What's In A Name?

I think a lot of time these artist forget that its a business and not just some street hustle. Yeah that name will give you some hood credit and help sell a couple of records, but in the end it will limit the growth of your company. The major multi-million (500+) and billion dollar companies are not willing to get involved directly with companies with names like these. Bottomline you need to be able to market your product to all walks of life and also be able to venture into new markets. We have to start looking at the big picture and stop focussing on the small one! Milions - vs - Billions?

Yeah I agree, a name like Criminal Background is cool for the local independent scene, but won't work in the mainstream. It's better to have a more accesible title like Aftermath or Star Trak.

How about Foxy Brown's company, Ill Nana Entertainment. It kind of translates to Awesome Vagina Entertainment. Imagine Foxy at 40 introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Foxy Brown president of Ill Nana Entertainment." You might think she was soliciting you.

Its true that they could benefit by having a more mainstream name... but who is it buying the records? Do you really think that, for example, if NWA was backed by Walt Disney that they would sell any better? Not a chance. Basically it comes down to the music.

I would have to disagree with you Bubba to a certain degree. A lot of these mainstream companies like Walt Disney are backing the groups/labels thru sub-label. So basically they are put a lot of middle men in between themselves and the label. We all no when the middle man gets involved money percentages get cut. You asked whos buy the music. The answer is white suburbans. Yes thats right that buy the largest percent of hip hop music. By no means am I saying we need to water down our style, but we need to do a better job of presenting our shit. Find a name that has the edge you are looking for, but also can if need have some cross over appeal. Bottom line is Business is about making money. Hip Hop is a multi billion dollar business and we are making a few millions. For us average Joes thats a lot of money put in the business world that's pennies on a dollar. By the way its predicted that Puffy will be the first Hip Hop Billionaire!

King Kong

you make some good points ;)

Puffy the first? How far away is dre then?

i hate to cut to the chase without putting up a good argument...

but Criminal Background Records is an EXTREMELY STUPID name for ANY business, in the post 9/11 world. Just the word criminal coming up in any business sense, is not smart even if you explain it away, in some ghetto way. (i have trouble even imagining what excuse could be used to justify such an idiotic choice for naming ANY company with that name).

Bubba

Dre is far behind Puffy. He lost a lot when he walked away from Death Row empty handed. Plus all of his profits are coming from record sales revenue which is split several ways between him and Em which is only a minority percentage after the majors get there cut. Not to say he isn't making a killing. Puffy is a minority owner also, but other then that his has no partner to share with. Plus he has Sean John (500+ million Gross), Justins, a few clubs, and he has signed a signature deal with Lincoln (Navigator) and with the largest car rim manufacter in the world. Yes there are Sean John rims about to hit the street this summer. I must admit the rims look good.

Now this is not my prediction, but the prediction of Forbes and VH1. Mind you this prediction was made prior to BadBoy records going thru lack luster record sales. I can't remember the last hit record or album BadBoy has had. I can't name one artist on the label at this point.

"In a 13-page ruling, Westchester Family Court Judge David Klein supported James finding and revealed that Puff’s 2002 federal tax return estimated his income at $16 million."

i dont doubt that puffy is loaded, but his income had to of skyrocketed after 2002 for him to be near a billionaire.

annnnd i'll leave it alone now ;)

source:http://www.sohh.com/thewire/read.php?contentID=6936

Try Net worth -vs- Annual Income. Bill Gates does have multi billions in the bank but his Net Worth is 40+ billions. Puffy is almost worth a billion dollars. If he sold all of his ownings and added his cash holdings he would be close to a billionaire. So he will more then likely be the first hip hop billionaire.

1. These are stupid names. Death Row, Murder Inc, etc. Def Jam works. Def JUX works. G.O.O.D. works. Koch, Rawkus - there are a ton of good names from people who think a little bit bigger than their respective "hood" shit.

2. When the IRS reports someone's income, it's their TAXABLE income. Lee Iacoca paid himself 1 dollar a year for tax purposes. He owned GENERAL MOTORS. Your income is what you are paid in a year, not what you owe. If you bought a house in L.A. in 1996 for say...300k, that house might be worth 1 million dollars now easy in my neighborhood (no, I rent a cheasy apt. I don't own a home here...I was a college student in 1996). So if you didn't get a raise and still make 80k like you did in 1996, your IRS income will still be the same, though you are now technically a millionaire. It's not realized income until you sell the house, but you own a million dollar (crappy) home now. There are a lot of people like that in L.A.

When you see puffy as having 16 million dollars of income in 2002, that means essentially that he pays HIMSELF that much out of his half a billion dollar empire. Clothes and magazines and tv shows pay the bills, not record labels. Labels are just a way to get a foothold into the marketing strength of the hip pop culture. You'll have shoes, clothes, glasses, tours (lots of money is made from touring), real estate, etc. You get in, you diversify. Puff will soon be a billionaire. Dre makes a lot more than puff from record sales (compare G-Unit sales to Da Band). Dre is not partners with Eminem, he's partners with Interscope. He makes money everytime Eminem sneezes.

What dre DOESN'T have is a film company, a half a billion dollar clothing line and a stronghold in the fashion industry (not just T-Shirts and Jeans at Burlington...), etc. Dre hasn't diversified like that.

But both can drive the same cars and buy the same homes. After 50 million, WHO GIVES A RAT'S ASS??!?

As it stands now almost all of the labels are somehow, some way under 3 labels anyway. So unless they are truly independent, what does it really matter?

Bad Boy Records and even Ruthless Records isn't that bad. Murder Inc. and Criminal Background is just ignorant. So is naming your studio the Crack House. Yes they have made money and the bank account has grown but the mind hasn't. It's completely embarrassing.

I don't think the name has anything to do with it. The individuals behind the name are what make the companies have a bad rep so to speak. Let's not concerning ourselves with the name then we'll start going after artists for their names.

Erm Lis, Lee Iacocca was chairman of Chrsyler Corp, not GM but you're pretty much on-point besides that.

a lot of these record label names are ridiculous. Def Jam is the best name out there. it's simple, to the point, and it says hip hop.

FANTASY RAP LABELS:

CRACK HO' ENTERTAINMENT, SHOOT 'EM UP RECORDS, REAL KILLERS MUSIC CORP, CHICAGO PIMPS INC, MACKIN' HOES ENTERTAINMENT! WESTSIDE GANGBANGERS RECORDS.

That was kinda hilarious. Funnily enough I was reading through my friends old Source issues the other day and there was an artist - the surviving member of the Lost Boyz - who, wait for it... named his label LEGAL DRUG MONEY RECORDS! I don't care how uneducated someone may be, but giving your business a name like that is unforgivable! I didn't take it seriously until I typed it into the google search engine.

MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH:
PLEASE TAKE YOUR EDUCATION SERIOUSLY!