Chance the Rapper is an inspiring model for independent artists all around the world. He has revolutionized the music industry in an extraordinary way. From his success as an independent artist in the music industry to leading political movements, Chance has impacted thousands of people through his influential passion and courage to generate change and inspire others to follow his lead.
Chance has turned the music industry upside down by starting new customs, creating new opportunities, and pushing the limits in political, business, and musical aspects. Since record labels were first in the making, the music industry standard has been to sign with a label in order to achieve real success. Although throughout the years, there have been other artists who have made it pretty well by coming up with deals with labels or fighting for rights to their masters such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Frank Ocean, and Keith Green. The first three artists have in common of being under a label and later buying back their masters. Keith Green is a unique case where he was off and on with his label and made several hits without a label and achieved worldly success. However, it is rare for an artist to be contracted to a label and own their music. Most artists sign their rights away to all their music to the label and rely on the label to bring in opportunities for stardom. This has been the way the industry works for many years.
This is where Chance comes in. Chance is an independent artist. He has no label, only a small team he works with to create music and work on his career. Chance makes millions of dollars every year. And it isn’t from his music. He simply makes a profit from touring and merch (Shamsian, 2016). This is a unique and fascinating method as an artist. No other artist in the hip-hop mainstream before Chance has given his music away for free just because he wanted to and because he cares about his fans. This is a remarkable action for a young artist to do. Even though there are other independent artists who are successful, Chance is unique and one of the most successful artists in the hip-hop industry, especially for an independent artist. This is a new custom Chance has created for the music industry.
However, Chance’s distinctive method to earning money isn’t the only way he has changed the music industry. As Hutchison (2017) has stated, “Chance the Rapper has simply become popular by being himself. Chance grew up in Chicago and as an artist he has represented Chicago through his music and helping the community. A significant way he has alleviated his community is “with his many earnings, Chance the Rapper donated $1,000,000 and counting to nine different Chicago schools” (Hutchison, 2017). Chance’s upbringing is also demonstrated where “Chance’s music was like reading the diary of a black man growing up in Chicago. Listeners would vicariously experience the anxieties, exaltations and everything else in between” (Mama, 2019). Chance brings a realness, transparency, and an authenticity to who he is, where he is from, and what he believes. This is not always seen in the industry, but Chance has inspired others to be true to themselves as he has.
Chance has utilized his popularity and realness in the music industry in order to rise to the top of the hip-hop mania. Not only has Chance given his music for free and shown artists that they can be successful without a label, he has created opportunities for independent artists to do the same as he has. Music LA engineer Ryland Talamo states that other artists will be “looking at him and going I don’t need to sign with a label” (R. Talamo, personal communication, April 7, 2020). If Chance can do it, so can any other artist. Chance is also a businessman, “Chance was the first rapper to win three Grammys without a label. In fact, he convinced the academy to change the requirements in order to be nominated for a Grammy” (Overthought, 2018). In addition, he also worked with iTunes in order to release his album “Surf” for free and earned half a million dollars for temporary exclusivity. Proceeding this action, other artists also did the same such as Frank Ocean (Mama, 2019). Chance has a great vision for business strategies and creating a brand for himself. He has a strong voice in the music industry and a powerful influence in making change. He continues to push boundaries on what can be achieved, changing industry standards and starting new campaigns for possibilities in the music industry.
There are several reasons Chance stays away from labels and has stayed as an independent artist. For a long time, labels have been looked down upon by artists. Record labels obtain a lot of control over artists. For the most part, they usually own 100% of master rights and sometime even get a cut from everything else the artist does rather it is concerts, merch, etc. Labels can control when a song is released and how the artist uses their songs. They are not allowed to give any song away to someone else while in contract with the label. For some artists, this can be a little scary to handle. However, the reason artists do contract with the labels is because for the last two decades it was seen as the only way to become a huge star, get connections, be able to obtain a large fanbase and make a lot of money. Chance was able to do all of this without a label, as Talamo puts it “He likes to retain that control and he’s been able to become really successful and release his music independently” (R. Talamo, personal communication, April 7, 2020). And, as Chance himself describes it “You sign to a label, you get a boss, and that shit's f--ked up to me. Like, why should you have a boss?” (Platon, 2017). Having control over his own music is an important aspect for Chance.
