The Bobby Bones Show - A Message from Bobby + BONUS: The Biztape: #51- Drake Dominates Charts, UMG goes Public, and Is Nashville Country Pop?

Episode Date: October 3, 2021

Subscribe to The Biztape!This week the boys welcome writer from Earmilk and owner of beatlymusic.com, Alexander Zwerner . The gang dives into how Drake continuously dominates charts upon every release as well as Universal Music Group’s insane first day of public trading. Later they discuss how Nashville country labels are partnering with their Pop counterparts as new crossover artists begin to flourish. This and more on The Biztape! Socials:  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok: @TheBiztapeEmail: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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addresses. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. Hey guys, it's Bobby here. Thanks for listening and being subscribed to the podcast. I did want to take a second when we don't put anything up like today and give you a sample of a show called The Biz Tape. It's our newest podcast here on the Nashville Podcast Network. It's kind of a media podcast, a music podcast, hosted by two guys named Joe and Colin.

They break down the nerdy side of the music industry. They do a lot of research from the biggest music topics from the charts, music law, and more. They even have on music lawyers and writers. So it's a great podcast if you want to learn more about the music business side or just be smarter than your friends when talking to music. This episode, they talk about how Drake always dominates the charts. And they talk about Universal Music Group's insane first day of public trading.

They also talk about how Nashville country labels are partnering with their pop counterparts to make sure that crossover artists happen from country music. So check it out. And also, if you like it, go subscribe to the biz tape wherever you listen to podcasts. All right, here you go. Here's an episode of the biz tape. Drake dominates charts. UMG goes public.

And is Nashville country pop? You're listening to The BizTape. Welcome to episode 51 of The BizTape, your all things, music, business, and media podcasts. I'm your host, Colin, with my co-host, Joe, and our wonderful guest, Alexander Zawarner, who is a writer over at EarMilk and also has his own fun little enterprise

we'll get into called Beatley Music, Beatley Music.com. Can I do that for you if you get, with Beatley Music, like do your little radio ads, like beatly music.com. Yeah, if we go to radio, I'll definitely have you up up there doing it for me. Sweet.

Collins definitely got the radio voice out of the two of us. Beatleymysic.com. You know what I mean? What were those sites back in the day they would do that all the time on radio? Oh, it was GoDaddy. Go daddy would do that all the go daddy.com.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, they cleaned up their act. Yeah, they got real weird. Yeah, yeah. To associate Alexander with that in any way. I just good start. We're so glad to have you on. We really appreciated that Alexander reached out to us.

And we were very impressed with what he's got going on. So I was like, come on. And I mean, first off, you have, like, I wanted to talk to you about, like, what do you kind of do in the music space? What is your kind of role? Yeah, sure. Well, you know, my two main jobs right now in the music space,

I would say, is obviously they have a lot of writing. through my life. I've done writing for my own personal blog. And then I also wrote a book on the history of hip-hop. Growing up, I played a lot of travel basketball. And one of the big things with travel basketball is, like, you have kids from Atlanta and New York and Texas all come together. And one of the big things that brought us together was music and specifically hip-hop music. And so it's always been a massive genre for me and led me to write the book, the history of hip-hop, which I was able to publish on Amazon. And one of the best things I would say about publishing on Amazon is, you know, it's an international company, right?

So I had guys from Japan and the UK and a bunch of different countries buying books. It was, it came with positives and negatives. You know, it was great to see, like, how international hip-hop is. But I also did get, I got an email from an angry UK buyer that told me he was like, man, there was no UK hip-hop in here. Like, what are you doing? And I was like, I'm from America. I can't. Like, I don't really know that much about UK hip-hop.

But maybe for part two. Maybe for- Yeah, do a grime book next time, you know? Yeah, exactly. I got to, I got to peeve to the customers.

So, like, I mean, just so I'm aware, Alexander, how old are you? I'm only 19 right now. Dude, that's crazy. Why do you think I brought him on?

Yeah, you're like insane. You have a book already? Yeah, we're not even, we're not even through even the most impressive things. I have not gotten to book level. in my career yet.

So you're doing something right. Short play. Thank you. Thank you. If we had a short play, that would be pretty intense. Oh, yeah. 100%.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's crazy. Okay, here we go. Here's another impressive reason. So you're also a writer at Ear Milk. I know that, which makes sense a lot because that publication focuses a lot with hip hop and rap and pop.

So that makes sense if you have such a love for hip hop and wrote a book about it. I'm sure they've loved. to have you, obviously. Yeah, you know, I reached out to ear milk. I knew a couple writers in Atlanta area that were writing for them. And I was like, hey, like, you know, I've been doing a couple essays and writings and news posts on my own blog. And I've been also wrote this book.

And I was like, I love to come on, get a like broader experience, talk to some new artists. And they emailed me and said, hey, like, come on. Like, we'll see what, see how it goes. So that was definitely a great experience. I mean, one of the crazy things for me was like when I was on my own blog and writing for that, you know, I had to reach out to artists to get them to come on and do interviews. But now I'm like having people reach out to me because I'm writing for earmoke. So that was definitely a crazy switch up and has opened my eyes to the massive amounts of genres in the music space. You know, I originally coming on, I was really just a hip-hop writer.

But I've definitely expanded to alternative indie, a lot of those types of genres that earmills. Milk has really found themselves on. So I feel like it's been a great experience just all around. Do you think like the blog space, because I know for a long time, like especially in the early 2010s, that's how a lot of indie acts and a lot of rap acts got their start was through blog interfaces and like just, you know, getting more exposure through that realm. Do you think that's coming back a little bit more? Yeah, you know, actually leads up to my. my idea for my company, I'm working on Beatley music. You know, one of the big things for me, you know,

obviously in the modern streaming, like the modern music streaming world, there's just so much music put out every single day. You know, there's thousands and thousands of albums and songs. And, you know, writing for ear milk, we have to pick through all those thousands of songs that put out every single day and find something that we really like. And like many times when I was writing articles for earmoke, it was taking me longer to find the music than to actually write about the music.

And I was like, this is ridiculous. Like, I need to find something that's easier. And I thought, you know, like, if I was able to see an album cover for a song or an album or project and see what other critics think with just like average critic score on top of that, it would just be so much easier for me to like weed down all the songs to find something I liked. And that basically led me to create Beatley music, which basically brings together the best of like IMD and Ron Tomatoes to music.

