Stay Tuned

What To Expect in the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:41:00 +0000

As I finish my Master’s degree in Entertainment Business, I can’t help but think about the future of the industry, and what lies ahead. Apple is perfecting this cloud music system, which is a new attempt to end digital piracy. This is the music industry’s answer to the massacre of peer-to-peer sites, having people pay a monthly fee for all the music fans can get their hands on. While it is quite revolutionary for Apple and consumers to have access to the Big Four’s music catalogs, one can’t help but wonder what is the catch? What are the limits? Do we really have access to any song we could so desire?

While Apple works on the kinks and bugs of acquiring the Big Four’s and the smaller independent publishers’ catalogs, some say the music publishing industry itself is next to break apart. A system that has been working since its creation is now said to be falling to pieces. We have arguments that music performers should receive royalties like songwriters and producers (see "Should Performers Have Rights?"). We have companies that are about to go belly-up, making the competition want to buy them out. We even have record labels saying that they will cut out ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SOCAN, and collect their on performance royalties. All in all, the music industry is a mess.

Who knows where things could be in a few years? In the next few years, the Big Four could be the Big Three if EMI does fold in. But EMI is also the company looking to collect their own performance royalties from radio and other venues. The future of the industry could be on its way to a crashing point. Or, it could be on a blindside upturn. The real point of this post is that no one knows the future, but we can all do our part to change it. The real question is this, you see the problem, how will you and your music company be the solution? What do you have to offer a music industry that may be on its last leg? And more importantly, how drastically will your business plan change if the music industry does get the major over haul it needs?

These are questions only you can answer. The only advice I can give you is to keep your eyes open at all times…

...and Stay Tuned…

Using Other People's Money

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:35:00 +0000

The Stay Tuned blog would like to continue to focus on the overall business aspects of starting your music business. Today, we would like to focus on the most important part: getting money. We talked previously about what to include in your business plan to get money. Now we will tell you how to use the internet to help you obtain finances to start you music company. There are websites out there that offer tools and services to help entrepreneurs get their business ventures off the ground. Let's have a look at some of these sites and opportunities.

One website, the CDVCA, offer funds and investments to "businesses in economically distressed areas" within the United States and also internationally. The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) look for mission-driven business opportunities that will be beneficial to people of low-wealth homes and communities, while working to earn solid financial returns.

According to their website, "CDVC funds are looking to invest in companies with strong management, good ideas, impressive growth potential, and the promise of high financial returns. They also focus on the number and quality of jobs that will be created and the impact their investments will have on low-income communities." They are looking to see how your music company will help create jobs and benefit the families in your community. The website also offers more information on obtaining venture capital and what it is. They have links to articles and commentaries posted in the New York Times.

Another good site is the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) website. The AEO represents and serves the small, typically underserved, entrepreneurs in the United States. According to their website, the AEO's mission is to support the development of strong and effective U.S. microenterprise initiatives to assist underserved entrepreneurs in starting, stabilizing, and expanding businesses.

AEO itself does not handle the financing, but has several funding companies and "microenterprise development organizations" that it has partnered with. The website has a search feature for entrepreneurs to find the nearest funding specialist to help them get their business venture off of the ground.

In partnering with the AEO, they can offer:

Platform to showcase your organization's impact and innovation through our new website, revitalized working groups and other exciting opportunities
Access to valuable services and products from a growing national network of partners
Networking with peers, potential partners and funders
Collaboration on tailored marketing and business development initiatives for our members
Effective voice in Washington on critical policy matters
Support in identifying and filling critical training needs for your organization
Opportunity to shape and participate in AEO agenda and initiatives

And these are not the only sites out there to help you. There are many sites that offer help, tools, and services to meet your needs of getting your label or music business from idea to reality. Continue on your research path and find the resources best for you and your vision, and what you hope to accomplish with your venture.

Until the next blog, Stay Tuned.

Putting the Business in Music Business Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 02:47:00 +0000

This week, the Stay Tuned blog is still focusing on overall business, and how to get that business on the right track. Most entrepreneurs know this starts with a business plan. A company without a plan, has no direction. The business plan is your vision in the form of words. This is how you get your vision and dream to other people.

In the first "Putting the Business in Music Business" post, we talked about Growthink and its founders Jay Turo and Dave Lavinsky. Turo and Lavinsky have mentioned important things that investors are looking for in business plans. The most important aspect of any business plan is research. While investors want to know how they will make back their money, and what makes you stand out from everyone else. But your overall plan should show that you have done the necessary research. This research includes research of your industry, your audience/target market, and your competition.

Lavinsky and Turo additionally mention investing in yourself and taking risks. We believe these go hand-in-hand. If you can prove that you have a service or product that is different, you should believe in yourself enough to invest in it. You should always be willing to better yourself and your craft. In music, that means singing lessons, even if you think you are great at singing; or piano lessons, even if you can figure out any tune playing on the radio.

Research and investing in yourself are the key aspects prospective investors want to see in your business plan. If that's want they want, why aren't you giving it to them?

Besides these things, the most important section of your business plan includes the Industry Analysis, the Marketing Plan, and also the Competition section. These sections show the most in terms of your research and what sets your business apart in the industry. If you come off as if you don't know much about the industry or the companies already in it, you may already lose the investor.

Take time to get to know the industry you want to break into and where you fit in. Research prevents you from trying an approach another company has tried and failed; or shows you how to capitalize on your competitions mistakes. Also, find yourself so caught up in your work and planning that you forget to show exactly who you are and express yourself.

Until next time, Stay Tuned.

Putting the Business in Music Business

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:53:00 +0000

CqE and the Stay Tuned blog is venturing outside just the realm of music to talk about business itself. I am sure most readers want to end the constant working for someone else and would rather work for themselves. Who wouldn’t want to make their own rules?

Well in even in the path of working for yourself, there are some rules you have to follow to get there and to be considered successful. This path may start with your dream and idea. The navigation is your business plan. Having a tangible idea on paper helps other people see where you are going, and in turn provides you with the best chance of getting funding. In the world of entrepreneurs, everyone knows it is good to work with OPM – “other people’s money”.

There are many wonderful resources that can help you start and finish your business plan. One such resource is that of Growthink, a company that helps entrepreneurs get their ideas on paper in order to get help with startup costs. Dave Lavinsky and Jay Turo are the founders of Growthink, and have helped Growthink emerge as a premier strategic advisory and investment banking firms focused on entrepreneurship.

Lavinsky has helped many entrepreneurs and companies prepare for grow and success in the business market. He has an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. He himself has started many successful ventures and contributes to Growthink’s informational blog, seen here.

Turo has helped to advise many growing, middle marker, and corporate clients in his time at Growthink. These include Infospace, Samsung, Porsche, and also Paramount Pictures. Turo is currently active in angel investing, and also contributes to Growthink’s blog. He holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA as well, and a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

According to the blog, there are several lessons one can learn from Lavinsky and Turo and what investors want to see in the entrepreneur as well as in the business plan.

® DO YOUR RESEARCH – Information is everywhere. That means investors want you to collect some to tell why your venture is better than any other venture in your market.

® INVEST IN YOURSELF – How do you expect anyone else to support or believe in what you are doing, if you can’t prove you are doing so? Investors don’t mind helping or supporting a business if they see proof that the entrepreneur has tried to make it work other ways.

