Bow Wow: Making Money in the Music Business
Bow Wow is 27 years old, but he has been a recording artist for 13 years. His experience in the music business provides us with helpful advice which he shared with Real Talk NY. "Money from music is like a hustle. Rap money is nothing. It's like hustle money. Do shows, after parties, pick up $40,000. Getting cash. It's nothing. That's like the dope gang in a way. It's fast money. Show up. Do a show. They wire the money, the bread, you good. But as you see you got to keep doing it. Whereas in movies, you do one movie and that can be like five million dollars... People ask, well damn Bow Wow we ain't seen you make a record in a year. Yeah, I wonder why. I just made 9 million dollars. I can sit down for a couple of months. Get my mind right and strategize so that I can get back out and make another nine million dollars. Bow Wow elaborates and dispels the myth of instantly becoming rich when you sign a record deal. "People don't understand. You don't get paid off of album sales. If an album goes platinum, if an album goes gold, that's just good bragging rights. It's guys that have sold millions of records and they don't have a dollar in their bank account... Guys that have gone ten million platinum. They still got them plaques...but they can't live though..."
Unless You're Involved in Other Business Ventures, You Have To Tour to Make Real Money
"When rappers always talk about money it's so funny because a lot of these guys don't tour. That's why I don't understand. Everybody knows in the rap game, in the music world, you make all of your money off of branding and touring...If you're not a touring artist then you're not really seeing any money...You got to tour. You got to sell merchandise. You got to be in the big venues. Sell out. Not only sell out but sell merchandise. Sell T-Shirts... Brand. That's what it's all about. That's how you eat and survive. Then what that does it opens up different avenues for you to venture off in whether that's movies or whatever else it is. You have to be able to tour. It's the only way you're making bread in this game..."