So we average critic ratings from a bunch of reputable sources like Anthony Fantano complex, or not complex, pitchfork, a lot of those sort of critic reviewers. And then we average them together to get one critic rating. And then you can go on the website and see the average critic ratings for all the best albums, Donda, CLB, anything you want. Wow, that's crazy. I mean, that's a very unique idea that I haven't heard in the music space before. So that I think you're definitely definitely on to something.

for sure because I feel like, you know, a lot of music reviewers the people, people go to are like the people you named, complex, pitchfork, Anthony Fantano, you know, up against the two megalists. But yeah, it's definitely interesting because I think it's almost like there's so much combination with the entertainment industry now with kind of like UI interfaces like that and bringing the things that worked with maybe traditional media into. into more of just audio-based media as well. So that's super interesting, man. That's something that I'm definitely gonna hit up a lot of the time.

And I will say when I was a music programmer, I would have fucking loved to use that thing for my automation when I was uploading shit to automation. Because like I'm with you, man, like we used to get, I mean your email's probably like this too. I would get on a day, on an average day, I think I got like 500 emails. Yeah.

Like and just people. Yeah. And it's like how do I, how do I sip through this crap? I don't know. Right. Like who's good, who isn't?

So you kind of just have your few reputable people that you're like, oh, I know they're going to get me good stuff, you know, but this is kind of making it more for like general public can tell you what they want, which I think is very unique. So dope.

It's also aggregated, which I think is great because, you know, everybody, every reviewer has their own personal flavor. So like, it's great to have a resource where you can look at all these different things combined, you know, and kind of get more of a general consensus. Do they, do they comment? Like, do they kind of leave their own, like, review space kind of like rat and tomatoes

where it's like you have a chain of, like, reviews and stuff like that? Yeah. So if you go on to the website and you click, say, the Donda album, you'll see an excerpt from each critic reviewer just with a, general idea about the review and then the critic score they gave. And then you can also go on as a user and give your own user score, which you'll see right next to the critic scores. So, you know, like obviously the critic scores are important. You know, critics definitely have a, you know, I would say have a very good sense of like what music does well, what music doesn't do well,

but the users and the fans are also equally as important in my view. And so I'm trying to create the platform that highlights critic viewers, but also equally highlights the fan of ears as well. The Bobby Bone Show is proud to be supported by Grand Canyon University, an affordable, private, non-profit Christian University based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. They say higher education is outdated, irrelevant. Well, GCU doesn't settle for the status quo. They shatter it. At GCU, academically rigorous, industry-driven programs are built to move at the speed of relevance, with practical skills, career readiness, and opportunity for every learner. GCU believes education shouldn't be a privilege, but an affordable path forward for all.

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HELP, betterhelp.com slash Bobby. Betterhelp.com slash Bobby. First thing I want to talk about, which you would be qualified for, especially since you already raffled off saying it, is we're going to talk about CLB, which for the uninform. certified lover boy, which is so funny to me to say. It sounds like a yacht rock band. Like that's what I imagine.

Well, Drake is kind of a yacht rod band if you really think about it. Okay. So this man, I'm sure Alexander knows, just destroyed all the charts and everything. Like we had Don to come up first and we're like, wow. And then Drake came up and we're like, what is going on? So certified lover boy launched at number one on the Billboard 200 with, 600,13,000 equivalent album units, according the MRC data, making the biggest weekly sum for an album in over a year. And he becomes the eighth artist with 10 or more number ones in chart history. So here's the other thing. Drake has, which is what I want to talk about, and I kind of have

a fun low game for us, is Drake has insane, like, billboard and chart, like, records that are so big. So, for instance, in the 63 years of the Hot 100, this is only a second time that an artist has controlled 21 spots of the top 40, including all the top 10. And the only other time was also Drake with Scorpio. It's the Spider-Man meme where he points out of itself. Who's hitting me off the chart, my own album. So, yeah, man, it's insane. He also has drastically extended his lead of the most top 40s.

hits with 143. Oh my God. Yeah. He also has appeared on the top 100, 258 times. Two and a half. It just lives there, man. Dude, it's insane. So they were labeling off and we can get into a Drake discussion after this, but I wanted to do this little game thing for you is they were labeling off kind of who has the most top 100 appearances after Drake. Drake has 258. So, the first I thought we could guess what these are. I blacked them out kind of shittily in the Google doc. Yeah. I noticed that.

So the first. I was like, don't look. Don't look. I should have made, I should have made both black instead of just like one kind of lighter. So first off, who's directly behind Drake?

Joe, do you have a guess of the most appearances on the top 100 behind Drake? Drake's at 258. Okay. I can give you hints and Alexander, feel free to butt in. I know it's weird with Zoom. I'm going to go left field. I'm going to say Taylor Swift, but I don't think that's correct.

Okay. Taylor Swift. Alexander, you have a guess? I would have to go with maybe someone older, maybe like Michael Jackson or something like that. Okay, that's a good guess too. I'm going to preface now that you two will not get this, but it makes sense after I reveal what it is.

So the second highest is the Glee cast with 207 top 100. Get out of here with that. It makes sense though. I always joke with my spouse is I'm very glad that we're out of the time period where like Acapella was like the rage and everything.

And that was about, yeah, that was like late 2000s, early 2010. Sorry, Acapella fans. It's a pitch perfect. Yeah, right. They were going to make a comeback. They got 207 and that's just, you know, that's close. Like, and, but sadly, unless the glee reunion happens, I don't know if they're going to beat that ever. But it makes sense.

I mean, it was a huge deal, huge show. And that was kind of the thing. They kind of kids bopped a bunch of songs, too, to make them, you know, family friendly. So. I'm surprised kids bop isn't up there. It's not up there. Yeah. I'll tell you that right now.

They're not up there. Highest selling in Europe. I'm pretty sure, right? Yeah, I believe so. They have a huge international presence. Okay. Let's go to number three. number three i'll give you a hint is a rapper but it's an older rapper and the again this is top

100 appearances top 100 okay rapper but older rapper yeah not too old don't think like old is it dr dr dr okay that's your guess let's go with that and then uh Alexander you got um I'm gonna go with Eminem okay around that time period that's a good yes around that time period but it's little Wayne no what yeah little Wayne These are throw a curve balls out. Okay, you have to think about it like this. I know. These are crazy.

