Most of them get advances from record labels that have pella/mental's.... others get them from where else... the internet! There are forums that people share advances and hard to find acapella's and stuff. Some of the bigger DJ's have relationships with the artists and are able to get freestyles, etc.. in exchange for radio play, exposure, etc.
Most of them get advances from record labels that have pella/mental's.... others get them from where else... the internet! There are forums that people share advances and hard to find acapella's and stuff. Some of the bigger DJ's have relationships with the artists and are able to get freestyles, etc.. in exchange for radio play, exposure, etc.
Yeah, I met some dude from Atlanta that makes mixtapes for a living and he gets T.I. to do freestyles all the time...he was always talking about flying here and there and i was like "damn, there has to be some decent money in this..."
I mean, mixtapes have definitely gone from being an artform and underground to a label's promotional vehicle. But still, a majority of the mixtapes i see are on CD-R. This is both in local record shops and on street corners...