the effects of capitalism on the other.

Just to add. Early hip hop got its roots from many genres. Disco, funk, soul, jazz, rock and early techno. Basically any song that had a few bars of a good beat. IMO, a true art form. And yes, the music is getting back to true hip hop, but the bragging and boasting in the lyrics is something I personally can't relate to and, frankly, am extremely bored with.

For those that want to know, Jazz/Blues turned into R&B (rhythm & blues) in the late 80s, then soul in the 90s.

This is a little misleading. R&B came from jazz, blues and gospel in the late 1940s and has been around ever since. Disco and funk were off-shoots of R&B.
Post disco and funk R&B AKA Contemporary R&B is influenced by funk, disco and early techno.

As for Jay Z, he's on my sh*t list right now. He's involved in a project here in Brooklyn that has been deemed one of the most abusive cases of eminent domain ever. Hundreds of people, including myself, are losing their homes and businesses so he can move "his" basketball team to Brooklyn. All told, many more will be displaced through gentrification, including many of those in the neighborhood he's from.

 

[godssonisme]

Good News

This is actually good news in my opinion. Apple is usually the leader of the pack, so with Jay-Z on the team, they could really make some bigger moves.

 

[seashellz2]

Apple and Apple joining forces?
Now that would be a PR Jugernaught.

I thought remastered Beatles were due on CD this last June?!

 

[thirdeyeopen666]

I remember the first time I broke down Encore and analyzed it. "On the low but the yacht got a triple deck. But when you young what the **** you expect?" That's genius, it has so many meanings, especially because one of Jay-Z's nicknames is Young.

I always thought instead of saying, "After me there should be no more..." he should have said "After me there WILL be no more...". He's really one of a kind.

Sorry for the double post.

Just to preface this comment, I do like quite a bit of rap. However, calling the above lyric 'genius' is pretty goddang laughable. Just like Jim Morrison... the guy is *not* a poet.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Just to preface this comment, I do like quite a bit of rap. However, calling the above lyric 'genius' is pretty goddang laughable. Just like Jim Morrison... the guy is *not* a poet.

I spent a lot of time listening to European Hip Hop and the lyrics from others songs, even the ones I like.... there isn't much genius in them either. None at all in fact.

It's really up to the audience being reached.

 

[thegman1234]

...but the bragging and boasting in the lyrics is something I personally can't relate to and, frankly, am extremely bored with.

I agree, I feel the same way. It's getting to be ridiculous.

As for Jay Z, he's on my sh*t list right now. He's involved in a project here in Brooklyn that has been deemed one of the most abusive cases of eminent domain ever. Hundreds of people, including myself, are losing their homes and businesses so he can move "his" basketball team to Brooklyn. All told, many more will be displaced through gentrification, including many of those in the neighborhood he's from.

That's very unfortunate, I did not no of the ramifications of this movement. I'm sorry to hear that.

Just to preface this comment, I do like quite a bit of rap. However, calling the above lyric 'genius' is pretty goddang laughable. Just like Jim Morrison... the guy is *not* a poet.

To each his own, however I happen to strongly disagree with you.

 

[flosstein]

I mostly read different threads here and rarely post. It was interesting to see some of the responses here. IMHO Apple is "Pop Culture" and whether you agree or not, it's devices and creations shape and change the market constantly. Now Jay-Z is possibly one of the most influential icons of said "Pop Culture." He has consistently helped dictate trends (whether you are into them or not) and amazingly the influence of his words spans the globe. You cannot measure his presence by record sales, but by sales of anything he mentions as "hip" in his songs, i.e. Land Rover removing the 4.0 Range Rover from their lineup in the late 90's-early 2k's because their sales world wide slowed to a crawl because of a line in his "Imaginary Players." Now for Apple it's a match made in heaven.

 

[cmcbridejr]

I wonder what HP thinks of this, considering they had Jay-Z do a commercial for them and brag about all the stuff he can do with his HP computer.

Wasted marketing money for them.

 

[diamond.g]

No record label... So is everyone happy?