Chance has achieved his own success without a label and has expressed his feelings of not needing a label. Not only does he have strong feelings of opposition towards labels, but he has made it clear he does not need them. In the song “No Problem” from his album Coloring Book, Chance raps about how he hates labels and that labels are of little importance to him (Shamsian, 2016). Without a label he gets to be free, creative, and express himself however he wants. Furthermore, Chance has always been supported by his fans, other artists, and music professionals to continue as an independent artist. He has met with several labels but has always decided to stay as an independent artist. He has been able to do collaborations, work on songs for Kanye West, join a band to make Christian Rock, and give back to the community all without a label (Shamsian, 2017). Chance is an innovator and doesn’t need a label to be a successful artist.
With all of the positive impacts Chance has brought to the music industry for independent artists, he has also brought concern and caused anger for record labels. Chance isn’t the first person to be mad at labels or say negative comments about them, for a while now other big artists (Taylor Swift, Amanada Palmer, Childish Gambino, etc.) have endured many frustrations and complications with labels and have expressed their feelings about it publicly. However, they still gave the label what they initially wanted which was a signed artist to bring in money. Since Chance the Rapper has been such a huge influence in the industry, what he says creates an important impact. He has written songs and made it publicly known he does not like labels at all. This would only upset the industry, as labels have controlled the industry for quite some time and are being shaken up by this young artist. The more influence Chance pertains on to upcoming artists, the more labels have to fear of going down. Talamo declares “a lot of [labels] have diminished already in the past couple of decades. I think that trend will continue” (R. Talamo, personal communication, April 7, 2020).
Similar to Chance’s headstrong opinion towards labels, labels also have reason to be upset for Chance’s radical actions in the industry. He has caused several changes as mentioned before with the Grammys and making deals with Apple Music. This only makes labels seem even less relevant and necessary to be with. Independent artists may try to push change for rules and regulations in the industry that could further hurt labels. In addition, Chance has told people specifically not to sign with certain labels. This led to labels saying bad things towards Chance (Platon, 2017). In one case, Chance describes labels’ response to his expressions “Push me out of headline positions so that their artist could be a headliner, or not cleared songs, and you know, it works on both sides, so samples on certain songs didn't get cleared” (Platon, 2017). Despite the conflicts between labels and Chance, he has provided unique opportunities and positive outcomes for the industry.
Due to Chance’s influence on the music industry and changes he has caused; the music industry will see changes in the future as well. Independent labels are becoming more popular, record labels aren’t going to stay as successful as they have always been unless they make changes for themselves, independent artists are rising and hip-hop and rap increasing in new artists and popularity. For independent artists, there will be an increase of “more companies that do label services, more work for hire or contract basis” (R. Talamo, personal communication, April 7, 2020). These companies will increase in popularity because “they make more sense as a business model” and are easier for independent artists to work with (R. Talamo, personal communication, April 7, 2020). They don’t take royalties like labels do and they still offer the same services that labels do from booking, public promotion, marketing, finance, designing, working on social media pages, etc. These companies will be more beneficiary for artists and vice versa. Artists have the ability to create music from home with little resource, it isn’t necessary anymore for thousands of dollars to create great music. And if artists do need resources, there are plenty of sources to go to for raising money rather it is Crowdfunding, GoFundMe, Patreon, etc. Of course, a following is necessary to raise money from these sites, but it is still possible to create music from home with little equipment and a lot of knowledge. Similar to indie labels, small businesses/agencies are also going to rise for marketing, promotion, booking, selling, recording, designing, etc. Artists can be represented by agencies instead of labels and have better work productivity.
