How Mixtapes Can Change The Music Business - Part Three: The New Movement

Over the past week, I've written about the impact mixtapes have had on rap over the past two decades, and how one artist has utilized the medium to create a new business model. The music business has changed, and any hopes of reverting back to an old model are lost. What matter is now is being able to adapt to internet communities, while embracing non-traditional forms of marketing and promotion that promote connection with the artist over distance. All the while we must not forget that this is an artform and that should continue to be celebrated. I am not suggesting that mixtapes are "the answer," but if we in the "indie rock" community embrace them (and what they symbolize) there just might be a light at the end of this tunnel.

In my very first conversation with the Passionistas (probably just over a year ago) we spoke about the band's love for rap and R&B and the mixtape they had recently made. Of course the Passionistas had gone one step further - and freestyled over "Glamorous" and "Dreams," while remixing Mariah's "Shake it Off." Even before I made steps to start New and Used Records (the label), I wondered whether the "mixtape" was something that would be embraced by other music communities.

And over the past year and a half, two things have happened - indie rock communities have taken notice of mixtapes as a medium, and the same time that community could use them more than ever. Thanks to Clipse and Lil Wayne, indie tastemakers such as Pitchfork have taken full notice of mixtapes. During that same time, the profile of indie rock raised to mainstream institutions. While MySpace and YouTube and countless blogs have given greater opportunity for indie acts to be noticed, it has also cluttered the playing field. Furthermore, once the major labels have realized how to utilize these mediums, underground acts need new and innovative ideas to get their music out there. Mixtapes create this possibility. (Close your eyes and) Imagine indie rock acts and DJs spreading mixtapes through the internet and indie rock stores; underground and mainstream acts dropping these comps of remixes, demos, and maybe even taken that Passionista leap as well.

The age of acts being able to disappear for years at a time between albums has vanished. Fans consistently want more. There are a great many things indie rock can learn from hip hop, and mixtapes would be a good start.