Drake, the same reason that Drake has such high, that's different number from how many times he's personally been on the board with his records features. How many times has Little Wayne been on a big feature? He did the Rihanna. He did the Rihanna thing. He was on like every other record for a while. You know, now he just gets really depressed at a Blink 182 concert, but like, which

have you never seen that video. I don't know if you've ever seen that, Alexander is he went on tour with, Blink 182 and it was the weirdest pairing of bands and he basically just like gave up he was like he was really sad he gave up on stage right he was just like I can't do this and he was like enjoy Blink 182 and it was just because the tour was so weird and people weren't getting hype he was the opener for Blink 182 yeah it was a kind of a weird pairing up right who would you who would you book for that out sooner um I was Well, let me start with this story and then I'll get into that.

But actually, I went to this concert with host Malone and Aerosmith. Oh. The difference in crowd was ridiculous. Right. I had like 90-year-old like grandpaws and grandmas up there like shaking their canes, like all hype for Aerosmith. And we had like a bunch of like 16 year old, like 17-year-old kids like, who's Aerosmith?

And I was sitting there like, I know Aerosmith. Like I was up there for both of them. And like up there like going crazy, all the people that were from the 80s. And like when Post Malone came out, this grandpa next to me, he was like, this is not real music. And I was like, I think it's pretty solid. He's got a bud light up there. There's a lot of people that would claim Aerosmith isn't real music. Yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll leave you with the last two. The last two are usual suspects. These are the people that you would admit. And I'll give you a hint. You said one of them earlier of who would be in the top 100. the most times. Taylor Swift.

Okay, that's one. Who's the other one? I'm going to have to go with Kanye. You got them both right. Wow. Do you want to guess who's ahead of the other? Do you want to guess who's ahead of the other? Taylor.

Taylor's ahead of the other. I thought maybe, I was like, I thought I could fake you out with that. No, no, no. Because the other ones, no one would have guessed, you know. Taylor has 136 and Kanye has 133, so they're neck and neck. Oh, wow. Okay. I leave the Drake thing with the number one right now, right now from Drake was way too sexy,

which is a weird song, but whatever. I don't think it's my favorite on that album. But it marks the 52nd week that Drake has reigned encompassing cumulative weeks of all nine of his number one hits. So he's been a number one for a year in terms of like adding up all the time that he's had a number one record. Wow. And then he's the fourth act to reach the one year mark, which I'm just going to tell you what the other ones were. The number one who's been the longest number one is Mariah Carey with 84 weeks. Then Rihanna with 60 and the Beatles with 59.

Wow. Which is honestly impressive. Yeah. He beat out Mariah Carey. Wow. No, he hasn't beat out Mariah Carey. He's, uh, he's, sorry. Yeah, he's fourth.

He's behind the Beatles, which is weird. Because then Drake can go, I'm bigger than Jesus. I'm bigger than the Beatles. You know that's going to be coming up in the next album. Yeah, dude. This man is just insane. Like I was saying before... Who knew the guy from DeGrasse?

That's what I think of. Dude, we're like, we're on the... Well, Alexander, I think, is really on the cusp. But we're on the cusp of the people that understand that reference. Because people younger than Alexander are like, what the hell are you talking about? And I'm like, he was Jimmy in the wheelchair. You don't remember that in the school shooting thing? But like I was probably, I was like eight or nine years old watching like Nick,

13 or whatever. Right. It was on the way out when you were. Yeah, it was on the way out when I was getting older. So I caught the reference a little bit. But people my age, you'd ask him what's grassy is. They're like, is that like a movie or like they would have no clue you're talking about. Right.

Is that grass treatment? What kind of lawn care is that? Let's talk about it. Like, Drake is insane with his chart presence and has always been, which is interesting because he had this whole feud with Kanye West about, like, who's going to have a bigger album and there's speculation if, like, even parts of that are real, you know? And so why do you think he's so successful?

Jay, you got an opinion? Why do you think he... I think he's easily digestible for mass audience consumption in a genre that historically was not appealing to, white audiences, to be honest. I think that's kind of like a- Drake's almost like a gateway drug for a lot of people into rap music and hip-hop. What do you think, Alex, I think, Alexan. I feel like he, honestly, I feel like he's mastered how to make a pop hit almost.

You know, even though sometimes the music may not be, like, have that much depth. I mean, I don't think anyone out here would say way too sexy is like a very deep song with like heavy lyrics. I think he's mastered the way to appeal to his audience. audience. You know, obviously a lot of the massive hits right now are coming off of TikTok. And to me, way too sexy is very much a TikTok song. And I feel like he definitely placed his audience and where people are digesting music at the time. Yeah, that's a good point because there has been a lot with people that we've talked to, but also the industry about getting that like really good sub 30 seconds of a song, especially for TikTok, as we've talked multiple times on the show,

about the power of TikTok. And there's people that, you know, almost, I've literally talked to some people that are going like, well, the chorus of the song is good, it's just too long, can you make it shorter? And literally it's because of TikTok,

which I think is insane. And he does a really good, and with rap and hip hop specifically, it's all based on hooks. So if you got a good hook in there, that's perfect for a TikTok. Yeah. And he's very good at hype cycles.

So I was going to say that was my reason. He's very good at, like, having these periods of time and making, like, like, his albums together are not, like, that crazy apart in time, but he creates a hype cycle that's like if the Beatles were releasing a new album, like, which is insane. And, like, it's just, like, crazy interaction with fans and stuff. And he has that thing, like, you're saying, it's digestible where it's like, it's almost like, it's cool music. Like, it's, like, you know, hip music, but, like, it's not too hip that you don't understand. what's going on or like what he's saying. I think too, like he was really on the on on the in when hip hop was becoming the standard like popular genre. Yeah.

And I think that helped a lot for his growth as an artist because of that. And then, I mean, obviously the de Grassy thing helped. But yeah, I do think it is like just very digestible. I mean, if you play like Drake, you. in front of your family, like, even if it's like a conservative family or something, right? They're probably going to be okay with it for the most part. Whereas if you contrast that with like Kendrick Lamar or Kanye.

Yeah, or Kanye where it's a bit more grittier and it's a bit more like, I kind of want to say real, but like you can have your own opinion on that. Right. Where it's like it's a bit more harsh, I guess, for the listener. The,

there is a stark like, contrast in that. And he knows how to just be consistent, too. I think that's another huge thing. Yeah, 100%. Where I expect a Drake record record every year at this point, you know? It comes out with one. It's like the new iPhones. Yeah, exactly. And he's got features. Every new iPhone comes with the Drake record. Who is it? Is it Jake call that was like, I got the feature? Somebody was like that for a while. But like, that's what Drake does very well, too. He's got a big number of features on there as well from big artists. Like he has features on his record.