® TAKE RISKS – Exactly what is it that makes you stand out? If you are doing something that is commonplace, or has already been done, what are you bringing that’s new? According to Lavinsky, “every great person in history was an entrepreneur. They tried something new. They took a risk. They overcame odds. They persevered. And, at the end of the day, they made it happen.” This includes people like Milton Hershey (Hershey Chocolate Company), Clara Barton (the American Red Cross), Jim Henson (founder of the Muppets), and Walt Disney.

While there are more points to take away from the Growthink blog, I think the biggest point is, take it from someone who has done it before. We can dream all day, but our business plan should take form from an established formula. This is why people write autobiographies. Whether it is Dave Lavinsky, Jay Turo, Barack Obama, Quincy Jones, Russell Simmons, or Rick Pitino, there is something that they did that worked.

Will you be the next breakout story?

Stay Tuned.

You can check out Jay Turo, Dave Lavinsky, and Growthink at their website or @Growthink

_____________________

-Bios found on the Growthink website

-Additional information on Growthink blog posts

A Walk on the Digital Wildside

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 22 May 2011 21:05:00 +0000

There are so many avenues you can go to promote and market yourself. This is especially true in the digital realm. In another post, we talked about Product and Artist Management. The key is developing your identity and getting that across to your fans/consumers.

There is a band that takes digital marketing to the next level, and it makes for an interesting result. The England native alternative band Gorillaz has almost eliminated the physical presence of humans by itself being a virtual band. Gorillaz has made itself known to the world with its four band members, Stu “2D” Pot, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, and Japanese guitarist, Noodle.

The band, which was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, is tangibly made up of the music and various contributions from different musicians over the years. The main contributor has been Albarn, the voice of 2D in the band, and Hewlett, who is the illustrator. The outlandish cartoon band members have been perfect for digital marketing as it is easy to feature them almost anywhere in visual media, and the music speaks for itself.

In promoting their 3^rd album, Plastic Beach, Gorillaz released several cartoon shorts as well as playing out the story in their music videos about Murdoc kidnapping 2D and taking him to this island called Plastic Beach, to record for this new album. The story continues to play out piquing fans’ interest in what is going on with the band members. The way Gorillaz tells their story has led to them gain fans and album sales.

Gorillaz has since put out iTunes exclusive music, iPad apps, had their songs featured in commercials (Icebreakers) and video games (Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band). The Gorillaz website features a game based around the Plastic Beach album called “Escape to Plastic Beach”, which was also the name of their first world tour. Gorillaz is also working with a new technology for their tour using holograms, giving them a realistic and life-like appearance while on stage. This technology was used at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards and also at the 2006 Grammy Awards, featuring Madonna.

Gorillaz has used digital marketing to their advantage by making themselves a virtual band. This is digital marketing at its finest. What will you use to brand yourself and put yourself out to the masses? In marketing there are four people: Creators, Innovators, Imitators, and Spectators. Creators use their own ideas to their advantage. Innovators take someone else's idea and build on it, or make it special in their own way. Imitators obviously take a proven formula someone else created and stick to it. Spectators take it all in, yet put nothing out.

Which “-ator” are you? Stay Tuned.

For more on Gorillaz, check out their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wiki, or their own website.

the Digital Divide

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 08 May 2011 18:29:00 +0000

With so many innovations like iPads and eReaders, it is obvious we are embracing a digital format. The best way for entertainers like musicians to succeed in this new technological atmosphere, they have to adapt their marketing efforts to include digital media. This is the major record labels are having troubles with P2P sites and other forms of digital media.

The advancement of technology and the internet have giving record label another problem: independent musicians don’t need them. There are now sites and software that give the power to the artist and cut out the “middle-man” of the label. An artist can easily promote their product(s) through social media like Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace and sell it through sites like iTunes, Amazon, or CDBaby. Therefore keeping them in touch with the most important people of all: consumers.

For those that are still vying for that coveted recording contract, there are plenty of stories where someone has gotten signed from current social media. Hip Hop artist Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em gained his fame and contract from exposing people to his music through P2P sites. Current Bad Boy Entertainment artist Cassie found herself a contract by being discovered by writer/producer Ryan Leslie from MySpace. And let’s not forget pop star Justin Bieber, whose YouTube videos were viewed by the right people and provided him with a contract.

Digital marketing has changed the landscape of the music industry. Besides taking the D-I-Y approach, or attempting to get heard/seen by the right key people, there are many major signed recording artists who are taking it upon themselves to still use social media and other sites to promote and keep in touch with fans. In older days, the best way for fan interaction was at official autograph sessions or backstage after a concert. Now artists can interact from their cell phones with a tweet or status post.

An artist or record label would be silly not to take advantage of popular trends. If it is popular, this is where most of your fans and consumers will come from. Right now, things like Twitter, YouTube, UStream, Facebook, and Skype are popular among the people. In order to put yourself at the best advantage, you have to put yourself on the same level as the audience you want. Sales 101 has always been “the customer is always right.”

As you think about marketing your music and media, remember to take advantage of trends and fads as much as you can. The internet is an unlimited resource for digital marketing and getting the exposure you desire. Also consider internet radio sites like Jango who put your music out alongside the major artist. This is much easier than getting your music on a terrestrial radio station. Learn to use your resources to get you where you need.

Stay Tuned.

Where is Your Music Going?

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 22:48:00 +0000

I meet a lot of starving artists and aspiring musicians who seem to have a one track mind about the music business. Many people want to spend their time in the studio recording music so that they can perform to either release a cd or get found/signed by a major label. While this is a very realistic dream in today’s world of instant signees, this won’t make you much money, or even give you that much longevity. There are plenty of artists who get signed by record labels whose projects never see the light of day. The reality is getting a contract is not all that difficult now and days. What is hard is getting the label behind your project enough to promote and release it to the nation and the world.

Even if you do get released, what is your focus? An album on a major label? Placement on a Billboard chart? A Grammy nomination/award? A grand international artist? A lifetime achievement award in your genre? The question you really must ask yourself, is what makes you different or better the top artists in other genres as well as your own?

Is your music worthy to top the charts with Katy Perry, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, B.O.B., or even Jay-Z?

The focus of this post is not to criticize you or your music, but to strengthen your focus on your music and where it is going. It is good to have aspirations to sell out shows and perform worldwide. But how does your music do when you are not in the room?

One of the biggest apps in the Android and iPhone App Store is Shazam, which tells the user what song is playing when they can’t identify the song or artist. The key to this app and this situation is song placement. Your music should go further than just sitting on a cd or digital MP3. It should be broadcast all over.

Think about your favorite tv show. Who sings the song for the intro? Why isn’t your song on the intro of a show? When Remy Zero decided to record “Save Me”, did they know that CW show “Smallville” would allow it to be broadcast into viewers’ homes for over 9 years straight?

Speaking of hip hop artist B.O.B., he has had numerous Grammy nominations from his Atlantic Record debut “B.o.B Presents: the Adventures of Bobby Ray”, and has recently added a song placement credit to the new game "Crysis 2". He has had numerous placements in commercials and tv shows for his singles “Magic”, “Airplanes”, and “Nothing on You”.

When you think about where to go with your music, go beyond getting your music on radio. Your music should be in video games (think about the Madden franchise), tv shows, live shows (like the music pro wrestlers come out to), film, commercials, and other places. One of your singles can be the theme for a PPV, movie, tv show, product, or a big event. Who knows? It may be another avenue to you getting your contract and international exposure…only now you have leverage.

