Drake - Thank Him Later / Trent Reznor & The Business Model / Power to the Independents!

Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 12:00noon - the streets of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto are lined with eager, fresh-faced young adults parked on their cotton blankets and equipped with rations of food, sleeping bags, and pitched tents.
"Protesters?", you ask, in light of the G20 Summit, and the billion dollar price tag, that has citizens of Toronto and beyond in an uproar?

Not quite.... these dedicated souls are parked outside of the HMV Superstore at 333 Yonge Street waiting for the release of Toronto's own, Drizzy Drake's debut album, 'Thank me Later', due to come out the following day - Tuesday June 15th.



Let me expand - the first 550 people who bought a copy of Drake's album at this specific location received a pass to come back the following week - Monday, June 21st - to MEET DRAKE and get their copy signed by the Young Money bags, Drizzy, himself. No pass? No Drake.

By 9:30am, June 15th (release day) - the line is now wrapped around the entire AMC building on Dundas, and to the Tim Hortons the next street over. For those not familiar with Tdot's streets, this line of people who have camped out on the streets all night, is approximately 300 meters long .

By 12:30 in the afternoon that day, all 550 passes to meet Drake were gone. By the end of the week, that location of HMV alone sold over 1,000 copies of 'Thank Me Later', a number UNHEARD of in today's volatile industry. Surrounding record stores quickly sold out, and now the album has hit Billboard at #1, with the first-week sales of 447,000 copies.

Check the article on YAHOO here:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/55472/week-ending-june-20-2010-lets-thank-him-now/


Now - To all the Debbie Downers out there, convinced that the music industry is DEAD, this proves otherwise, to some degree. How else are Katy Perry, Sarah McLachlan, Lady Antebellum, etc still raking in sales by the thousands? To all of the soldiers out there with a dream, and heavy persistence, this is confirmation that success in the music industry is still attainable - for the chosen few. It may not be by the millions - but after years of the industry gouging, and years and years now of access to downloading for free, there are still a substantial number of people who are willing to spend their money on music that they enjoy.

People are still out buying records, if you can give them a reason to give a fu*k!

Some may criticize Drake, and some may love him for reppin' Toronto and Canada abroad, but either way you look at it - the guy's no slacker. He's worked hard independently (on his music) to get major money and he’s still working hard and making his money, and he's proving that record sales haven't completely fallen by the wayside.
Don't agree with me? Let me know!!! Let the debate begin.

Does this mean the record industry will never die? Well, I certainly hope the way it’s been run, changes, and that the independent artist can once again control their own destiny. It could all be a ticking time bomb... but let us thank Drake for now for keeping the dream alive.

Now, here’s an interesting link to the power of independents about Nine Inch Nail’s, Trent Reznor. Check it out to learn about the Business Model, which is:
Connect With Fans + Reason To Buy = $$$$$ (and more importantly, FREEDOM)





Don't stop believing, and keep Learning To Fight!!!

Let's get ready to RUMMBBLLEEE!

xoxDJP