On his record and also the opposite. Fair point is that he has big features on other people's songs. Not as much anymore. It seems like he has the ability to, you know, demand like, oh, you want to come on to my record. I don't have to go under yours sometimes. But it seems. It was crazy to me.

I mean, it was crazy to see that like Kanye had this massive album rollout. You know, he had one, two, three listening parties with mass. massive attendance on Apple Music, and Drake was still able to beat him out for numbers in the first week. That's what was so crazy to me. That's how powerful Drake's music is. That is point. Like Kanye had to put on the Kanye circus and Drake just had to, you know. Drake literally had to get up and just hit the set of the button. Yeah, he just had to say some shit, you know, like, and be like, I'm putting out a record and, you know, give some beef with Kanye and be like, I got these people on it and have good marketing team. And that was it. Kanye had to put on three

shows and this whole thing. And like, well, I don't think he had to. I think that he definitely increased it by a lot. Because it was like the same. I liked it. Yeah. Yeah. So,

yeah. What, what, I mean, Kanye is wild, Drake can going anywhere is what I'm saying. That's true. I mean,

we're going to be like doing the Tootsie slide in 2040. Yeah. What's your favorite Drake song? Mine. Yeah. Honestly, I'm going to go with the Tootsy slide right now because I just like how, like, goofy that song is.

The other thing I want to say, before we move on is Drake is fucking creepy as hell with people sometimes. He can be, yes. I don't know, like, and there's like lines on the wall that I just can't ignore. So I don't want anybody to be like, I'm a Drake fan

and like, I'm just going to like let that go. But it's just, it's definitely interesting because that will be interesting in this future, I think, if he decides to do that. But at the same time, Kanye's done that. He's done fucking things that people find horrific and terrible and survive.

But I don't know. If he hits it too hard, then... I don't know if grooming was necessarily a thing that I heard about Kanye with. Which is way different in the public sphere. I mean, like, that would be way easier to cancel people for, rightfully so. Yeah, but making out the 16-year-old girl

on stage isn't exactly classy. Yeah, that was... Not the best time. Yeah, not the best one. But besides that, Alexander, what's your favorite drink song? I would have to go with the starter from the bottom that

I mean the absolute classic You know growing up That was always a song people played at You know basketball games At basketball hype matches Like the A lot of school stuff I think it's one of those Drake songs

That's catchy but it has like That deep down internal meeting That like is perfect to put on Whenever you're going on a run Doing a test anything like that Yeah Yeah Mine is Hotline Bling.

I think that was Pinnacle Drake was the, yes, it was the music video. Even Drake at the max. It was the best thing I've ever seen in my life. It was the best dance moves I've ever seen. That brought dance back in my opinion. The Bobby Bone Show is proud to be supported by Grand Canyon University, an affordable, private, non-profit Christian University based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. They say higher education is outdated,

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No harsh chemicals, just nutrient dense ingredients. You apply with a hose. It's designed to make yard care feel doable. Go to get sunday.com to get your free custom yard analysis. That's get sunday.com. All right, well, we're going to jump into something a little bit heady. And what I mean by heady is like you're going to get a headache because there's going to be a lot of numbers involved. And I just want to apologize.

We'll make them digestible. Don't worry. We're trying our best. It's a lot of stuff going on, but it is definitely something you need to know about, which is Universal Music Group goes public for the first time. Oh, my God. Yeah, I know. It is crazy. It is the highest valued music business to go public.

Behind Warner. General. And ever. So with just one day of public trading on the Euro Next Amsterdam Stock Exchange, UMG shares were up 36.5% which the valuation of UMG is now $54.3 billion, which makes sense after analyzing the absolute bedlam that was the first day of trading, which was literally all of the music business outlets

were just like, guys, it's happening. Right. I remember covering. It was like, it's like tuning into ESPN where they're like, we got 24-7 coverage on this stock right now. Here's the charts. I remember covering this like when we first started the podcast, people are having rumbling.

So now it's crazy. Well, apparently it's been happening since 2018 because according to variety, rumblings over the announcement of the IPO began in 2018 and continued with Chinese media giant 10 cents acquisition of 20% of the company and billionaire Bill Ackerman's acquisition of 10%. So they basically, it was owned collectively by Vivendi, which if anybody knows, it's like one of the biggest like multimedia. multimedia. Yeah, of all time.

And so they decided, or they didn't really decide, I think, like, a lot of laws and trading laws were put into place here, where they can't necessarily buy stock going public if it's owned under them. I'm pretty sure is kind of the reasoning. I was trying to look more into it. There might be a little bit more nuanced to it that I just couldn't find. But basically, over the past couple of years, they've been selling it off. bit by bit by bit and they sold off 90% of it.

So Vivendi, like back in 2017, had 100% and now it only has 10%. Yeah. Which is crazy. But the reason they did that is because they wanted what's called pure play opportunity, which means they have a chance of getting higher market share in the music scene with the U.S. trade amount, which was like basically the U.S. trade amount, which was like basically the U.S. trade amount for last year was $12.2 billion, which accounted for more than half of $21.6 billion in global revenue reported by the International Federation of the Phonographic industry.

Now, pornographic, phonographic, audio, phonographic. Get your mind. So let me like this. So you're saying that Universal had $12.2 billion of trade in the United States out of trade. in the United States out of 21.6 billion in global revenue? So no, it's just U.S. trade amount in general, but because of that number is so high and it's 50%, that's kind of the business reasoning behind them selling it off and then buying more shares into it because they know that it's going to propel forward. Okay. If that makes sense.

Yeah, because if they kept it all together, then, like, they would be more locked down. They'd probably be more likely to have, like, you know, maybe monopoly kind of stuff of the business expanded, all that kind of stuff. They wouldn't be able to really shift around as much. Okay. And what is the biggest moneymaker for the company, do you think? So there's a lot of big money makers. It's actually the, let me pull it up here.