Stay Tuned.

Research Discernment

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 21:46:00 +0000

As technology evolves and expands so do the many ways we have to research and find information on the internet. There are so many resources for people to find information on anything they need, that there is almost no excuse to not to succeed if one really wanted to. With that said, we also need to have discernment over what is credible and what is valuable to us.

There are many people toting advice and giving expertise on how to make it in the music business. But who are they? What is their credibility? Who co-signs for them?

These are things to think about when looking for research. Two people that have been tearing up the internet with advice are Ty Cohen and David Hooper. This is no slight to either fellow or their prospective businesses, but more of a glance at how to find research discernment.

Ty Cohen and his Platinum Millennium Publishing provides various advice on how to start your own record label, using entertainment contracts, and other “courses” he is selling on “making it” in the music industry. I have personally been on the buying end of a few of his products, and in my own review, while relevant, most of the information offered is information you can get for free. When you search for “Ty Cohen” at a search engine, the first few pages of results are his own websites or sites he has input on. This can be a red flag in determining research validity. There are no valuable resources that vouch for him. When you search deeper you find reports and forums that elude to Cohen being a scam artist with his products. This is not exactly what you what in dealing with research.

There are tons of resources and pages of advice that don’t require a PayPal account. And while David Hooper does have products he is selling, if you follow his blog or his Twitter page, there is plenty of advice he is giving out for FREE. Hooper and his Kathode Ray Music is all about promoting your band/brand and advertising in the music business. In comparison to Cohen, Hooper has little to no scam reports. While free advice isn’t always the best advice, it is something to consider when looking for information on the internet.

You can check out Ty Cohen at http://www.tycohen.com/ or @MusicBizCenter; and David Hooper at http://www.musicmarketing.com/ or @davidhooper to make your own judgments. Be mindful of who you take advice from, and what you believe in research. Take everything you read with a grain of salt.

Until next time, Stay Tuned.

Music & the Law Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:47:00 +0000

I have been taking an Entertainment Law class at Full Sail University. It has been interesting to learn about trademarks, copyrights, and the protection of intellectual property. The blog entry will stand to share what has been observed and learned throughout this course. This article is written in hopes that it is of assistance to any reader who is searching for understanding in the entrepreneur and entertainment worlds.

In a recent podcast from Entertainment Law Update, they talk about Subway’s use of the word “footlong”, and how the submarine sandwich company has attempted to gain a legal trademark of the word. Subway is not the first to sell or distribute submarine sandwiches that are approximately twelve inches in length. In a recent court case, an independent Iowa restaurant has filed suit against Subway for sending them a “cease and desist” order for using the word “footlong” to pertain to their sandwiches. The courts have decided that “footlong” is a general term and in fact cannot be trademarked. The podcast agrees that Subway could have a valid claim in registering the trademark “Five Dollar Footlong” (or “$5 Footlong”), but not in the regular word, “footlong”. The podcast also makes a valid point in explaining that when you hear the word “footlong”, you may think of a hot dog instead of a sub sandwich. It is interesting to note that the US Patent and Trademark Office has denied Subway’s application to file the word as a legal trademark against other restaurants.

In the entertainment industry, there will always be someone ready to make “bogus” claims in the fight against copyrights. Subway is not alone n this issue. Suffolk University’s “Intellectual Property Law Podcast Series” brought to my attention a case of the US v. the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). It talks about ASCAP considering downloading a song as “public performance” and how the United States disagrees. The US District court has decided that by definition of the Copyright Act, “perform” means “to recite, render, play, dance, or act it either directly or though a device or process”. Downloading is merely a means of delivering the song(s), and is in no way a “performance”. So while sites like Yahoo! are not entitled to paying copyright owners or ASCAP a performance fee, the podcast does mention a reproduction fee that is required through the Harry Fox Agency. In a sense, the copyright owner does not have to worry about how they will get paid, but rather who will pay them.

The same podcast from Suffolk University introduced me to a new case taking its place in court soon. The case of Axl Rose v. Activision, and breach of contract is being discussed as will be sent to trial in January 2012. According to Rose, he only agreed to license Guns N’ Roses music (specifically “Welcome to the Jungle”) for Activision’s Guitar Hero III on the basis that the game would not feature the likeness of ex-band member Slash (born Saul Hudson). Anyone who has played the game, seen the cover of the game, or wants to do a general Google search of “Guitar Hero III” will see Slash front and center on the game’s cover image. According to Rose, he was told the image and likeness of Slash is only for promotional use and would not be used in the final game. The podcast goes on to say that Rose is suing Activision for deception and deceiving him. It is interesting to note that according to Hollywood Reporter, Gwen Stefani and her band No Doubt are also filing suit against the video game publisher for misusing licensed rights.

In conclusion, I would have to say that you should know your limits when it comes to trademarks, copyrights, and licensing agreements. As you dive into the world of business and entertainment, make sure you know what you can and/or can’t do when it comes to protecting yourself and your company. If you don’t need to go to court, stay away from it. But should you find yourself in a situation like Axl Rose, get EVERYTHING agreed upon in writing. Cover all you bases to make sure the next court case we review isn’t you. Until next time, Stay Tuned.

Music & the Law

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:41:00 +0000

Today, the Stay Tuned blog will focus on some pivotal and recent court cases that have impacted the recording industry. The use of intellectual property in music will always be a sensitive subject with some folks. For how can you really put a copyright on a thought or idea, and say no one else can stumble upon the same idea? The music industry is pregnant with various claims of copyright infringement and people who mistake inspiration for duplication.

The first case to discuss is Fantasy Records, Inc vs John Fogerty. For those don't know John Fogerty was the lead singer and songwriter of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) who was signed to Fantasy. In a nutshell, CCR broke up and the only way for John Fogerty to get out of his contract was for him to turn over all his rights to all the songs he wrote for CCR. Later, in Fogerty's solo career, he released "the Old Man Down the Road", which Fantasy decided sounded exactly like the CCR recording "Run Through the Jungle" but with new words. Of course, Fogerty wrote the song, but Fantasy owned the copyright. This cases teaches a few different things besides its outcome that elaborated the standards that factor into district court's decision to award attorney's fees in copyright litigation.

Pay attention to your initial contract and fulfill your obligations
Don't put yourself in a position to sell your "soul" (or rights to your music)
If you have to give up your rights, keep a percentage. Never give all of your intellectual property away.

The next case is more recent and deals with the music industry trying to deal with illegal downloading. Capitol vs Thomas is said to be the first file-sharing lawsuit that went to be tried before a jury. The case shows that Jammie Thomas-Rasset was found liable for infringing songs by downloading from P2P site Kazaa. The RIAA sent a cease-and-desist letter to Thomas-Rasset and a settlement, but she refused to settle. This led to the court case we have before us. Thomas-Rasset was ordered to pay Capitol and the RIAA $222,000. In a retrial by her request, a jury still found her liable and order her to pay $1,920,000, which was later reduced to $54,000. the RIAA would not except the reduced amount and was granted a third trial. The jury awarded the RIAA $1.5 million against Thomas-Rasset.

