The T-Pain Goes Digital

Hello World This Just goes to show the future is now and the playing is level ground where 1st will be last and last will be first(The spiritually concern no what it means)

Grammy Award-Winning singer, song writer, and producer T-Pain recently launched his much anticipated full digital independent record label Nappy Boy Digital. The label’s mission is to create a direct artist to consumer connection without the constraints of the traditional major labels. Nappy Boy Digital is an obvious next step for record labels who may have finally realized that the Internet is a friend and not a foe. But as I learn more about the label, I can’t help but wonder if T-Pain squandered this opportunity to make a lasting effect in the music industry.

It’s clear from reading the press release and my multiple visits to the Nappy Boy Digital website that Nappy Boy Digital is simply nothing more than a record label that will be using internet as their sole distribution method. Well it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that as internet music sales continue to rise and CD sales continue to decline, that a primary online distribution method is a no brain-er. What I was expecting from the subsequent launch of NBD was for T-Pain to use this opportunity to change the way record companies use the internet to market, build relationships with their fan base, and build communities surrounding their artist’s music. Lynne D has been profiling artists who have been on the leading edge of harnessing the power of the internet and social media, but what we are yet to see is a record label who has successfully grouped some of the most successful social media tools together into a package that can be duplicated for every artist on their roster on their very own web property. This is obviously not what T-Pain had in mind by branding his label as a digital record label.

T-Pain has failed to understand that everything on the web generally ties into one another; great music combined with social, downloads, and ringtones will create a following who will in turn use these tools to evangelize your music. Harnessing these tools collectively while giving your audience the ability to instantly own your music, can create a great reach with a very small budget. Instead of really impacting the music industry NBD will go down as a good opportunity squander by short sighted thinking.

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