INTERVIEW: Chuck D. from Public Enemy
- Lang Whitaker
Chuck D., the fiery-voiced founder of the pioneering rap troupe Public Enemy (perhaps the most politically relevant rap combo of all time), has always been on the cutting edge of the music industry, but usually as an artist. Now, following a break-up with his long-time label home Def Jam Records, Chuck has gone digital, recently signing a record deal with the internet-based label Atomic Pop Records. As Public Enemy's newest album, There's a Poison Goin' On..., is released for downloading, Chuck paused to talk with Consumable Online about the future of the music business.
CONSUMABLE ONLINE: Hey Chuck. What's up with your record? How many people have been downloading the single?
CHUCK D: Well, we can't get the final counts from Real Networks. Because Real distributes 10 million players, people are going to be getting the song automatically, and the Real jukebox is free. So, they don't really take final counts. They can get some read outs every month, but as far as our site ( http://www.public-enemy.com ), I know 100,000 people are getting it. But this is all qualified over a long period of time. It's not like how the record business has become now, where you have one week to get all your numbers in, and then it's on to the next thing. These numbers will continue on over a long period of time.
CO: Are you thinking that you'll continue doing this after this album, or is this just an experimental thing?
CHUCK D: Ain't no experimental thing. it's the real thing. Within two years, downloadable music will be the equivilant of the fifth major record label. So, by 2001 or 2002, it's going to be as usual as getting it from a store.
CO: How often do you yourself download music?
CHUCK D: I do it quite a bit. My whole thing with the stores is that there's nothing romantic about going to the stores and buying something for $16 or $17. The major labels haven't even realized that they've turned the business into a singles medium, but they still want to get the album price and the high rate for the CD, so they need to make some adjustments. They really need to figure out how they include downloadable music.
CO: And you've kind of beat them to the punch, huh?
CHUCK D: Yeah, if you want to say that, Lang.
CO: Do you have set expectations as far as what kind of sales you'd like?
CHUCK D: My expectations? One sale. One signifies whether we have a success or not. Everybody bugs out when I say that, but this all new, so I got nothing to lose. Our conventional methods for a distribution system nationally should distribute the album offline in June. But also, we have a couple of big retail outlets -- who shall go unnamed -- coming to the table that will probably have exclusive sales of the album. That means they'll probably have mid-six figures sales on the record. So, this is all good. We're showing people the way to go.
CO: Definitely, definitely. I hope this all works out for you, man.
CHUCK D: There's no way I can lose by selling one record, so what do you mean? What do you mean? The only way it can not work out for me is if I'm contracted by another situation that limits me from doing what I want. How can you figure it doesn't work out for me? I sell one copy, I'm good. The key is infiltrating the system with different revenue streams and different technologies. I mean, this will be the first ever album on Zip discs. Iomega and Public Enemy have made a big deal to release this record on Zip discs. There's four or five technology companies coming to the table to show people that.
CO: Give me an example, Chuck, of what you're talking about.
CHUCK D: (thinks for a second) Well, you watch Seinfeld, right?
CO: Right.
CHUCK D: You have nothing to do with Seinfeld's revenue streams, do you?
CO: Not directly.
CHUCK D: So what constitutes that Seinfeld is a $10 million show?
CO: Right...(silence)
CHUCK D: No, I'm asking you. What constitutes that Seinfeld is a $10 show?
CO: Oh, I thought you were being rhetorical. It's the commercials and stuff.
CHUCK D: Right. There's a bunch of different revenue streams. That's what's gonna take place with music. Almost like when you hit a fly ball to the outfield - what's up on the wall helps pay for the stadium.