From this trial we learn, if you are offered a settlement, take it. But seriously, the RIAA and the music industry attacking consumers isn't exactly the correct way to handle piracy and illegal downloading. While trials such as this one may scare a lot of the downloading industry, where there is entertainment you have to pay for, there will always be a way to get it for free. The entertainment industry as a whole combats this by offering interactive content with DVDs and bonus tracks on music albums. I think as technology evolves there will always be a way to cheat the system. Attacking all people who download is like starting a war on all of terrorism...

The next case is the RIAA vs LimeWire, which seems to mean changes to file sharing within the United States. This seems to be the RIAA's backup plan to attacking the illegal downloading. Why attack the user, when you can attack the user's tools? The RIAA in the past attacked P2P site and softwares like Napster, Morpheus, Grokster, Kazaa, eDonkey, iMesh, WinMX, I2Hub, BearShare, Shareaza, and now LimeWire. The other P2P sites could not stand up to the RIAA, and it seems LimeWire may fall to the same fate.

The P2P industry can argue several different points against the music industry. P2P is not all negative. For many students who want to put music to a powerpoint, home video, or other project, isn't it easier to boot up LimeWire and download that one song you need instead of having to search through multiple paid libraries just to find that the song you need is not licensed by that library; or you have to buy a whole album for one song? yes, there are negative uses for the P2P industry, but there are also beneficial uses, especially for the little person who just needs one song from time to time.

In conclusion, the music industry will always have those looking for a cheap way out or who "infringe". While the Fogerty issue is hard to combat unless you have a good lawyer and some sense of reality at your contract signing, there is a way for RIAA to take care of file-sharing. If you know there is a need or desire for something, create it. If the RIAA created its own file-sharing site/software for a reasonable one-time fee, would you participate in it?

Stay tuned...

Product and Artist Management

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:48:00 +0000

I am currently taking a class in Product and Artist Management, I am learning so much. It is helping to open my mind to new possibilities in the world of artist management, and how to properly market your product or artist. The key to being an effective manager is learning how be open-minded and how to explore every possibility in getting your product or artist exposure. You are to always be thinking of what is best for them in the way of gaining interest and later sales. Here are some tips to help you market your artist or product in the entertainment industry.

KNOW YOUR MARKET

Who are you selling to? What is the age range? Demographics? Your thinking should be "who is this product or service best suited for?" With this comes a lot of market research. You should not only know what market you want to sale to, but also pay attention to the trends of the market and to what your competition is doing. This will help ground you and conduct the best strategy on how to get people to buy your brand of product or service.

Paying attention to the competition also gives you the added benefit of seeing their strengths and what is working for them, and also their weakness and where they are lacking. This become the perfect opportunity for you to capitalize on some system they have in place or do it better than them; or also you can find yourself catering to the people or an opportunity that is being overlooked. You see this alot with larger companies. The larger companies have lost their way in the form of looking out for the little man. As a new product or service, this is where you come in to make the little man feel special. But all-in-all, you must know your market.

STRATEGIC VISION AND PLANNING

Being a manager for a product or person is not about having a one track mind. Two key words when marketing your product are: possibility and potential. In the world of management, there is no "can't do it", only "how can we make it happen". At least this should be your focus. An old proverb (Prov 29:18) says without a vision, the people perish. It is imperative in this position that you have an idea of where you are going and how to get there. Hoping for anomalies like being found by a talent scout from live shows, or off Twitter or YouTube are nice dreams. But your vision must be grounded in reality.

Strategic visioning is having a plan; knowing where you want to go and mapping it out. This is very key when you are placing the career lifespan of something or someone else in your hands. How do you expect someone to hop in the car with you if you don't know where you are going? If you are going to control a destiny besides your own, you should learn to do the research you need to effective guide your subject to where it needs to be.

KNOW YOURSELF, THEN KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

Product and Artist Managers have an entrepreneurial aspect to them. They are willing to jump in the fire and fail, and hopefully with research have an even more effective back-up plan. But before you can work and market any object or person, you MUST know yourself. Know your strengths and your weaknesses and use them to your advantage. This can help you leaps and bounds in the long run, and will save you time in how much you fail before you get some success.

After you have done the soul searching and know who you are and what you can handle as a manager, get to know your product or artist. You should should know what/who you are selling more than anyone else, because it is your vision that is essentially being sold. This is where "potential" and "possibility" come in, and knowing the potential of possibility with your product or artist. If you are managing a music artist, you should have a 3-5 year plan mapped out. What will they do to expand their brand? Will they branch of into acting? Will they start a product line (clothes, shoes, perfume/cologne, etc)? You should always be thinking, "what is next"?

Open your mind, and let the research shape your vision. You have a chance with research to do what's never been done before, improve what's already been done, or offer what's being done at a better price or opportunity for the consumer. This is what management is all about: how to sell better. What makes your product(s) or artist(s) better than those already out?

For more information on product and artist management, you can pick up Xavier M. Frascogna, Jr's This Business of Artist Management or Linda Gorchels' The Product Manager's Field Guide

Interview with Carlis P

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:40:00 +0000

The CqE "Stay Tuned" blog recently had the pleasure of interviewing Louisville, Ky artist/producer/manager, Carlis Phillis, also known as Carlis P (or CP). CP is one of the brains behind the Soul LinQ imprint that promotes itself as an independent label and a production company. Let's listen in...

CqE: WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT? WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY?

Carlis Phillips: Well, as a manager, I like to say that, I’m an artist manager. I’m for the artist. And it’s not like I have this big roster of artists that I’ve managed. Of course, I've managed the Klientel movement; Adrianne Archie, I'm responsible for getting her moving; you know, pretty much anything under Soul LinQ, I've pretty much had my hands on. I take the approach…. I became a manager, not really wanting to. I just had to assume the position, because we didn’t have the finances, didn’t have the budget to seek outside of our resources. And I ended up doing everything just by default. But I've always tried to instill anything I've learned into the artist. So I've never really considered myself a “manager”, maybe more like a consultant, or a big brother figure, to anybody that was working under me. So everything I’ve learned, I've tried to instill inside my artists, and almost make it a co-management situation. Like with Adrianne, it’s definitely a type of co-management arrangement. I've always made sure that everything I did, everything I was responsible for, and she had the knowledge also. Which helped me in a lot of ways, because she acted as a buffer to some of the things I didn’t have time to do, being that we all still had jobs, a 9 to 5, and things of that sort [outside of Soul LinQ]. And then, just for her to be able to control her own destiny. She got a kick out of being in control, one of those who people who got kick out of seeing people advance and be successful. So I stand out in the manager’s lane as an artist manager, I’m for the artist. Anybody I work with, I’m there to help, not there to control. There are some managers that really get a kick out of that control aspect. But that’s how I think I stand out as far as being a manager or an executive.

From the artist standpoint, everything that Soul LinQ has done has been pretty much from the heart. We've always had a soul-spirited type of movement. We've never really been interested in following a particular type pattern in the industry. We never really tried to deviate, but it just so happened to end up that way, because we never wanted to become the “industry standard”. And that kind of makes us stick out a little bit. And we really just take pride in doing us. We take pride in never really being caught up with the aspect of making money. I understand that the moneymaking people in the industry are making hit records.

CqE: RIGHT

CP: There’s really no way around it. If you're not making a hit record, then you may make some money here and there, but it’s not enough to really be a rockstar.