It is the world's largest label group and second largest music publisher, which honestly the past couple years, the music publishing has really rose a lot, especially like here where we are in Nashville. it's the publishing capital of the world. And so a lot of their dominating resources are being funneled into publishing. At least a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that I've heard from people and like I've seen, it's that a lot of the publishing money is kind of a huge focus for them, especially since they just invested that $30 million buy of Bob Dylan's catalog.

$300 million. Yeah, sorry. Mr. Zero there. Sorry. Sorry, Mr. Dillon. But yeah, it's kind of all over the place. I think they still make a lot of money on mechanical when it comes to streaming. That's their biggest moneymaker for sure.

But they also do get a lot of publishing royalties. That and the licensing for the publishing, especially like their sync licensing, their distribution. I mean, when you're that big of a company, you're getting so much money from different channels that it's hard to. to compare to a lot of other, I guess, smaller indies or something like that. So it is kind of insane. But yeah, I would say final answer, locking it in here. I think streaming is probably their highest revenue. But that's something else that I wanted to get into is kind of, why does this matter?

Because how does this affect the music industry? Well, essentially, it's showing that the growing value of music is having an impact on companies such as streaming platforms, labels, publishers, film studios, and more as well as health of the overall industry except asterisk's artists because, you know, fuck them. That's kind of how the music business operates as we've seen. There's actually a lot of grumblings over the CEO of UMG is getting like a $150 million bonus. And each year, he gets, so he.

it's $150 million this year. Then next year, I think it's $200 million. And then next year it's $300 million, which there's a really great article that will link that Rolling Stone did, like breaking the whole situation down. But they kind of talked about like, isn't this kind of crazy, like, he may have earned the payout, but like isn't this kind of nuts where it's like this business is making billions of dollars, but 99%? a artist on Spotify aren't getting paid a living wage.

Right. You know, isn't that kind of a disparity that we need to, like, come to terms with? So, yeah, that's something that that is very interesting. And I want to ask you guys, do you think, do you think that this is like, just kind of like a one-off thing? Or do you think music value is actually increasing now because of this? That's an interesting question. so we saw previously

well Sony is obviously under the giant corporation of Sony so like they're technically part of that company in that way and so they're

you know if that's doing well the stock will do better but still they could have you know if they wanted to they could split off that side and make that public but the other big one of the big three

WMG had recently just gone public as well I think in the last two years. Yeah, and actually, just to cut in, because of this, this launch of UMG, WMG's position in their stock, their estimated growth was grown by like a billion dollars. Wow. Just from, just from that. I think you're seeing more of the, like you're saying, kind of divesting of some people, are bigger conglomerates from these companies to try to umbrella them and make them bigger in terms of having more investors and all that kind of stuff. And I am kind of excited from that, from,

you know, a lot of record labels and all this kind of stuff. I mean, let's be honest, they're very clicky. They're very, you know, small insider trying to get into a room kind of stuff. So if you have more accountability from, you know, public stockholders, then I'm fine with that. I actually kind of applaud it because, you know, let's say, obviously these are multi-million dollar companies buying it, but it actually gives the opportunity as opposed to, you know, you owning just Vivendi stock of being like, oh, okay, well, like, who's that guy? Bill Ackerman, who owns 10% of it. Like, if he came in and was like, I think you guys should up it because I own 10% of, like,

the payouts for artists because, like, UMG's getting shit on with the public and it's making our stock look bad and all that kind of stuff. that kind of helps more having all those outside perspectives. But at the end of the day, it's like you've got to be billionaire Bill Ackerman, you know, to really have like this giant change or you have to be Tencent giant Chinese media giant or something like that. So it's kind of like what you're saying is like it definitely shows, I think, an increase of how music is being monetized.

We've seen that from a lot of different places, especially like the crackdown on Twitch and YouTube, you know, trying to crack down on unauthorized song use or TikTok signing giant licensing deals for the music. So I think we're seeing, you know, these companies kind of rassel back from the 2000s where, you know, music was free. Everything's free. Who cares? And so now they're like finally getting these companies to be like, you have to pay us. But I think that's why it's expanding, like music in general is because they're finally going, okay, we've been on this streak of like, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Like our artist gets bigger so we get more money in streams, but you get to do the songs for

free. Now they're like, nah, we know this is an incentive of your platform, so you have to give us some money. Now, whatever money comes down to the artist is very low. So, Alexander, what do you think? Yeah. I mean, I totally have to be what you're saying. You know, like, obviously technology has been a big thing in decreasing the revenue of a lot of artists. You know, right when technology came out with Napster, the artists were getting paid nothing and their music was getting straightened millions and millions of times. And as we developed the technology and a lot of the music technology space has increased in importance, we've seen an increase in the revenue of a lot of these artists. You know, obviously, like you said, with the TikTok licensing and Spotify, you know,

artists have slowly started to get their revenue to increase, increase, increase. And personally, I'm really interested in a lot of the NFT type space for music. I think there's going to be a lot of great innovation in the music technology space that's going to continue to increase a lot of the artists revenue back to the days at the 1950s, 1960s, where these artists are making tons of money out vinyl and stuff like that. Off-recorded music. Yeah. I've recorded music, yes.

I think recorded music will continue to gain importance with stuff like NFTs. and increases in Spotify revenue. That's right. I completely agree with that. I mean, just the new technology for that is crazy. I mean, Jad, do you want to say anything on it before? Yeah, I mean, I think I agree. That's a direction I definitely kind of want more.

I do kind of want the industry to kind of go back into. Is the emphasis on recorded music revenue being an important source of money for artists? Yeah, exactly. because I do think, and like looking back historically again, like the way that record labels have kind of almost where there's, there isn't an innate value right that we have of recorded music now. And it is obvious with this that record labels are making money from streaming.

Right. Yeah. But where is it going? That's kind of my thing. I mean, clearly upward. Exactly. It's not going to the artist. Like we, we, you know, are seeing that clearly.

So it's, it's kind of one of those things where it's like, I do hope that NFTs kind of create that space where it's like you get an exclusive album and you get, you know, whatever thing that adds the value back into kind of more of like a physical format kind of deal or, or I guess more just like the ownership over something, right? Where you're like you feel like you're supporting an artist. But what I worry is how over. saturated NFTs are getting, and especially how they're going to react to big, big businesses coming in. Or a 360 of like taking revenue front. I mean, what would stop a record label from doing what they do with merchandise and,

you know, other more physical? So doing it, yeah, just adding another clause into the agreement. Yeah, it's going, okay, well, I get this percentage, you know. Which I guarantee you is already a thing. I bet you it's already a thing in 360 deals and everything. They got an NFT clause. smack dab in there, baby. They have a lot record contracts about, like,

it says like, and or future technology of like it, which is where it comes from. So that's what they're trying to do is expand that. And then be like, well, it's technically under here. So now we can clarify it in your contract. Yeah. But then. That's what I'm worried about.

