I've been in and out of the Hip-Hop scene for years as an engineer and promoter. Truth is guys, getting major artists to do a song is really easy. It's getting them to do it for free, that's nearly impossible unless they absolutely believe in something and even then...it's nearly impossible.
. Rappers and artists in general just don't do things for free, unless its for charity and even then, they are usually still being paid something.
I live in Miami now and have for many years. Currently we locally have artists such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross, P Diddy is a regular and that's just to name few off the top of my head. Not to mention, every rapper in the biz always finds a way to Miami to party, record, rock shows or whatever. Point being, you can throw a rock in nearly any direction, on any given day, and hit 2 or 3 chart toppers. No problem.
What is the problem, is the capital. You can book any of these artists to get on verses of songs or even whole songs, if the money's right. Bigger the artist, more its going to cost. Plus you have to pay the producer, book the studio time and ultimately fulfill the "rider", as you would any artist event.
Based on my personal experience and what it seems would best benefit Bitcoin I would suggest a combination of things, within a specific budget, to get the most reach out of the promotional campaign. As apposed to a single song all by itself which in reality would do very little to help bitcoin, unless it became a hit. Very unlikely.
Just off the top of my head, here's how I'd approach it:
1. Major concert event
Pick any major US city...I recommend Miami for its star power and media appeal. Pick your event artists based on budget, pick venue, stage and lighting, etc, etc, etc. WAAAY to many variables to list quickly. But simply put, a huge, mega concert with some of the hottest names in the biz.
2. Record a single song or two that is promotional in nature, pushing the Bitcoin brand and supporting the event. If the budget is of pro level, you can also shoot a video. I would hire artists with enough clout to generate good buzz from a record (meaning single song in this instance) but only for promotional purposes. But also not so famous, that you exhaust your budget to do anything else. You may think Jay-Z is the hottest thing ever, but you could quite possibly get nearly the same effect with 2-3 mid-high level artists at a fraction of the cost. I saw someone mentioned a Bitcoin record label. You could launch it from here if you wanted, but that's a different strategy, entirely.
3. Add a charity aspect to the event
Adding a charity aspect has unlimited benefits. First, it's good karma and helps Bitcoin battle some of the negative press it has received. i.e. black market money, lawsuits, "kiddie porn" or whatever. Second, it draws mainstream media in droves which increases the, reach per dollar spent, through the roof. Think CNN, Huffington Post, etc. Third, it draws bigger artists for smaller price tags plus the advertising, venue, etc. discounts can be tremendous. With a little luck and clout, you may even be able to get a major network to carry the show live, because of the charitable aspect. MTV, BET, HBO, etc. (This is a game changer!)
4. Bitcoin Marketing
Bitcoin or the Bitcoin community (however you want to bill it) will be the overall sponsor. Bitcoin is the dominant brand in all promotions, banners all over the events, etc. (If you've ever been to a major concert, you should know how the promoting of sponsors is typically displayed.) Too many ways to list.
Now, you've brought a bunch of mainstream artists together for a cause, that is brought to you by Bitcoin. This in turn will put Bitcoin on the minds of potentially MILLIONS of fans, worldwide. Target age, 18-29, not to mention the lightning bolt it would send through the rest of Hip-Hop's elite circles.
This is where the Bitcoin community has to be awesome at educating everyone on the who, what, when, where and why's of Bitcoin. Some of these artists are going to fall in love with Bitcoin and will continue to push it on their own. This is where you have the "viral" potential when artists speak Bitcoin in interviews and Bitcoin starts to pop up in original songs and next thing you know, someone is mentioning Bitcoin in the next feature film and its a wrap.
You can scale this up or down based on budget. At the event(s) you can do things like setup kiosks to help people get started and purchase bitcoins, buy merchandise, even force people to buy Bitcoins to purchase tickets or VIP passes, backstage access....I mean the list goes on and on and on.
And after all of this, the event itself has the opportunity to break even at minimum and maybe even turn a small profit. So if done right, you get all the mentioned benefits and countless more that in the end, is financially a wash. Remember, this is because of the charity aspect. The goal is not to turn a profit but breaking even, from a PR standpoint, is fine.
I see I've gone on much longer than I'd planned (guess the love of it is still in me) so ill leave it there and if anyone wants to take this shell of a concept and get serious, count me in. Ill help in anyway I can. One last point ill make about the entertainment industry, is to keep in mind that its a very small industry. It may seem big on TV but its really not. So don't be intimidated. They all know each other and news travels fast through this elite group. You just have to be wise in your approach. Hope this helps.