CqE: SPEAKING OF Soul LinQ, WHERE DID THE CONCEPT OF Soul LinQ COME FROM? LIKE, WHAT’S THE HISTORY OF Soul LinQ?

CP: Well…pre-Soul LinQ…I went to Western Kentucky University. I was in a group called Klientel, who was already a group when I came in about 1998. And from there it went from 3 guys to just 2 of us, myself and William Beason. And we were under Deep Rooted Productions, which was a Nappy Roots movement. So our first album was produced by [Grammy nominated rap group] Nappy Roots, and that whole camp. So we spent working with them, and that’s really how Klientel got started. Along with D. Mawl and Gibraltar and all them. We found ourselves writing, and once I graduated from WKU, I moved to Louisville [Kentucky], and every one in Nappy Roots was still in Bowling Green. So I found myself traveling back and forth, just to go down there and record, or go down there and write. And after a while, it became a little much. It started becoming expensive, it started becoming very difficult to do, because we all had jobs. And I always thought that I was a pretty talented guy that could pick up on anything, so my girlfriend at the time helped me buy a workstation, a Yamaha Motif. And that’s where Soul LinQ started, when I bought that first workstation, when we started making our own tracks. Myself, my brother, and D. Mawl, we all started writing from the Motif, and that was back in 2001, I believe. Back then, Klientel has just gone to the Apollo and performed there with the Doug Banks Morning Show. And that was a monumental moment for us to be able to do that. And that jump started us doing our own thing, and once we had that Motif, Soul LinQ was born.

CqE: NICE.

CP: Yeah, and Soul LinQ…the “Q” is for the bruhz [Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc]. A lot of people don’t know that. I’m a Que, my brother Cortico is a Que, and D. Mawl is also a Que. And that’s how Soul LinQ started, so we had to throw that subliminal Q in there. [laughs] And the “linq” is us being linked by soul music. “Musically linked through the soul”, that’s our motto. And then, about a year later, we met Joel Goodwin and Adrianne Archie. And we started performing at the Java House [in West End, Louisville], and we used to rock out there…. Klientel, Soul LinQ, Adrianne, D. Mawl…we used to have little sessions and just invited everyone out to watch us do our thing. And that’s where we really kicked off the Soul LinQ movement. And from there we started gigging around the community, and really sharpening our blades, so to speak, and gaining knowledge about music. We had quite a few musicians that supported us, and claimed Soul LinQ too. So our camp was about 8 or 9 people strong, back about 2002, 2003. And 2003, is when Klientel did our second album, which was the first album to be released under the Soul LinQ label. That was “Daily Trade”, and we had a lot of underground success with that. We also won a couple of awards off that one, and it was featured on a couple of international compilations. And that was cool to be able to reach people in Japan…that was our first taste of our music being sold on the retail level, and also being heard outside the country. So it was cool to experience that. And to know that we created that from top to bottom was a huge accomplishment for us.

And Adrianne, her first album, “He That Hath An Ear…” (“HTHAELHH”) was released at the end of 2003, and released in 2004. So that was the second Soul LinQ release. And then from there, D. Mawl got moving, and started his movement. And once that took off, he reached some heights. And he had the opportunity to do some great things, not only in the community, but throughout the country. He did BET’s RapCity and the theme for KFC Pride 360°, and had a chance to participate in the Grammys. He also had some of his songs licensed on a few sitcoms, I think “Son of Tucson” was one of them. So, yeah, Soul LinQ is definitely a grassroots movement, that started from nothing…. well not nothing, we always had something…started from low resources. We had a little knowledge and had a little drive, and created resources. And we put it together, and that was the inception. And ten years later, we’re sill doing it. And in that time you learn, and you meet people in the industry, and you hear the stories. And sometimes, you start to appreciate not being in the industry…not being in the belly of the industry.

CqE: WITH SO MANY THINGS AND AVENUES THAT YOU CAN GO IN THE INDUSTRY, WHAT MADE YOU SETTLE ON BEING A PRODUCER, OR BEING AN ARTIST, OR EVEN A MANAGER?

CP: Well, the artist part was easy. I came from a musical background, a musical family. My mother’s a jazz singer, and she’s been singing since I can remember, and she still sings. She’s on the scene in my hometown, South Bend, Indiana, and regionally Chicago and Michigan. Than I have other family, uncles and aunts that sing. And they had some success, so the artist part, that was easy. I like to perform and create songs, and Nappy Roots gave us the platform to do it at the time and I just took advantage of it and became an artist.

But everything else, like a producer, executive, manager, all those other aspects came because I didn’t have the resources. I couldn’t get beats when I wanted to at that time. I look back on how hard it was to get a good track back in 2002, 2003, and today although I still produce, I don’t have to. After a while you meet so many people in the industry, people are willing to give you stuff. So I could just write if I want to.

CqE: SO BASICALLY, BEING MORE THAN AN ARTIST CAME OUT OF NECESSITY?

CP: Most definitely. Everything else came through trial and error and just having to do it. Having to manage ourselves, having to learn the industry ourselves. After a while, you read and learn so much, and gain knowledge, you end up becoming your own manager. So why pay someone for something you have the knowledge and understanding to do? The producing…the managing…and what a lot of people don’t know, any Soul LinQ project or album, I did the graphic art for as well. Any website made for a Soul LinQ artist, I did created it. So you now, those things…I have an IT degree, so I had to use my resources.

CqE: I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT. MUSICALLY, WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?

CP: Man, so many!! It’s so many, but I’ll go ahead and say, uh, the Staples, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, uh…I heard a lot of Luther [Vandross] growing up. I heard a lot of Anita Baker growing up. I heard a lot of funk music, a lot of Earth, Wind and Fire, all of that whole funk era, that’s in me. Ohio Players, Zapp and Roger, just that whole funk era. And then of course, Hip Hop. So I was like a mesh of funk, R&B, jazz from my mother, and then Hip Hop.

I had an older sister, and an older cousin, and they would have house parties. And I would sneak down, and I’d be like, “What are they playing??” And I was turned out when I first heard Eric B and Rakim’s “Check Out my Melody”, I can remember hearing that and sneaking down when I in the fourth grade and hearing that. And I was sold on Hip Hop from there. I was able to create concepts from a hip hop, funk, jazz state of mind as a youngster. But I never really had a way to bring it to life until I was in college.

CqE: NICE. EARLIER, YOU MENTIONED THE INDUSTRY. WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT THE INDUSTRY OR THE MUSIC BUSINESS?

CP: I like making money off of doing something I love. My first experience in the industry was probably 1999, with Nappy Roots. And I don’t think I received my first piece of cash, that I didn’t have to pay to get, until maybe 2005 or 2006. I meant we would get paid here and there for gigs early on, but the work and the resources that we had to put in it before we got paid, it never evened out, it never worked out in our favor. It was almost like, you paying to play when you make maybe $100 off of a gig and then you have to pay like 6 people and the pay for the equipment, and time for rehearsal, and buy clothes to look decent on stage, and burning through gas money…so you’re paying to play, even if you get paid. You still haven’t come out on top. So our first piece of monetary success came with Adrianne Archie. And it took her 2 or 3 years to hit that hard and really start reaping monetary benefits off of that. And that’s why her brand is created, she’s known pretty much around the world. She has a fan base, and has what many artists spend a lifetime trying to do.

CqE: DIDN’T SHE SET A RECORD AT CDBaby.com?