That's what I'm worried about because I've talked a lot of artists. I'm like, you know, how are you increasing your revenue? And they're like, oh, I'm looking into NFTs. I'm looking into live streaming on Twitch. I'm looking into creating TikTok. And, you know, I've talked, I'm like, all right, so like, are you going to be getting all this revenue? Like, obviously, these are new sort of paths. And all of them, then like, yeah, like the record labels have been cracking down on on NFTs for a lot of artists because, you know, there's been so many news articles about artists making a million, two million dollars just off of releasing an NFT of an album, which is crazy.

Yeah. And it's because it's the new thing right now, right? Yeah. where it's like it obviously like maybe three years from now it's not going to be the case like you're not going to get a million dollars probably almost you have like some hype you have some like crazy ass you get aba to do another record you know and they just release it on there but uh it it is just kind of one of those things that I worry about giving more ammunition to labels because labels have had a huge issue of cannibalizing the industry and

and have really taken a lot of the power away from the artist. So that's something that a lot of artists are very worrisome over now. And with, you know, TikTok, with all this other new medium stuff. Do you guys think that labels are even we need them at this point? I think for the distribution and marketing, it's still very important for a lot of things. Well, see, here's my thing is like, I feel like, I feel like, the lines between publisher and label are getting blurred day by day. Because I've talked to publishers that do things that label heads would have been doing

20 years ago, you know? Yeah. I mean, for me, you know, you look at some of the big artists right now, great, Kanye, Wilnus X, you know, it feels like they're so like worn thin. You know, Lil Nas X is doing TikToks and Twitter, Instagram. He's on Facebook, you know, and he's also doing. doing all this marketing stuff. Like a lot of these artists have to put their hand in so many pots now.

I think record labels are almost essential for those type of artists, the ones that are like all over the place to even be able to like focus on your music. Because it's just Lona's X is in so many different avenues that it would be almost impossible for him to do it himself in my opinion. Yeah, I mean, you would get spread very thin. But also, do you think that's the management's take at that point? That's true. That's true. I feel like you need a very good management. Obviously, a lot of artists have come out and been like, my management's so bad.

So I feel like it's very important to find that manager that's really going to be that type of person to make sure to keep track of everything. Because there's just so much right now for the modern artist. Yeah. I mean, we know somebody with two managers. Two managers. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess a day to day at that point. Yeah, day to day. Big picture. It's literally the office. this thing. It's like, I handle day to day. Day to day is literally like actually doing the management stuff. And then the manager is doing big picture, I guess. Well, most of the time it's,

we're going to make you money. Most of the time, it's like the day to day manager who started out, then becomes the big picture manager. And then they hire the day to day person like to do that because they're tired of it. All right, Colin, what else are we getting into? Okay. I want to talk about this because it's really big and I kind of pulled our Instagram about it but I'll get to that in the second so Nashville specifically where we are and labels in it are

turning to pop partners as streaming changes the game and this is an article by Billboard and specifically they're talking about country music which I think is a really interesting question because people have been asking you know for years like what's the difference between country music and pop music as we get more

infused infused infused infused so we're seeing a lot of examples with this. Like, for instance, all the big three labels are basically doing it. So we're seeing Sony Music Nashville partnering with RCA to promote some of their country roster, including Teneal Towns and Kane Brown, who have released songs with several acts on RCA's pop roster, including Khalid and her. And so Billboard points out that these partnerships are so common now that they used to do like a one-off, you know, I kind of reference like Nelly back in the day doing like a country song. Well, they're so popular now.

they have to have these long, you know, agreements between them because they're like, oh, this is just going to be a regular occurrence with country people. It's not like a one-off thing. And so they have basically a bunch of different definitions for it. And it kind of depends on the deal. And there's no like standardization of it. Some of them are like, we're doing a 50-50 split. Some of them are like, you take part of the revenue here. You take part of the regular here. I'll give an example. Billboard says the particulars of how to split the revenue differ from each deal from moving around a few percentage points for services provided to joint ventures with an even split. Then there's the issue of market share designation, which sources say can vary wildly but is usually connected to label ownership of the primary deal. Basically meaning like you get part of this country and I get part of this country, like actual countries like the United States or Canada.

And then also everything is negotiable. So Radio Share is usually split by genre. So, you know, Kane Brown did really good on the pop stations or in the pop playlist, then like RCA would get it. Or Sony would, you know, get the more country stuff. But there's just no rules. So it's really interesting to watch like all these deals, you know, kind of for the first time really be long-term deals instead of one-offs. And the idea is to have both of these labels like doing their best on both different sides. So you have, you know, a RCA being like, we're handling the pop side of this.

And then Sony's like, well, we're in Nashville. We know country music. And so it also works the other way, which is interesting because there's acts that try to come into the country realm. But I want to put an asterisk on that because the people are coming into the country realm are basically people that kind of should be in country anyway. Like we've seen, I remember it was a kid G, which they mentioned, who is a country hip-hop rapper, right?

So it's like, he's kind of already K-I-D-G. Kid G, K-I-D-G. Which... What a... Yeah, right. So, like, they had a story about Big Machine. Apparently, he was trying to

get him to sign because he had such big TikTok presence and stuff. And he went with, instead, like, I think it was Rebel Music and Geffen Records. And so Big Machine came back and was like, let's promote you on the countryside. And then we'll let Geffen handle of the pop side.

But those are rare, but you're seeing this literally everywhere. Like we've seen it with Morgan Wallin and Blanco Brown and El King and they all have different deals. And people have brought up that this isn't technically the first time, but the popularity of them has increased a lot. They basically said, like, this is what Taylor Swift did when she was on Big Machine. And then Republic came in and was like, we'll help you get more pop stuff.

Which makes sense because if you're a country artist, in my opinion, you want to be a T Swift. You want to be like, I started out country. Everybody likes me. Every country artist is like, I just love Taylor Swift so much. And they even bring an older example of Shania Twain because Shania Twain used to do the same. Shania and Taylor. But Shania, as I talked on the show before, has a weird thing of like she, which is, you're going to add a rock and roll a little bit. Well, it was like, 90s country used to do this shit that you don't see now where it was like, this is the country version of the song and this is the pop version of the song, which would be so fucking weird if Taylor was like this is the country version of fearless and this is the pop version of Fearless.