 

[Mr. Mustard]

This just is a bunch of fluff. Apple isn't the type to create their own "Label", they're in business to create the products for the label.

 

[thegman1234]

This thread needs to be closed I think.

 

[wiz7dome]

This thread needs to be closed I think.

I agree. This is not even a good or reasonable rumor.

 

[thegman1234]

I agree. This is not even a good or reasonable rumor.

Well, the discussion was great, but it's a Macworld rumor, so I feel it's outdated. It was also false.

 

[alexcellent]

Regardless of who is involved, I like the idea of Apple as a record label. What I've always thought would be a good solution (but not without problems) would be to simply allow bands (any band) to upload their albums that they have produced. You can charge a monthly hosting rate as well as taking a small amount from each transaction (significantly less than record labels). You could then also introduce levels where bands could pay more per month and have their album featured in rotating ads, this would add to the monthly hosting rate, but not to the per transaction fee that Apple would take. The delivery service for the music already there through iTunes. Most of the work that record labels do for starting bands is just help in the distribution of their music, helping them get their name out. iTunes as a record label could make distribution so much easier for bands and cheaper.
Ultimately you would end up with a lot of crap on iTunes but at the same time, any terrible band could put their music up there and direct any fans across the globe they might have to it and still be able to make money. It could really shake up the music industry in that at least bands would have another option other than the traditional labels that take huge cuts of the profit.

Sorry, couldn't help myself, but this has existed for almost a decade. Its called purevolume. And why would any label have its artists pay for their ads to run on iTunes? That's the whole point of being signed to a label; labels pay for all expenses, and get all the revenue, and then pay the artist from the profits.

Anyway, I'm not really sure how iTunes would host a label while still remaining a (reasonably) objective online music store.

 

[diamond.g]

Anyway, I'm not really sure how iTunes would host a label while still remaining a (reasonably) objective online music store.

By making the music label a separate division. That is how. I mean companies like Sony have the same problem (but more expansive) and they haven't folded in on themselves yet.

 

[stetz5]

I wouldn't think it was a dumb idea for Apple to get involved with Jay-Z. I also believe that the lyric in question ("On the low but the yacht got a triple deck. But when you young what the **** you expect?") is far from being Hov's best lyric. If you want to use a good lyric for the situation at hand, I believe you should turn to "I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man!" And that would be exactly what Apple, if the rumors are true, would be thinking exactly. Jay is not only a great entrepreneur, but he himself is a business, just his name being involved in something can make it millions and make it popular (this thread being proof of that). So don't hate on Jay for being EXTREMELY good at what he does, which is make himself and those around him millions of dollars.

good point with the HP-he def did a commercial with'em.

 

[Mr. Mustard]

i thought this thread was done and over?? WTF?

 

[thegman1234]

I wouldn't think it was a dumb idea for Apple to get involved with Jay-Z. I also believe that the lyric in question ("On the low but the yacht got a triple deck. But when you young what the **** you expect?") is far from being Hov's best lyric. If you want to use a good lyric for the situation at hand, I believe you should turn to "I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man!" And that would be exactly what Apple, if the rumors are true, would be thinking exactly. Jay is not only a great entrepreneur, but he himself is a business, just his name being involved in something can make it millions and make it popular (this thread being proof of that). So don't hate on Jay for being EXTREMELY good at what he does, which is make himself and those around him millions of dollars.

good point with the HP-he def did a commercial with'em.

Not to bring this thread back to life, but I never said it was his best. And actually, the lyric I chose has more hidden meaning and metaphor than the one you chose. And I was never trying to use a lyric relevant to business, I was trying to prove a point that Jay-Z writes brilliant lyrics. Nevertheless it doesn't matter because the rumor was NOT true.

Now please, if a mod could close this thread that would be great. IMO it's completely irrelevant. AND it's not even true, it didn't happen. It may happen in the future, but it didn't happen at Macworld 2008.

 

[Mr. Gollihue]

jay-z isn't completely terrible. he's far from leader of the pack, but anyone who actually sat and listened to "the blueprint" could argue that he was once king of the hill.