CP: She did. For a while, she had the #1 selling neo-soul album sold on CDBaby. She sold the most units in that particular genre on CDBaby.

CqE: THAT’S NOT A BAD FEAT AT ALL!

CP: Yeah! And that was all us, man. A huge accomplishment, looking back. And we all are humble, so we never really got caught up in all those titles and accomplishments. But now that I look back at it, that was such a huge breakthrough, man, based on our resources. And we never ever expected, or wanted a handout from anybody, even with Nappy Roots. We still have a good relationship with those guys. But that’s one thing I made sure I never did. I never gave them the impression that they owe me anything. I mean they’re Grammy nominated, they went platinum with their first album [“Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz”, Atlantic Records]. I never expected anything from them, but support.

CqE: SPEAKING OF CDBaby, HOW DO YOU PROMOTE YOURSELF OR A D. MAWL OR ADRIANNE ARCHIE?

CP: It comes from experience, man. The only true way to promote and really sell your product is, you have to hit the road. You have to get in front if people. You have to do shows. Early on, as a web designer and having some marketing savvy, I would try to do the numbers in my head. I was thinking like, “well I have an email list of about 10,000 people. So if we send out 10,000 emails to these people, I know that at least 500 to 1000 have to buy the cd, just off hearing the snippets.”

So you try to play the numbers game. And, uh, that is not true. [laughs] And, I learned the hard way with that one. Anything you do on the web, or anything you do with print and graphic, that’s just basically to reinforce or solidify what you've already established. But no is going to buy your product, just because you sent them an email. Even if you have snippets, and your music sounds great, that’s just the way the human mind works. They're not just going to buy the cd. They’ve either have to have heard about you by word of mouth…and it’s really like the 3^rd time and 3^rd impression. Once people have heard about you three times, then that kind of solidifies in their mind…it’s jus something psychological that triggers them to be like “ok, maybe I should pay attention, or go check this person out”.

Adrianne being such a phenomenal live performer, anytime she’s in front of people and people get the chance to hear her live, it pretty much sells them. And most of our cd sales have been through live shows with her. But the CDBaby sales, that’s nice. But most of our CDBaby sales have come from doing shows in a new market that really didn’t know about her. And we may sell 40 to 50 cds at the show, and then those people are the people that go out and play her music in the car with their friends and family. Or let their friends and family borrow the cd. And then that’s how it markets itself. That’s how it starts. That’s how you sell music. Don’t believe the hype [laughs]. It’s nothing else. You can’t sell music without doing shows.

CqE: [laughs] SO WITH THE SOCIAL NETWORKS, AND THE BIG BOOM OF FACEBOOK AND TWITTER, YOU STILL THINK THE BEST WAY IS LIVE SHOWS?

CP: Oh most definitely. Twitter and Facebook are just reinforcements. They are vehicles to spread the word of mouth. That’s not the artist’s vehicle. That’s the people’s vehicle. I mean you have to find a way to capture the people. But the best way is a live show. Or, you have to have a huge budget and pay millions to be on MTV or BET. Or you have to be on the radio, getting spins. Like 2, 3, 4 spins an hour. But outside of that, If you're not getting that, you have to get out. And with the social network aspect, your fans will touch the people for you. They're going to send an email, or a tweet, or post your stuff. The social networks are more for your fans. Like if Adrianne were to post a message or a tweet, how would people even know to go look at her, if they don’t know about her? And even some of your friends and family who have never really heard what you do, they don’t support. They don’t know.

CqE: I CAN DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THAT. SO WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? YOU YOURSELF, OR ADRIANNE, OR D. MAWL…. WHAT’S NEW FOR Soul LinQ?

CP: D is working on some material. He has some aspirations of releasing something here soon. So we’re just waiting to see what type of direction he wants to take with it. And then see what the resources are, and creating a budget. Me, myself, I’ve taken a hiatus. I’m rally just trying to reevaluate my entrepreneurship and my movement outside of music. So I’m taking some time to get a hold on that. But here in the last month or so, I’ve really been getting my studio back in order. You know, technology moves so fast that if you stay out of the studio for six months, you're already outdated. [laughs] So I’ve been spending time upgrading. I just bought [Apple] Logic Pro last year, so that’s a new change, being able to step outside of Pro Tools. So I’m taking time to get to know that whole engine of creating. It’s taking a little time. It’s a new experience since I’ve been in a Pro Tools mindset for like 10 years. And then getting together with Joel, just getting back into the routine of creating again, spending time with each other. Resurfacing that creativity and that drive.

So Joel is creating, and he’s working with JD Blair, world class drummer. He drummed for just about everybody. His big movement was Shania Twain. But he’s not only a pop drummer, but he’s also a big funk drummer. So we’re working on some stuff with him. So look out for that. Look out for my name or Joel’s name, but definitely Joel’s name. We’re also working with B. Scott from Nappy Roots. We've got a couple of tracks with him. He’s working on a new project. So you may see some CP on that.

But I am writing, not necessarily to release as an artist, but I have a nice little following. So I try to give my followers a little something. So whether it’s in the form of a mixtape or a few singles, then that’s what I’ll do. That was the whole reason why I released the mixtape a couple of years ago. The “Mixed Emotions” mixtape. Not because I anticipated making a lot of money off of it. And it wasn’t because I was trying to create a buzz for an album. I just needed to get something off my chest. I had a bunch of old music that had been sitting, and I don’t want to die with a bunch of music on my heart that’s never been heard. So I really just did that for the people. But for right now, features. I’ll definitely jump on some features right now.

CqE: AND THAT ACTUALLY SEEMS LIKE THE THING NOW. LIKE LIL’ WAYNE BEFORE HE RELEASED “Tha Carter III”, HE DID LIKE A WHOLE YEAR OR SO OF FEATURES.

CP: Yeah, features are a great way to promote. Like if you get the opportunity to smash someone else’s track and let them promote it, that’s free. Free promotion. Even if you do the track for free, even if you don’t get paid. Your name is on a hit record that someone else is pushing. And if you do several of those throughout the year…like, remember when [hip hop artist] Ludacris was on everybody’s track. It almost seemed like he was better on features than on his own music. That was good promotion for him. Drake, Nikki [Minaj], the-Dream, and Lil’ Wayne all did it.

And even locally. I’m not against being featured on somebody’s track that I don’t know, or they don’t really have a big movement but they have potential…if they have a positive movement, then no matter what genre I would be open to working with them.

CqE: WHATS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT KEEPS Soul LinQ INDEPENDENT? LIKE WHY IS IT NOT Soul LinQ/Bad Boy Records OR Soul LinQ/Def Jam Records? WHY HAVEN’T YOU ALL GONE “MAJOR”?

