Former Sony and Interscope exec Steve Stoute, who started his music distribution platform United Masters, recently spoke at the two-day virtual SelectCon conference, and a big topic was about artists signing with labels or staying independent.
He was joined by Russ, who recently completed his deal at Columbia and celebrated being an independent artist. Russ laid out the pluses for artists going independent by hypothesizing what would happen if Drake went that route. He explained:
“Drake uploads ‘God’s Plan’ on a digital distributor so whatever money it is: less than $10 dollars, right? Fine, pay for the beat — $10K, $20K, $30K, $40k, whatever the f–k it is — and to get mixed: four racks. So you’re all, $50K tops. That song, you owning it forever and getting paid weekly on it, you’re making a million dollars a week off that song. It’s different. If Drake goes independent, this whole industry gets turned upside down. That’s why I’m independent, putting out music independently. I’ma f–k this whole industry up.”