Still rap’s impact was never a sure thing. In fact as the nineties

began the verdict on the genre, especially from the perspective of
music industry decision-makers, was still out. The earlier inroads
made by groups like Run-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, and Public Enemy
notwithstanding, rap was still looked at with a certain degree of
scorn and suspicion by industry executives. Though it was clear that
rap had already established its bona fides among key segments of the
youth marketplace, it was viewed by industry heads as a genre with
limited and even uncertain long-term appeal. But as the nineties un-
folded much of the doubt about rap was erased as a combination of
pioneering labels, artists, and entrepreneurs transformed the genre
into a spectacular music industry. Surprisingly, the most important
factor in rap’s rise was not, at least initially, an innovative producer,
MC, or entrepreneur. Rather, it was the introduction of a new infor-
mation technology that tracked music sales with unprecedented
precision.

. . .

Two years after they set out to improve how the music industry col-
lected sales data, Shalett and Fine stood ready and eager to introduce
their invention. They called the new data and information service
SoundScan. Confident that they had created an improved scientific
and reality-based method both men realized that developing the sys-
tem was only half the battle. Now they had to convince the big record
companies of the value of the new sales-reporting method. In 1991,
the “two Mikes,” as music industry insiders would later call them,
began aggressively shopping their data intelligence to music retailers
and record companies. Media accounts reported that the initial ask-
ing fee for the service was $800,000. SoundScan had to make an
investment of its own because it paid retailers a fee in return for pro-
viding the company with sales-related data. The record companies,
however, not accustomed to paying much if anything for sales data,
responded coolly to the service.

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