Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Major companies market only a small fraction of rap music, favoring what they can make popular.
In plain terms
We only hear 15 percent of rap because companies market what they can sell.
What can you take from it?
Commercial marketing limits the music you are exposed to.

Where it applies

  • music consumption
  • industry analysis
  • artist support

Putting it to work

  • explore independent music
  • question mainstream choices

Questions to consider

  • Where do you find music?
  • Why does promotion matter?

Another view

Marketing budgets also help bring music to wider audiences.

More from Chuck D

  1. Of course voting is useful. But then again, I don't put a big glow to it. Voting is about as essential as washing yourself. It's something you're supposed to d…

    Permalink to quote #6
  2. There are too many leaders anointed because they have a public voice - television, radio, or record, or whatever. That even includes myself. In the past, I'd s…

    Permalink to quote #8
  3. If they can send you to war at 18, maybe it's beneficial for some people to think that most of us gotta go to war for our own existence.

    Permalink to quote #5

Related quotes

  1. 'I think the music business will eventually crush me, but I [smiles]... I'm ready.' - in Strange Parallel

    Elliott SmithElliott Smith quote #1
  2. Music is spiritual. The music business is not.

    Van MorrisonVan Morrison quote #1
  3. 'Disco is a major influence in the world of fashion. It is a dynamic factor in contemporary advertising. It is a message from every consumer that there has bee…

    Neil BogartNeil Bogart quote #1