CP: We've always taken pride in having control over our own destiny. And even though we've had opportunities to shop our records and shop projects, we've always had someone in our ear. Like Nappy Roots, and talking to people like [neo-soul artist] Bilal or [R&B artist] Jaheim, different industry cats…they would always say, “keep doing what yall are doing.” So that would always stay in the back of our minds, “Keep doing what yall are doing”. And they would always tell us, “if I can go back, I would do it just like yall doing it. Just stay patient, and don’t feel like yall have to give it up just to be there”. If you really look at the pattern, most artists that’s gotten beat down from the industry, they're coming back and doing it themselves. And there’s really no way to avoid the “beat down” in the industry. You either get beat to a pulp by the majors and sent to the indies with your tail between your legs, or you get beat up just being independent. And when I say “beat up”, it’s the hard work that it takes as an independent, because you don’t have resources. Sleepless nights, spending all your hard earned money, doing stuff for free, going unappreciated…it takes a toll on you. So there’s really no way around that in the music industry, if you want to be successful monetarily. So we appreciate being just Soul LinQ, we were never looking for a major to help us. But that in itself made us more attractive to the big labels in the long run. Because we always had that mindset of doing it ourselves, and really now-and-days, that’s what the majors want to see. They want to be able to see an artist and a label that’s self sufficient. Because when they get behind you, they just want to be able to make money, they don’t want to have to develop you or teach you. They want you to have all that together, and they just put a little marketing money behind you. And you make them money, that’s it.

CqE: AND I’M NOTICING THAT MORE NOW. THE BIG LABELS THEY DON’T DO THE ARTIST DEVELOPMENT NOW.

CP: No. That’s like almost non-existent. You have to already be developed.

CqE: DO YOU THINK THAT CONTRIBUTES TO A LOT OF ARTISTS NOT HAVING LONGEVITY NOW?

CP: I really think the longevity aspect has to do with the music is not longevity music. It’s nothing that sticks. Now as far as longevity goes in the industry, somebody that makes good music, they don’t make a lot of money, they're not like a millionaire, but their probably always going to be in the industry…like [hip hop artist] Common. He was never really a household name in the beginning, he was never really a platinum selling artist, but he has longevity, because of the kind of music he’s always promoted and made. He been in the industry almost 20 years, and he’s still relevant to a certain point. And then there's someone like Wiz Khalifa. I don’t really see him being a stable artist for the next 20 years. He doesn’t make longevity type music. He makes big hit music, which is more trend music. Which you can make a lot of music off of if you get in, get out in like 3 or 4 years. To be able to live off music for 20 years is a very difficult strategy in hip hop.

CqE: RIGHT. AND I GUESS WHEN I SAY LONGEVITY I LOOK AT ACTS LIKE D4L OR Dem Franchise Boyz OR EVEN SouljaBoy.

CP: Soulja Boy was kind of like the first of his kind. Soulja Boy is still doing it, I don’t know how much longer he’s got [laughs]…I think he’s not the most talented. But Soulja Boy has charisma, he’s confident, and that’s kind of where he’s found his stardom and his niche. I don’t know what to call it, but he’s the first to do it. And I actually heard Soulja Boy was a ghostwriter for [Willow Smith’s] “Whip My Hair”.

CqE: REALLY? WOW.

CP: Yeah. But if he’s a hard worker, kudos to him. I can’t say anything to him.

CqE: SO SPEAKING OF WILLOW OR EVEN JUSTIN BIERBER, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE WITH DEVELOPING THEM, BESIDES THEIR AGE, AND NOT SOME OF THE OTHER ARTISTS LIKE A SOULJA BOY OR A WIZ KHALIFA?

CP: Well because, Bieber’s talented. He can sing, he can play [piano], I mean…you better develop him. You better put some resources into someone like him. But how many resources can you put into a Soulja Boy. He’s already pretty much maxed out. What more can he really do musically? Now he could maybe get into acting. But as far as his music potential, I think he’s maximized that. And that’s just my opinion. But Justin Bieber, he has raw talent, he’s an artist AND a musician. I would develop him until I couldn’t develop him anymore.

And the same with someone like Willow Smith. I mean with her parents [Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith], she’s…I wouldn’t say a prodigy. But she’s definitely a product of both of her parents. So I would take a chance on her too. She’s versatile, so she could do a lot of different things. You know, rapping to singing to dancing to commercials to acting…so it’s really no limits to someone like that. She’s cute…so yeah…develop them. And Willow, I think she kind of already developed. Her parents have probably been developing her out of the womb. So all the label really does is keep her blade sharpened, and keep introducing her to new things and new concepts. She has it naturally, and she grew up in the right environment.

CqE: AND WHEN YOU HAVE RESOURCES LIKE THAT, YOU’D KIND OF BE CRAZY NOT TO TAP INTO THEM.

CP: Exactly.

CqE: BUT SPEAKING OF BIEBER AND WILLOW, WHERE DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY GOING, AS FAR AS PROMOTING ARTISTS AND ARTIST DEVELOPMENT IN PARTICULAR?

CP: Um…I think we still have some years left in the pop era. The overly-pop era, so to speak. We still have some years of that. But what goes up, must come down. So there’s going to be…the industry is definitely going to crash one day. In order for it to start up again, it has to reach a point in rock bottom. I just don’t know when. It’s the same aspect with the government, stock market, all that.

But where do I see it going? I don’t know, man. Its fun to think about it. Just the aspects of technology. I think the industry will go wherever technology takes us. How can we continue to press the envelope, and entertain people, and for them to really get that “wow” factor at a concert or wherever? Concerts are always going to be the best way for the artists to express themselves and reach and get that full experience. Of course you have the revolution of digital music, iTunes, and all that. CDs will become obsolete in about 3 years, I think. You just have to push those cd people over the edge, and they are slowly getting with the whole digital mindset. So the industry is definitely going virtual. The entertainment is moving with technology. Just like with the 3D movement. I’m looking forward to seeing how the music industry will take advantage of the 3D deal.

CqE: THAT WILL BE INTERESTING. WELL, THAT’S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE MAN. WHERE CAN THE READERS CHECK OUT YOU AND Soul LinQ?

CP: CarlisP.com…uh…DMawl.com…and AdrianneArchie.com. Those are the three Soul LinQ artists that are active and still doing it. And then from there, you can find our Twitter pages and Facebook pages, and we just folk, man. We just people. We just like everyone else, man. Can’t forget about Joel, our producer Joel Goodwin. I have yet to develop a website for him, but that’s in the works. That’s coming soon. And then my brother, Cortico. He doesn’t have a website either, but that’s another one of our producers. He’s responsible for a few tracks on Klientel’s projects, and D. Mawl’s too.

For the latest on Soul Linq & CP, follow them on Twitter @SoulLinQmusic & @SincereCreative

the Freshest: Interview with Manager/Promoter, Nickey Fresh

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 18:41:00 +0000

the "Stay Tuned" blog had the opportunity to sit down with NickeyFresh, an up and coming manager/booking agent/event coordinator who works in the New York and Connecticut areas. For the purpose of this interview, we decided to focus on what makes her a good decision maker in the hard ball game of the entertainment industry. She is a very talented individual who is holding her own as a female in a "man's world". Let's listen in....

What makes you different in the industry?

What makes me different from the industry is that I step outside that box. I tend to work with very talented artist but have their very own unique style. I love mixing up different genres of music, experimenting and trying new things.

Who are you influences when it comes to music?

Music wise two of my biggest influences are Michael Jackson and my uncle Don. My uncle was a dj. He had me in the studio every since I was seven. I been in love with music every since. He passed away last summer so now I feel it if my responsibility to carry out his legacy and take it to the next level. As far as Michael Jackson, his work just speaks for itself. R.I.P to the both of them.

As for a business was Oprah Winfrey and Russell Simmons are my two big influences. They are two powerful African American people who came from a tough background and made something of themselves. I love their drive and passion for everything they do. I also love the way they give back and like to help other people.

