By Kelby Fritz
Hip-Hop and rap is a
dominant music genre in our day and age. It also has a large positive impact on
the economy. With rappers and groups going on tours, and doing shows, they
could potentially be making large sums of money per show, bringing in large profits
for the venues that they perform at, if you go to see your favorite performer,
you will most likely be spending some of your money on their merchandise, or
even just purchasing some food or a beverage from the stadium or arena they are
performing at. A performer like B.o.B makes a miniscule $80k a show, and he
only comes in at 14th, top of the list is Jay-Z and Kanye West who
made a whopping $3,000,000 per show on their Watch the Throne tour.
Not only do
they have large incomes, rappers also have large net worth’s. When these people have all this money, they will have
more money to be spending on things increasing their net worth’s. The richest
of them all based on net worth is said to be Sean Combs, with a total net worth
of $580 million. Sean Combs not only made money in the rap business however, he
started off by establishing his own record company in 1993, Bad Boys Records.
Not only in the music business, Combs earns his money from acting, his own
clothing line, Sean John, founded in 1998, owning two restaurants and receiving
large cuts of the profits from Ciroc sales. Combs is making his own way and is
#1 on Forbes Hip-Hops future Billionaires list. 3rd on that list is
a rapper that makes his revenue in
yet another way, rapper Andre “Dr. Dre” Young makes makes the largest chunk of
his wealth with the headphone maker, Beats Electronics, that he founded in 2008
with Jimmy Iovine (“who is an American music
producer and entrepreneur, the co-founder of Interscope Records and chairman of Interscope
Geffen A&M”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Iovine)).
Not only do the rappers themselves bring in income, but
business and places involved with the genre do as well. It is reported that
with the opening of the Hip-Hop museum, in Manhattan, a near $350 million will
be impacting New York economically on an annual basis. In other countries
hip-hop is involved in economic decisions as well. Recently it was found out
that Canada granted native rapper
Drake with 300,000 Canadian dollars,
or about US $268,000, to host his annual OVO Fest. An event like this could
benefit in many ways for the country’s economy, with many large name artists
appearing, people will flock from all around Canada and the United States. With
all these people coming from around the continent, they will be spending money
on goods and services in Canada, providing them with a large source of money.
With all of this being said it is
easy to see why the Hip-Hop industry is a good source of income for a country,
it can help to stabilize the economy and benefit the businesses involved and
the people employed with the industry.
Works
Cited
Not only do rappers bring in money from their elaborate shows, they dip their toes into many other endeavors like the clothing business. Rappers like Big Sean and Rick Ross are sponsored by shoe brands Adidas and Reebok and just by putting their name on a product, they earn money for themselves and the business. And with the high demand for clothing with a rappers name on it, they are able to charge a high price for it. Kanye West was charging $80.00 a t-shirt during his My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy Tour, and they were flying off the shelves.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing as I was reading this post. As I was pondering about high priced merchandise, I remembered the time that my acquaintance Ryan Honeck bought an OVO sweatshirt for $230, not even including shipping. The sweatshirt alone would run for around $10, but with the brand name logo it is instantly priceless. The Demand for these products is very high and the supply is low. Therefore, people will buy them no matter what. Like you said earlier about the price being high, but they still fly off the shelves at the Kanye concert. These products big time musicians are selling are almost completely inelastic.
DeleteNot only Big Sean and Rick Ross, but Kanye himself is in the same boat with the shoe line. Before he switched to Adidas, Kanye had his Nike Air Yeezy line, these shoes are highly sought after and will sell for an average of $4,000. This insane because the retail price is only $250, which is still a lot for a pair of shoes, but Nike knows that their is such a high demand for this product, and they kind of ran a monopoly being able to put Kanye's name with their product, it just goes to show that people will do anything to have certain items from their favorite rappers.
DeleteWhen you mentioned how Canada was giving money to Drake to put on a festival, at first, I thought that it seems ridiculous that a government would do that. Then I thought about how many people would be flocking to Toronto, much like yourself, for the show and thought what a smart investment it is. I wonder if the state government does anything like that for Summerfest, or whether it's all privately done? If they don't put money towards the festival, it probably wouldn't hurt to give more money, in an effort to make more back.
