There’s a pretty solid interview with everyone’s favorite 12th Man flag-raiser Macklemore in the latest Billboard magazine worth checking out if you follow music industry stuff like radio play and units sold and all of those types of things.
The focus of the piece is the success of “Thrift Shop,” which cracked the Billboard Top 10 last week, and how the song has received airplay on radio stations around the nation. As part of the interview, which you can find here, the story of Macklemore’s independence is rehashed. This, of course, is old news for anyone who has followed his career thus far but it is nice background for the national audience that is getting its first exposure to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Watch: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ ‘Thrift Shop’ video
Macklemore also talks about how he was able to forge an alliance with the Warner Bros. distribution company, Alternative Distribution Alliance, and how his partnership with that company has contributed to his success. Here’s what Macklemore had to say about working with ADA and his advice for other independent artists looking to do the same:
“It all comes down to leverage. We didn’t have it six months ago but [we] have it now. But for other artists, you’ve got to want to still have creative control in order for a deal like this to be intriguing to you. It’s figuring out how to maintain your connection to your core fan base that has ridden with you from the jump and remembering them as you continue to grow. I’m looking forward to that in 2013.”
Interview: Macklemore talks fashion, sobriety & Ben Bridwell
All of that is interesting stuff, but what’s really interesting is that more than 200,000 copies of The Heist have been sold and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis sold out Red Rocks in Colorado, which is a 9,450-capacity venue. Okay, so that stuff is probably only interesting to music geeks like me, but it’s very much noteworthy because that means the next time he plays a hometown show it will likely be either at KeyArena or the Gorge (*cough* Sasquatch! *cough*) considering the WaMu Theatre, which is where his last local show was held, has a capacity that hovers around 7K.
Also of note is word that there will be additional videos from The Heist and another report that there will likely be a new release in the form of an EP or a full-length record (!) from Macklemore by the end of the year. But like Macklemore’s story of independence, that’s something most of us locals already knew about.
He basically signed with Warner Brothers and did it in a way that makes him appear to still be INDIE, and have the upper hand; and dammit I imagine he does. I was wondering how he would pull off the major label move with grace, and G willickers, MACK sure did it. The concept of selling out and buying in has changed so much in since the rise of Myspace when even Pearl Jam had a page with ads running for PEPSI or what ever News Corp could hawk for fractions of pennies. I saw a Pearl Jam video with political ads I know they didn’t approve of running before hand during the campaign season. It’s a brave new world, and right now Mack is wearing the crown. Future battles will present themselves when he is perceived as simply mainstream and establishment; as his music inevitably ends up selling relatively environmentally conscious cars and _______. Or maybe he can just keep punching from the inside. I think he and Ryan Lewis and his team are doing an amazing job managing this machine. Hats off. The music industry is a wasteland and they running around like Mad Max.
It’s nice to see good people put in work and get the outcome they deserve. And for rappers out there hustling for beats and chance to be heard, look hard at Ryan Lewis. There is a chemistry and a model there that should be a tremendous influence. It’s a duo not a solo project. Having lost nearly everything do to drug addiction in the middle of the previous decade, you get the sense that no one appreciates that partnership more than Mack. It’s hard to find a really good beat, let alone a partner in crime.
Red rocks