So yeah, it's really fucking weird. And it gets to this point where there's like, oh, there's just no rules to this. It's like there's no consequences from also, apparently there is from a lot of insiders. They say you have to watch out for one market that country still dominates, which is the radio market. Oh, man. Because the radio people, and Billboard says it, says, Country Radio has, quote, been notoriously possessive of acts and often accuses artists of trying to cross over to pop of abandoning their base.

Oh, yeah, all the time. I mean, the fan base. Yeah, the fan base does that too. One time I researched, like, something, things that weren't country enough or whatever, right? That, like, people thought weren't country enough. And literally everything I came across in my research. research was just like, oh, it doesn't sound like my generation of country. So therefore it is not country. Yeah. Yeah. It is sold out. Because we've talked about it on the show how

that idea has kind of died, but still very prevalent in country radio, clearly. 100%. It seems like they're 10 years behind every time. Well, here, I'll give you an example. Apparently, Gabby Barrett wrote a song called and has a song called I Hope, which is one of the biggest songs of 2020 on country and then just in general stuff. But apparently her label, Warner Music Nashville said they, quote, waited to market the song outside of the country sphere so country radio could claim it had discovered the

singer-songwriter. So like they, you know, so like some guy or some girl somewhere, you'd be like, you know, she was a country singer and then she got famous. I don't know why that's such a big deal, but it is, which is really interesting.

So. It's crazy for me because, man, I've been so on hip hop country for the past two years. I think ever since I saw the Lil Uzi Verte feature, I think it might have been on a Kid G song and the Lil Nas X Old Town Road. I think in the future, maybe you're listening to this in five years, you'll come back and say I'm right. But I think hip hop country is going to be the next big thing.

I think one artist is going to come out, figure out the formula how to create a hit for hip hop country and he's really going to smash the billboard charts again. We'll clip that out. I'll send it to you. I, you know, I, I've been at a lot of country events and I can tell you that it is literally just hip hop with country lines on top of it. It's funny that you mentioned that because we were talking about in the beginning of the

show how rap and hip hop has become, you know, what's pop now in a lot of ways versus, you know, what rock and roll music is. So when I was growing up and then even, you know, you can kind of see it shift in Nashville now from mixing country bands. it's like all these like older country songs are just rock songs like they were just like I was listening to these guitar solos

and I was like they would never do that in a country song. They just like ripped that from example like we talked about before, Aerosmith. And so now I think we're seeing the same thing where rock was popular back then that's why they were stealing all that kind of stuff

and then with rap now they're like okay we still want to be popular we want that crossover. So let's go into that. Let's go into rap and hip hop. And it's interesting to see the market try to integrate with that, especially, you know, you get the whole dynamics of, you know, the two different cultures of rap and hip hop versus country, which seem so diametrically opposed that I can't even, you know. So it's, it's weird to see that happen, but it makes sense because at the end of the day, you want a bigger audience. You don't care who they are, which is what one of the people in this article said, basically.

but yeah I thought it was interesting from that perspective and I kind of I asked our fans I said like do you I basically asked them I said are you you know are you happy that country music's going more and more to a pop sound and I got like a pretty like 50 50 I think it ended up being like 60% said no they're not happy about it and 40% said yeah we like it but it's interesting that because at the end of the day, it's all about crossover. You know, I mean, if you wanted to be a bigger star, you want to be the biggest star, you got to go to everybody,

you know? So I think if you take country out of it because they've always tried to do it and take it with like more niche or genres, it's like less of a thing to like, you know, understand. Like if we talked about EDM music,

for example, you know, it's a niche, it's a nicheer genre, but they're all like, oh, we want a top hit. We want a bunch of people.

dancing in the clubs to this. We want the, if this was on Billboard, it would be great. And then you see them, like, just like these people, collaborate with pop artists and do all that kind of stuff, just with the EDM music. But it's interesting to see country kind of hold on and be like, no, we don't want to lose our identity because of pop music. Yeah, I feel like a lot of that is country radio,

not wanting to lose their identity. That is a big deal. Because I think they know the end is near. Well, we also know it's an older fan base. on the radio side. But with an older fan base, older people get older. Right.

And where's your fan base? It's definitely strange to watch them kind of battle with it and figure out like, what is the comfortable balance? And, you know, I've been making this joke for years. It's just like,

country music now is like one direction with a catfish line included in it. Because that's what it is. And like, I don't, you know, all these people. A catfish line and like a pro bass. Right, exactly. Imagine Harry Stiles and like Zane up there, you know, being like, Harry Stiles in his chiseled ab just with a pass brooch. Right. So like that's what it is. And to be

honest with you, if you're, you know, I'm not a big country fan so I don't really have like a lot of like shed in the game. I'm not like, oh, this is going to upset me so much. But I think personally, if you're of that mindset, welcome to Americana music because that's where you'll find your real country music. That's where it is if you're like of that mindset is that kind of because that's what Americana is. It's like it's literally like preservation in a lot of ways of a lot of those older styles. So if you're complaining about that, that's where I would point you towards. Yeah. I think country is like one of the only genres that is so adamant on keeping sort of that old type of music, that old style. I mean, a lot of genres, hip hop, pop, like they've evolved into new

things. And generally, at least for hip-hop, I would say they're generally okay with advancing and getting into these new type of genres. Obviously, like, there was a real backclash when Autitude came out in hip-hop, which I think you could say are some similarities to what country is right now. I think country is one of the most adamant genres on keeping sort of country-howed it is, I would say. Right. Continuing the regression as opposed to like the progression of it, Like, and being like, let's try this new thing. Yeah, but we'll have to see. I mean, I, again, I'll clip you out of that, Alexander.