ReplyDeleteThat is insane to think that Jay Z and Kanye West brought in 3 million dollars for their watch the throne tour. With all the time they put into their work, they definitely deserve much more money than average but not 3 million. Rappers like Jay Z and Kanye West are like professional athletes, low supply of them, with a large demand, and also highly overpaid. There is no doubt that Sean Combs works hard for his money though, expanding just from being a rapper to being a full entrepreneur.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting topic and I agree that it is astonishing how much of an impact hip hop can have on the economy. The general public travels all over to see shows. These hip hop stars also bring attention to many new products and companies. It is crazy how much people will pay for a concert ticket or for the merchandise of a rapper these days, this industry in definitely helping the economy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found to be so interesting was the hip-hip museum opening in New York. I thought it was amazing that one museum could bring in that much money and give New York’s economy that much of a boost. Hopefully we can open more of these museums to boost our entire nation’s economy.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting article! Its amazing how many people these rappers can bring together for a show and how much money they produce. It was also cool to see a Hip Hop museum positively affecting New York's economy. Not only do these performers bring joy to peoples ears but also have the power to bring attention to new companies and products. All in all I believe rappers are more beneficial then most Americans think.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like rappers and musicians obtain the highest net worth. And when you think about the concerts and all of the money being made it really does benefit our economy. Rappers and hip-hop artists are really underestimated in their financial power also. This was actually a really true article. It really is amazing how much it can boost our nations economy.
ReplyDeleteHi Kelby. This is a interesting point you brought to perspective. Today we are almost 18 trillion dollars in debt and yet Rappers and music artists of our generation make, like you said, $3,000,000 per show. I say we cut hip hop (all genres) artist revenue and like Mackelmore said "...Forget about the fame, fortune and the mansion. Sitting and tripping watching myself on a plasma. Yeah, I start slipping when I'm thinking about that stuff.... (Make the Money by Macklemore). Forget about the ego that comes with making money. Fame. Fortune. The Spotlight. Let the money go to something that will make a difference in our economy.
ReplyDeleteA hip hop museum at a time will not fix the deficit. Cutting there performance revenue will. I just don't understand how entertainers can earn so much money compared to doctors, firefighters, and teachers.
DeleteI really liked this article! It was a nice change in perspective, putting together rappers and economics is definitely a new take on things that I have never seen before. I didn’t realize the large net worth’s these rappers can potentially have. For example, I thought B.o.B was a really popular rapper and to see that he only brings in $80k a show compared to $3 million is surprising. I never realized between festivals, stadium shows, and albums that rappers could have such a large impact in the economy.
ReplyDeleteNeat post Kelby. I think it's really interesting to see how much rappers make, but it also would have been neat if you could have compared it to artists from other genres to see if rappers are the highest paid musicians. I also wished you would have talked about Kanye more, because Kanye is a really neat rapper and I'm the biggest Kanye fan in Pewaukee. Kanye is a really neat guy and so are you Kelby! Keep up the neat work!
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ as to say that you are the biggest Kanye fan in Pewaukee. I truly believe it is my title to hold. It should not belong to some critter with no pigment or anything. Just my say.
DeleteThe Hip Hop museum in New York would be a great way to stimulate the economy. The museum will give fans a chance to see great Rap history while providing incentive for rappers to produce great museum to earn a spot in the museum. Also if more rappers came out with more products based in their hometown or city then the entire nation will benefit.
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ReplyDeleteI like how you looked at something different than what we usually here about in our economy. I think that the museum is a great way to put money back into our economy to stimulate it. As more rappers are putting into this museum, the more money that goes back into the economy. I also like how this is something that people can look at as a good thing in the rap community, instead of negative. I think that if more rappers get involved in this, it could potentially really help out a lot.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that this has much the same impact as the super bowl. It is not actually a big economic advantage because it just makes people spend their disposable income on tickets or merchandise instead of on whatever they would normally spend it on, leaving a net-zero impact or potentially even hurting the economy if the money gained by said rappers or as profits for the venue are used elsewhere. I can't say any of this for sure, but just from reading, I doubt that specifically live shows actually help the economy much.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat agree with you. I think the ticket sales may not have a direct impact on the economy, but some people will travel a significant distance to see their favorite rapper. This will stimulate the economy in other ways, people need to stay at a hotel, eat food, pay for transportation (or gas), and buy copious amounts of alcohol. They also will need to pay numerous drunk and disorderly tickets, parking tickets, and an extra charge from the hotel to clean the puke in the shower. So overall, while the actual ticket sales may not help the economy, but the positive economic externalities that spread from 20,000 people listening to 2 chains scream "I'm ballin' like Mr. Clean. I gotta keep my kitchen clean. God bless me like I'm finna sneeze." (whatever that means) will help stimulate the economy.
