Russ Calls Roc Nation's Distribution Platform A Waste

Russ has always been outspoken about things in the music business.

His next rant: Roc Nation’s Platform

Roc Nation has recently rolled out a new distribution platform that is reportedly giving artists an 85% royalty payout (monthly), distributes to over 200 platforms, & no upfront costs to sign up. Sounds good, right? Russ disagrees. Not only does he disagree, he breaks it down, “An 85/15 split to press upload is madness. Major labels take 15% distro off the top, too, so it seems like they just modeled the business off of that. If you’re an artist, this makes no sense to sign up for imo.”

Russ has always encouraged artists to stay independent in the music business. In his song “Utah Freestyle,” he talks about how labels can pull the rug from under you, “Access, I still got the same as the major labels. They wait ’til you got a table, then they take the table.” He has also been involved in the rise of independent star LaRussell’s success as he took him under his wing without signing him at the beginning of his career.

LaRussell has built a movement in Hip-Hop and always gives Russ his flowers anytime he gets the chance:

“Shoutout to @russ for being a real one. He gave me a deal very early and capital to build while remaining completely independent! I was able to build a catalog of 30+ albums that I own completely while in the deal. He didn’t give me no handouts and I still had to grind my ass off to get here but he respected and valued what I was building and remained supportive 🙏🏾. There’s not many white men in this industry that I trust 😂😂😂. RUSS IS AN EXCEPTION”

Russ Calls Roc Nation’s Distribution Platform A Waste was originally published on hiphopwired.com