TPS #053: Your Unfair Advantage
Author: Andre Mullen - 4 min Read
March 15, 2025
Good morning. In today’s newsletter, we’re going to talk about your unfair advantage as an artist. I’m also talking about George Clinton, Genius partnering with Too Lost, and Doechii and industry plants.
Strategy or manipulation?
Whenever a new artist begins to trend on my social media timeline or I see them making television appearances, I become very curious about the strategy used to make it happen.
And, as always the truth leaves me with mixed feelings.
Case in point, a few years back, I was interested to learn more about the rapper Ice Spice and her “rocket ship rise” to fame and notoriety.
Ice Spice was everywhere: the cover of Billboard, features with Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj, performing on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon. She was nominated for not one but four GRAMMY and eight BET awards.
Her management – James Rosemond Jr. – is the son of a music executive. Her label head – Elliott Grainge – is Lucian Grainge’s son, the head of the biggest label in the world, Universal Music Group.
With these connections, many in the public were accusing her of being an “industry plant”.
Was this strategy or manipulation?
It all looks like “unfair advantage”.
But this sort of thinking does not allow for a deeper look into what unfair advantage really is and how every artist possesses it.
Let’s take a closer look.
Almost all success hinges off of unfair advantage.
It is important to know the difference between duplicating and replicating. The graphic below defines the difference between the two.
What really makes an advantage “unfair” is that it cannot be replicated.
If you have a catalog of 8 albums, that’s a “fair” advantage because artists can do that. But if your manager knew the head of a label that gives you exposure – Ice Spice, in this case – well, everyone can’t do that.
This makes it seem like unfair advantages in the music industry are everywhere. It makes people think the game is rigged and without those advantages, there’s no point in trying.
You’re absolutely right.
Almost all success hinges off of unfair, non-replicatable advantages: Ice Spice and her management, rapper Doechii and her label TDE, Chance the Rapper’s dad worked for then-Senator Barack Obama – this is how it works.
But you’re wrong.
You’re wrong if you think that you too don’t have unfair advantages of your own. We tend to be plain and narrow-minded when it comes to this, believing the only type of unfair advantages are if you know people with influence and money.
Here is a 2 step framework for discovering your unfair advantage:
1. Identify your advantages
2. Leveraging those advantages
The above steps will help you determine the advantages you have in creating and building a sustainable brand in music.
Here’s the framework, step by step:
Step #1: “Identify your advantages”
There are many things about you (and your music) that isn’t easy for any other artist to replicate.
You fail to appreciate the advantages because you fail to leverage them with strategy.
In order to do so, you have identify the advantages and use them in what we call non-linear ways – processes involving changes and different directions instead of logically following each other.
Your unfair advantages could be found in any of the following:
• Intelligence
• Taste
• Particular life experiences
• Specific expertise in the family
• Industry relationship
• Having good skill or talent
• Where you live
• Access to certain amenities
• Tax advantages
• Having no dependents / financial responsibilities
• High emotional intelligence
• Being in an underserved market
• Etc.
The point is you have some things about you other artists either don’t have or have but differently because they are just different people.
If you’re struggling to figure this out, jog your brain with this quick list I made.
Step #2: “Leveraging those advantages”
Once you identify your advantages, leveraging them should be your top priority.
For example, thinking about what I do with this newsletter and my publishing company, I needed to find my own unfair advantages and leverage them.
For instance:
• I love writing, and find it very easy and fast
• I also love public speaking, and have zero fear about it at all
• I love the business of music and how it evolves
• I have an MBA in marketing, which allows me to apply business and marketing concepts to the business of music
• I love to see artists win through their creativity and I help them leverage it to create a sustainable business
• I have (if I do say so myself) good taste, meaning it’s easy for me – or give direction to someone else – to create high quality media assets
These are all unfair advantages, and they have all been instrumental in devising the strategy for my life and business.
What you need to do is identify the same for you.
Stop seeing yourself as “unfortunate” (if you do), and start being grateful for the advantages that you do have.
Find 2 or 3 things you are grateful for. They do not have to be obviously amazing. They just have to be obviously different from everyone else.
Identifying and leveraging your unfair advantage is a critical part of artist development.
Knowing and understanding your unfair advantage allows you to be confident in presenting your creativity to the world.
Yes. We all know “the game” is rigged.
However, your perspective will determine if you win or lose.
Hope this helps.
Related: The industry plant conversation is a direct reflection of unfair advantage. Rolling Stone’s Andre Gee addresses the unwarrented online hate rapper Doechii is receiving.
THE LATEST “speaking of unfair advantages”
Genius is far from lost with its recent partnership announcement with distribution company, Too Lost.
• “Combining Unfair Advantage”: Digital Music News reports the lyrical commentary and interpretation platform Genius has partnered with music distribution company Too Lost to manage its growing roster of artists.
• “Flipping Unfair Advantage”: Music Worldwide reports George Clinton, the legendary funk musician who founded the iconic Parliament-Funkadelic collective, is suing Armen Boldian and several of his companies for fraudently obtaining copyrights to 90% of his catalog.
• “Using Unfair Advantage”: Music Ally reports SoundCloud back with its docu-series “Scenes” – this time focusing on the growing Latin Electronic music genre and partnering with Toyota.
WHAT ARE THEY SAYING – thoughts on Doechii and industry plants
Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE)/Capitol Music Group artist Doechii holds her GRAMMY for best rap album at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards. She’s been accused of being an industry plant.
Photo cred: Dan MacMedan – USA Today
• “So far I’ve gathered that having a plan and good marketing and promotion makes you an industry plant. Hmmm. Okay.” – @iamstillpunch
• “The term ‘industry plant’ was originated during the SoundCloud era. There’s actually no reason we should still be using the term.” – @VinceValholla
• “I miss when music convos were about the quality of music, artist sounds, discographies, performances, stage designs, etc…now it’s about first week sales, real or fake streams, industry plants and lawsuits…it’s pretty miserable.” – @gshockera
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