DeleteThis is really appealing to me, as I now know what it is like to become an aspiring rapper such like Yeezus. They make millions of dollars a year, and putting them in a museum would be a neat idea. Fans from all over the world would come to see all the history that there has been in the rap game. It would not only help the economy, but the rappers themselves giving them a little bit more pocket change to work with. I do not see why this wouldn't be put to be considered. Great Article!
ReplyDeleteI like how you picked a topic that's current and relative to a lot of us. I knew that the big name rappers make a lot of money each show that they perform but I had no idea that they made this much. It's crazy to think that Kanye West can bring in $3,000,000 in around 3 hours. This makes me wonder how much SummerFest helps our economy. With a good line-up we could be helping our economy without even really knowing it.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a powerful post. Not only is it interesting that rappers like Drake and Kanye make so much money nearly $3 million per show, that doesnt include the insane amounts of merchandise that is being sold throughout the music department at such in an insane price, the economy can downfall from that with the musicians being able to take this money and have it for themselves. Its very interesting how people can take the money from millions of people and horde it to themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't something that we normally hear about so it was cool to find out that as these musicians are making so much money, they are also giving back. Most stars are starting to have clothing lines and such. And with having the museum, it can help out everyone involved and help stimulate the economy. Also, by having these rappers in our community does bring benefits to our economy. Like summerfest, so many people go there and it brings in a lot of money to our economy. Rappers have large incomes and large net worths, it's cool that they are giving back to the economy.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy rap music, but have never been to a concert. Now I am thinking that I should go to a concert and buy merchandise so to help the economy. It’s crazy how when you have a rare talent or ability, people will pay you millions just to see you perform it. And in the end, it ends up helping the economy. I doubt people are buying tickets to help the economy though, they are buying tickets for their own selfish pleasure and ending up helping the economy as a result. A true invisible hand, if you ask me. But that’s the way the economy works sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that the entertainment industry brings in an amazing amount of money. I agree with what you said about some of the positive externalities of a performance from a rapper. All businesses around the stadium benefit from the appearance of a famous musician. In addition, clothing outlets and other merchandise venders benefit from famous names when they use them in their products (Beats by Dre for example. Cultural trends in society certainly help the overall health of the economy.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading your blog post it brought new insight as to how much money the entertainment industry alone will bring in. Most people don't think about the effect that they have on the economy just by going to a concert, or going to a basketball game and purchasing items. This is a huge trend in our society today with people willing to go out and buy things with money that they just earned. At the end of the day most people just don't think about the fact that just by spending money they are helping the economy more than they know. After reading your blog post and learning more about the economy and how much money certain people will bring in, it made me think about Summerfest and how much money that will bring in!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Lexi mentioned that it is great to see musicians giving back in creative ways! These benefits in our economy are more apparent than we may realize. It's incredible the amounts of money rappers make in just one show and it's amazing to see them giving back. While people tend to make impartial judgements and put sterotypes on hip hop and rap musicians, they do not know just what an impact they are making in the community.
ReplyDeleteI never thought that music would influence with the economy so much because I guess they do bring in money from all over with selling tickets and albums they bring in so money locally when they come to different cities. When they give back to the community to pay the venue and such it makes a difference and really stimulates the economy.
ReplyDeleteMusic does influence the economy, especially rap and hip-hop because it is the start of a new era. All the teens and young adults try to do it, so why not listen to it and fit in with the rest of the world? There is a huge demand for this type of music especially in this day and era. Also there is an up rise on the supply of music that is being produced now a days with so many professional rappers selling albums it seems every week or so a new one comes out. For the rappers, it is the music that they create and the money they make that sets them apart. They do realize and want to have an impact on the community but do not realize they are doing it economically.
ReplyDeleteI found this post to be really interesting, because I obviously had prior knowledge that hip-hop artists are very wealthy people, but when I heard that the "Watch The Throne" tour made about $3,000,000 PER SHOW, I was blown away. The music venues must be making a fortune when tours like that come around. I think this was news to me, because I always figured that hip-hop artists primarily made their money from people purchasing their albums in stores and online, but obviously their tours are a HUGE source of income for themselves as well as the economy.
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