CrowdGather, an Internet forum, recently acquired all of the assets and rights to the materials on rapmusic.com. By itself, that bit of business news is a bit dry, but the figures offered up by CrowdGather in its announcement show just how powerful rap beats can be. According to the company, Rapmusic.com gets 5 million monthly pageviews from nearly one-half million different visitors. There’s a lesson in there for up-and-coming rap musicians, and here it is: the Internet matters.

Make Your Name The New-Fangled Way

In the past, aspiring musicians had to work with an agent who, at least in theory, fought through all the red tape and connected talented musicians with record producers. The ability to self-produce music, combined with the pervasive reach of the Internet has upended that whole arrangement. To be sure, there are still music producers, record companies and agents on the prowl for the hottest new acts and the best rap beats.

On the other hand, new artists no longer have just a single route to music production. Sophisticated software like Sonic Producer enables even novice musicians to create professional sound recordings using nothing more advanced than a personal computer. No additional equipment is needed, and Sonic Producer even provides an extensive library of rap beat samples that musicians can use royalty-free.

The software contains a 16-track mixer so when I say that nothing additional is needed, I really mean nothing! Once a track is complete, you can export your music to MP3 format for storage or sharing. Make mixtapes to distribute at no cost, or sell your works on sites like iTunes.

The Internet allows you to make a name for yourself by yourself. You no longer need the “music production apparatus” that has been in place for years. You no longer need a professional recording studio and a recording engineer to make your own music. You also don’t need a production company, because you can promote your own work to the people who are most interested in your artistic creations.

You can even combine your own music with videos and self-publish them on your own Web site or on YouTube. If you’ve used Sonic Producer as a source for your music samples, you can rest assured that your music is yours. No royalty payments, no splits, no licenses needed. You can get to business on self-producing rap music and finding your audience.

Photo Credit: Harry Sherman, via Flickr