How Much Do Rappers Make Off Mixtapes?

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Recently we’ve been getting many Questions sent to us by artists about profiting from mixtapes. A few of these questions were “How Much Do Rappers Make Off Mixtapes?” Followed by “Do you think I can make the same off my mixtapes?”

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It’s obvious that the success of a mixtape from one artist does not guarantee the same success for another artist. But there are certain things you can do to increase your chances of selling more mixtapes. That in itself is a post for another time. In This post I will break down how a mixtape is sold for profit and how much rappers can potentially make from it.

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Also Read: How To Promote Your Mixtape Online

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What Is A Mixtape

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A mixtape is a project released by mostly rappers as a way to promote themselves, remain relevant, or build a buzz. Mixtapes are usually released by major label rappers to hold fans over until their full EP or LP comes out; this is a method used to try to remain relevant in the eyes of fans. Mixtapes are also released by new rappers in an effort to gain visibility within the music industry. This is one of the best way to build a buzz around an artist’s name.

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Also Read: How To Get On Livemixtapes.com

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How Do Rappers Get Paid From Mixtapes

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To be honest most mixtapes that are released are for promotional purposes. There are some major artists that get paid, but a new artist will typically not receive any income from his mixtapes. As I mentioned earlier, a mixtape’s primary function is to promote an artist, build up buzz, or to keep an artist relevant and in the spotlight so fans don’t think that he/she has disappeared from the music scene.

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If there is a case where a dj wants to put out a major mixtape under his name, then he or the label he is signed to will pay rappers for verses or full songs. Dj’s have to pay record labels because these labels are the ones who own the master copyright to the artists songs and also their publishing. All copyright content produced by the artist under contract belongs to the record label, and any use of the artists recording needs to be paid to the label.

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Another way rappers get paid from mixtapes is to sell it on their own. Either on Itunes or their website. Datpiff or Livemixtapes do not allow rappers to sell their music on their platform. But an interesting thing to be notes is mixtape websites often pay major rappers to host their mixtapes on the websites, so that their website can become more popular. This has happened on Spinrilla, Datpiff, Livemixtapes and other sites like them. often times the rapper will put their mixtape on the highest bidders site.

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How Much Do Rappers Get Paid Off selling Mixtapes?

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So the golden question at hand is how much do rappers get paid from the methods I’ve listed above? Well it all depends. New rappers won’t get paid to do a mixtape with a dj, and depending on their clout selling it on their own may generate some revenue.

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I’ve seen major artists get paid anywhere from $15,000-$22,000 per song. C to D list rappers will get $5,000-$10,000 a track; which is not bad at all. Mixtape websites may pay along the same lines depending on how popular and profitable the site is.

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Also Read: Top 10 Mixtape Websites

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Written By Jerome Kyng

@JeromeKyngMP

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