The more I read about Birdman business skills, the more impressed I am. Here is a little from the story on Birdman and Slim's success:
It’s been 21 years since the Williams brothers first founded Cash Money Records, and 14 years since they signed their initial pressing and distribution deal with Universal. Widely reported to be valued at $30 million with $3 million in advance, the P&D deal, finalized in May 1998, gave the label 85% of its royalties, 50% of its publishing and ownership of all masters. In the rap community, the stakes and the terms were regarded as unprecedented.
“I refused to let them take anything from us-that’s how we got my deal,” says Birdman, who credits Rap-A-Lot CEO James Smith for bringing the label to Universal. (Before the deal, Cash Money had been relying on independent regional distributors like Houston’s Southwest Wholesale.) “I wasn’t one of those people coming to Universal trying to live off their money. We wasn’t really tripping on being with a major. I was making a million dollars a month, shipping 100,000 each album-that’s at $10 [each]. And I dropped three or four of them a month.”
To read more from the story, visit
Billboard.
