It’s hard to imagine paying for anything when you live in an era where content exists in streaming libraries.
Why buy an album for $9.99 when you can stream millions of albums for the same price?
Why should you ever buy a book if you own a kindle?
Why spend money on one item, when I can rent thousands?
We’re in an era of availability. And, there are pros and cons to having such availability at our fingertips.
On one hand, there’s an abundance of content at your doorstep, ready for you to access at a moment’s notice.
On the other hand, it makes it hard for anything to be considered “premium” when comparable alternatives are so widely available.
That said, the thing to remember is this: no matter what you’re selling, your product is art. That in itself is enough for you to charge a premium.
Rappers have a keen ability to price their products. Because of that, many have been able to create self-sustaining ecosystems that thrive outside of the current world of music streaming – so much so that fans dub themselves “proud to pay.”
With that in mind, today’s piece is about pricing, and who better to use as an example than the great Nipsey Hussle. No intro is needed: The Marathon continues:
YEA, ART IS PRICELESS… BUT, PUT A PRICE ON IT ANYWAY
The year was 2009.
The blogging era of hip-hop was in full swing, music bootlegging was at its height, and streaming was in its infancy.
Nipsey was a rising artist from Los Angeles who had a regional buzz and decided to make a ballsy move. He wanted to start a movement to combat the lawlessness that surrounded streaming. Rather than diminish his art by selling it for $1 in an online store a la cart, he created a movement dubbed #Proud2Pay to accompany the release of his mixtape “Crenshaw.”
The premise was simple: Nipsey would host his mixtape for free on the popular mixtape website “Datpiff,” however, hard copies of his tape could be purchased for $100.
If you’re interested take a look at the documentary below — heads up, the audio is NSFW so… maybe start with the volume low
Nip’s #Proud2Pay campaign was a success financially and in the press. He sold all 1,000 hard copies of the mixtape in less than 24 hours and even garnered the attention of Jay-Z who bought 100 copies for himself. At $100 a piece, he cleared over a million dollars on what was technically a “free” project online.
It set a precedent for how hip-hop artists think of their art in the age of streaming but more important than that, it serves as a case study for what brands can do in an era where everything is instant.
The bottom line is this: The market was waiting for someone who valued themself enough to put an actual price on their work. Rather than race to the bottom with his pricing, Nip upped the ante to a level many would’ve feared.
Annnnd by making the physical editions scarce, he created buzz, and the fearlessness of this move led the fans out in droves to support.
What does that mean for you? Sh*t, up your price and remind people of how premium your offering is. No sales, no discounts. It costs what it costs. period.
AFTER YOU PRICE IT, UP THE PRICE AGAIN
Doubling down on the success of the $100 hard copies of his Crenshaw mixtape, Nipsey pressed forward with Mailbox Money. The catch? There were only 100 hard copies available, and they were priced at $1000.
Upon release, Nip sold 60 copies of the album which netted him over $60,000. According this streaming calculator from sound camps (and a few others like it), it would take Nipsey 50.5 million streams to make that same $60,000 from Spotify (and this assumes that he owns 50% of the publishing on the record — if he owned less, he’d need more streams). Pure insanity.
However, because of Nip’s penchant for brand building, and the success he garnered regionally, he fostered a dedicated community of supporters, some of whom were quite literally willing to give him their rent money in exchange for the album.
REMEMBER: YOU MAY DICTATE THE EXPERIENCE, BUT THE MARKET DICTATES THE PRICE
The last example we’re going to talk about today is fairly new to the mainstream. His name is Larussell, and like Nipsey he’s a west-coast rapper with a unique business model.
What makes Larussell’s model fairly unique is that in some ways it builds upon the one that Nipsey established blosed to a decade prior. The Key difference is that while Nipsey allowed #Proud2Pay to center around the release of his music Larussell has instituted a more offer based model – one that he’s instituted in lieu of a traditional touring business.
Look at this explanation below to see how his offer-based system works:
Why does this matter: Larussell’s model is allowing fans to take their participation in the art to the next level. Fans can offer up their houses/land as venues for the tour and they even get a cut of the profits!
His offer-based model extends to his music, of which fans also can participate in the ownership, and the best part is that while some fans pay close to $0 for the experiences he provides, others pay $1000s, which makes up for those who choose not to support (or who don’t have much to support him with)
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The Price of the brick has to go up. If not 30 more, then at least 20. Make Marlo proud.
But seriously, no matter what the product is, if you truly value it, or if you are steward of a brand (i.e. a marketer, advertiser, salesperson, etc.) it’s your job to price it appropriately. Don’t be afraid of anyone who decided to walk away — odds are they aren’t the right customer regardless.
Art has value. Some art is so valuable it’s priceless. But if you have to put a price on it do so proudly, and make sure whoever gets it is proud to pay.
Peace.