A millennial entrepreneur that I find extremely interesting is one you may not think of as a entrepreneur: Chance the Rapper. He’s a Grammy-winning artist you may say, not a businessman. That’s the point! First, A little background on Chance: he’s a Chicago-born hip hop artist who has interesting take on the music business: he gives away his music for free. Yup, that’s right: you can legally download all his music and not pay a dime. So how does he make any music you ask? He relies solely on money earned on merchandise, streaming revnue and concert ticket sales.
And it works.
With a net worth deep into the 8 digits, it’s clear that giving music away may be the best way to make money in a tightly contested industry. The level of success that Chance is experiencing is due to innovation – both in his music and the way he runs his music “business.” by looking at making a living from a different perspective, he’s been able to capture an audience and profits in an unused manner.
So what’s up with the Grammy wins being special? It’s because he’s the first artist to win without ever selling any physical copies of his music. Thanks to a rule change by the Grammy committee, which attribute most the change due to his overwhelming success, Chance was given the opportunity to be first. His innovation in a unique way, is a reason why I find him one of the most exciting millennial entrepreneurs.
I think that the business model illustrated here is extremely interesting, and equally effective. The innovation of making good music universally accessible grows his fan base, so the whole concept is genius. Very informative article. Also, the piece about Chance becoming the first artist to win a Grammy without selling physical copies of music is mind boggling!
His work in creating the “3” brand has been really cool to see. From being a nobody on Soundcloud to topping lists on Spotify and selling out huge venues has been quite the story. Not to mention I like the message alot of his stuff has.