Your Favorite White Boy

UPDATE: Diddy admits I’m right.

Diddy has made the bold statement that hip-hop is in a sorry state because DJs aren’t doing their jobs. So sayeth Sean Combs:

“People have figured out the formula when they make records for radio, and DJs ain’t DJs no more,” Diddy explained to MTV. “DJs don’t break records no more. DJs don’t play album cuts. DJs play what is going to move the crowd. DJs, they don’t expose you to the newness. That was the DJs’ thing. Hip Hop is in a recession also. It’s not dead, it’s definitely way better than where it was at, as far as with ‘Ye, T.I. and with Jeezy. It’s so much great stuff out there, the responsibility has to come with the DJs.”

Its ironic that a “mogul” with a video blog is so convinced that in 2009, DJs still hold the same sway as they once did in “breaking” a record. Music is changing.  In fact, we all know its been changing for quite some time.  Radio stations are not unlike record companies – they are in a difficult transition in dealing with the new online digital music paradigm where there were 1.7 billion downloads last year alone.

While radio listenership is fairly steady,  radio advertising is down – especially in the current economy.  Radio is now competing heavily with other mediums for scare advertising dollars.  In this sense, radio faces three formidable opponents: satellite radio, the internet and online music sites.   These are all places where music lovers can get more music in a more segmented, specialized formats.  This is known as the “long tail effect”.

Gone are the days where you had to listen to 25 R&B records to hear one dope rap record.  Now, you can sample and download music without EVER listening to a radio station.  You can see videos and interviews from your favorite artists and read their blogs.  And even if you do want to hear the latest radio interview or the “hot new song”, wait 30 minutes after it aired an a radio rip – from one listener -  will be online for download, ad free.

Now, there are still “hit” records, but that doesn’t bode well for real hip-hop.  As radio continue to try and cobble together listeners to stay viable, they promote the records that do well with the largest possible demographic.  If you look at the top music downloads (let’s assume that popularity was driven by radioplay) for last year, the top rap single was “Crank Dat”, the second most popular rap joint was “Party Like A Rock Star.”  This is supposed to bring hip-hop out of a “recession”?  Guess it will if you record an album like Press Play.

Like record labels, DJs were the middle man years ago.  They held a monopoly on records because at one point, that was the only way that a record could be heard by the masses.  People had to listen in to hear a hot new record and artists needed to beg to get it on the air to ensure wide exposure.   The internet changed all of that.   Bloggers and website owners are the new DJs.    The old radio station format can’t compete.

Next time I see him, I’ll slip Diddy a copy of Technorati’s State of The Blogosphere.  In 2008, 77% of Internet users read blogs – 60 million readers in the U.S.   Surveys have pegged the number of bloggers at around 22.6M in the US alone.  Out of those, 90% of bloggers “say they post about the brands, music, movies and books that they love (or hate).”  They are the new tastemakers.  Bloggers are giving opinions and millions are reading what bloggers have to say.

For further proof, the 2008 edition of the seminal Digital Music Report states that music companies are moving away from traditional music and TV advertising and investing in promotion through social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, or setting up the ability to  purchase music directly through artist’s websites and content sharing deals with music providers such as Imeem.  Towards the Internet, away from radio.

That’s not to say Flex, Angie Martinez, Big Boy and all these other on-air personalities down have sway.  Of course they do.  But its residual.  As the next generation of listeners starts taking prominence, they will increasingly look to their peers to decide whether a record is hot – back to the viral, word of mouth format.

Let’s be real here – the best of the best will go where the money and the fame are.  And there is ample proof that money, both from advertisers and listeners, is moving away from radio and towards the Internet.  Its not the DJ that’s hurting hip-hop.  Its that there are 1.7 million R&B artists on mMySpace vying for attention and no one knows how best to work this new system.  But people are learning.  Rappers know that getting a buzz on the Internet and getting your music out to the widest possible audience is the best way to get on.  And the DJ isn’t the only person who can do that anymore.

Why beg Funk Flex the DJ when you can send an e-mail to B-Double the blogger?

Tags: Diddy, Future, Internet, Radio