In what is being described as the hottest battle for the top of the charts since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones back in the 1960s, Kanye West and Fifty Cent are set to go head to head for the top spot in the next few weeks when both of them release their hotly anticipated new albums on the same day.

The two biggest names in Hip Hop have spent the last few months squaring up to each other in order to set up the battle for who wins the title of biggest selling rapper, whether it is the articulate – if a little irritating Kanye West, or the unintelligible – and terribly arrogant Fifty Cent. The only winner of course will be the record company.

Artists now earn next to nothing for their music. Especially people on the kind of deals that “Fiddy” signed. On downloads, which will make up the majority of sales of his new record, he will probably earn less than his name. Probably in fact, a tenth of his name per song. That means Fifty Cents will earn just that from each 10 track album he sells. Not bad when you think that he will sell 5 million albums.

However, take off the tax, management fees, entourage, personal trainers, bling, and everything else that oils the wheels of the rap machine, and he’ll probably make about $100K this year. Kanye will do about the same.

Of course, that hardly makes them paupers, and they will get to keep all the stuff that they buy and get sent over the year, as well as getting paid for appearances, performances, and everything else, but it pales into insignificance next to the $20 million or so that the record companies will make out of their charges.

I’m not a big fan of either performer, although if I was really pushed to say who I’d rather listen to, it would probably be Kanye West, at least I can almost understand what he is saying when he talks.