Last week, I wrote about the most financially successful rap beat music stars, and not surprisingly, Eminem – who has sold more records than any other rapper – isn’t anywhere near the top of the list. The top money-makers in rap music do make money on rap, to be sure, but they make more money on other semi-related business ventures and not-at-all related product endorsements.

The Bigger Picture Is Part of The Bigger Picture

Making music represents only part of the potential of a rap music star. In addition to making music, more than one rapper has found the movie and television industries to be quite welcoming to rappers, and the move to the big (or small) screen is an easy transition. Ice-T is probably one of the most successful rap artists to cross-over to a highly successful movie and television career.

Jay-Z makes much of his money on related industries, including music production for other rappers – both established and up-and-coming – and the nightclub scene. His 40/40 chain is currently a club-set darling.

T.I. has been as successful as neither Jay-Z nor Ice-T but he’s managed to parlay a rap music career that began with a shaky start and has been interrupted twice by stints in prison into a blossoming movie and television career. TI now says that he wants to spend more time on acting than on making music, although the Grammy-winning artist has had some undeniable success with his music career of late.

TI recently released a mixtape, for which he was criticized. He didn’t spend too much time worrying about the fury over the mixtape release, saying essentially that his decision to go with a mixtape format for some of his work is strictly business. Many of the dozens of songs he wrote while in prison or under house arrest would never make it to an album, and he wanted to get the songs out to his fans.

TI’s approach is consistent with many new rappers who care less about how they get their music out than simply getting the music out. Self-publishing is bigger than big in the rap music world and there’s no reason to hold onto something that might have only limited commercial appeal.

New rappers can self-produce music using tools like Sonic Producer. Sonic Producer is a software package that can run on either the PC or a Macintosh and actually includes video tutorials that show you how to put together great beats on your own. You end up with a professional-sounding tape that you can keep to yourself, share with friends or self-publish on outlets like iTunes!

See for yourself what Sonic Producer has to offer and get your music career moving!

Photo Credit: Brian Forbes, via Flickr