Kanye vs. 50: And the Winner Is…the RIAA?

Kanye West and 50 Cent’s ego-tastic battle of the record sales kicked off yesterday, with industry insiders placing Mr. West ahead of 50 in the early runnings. Still, it’s too early to confirm any numbers until Soundscan chimes in.

Further hyping the hype (if that’s even possible) is Kanye canceling his face-off with 50 live on MTV due to his dissatisfaction with the network after the VMAs didn’t go as he planned (no main stage performance, no awards won).

But forget all that: Fiddy isn’t going to quit the music business, and Kanye isn’t going to boycott MTV for very long. All this media hoopla boils down to selling records, plain and simple. Read more