Odd Future has been making headlines recently with their charged and sometimes racy lyrics. Rolling Stone recently reported that the group, comprising of multiple solo rappers, has decided to team up with Red Distribution and Sony to create their own record label: Odd Future Records. For months they have been using the internet to hype up their music, all while having some animosity. The hype they have created has generated an increase in demand for their music, which Odd Future puts online for free download. The free downloads (supply) from the group helps satisfy the demand for their music, but people are craving for more. Their music has also stirred up controversy for their very racy lyrics. This decreases the demand of some people who do not want to listen to such vulgar and demoralizing music. But there is still enough of a demand for Odd Future to make new music. By opening their own record label, they are giving themselves artistic domain over themselves, creating an environment for them to create whatever music they want without having to censor it. They can also distribute and produce albums at whatever price they want (as to satisfy the label to keep it afloat). This can help satisfy the demand of some who want hard copies of their music, but how long can they keep making racy music without talking about the same things over and over again? They have created the hype and demand of their music, but if they do not try to vary their music in some aspect, then they can personally decrease the demand of their music, which would lead to excess supply in the fact that they have all of these physical albums and t-shirts and whatnot, but no one to sell them too. Only time will tell to see if they can remain a hot commodity in the music business, or if they will forever be just a flash in the pan.
Caitlin Harrington
Caitlin’s assessment of Odd Future’s music is spot on, it IS in fact unvaried and uses almost the same amount of cuss words as they use nouns… But they have proven a valuable point; with enough hype and promotion, a band can create demand for themselves. And this is what Odd Future has done, created an Odd Future for their band. Most of the time, bands look to their record labels for advertisement and promotion, and simply expect demand to come, but Odd Future has paved their own way to success. The mainstream music business has been plagued by repetitive beats and similar choruses, but Odd Future’s individuality has set them apart, creating a whole new market for their music. Bands able to promote themselves instead of looking to a record label for their promotion will make more money in the end – labels take a large portion of “their” band’s earnings and the less band’s dependency on their label, the higher the profits. In conclusion, Odd Future has uncovered a different route to success, one that bands without record labels can follow and still make a decent amount of money. They made the product, advertised it, and created demand for their own creation... That is in Mr. Monaco’s words, remarkable.
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