The headline pretty much covers it but Dan Levin’s NY Times article takes a nice approach by focusing on artists selling their own work on the streets rather than mixtape or bootleg sales.

"Each day across Manhattan, music peddlers work the sidewalks, selling their own voices, rhythms and poetry about gangs, cash and hustling to those with a few minutes and dollars to spare.  For these rap artists hoping to make it big, Times Square, Herald Square, Union Square and the Village are paved with gold: packed with people who have money and maybe, just maybe, the connections that could lead to a record deal…"

"Although they live just a short subway ride away from the vintage boutiques and cafes that line the Manhattan sidewalks that they call their offices, these men commute from far different neighborhoods, where blue and red have gangland connotations and drugs, crime and prison are more than just fodder for explicit lyrics."

Only one of the artists profiled, Bones Don, gets a link to his MySpace page.  I’m guessing the other guys didn’t have one or didn’t pass it on.

See, even street sellers need websites these days!