I accidentally posted my reblog of Resun.says.dope’s posting of the Madlib Espresso press release over at whizhouse. The problem with running KeapHope with my original tumblr login. My thoughts below, for the full release on the product visit stonesthrow:

One thing that has been of growing interest to me in relationship to music is the way in which artists can look a bit outside the box to make that cash. The idea of licensing music for TV, video games, movies and products is quickly becoming one of the only ways for an artist to truly earn a living and that paired with a heavy tour schedule is the apparent answer to the slow and eventual death of dollars for albums. This dilemma is rearranging the music world so much so that labels are forcing artists into 360 deals to maintain profit on artists through all of their endeavors, and not just back end on the music.

I don’t know what kind of deal Madlib has setup with Stonesthrow but its safe to say that both he and his label are some of the most inventive when it comes to finding new ways to trade cash for a physical project. When you can’t sell a CD anymore what do you do next? For Madlib, it became to create a niche product that likely has high markup and will be considered a must have for his fan base. Followers of most Stonesthrow artists seem to be the collector type. Those that care as much about buying the vinyl and the t-shirt as they do about downloading. I think they hit a home run here, and although most artists do not have the type of fan base to make this happen at a global level, there is, I believe, I take away here for all artists: Market and brand yourself beyond the normal channels. You never know what just might stick and become a buzzing product, and a buzzing product or idea could be that gateway to getting your music in more ears, and in turn, more dollars into your pocket. As an example of past idea that worked, look only as far as another Stonesthrow artists brilliance in Mayer Hawthorne. The success of his red heart shaped vinyl catapulted him from a DJ doing a two-track side project to a full fledged artists touring the nation and being the it artist for a moment in early 2010. His heart shaped USB drive might not have had the same response, but these are guys taking chances. It’s important to take those chances and continue to evolve the system before it takes you over.