I'll clip you that. But then if we're right in five years, so in 2026 and like everybody's hitting it up, we'll be like, Alexander got this shit in episode 52. Like, go to this man. The Bobby Bone Show is proud to be supported by Grand Canyon University, an affordable, private, nonprofit Christian university based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. They say higher education is outdated, irrelevant. Well, GCU doesn't settle for the status quo. They shatter it. At GCU, academically rigorous, industry-driven programs are built to move

at the speed of relevance, with practical skills, career readiness, and opportunity for every learner. GCU believes education shouldn't be a privilege, but an affordable path forward for all. Grounded in Christian truth, GCU works to empower the next generation to lead with integrity, serve with purpose, and help transform their communities, building a future that matters. GCU is purpose-driven education. Take action. Find your purpose at GCU, private, Christian, affordable, nonprofit. Visit gCU.edu to learn more. Make every day feel epic in the all-new Hyundai Palisade hybrid. The Palisade Hybrid is packed full of features, cutting-edge tech, and up to an EPA estimate at 619 miles of range on select

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Well, I guess it's time to get to our final thing here. You made that sound like we were on The Bachelor and we're like, time to give your final rose. Time to give your rose. It's like, yeah. We, if you guys can't tell, we, me and Colin are a huge fan of trash TV. We love some trash. Not the bachelor.

I want to put that on the record. Okay. I haven't watched The Bachelor yet. It's lame. Watch Love Island. It's all lame, Colin. That's why we love it. So this is the worst segue ever.

We listen to trash music too. So let's talk about what music we've been listening to. Would you like to go first? Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. I've been listening to the new Hatchy single This Enchanted or Disenchanted is basically how it's supposed to sound, but it's disenchanted. And then I've been listening to a band called Hill Laker. And they're kind of like pop punk, but like it's like pop punk with like Pine Grove, like had a baby.

And the baby was like a 13 year old. He was going through teen angst. That's kind of what it's like. So if you like that show, it's pretty cool. That's sweet. Alex, I over you. Alexander. Sorry.

I don't know what you're. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'll give you two main ones. I'll give you a mainstream answer and an underground answer. You know, I think mainstream-wise, I've been listening to Lil Nas X's new album. Thank you. I was very surprised by actual tuning to his last EP. You know, it was a little spotty for me.

I wouldn't give it a great score if I was on Beatley, music. But, you know, with Lilanus X's new album, I think it was a really good progression for him. You had rock, you had pop, you had hip hop, you had a bunch of different genres, a bunch of different influences. I really liked what he did with the album. And I, for my underground answer, I'm going to have to put y'all on to this new artist called Binky, B-I-N-K-I. Oh, I love Binky. You do? You listen to him? I made Colin listen to Binky so much in the car. I think you did. It's like a big memory. And it's so good, dude.

He's so good. It was so funny. So a guy reached out to me at PR. He was like, I got this really good artist. I know you'll love him. I was like, oh, yeah, I'll listen to him. Took one listen to like the new EP that was coming out. And I was like, wow, like this is really good.

It has that like alternative like rock, but it has a little hip hop influences into. I really love his music. I can't wait for his new stuff coming up. Yeah, I think he's going to blow up 100%. Yeah. I just think it's going to happen. So, Colin, where are you listening to? So I gotta go with the same,

well, same half as Alexander, I'll give you a new and old, I also have been listening to Little Noss. Really like the album. It was pleasantly surprised how it flows as an album. Like, I love the theming of it. You know, him talking about the repression that he's dealt with and all the adversity and stuff was really good.

The features were really good. As I joke with Joe, though, that I'd still say is, once you listen to the whole album, it really makes that Jack Harlow feature seem way worse than like the rest in my opinion. But I just like, I mean, it's hard to compete when you got like a Doja Cat and like Miley and Elton John.

So it's, I do really like it. I think it holds up. I saw Fantano put on the red shirt. So we disagree about that. But yeah, I thought it was really good. I'm very excited to see what he does next, to be honest. And it's amazing to me if you have a good album when I like the B sides of stuff.

especially by like the B sides more than the A sides a lot of the time. And so like there's one in particular where he's like talking about his dad. I can't remember which one it is. But like it's really deep and like really talks about like what he's dealt with and like how his identity is evolved. Especially being who he is, especially in terms of rap music. It's very touching to listen to. Then weird one as always. I was listening to.

Oh, well, there's there's a play. I throw up things I could say here, but what would be weirder? Well, today's the 21st. Yes, I listen to September today, which if you don't know, 921, always the best day to listen to September, the 21st of September. And there's a guy who I'm going to, I'll find him. I'll find him right now. There's a guy who does a video about September every year.

And I fucking love him. And he basically, yeah, his name is, oh, this is going to be hard. Demi and then it's like Demi A let's just call Demi A I'm not going to try that But like you just look up the dates Like if you literally look up 921 like 9 slash 21 slash And then all the way to beginning of 2015 You can watch him progress to do these like crazy dances

With the music and it's like September edited So it just says 21st of September like 20 times But like it's hilarious if you watch it Because the production value just gets up like first it starts in his room and he's got a confetti gun. And then last year, it was like him in a model truck. And then like it's of his room, but you don't know it's a truck. And he comes out and there's like a plane going by that says 21st of September and all this kind of stuff. And it's great. I think I haven't watched the new one today, but it's an eight minute video. Oh, man. Full production value, baby.

He's a great guy. Demi. I would look it up. It's so good. But 21st of September. Because think it was come out the 22nd of September. Yeah. Not as fun. Now we've got to go to wake me up until September ends, and that's just worse. Well, Alexander, thank you so much for joining us on the show. We really appreciate it, reaching out and everything. And, you know, check them out from beatlymusec.com and, you know, where are you right on ear milk and everything? Anything else you want to shout out for us or anything before we?

Well, I just like to say, thank you so much for having me on. It's been a pleasure. But, yeah, I mean, definitely go check out ear milk. Go check out Beatley Music. I'm buying your book, man. I'm going to buy your book. Yeah, I buy his book. Yeah, awesome.

But yeah, I mean, it's been great. Thank you guys so much. Maybe I can put on the title of this acclaimed author. Yeah, we'll do that for sure. Thanks for listening to the BizTape, your all things, music business, and media podcasts. You can follow us pretty much anywhere, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,

I don't know, Myspace, maybe. Anyway, thanks so much. Thanks to our guest, Alexander. Check out Beatley Music and his articles over at Ear Milk and his book on Amazon about the history of hip-hop and rap. It's been awesome. We appreciate you listening. Thank you so much. Come back again. All right. If you have ever dealt with a traditional home security company, you know the drill. Expensive monthly fees, contracts that lock you in for years, and waiting around for a technician to set everything up. It's a lot. Well, now they're Simply Safe. They have completely changed the game.

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