In addition to the rise of small businesses and companies, there could be an increase of streaming services making deals with independent artists. Chance has already made deals with Apple Music and changed rules for the Award Academy. This could be a leeway for Apple Music and other streaming services to make deals with artists on releasing music, perhaps even creating music and representing the artist in a business manager fashion. This is one reason labels will have to change their methods with artists. If streaming services or independent labels are able to offer the same benefits and not take all the royalties or take advantage of the artist, upcoming artists will gravitate towards these companies instead of labels. In some cases, labels can be better for providing an advance or a higher publicity advantage, but taking advantage isn’t going to go under the table forever.
With the increase of these small companies in addition to Chance’s influence in the hip-hop community, there will be an increase of independent artists and hip-hop music. Chance claims "In order for me to contribute to thrive, I need more artists to do it themselves. I try and stress this as often as possible” (Platon, 2017). This demonstrates the importance that Chance feels about his accomplishments. Chance had a deep connection and relationship with his fans, and this could be a reason for his fans who are musicians to be inspired to start their careers as independent artists. To emphasize this more “Chance being nominated made his fan base feel as if they accomplished something, as if what they were driving toward has finally been accomplished” (Virji, 2017).
Artists have the ability to release music on their own with plenty of choices for distribution websites and Performing Rights Organization. To show this possibility increasing, “the number of independent artists increased sixfold from 2003 to 2012” (HipHopUnwrapped, 2019). Similar to Chance’s inspiration on independent artists, he has also inspired more artists to create hip-hop music and rap music. Some statistics show the popularity of hip-hop “Hip-hop tracks were already more popular than any other kind in 2017, accounting for 20.9 percent of songs consumption. That number jumped to a stunning 24.7 percent in 2018” (Leight, 2019).
Chance the Rapper has altered the industry through his advocacy for independent artists in having the same success as artists who have a label. He has transformed the industry significantly through his inspiration, pushing limits, businesses knowledge, and tough attitude in the music industry. He has created an impact that will only increase through time and continue to strive in this industry.
References
HipHopeUnwrapped. (2019). Why we need to leave record behind in 2019. Retrieved from https://medium.com/music-for-inspiration/why-we-need-to-leave-record-labels-behind-in-2019-bfa1db45036a
Hutchison, J. (2017). How chance the rapper has changed the music industry. Retrieved from https://www.bosshunting.com.au/culture/chance-rapper-changed-music-industry/
Leight, E. (2019). Hip-hop continued to dominate the music business in 2018. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/hip-hop-continued-to-dominate-the-music-business-in-2018-774422/
Mama, R. (2019). How chance the rapper became the ultimate independent artist. Retrieved from https://medium.com/the-ascent/how-chance-the-rapper-became-the-ultimate-independent-artist-1d7a98081070
Overthought. (2018, Oct. 31). Chance the rapper vs. The music industry [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0_sRwkEvwc
Platon, A. (2017). Chance the rapper talks fatherhood, dealing with anxiety, record labels, & possibly selling his next album. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7720930/chance-the-rapper-complex-cover-story-fatherhood-record-labels-album
Shamsian, J. (2016). Why the 23-year-old who is dominating the hip-hop world refuses to sign a record label. Retrieved from https://www.insider.com/why-chance-the-rapper-refuses-to-sign-a-record-label-2016-6
Shamsian, J. (2017). A 23-year-old rapper who refuses to sign a record label deal just made grammy history. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/chance-the-rapper-grammys-record-deal-a7578031.html
Talamo, R. (2020, April 7). Personal communication music engineer [Interview].
Virji, K. (2017). How chance the rapper leverage technology to chance the music industry. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@kabirvirji/how-chance-the-rapper-leveraged-technology-to-change-the-music-industry-9cf75c2cd3dd
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