Comments on: Calling Yourself CEO Does Not Make You A CEO

By: Justin Boland

Justin Boland — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:20:34 +0000

“Would your accountant refer to you as CEO when speaking with colleagues?”

Or in most cases, “Do you even have an accountant?” I’ve been running a record label for about a year, but I’d never call it a record label talking to strangers in a bar. We’re just a bunch of dudes who make hip hop.

I’m pretty convinced we should have positive income flow for about a year before I’m allowed to take myself seriously as a business.

Great breakdown.

By: jnota

jnota — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:25:56 +0000

Great post, Semantik. You really hit the nail on the head.

By: Cai

Cai — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:39:05 +0000

I could show you a couple of things…

By: Heinsain SwaggGer

Heinsain SwaggGer — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:19:22 +0000

if dame read this lol…

By: Frost Gamble

Frost Gamble — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:04:40 +0000

Wow! You broke that down beautifully. I think a lot of it comes down to a person’s experiences in life – if you’ve worked in a corporate environment you probably have a much better understanding of what a CEO actually is than if you’re still in the streets …. or Mom’s basement (which, considering the cost of collecting records, isn’t unthinkable…)

At some point though, cats are finally going to realize very few people are getting rich off rap music any more. I think the door closed after 50 Cent entered the building – a ringtone here, an album deal there – but nobody really can claim an empire built……

Does rap even have FANS anymore? Seems like it’s all “rappers, producers, DJ’s, CEO’s, managers” – no wonder the shit ain’t selling!

By: Juan

Juan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:04:26 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the curveball. I’m an avid reader of your blog via RSS practically daily. As a former DJ and producer I like to keep up with a lot of the content you all display.

I am the CEO of my company, an outdoor advertising company (think billboards.) Unlike many music “businesses” and labels our company albeit probably just as small is actually viable. I’ve never commented before but your rant was right on the money!

As a CEO my most important function is vision and the ability to make tough decisions. I encounter them every day and over time have had the ability to do a better job at it.

In my increasingly less frequent dealings with folks in the industry I have seen that “CEO” title on so many business cards and it makes me frown. Not only do I…they not take those people seriously but it also devalues the music genre as a whole. Great Post!