Two things you love about the industry?

I can honestly say that the only thing I really dislike about the music industry is how they try to commercialize artist. I love the individuality of artist. Music to be is all about being yourself, expressing whatever emotion you need to express at the moment and most importantly having fun.

Anything you dislike about the industry?

I think some labels are put a lot of pressure on their artist and put some restrictions on their music out of fear that it won’t sale.

What are some projects you are working on?

Currently I am working with my team, Starque Ent. We have two male rap artists. One of them is Dee Jonez, who has done shows with B.o.B and Corey Gunz. He currently has an EP on iTunes entitled dO.Ob. Then there is Young Steady, the newest member of the team. He is currently working on his first mixtape. Outside the team I work with other artist like KoMika, Lady Angel & B.O.$.$. They are all currently in the studio working on new music.

How do you promote your talent/artists?

I promote my artist every way possible, from word of mouth, internet (twitter, facebook, myspace), shows, and just pushing their music out there.

What advice would you give those trying to make it in your position?

The thing I would tell those two are trying to make it is just true to yourself. It is not going to happen overnight but you just have to be dedicated and keep pushing yourself. And most importantly just have fun!!!

As a manager, you work to make decisions & negotiate on an everyday basis. Do your emotions ever get in the way or play a factor in your negotiations?

Sometimes it’s hard not to let you emotions get in the way because when you’re working so close with your artist you become friends. And I personally take my friendships seriously so when I am making business decisions I want the best for them. But at the same time I know it’s about the business and we all have to make certain scarifies. It’s hard but I’m still learning.

How often do you reach a mutual benefit when you are deal making, if ever?

Making deals is hard and some people try to get over on you. Being a female I run into a lot of male in the industry that come at me like I may not know much. But I tend to surprise them when they realize I am about my business and they can’t get over on me.

Do your try to negotiate with objective criteria (points that would benefit both sides)?

When I negotiate I try to be fair at all times but at the same time my main interest is my artist so if it doesn’t feel good then we have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another play.

You can check out NickeyFresh at DaMan Productions, Starque Ent, or follow her on Twitter @NickeyFresh

Should Performers Have Rights??

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:49:00 +0000

The “Stay Tuned” blog wants to focus on a big issue here in the music industry. Support it, or oppose it, the Performance Rights Act is making big headlines in the industry. According to Wikipedia, “The Performance Rights Act is an amendment to United States copyright law proposed by representative Patrick Leahy. The bill would expand the protection for public performances of copyrighted sound recordings. Under the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act, sound recordings have a limited public performance right in digital transmissions, such as webcasting.” This bill is set to expand the performance right to cover terrestrial broadcasts, such as AM/FM radio. It currently covers songwriters and producers of the song. The bill is both strongly contested and supported. Artists who support the bill argue that it properly compensates performing artists. Broadcasters who oppose the bill argue that the performance right is unnecessary and overly burdensome.

The benefits to this bill:

· Any recording artist who is not a songwriter or producer of a song will now receive performance royalties when that song is played on the radio.

· For radio broadcasters, this wouldn’t go into effect for 3 years after legislation (or 1 year for stations that bring in more than $5 million annually)

· This bill would regulate laws for all forms of radio, since cable and satellite radio already pay performers royalties.

· The bill would incorporate value to process of setting licensing and statutory rates to the “spins”, or the amount of time a song is played on the radio.

· The bill would regulate international royalty collection, as many other countries pay their artists a performance royalty.

This disadvantages to the bill:

· Radio broadcasters will have to pay out more money to publishers and record labels.

· Terrestrial radio may alter their format to either talk stations or only play certain artists limiting the chance to break and introduce newer artists.

· Jobs at terrestrial radio could be in jeopardy.

The Major Players

There are two major sides fighting for or against this bill to be passed in Congress. On the supporter side, there is the MusicFIRST Coalition. They brand themselves as “Musicians, Recording Artists, Music Businesses, and Supporters United for Fair Pay”. Big names included as supporters include the AFL-CIO, Harry Belafonte, Brooks and Dunn, Miley Cyrus, Dr. Dre, the American Federation of Musicians, the American Association of Independent Musician, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), who awards the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond statuses to artists according to the album sells.

The other side that opposes this bill is the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). This is obviously made up of many terrestrial radio broadcasters all over the country, as well as various representatives in the House and a number of senators.

While nothing has yet been decided and this issue is still being fought, it is said that this issue has been going on for many decades. Many artists have defined the songs that we have heard throughout the generations. One great example of this is Aretha Franklin and her song “Respect”, released in 1967. What many are not aware of is that Otis Redding (known for his song “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”) is the writer of “Respect”, who also released first in 1965. Under the current system, as big of a song as “Respect” was, Aretha was not paid from the song being played on the radio. But it is her vocals and version that are well known worldwide. (And in an added note is the “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” bridge is exclusive in Aretha’s version, not in Redding’s).

As big as a song as “Respect” was, under a revised system, Aretha could have received royalties from the song’s radio spins. This is what the bill is trying to achieve.

What is your take on it all?

For more information, you can visit the NAB and/or the musicFIRST websites.

The Best in the Industry

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:36:00 +0000

Being a music publishing and production company, CqE is all about music and its influence. What influences CqE the most is using music to save lives. Music is a powerful medium, and honestly, no matter what the financial state of the country or even the world, there will always be a desire and need for music.

In the fight to save lives through music, the “Stay Tuned” blog wants to focus on one profession association who seems to do it the best. We are influenced by VH1’s Save the Music Foundation and all its efforts. The foundation is a non-profit organization focused on reintroducing instrumental music education in the public schools of America. They are also adamant about raising the awareness about how important music is as part of the youth’s “complete education”.

For those unfamiliar within the foundation, VH1 Save the Music Foundation’s goal is to work with school districts of elementary and middle schools to implement instrumental programs in all school within the district who don’t have such programs. VH1 Save the Music Foundation is willing to provide each school with grants of new music instruments in order for that school to develop and offer instrumental music instruction curriculum for its students regardless of financial background.

HOW THIS HELPS THE INDUSTRY

In creating and sustaining these programs, you give the youth a better chance at being a success in life. Starting at this age, you are preparing the next generation of music artists, songwriters, and/or music producers. For some youth who come out of dangerous backgrounds, this foundation has also saved their life.

No one person can truly be a success, until they learn to give back. What is the point of gaining a lifetime of knowledge and experience just to keep to yourself? Any artist who has had his/her fair share of success is looking for a protégé. When you support and have a foundation like the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, you are ensuring that not only does music have a future, but also you are investing in the next Michael Jackson, Bono, Prince, Billy Joel, or even Jay-Z.

VH1 Save the Music Foundation’s website has a section on “Success Stories” which run the gauntlet from music saving kids from dropping out of school, to music allowing someone to be the first in their family to make it to college, to music giving students more focus academically. According to its website, the foundation has “provided more than $47 million in new musical instruments to 1750 public schools in over 100 cities around the country.” We can easily say that the VH1 Save the Music Foundation is not only saving the lives of the youth all over the States, but also the future of the music industry itself. This is important to the industry not only for the obvious reasons, but also further proof that used in the right way, music can and will save lives.

What will you contribute to the industry?

D-I-Y Music

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 04:31:00 +0000

CqE’s “Stay Tuned” blog has had the distinct pleasure of stumbling across an innovative website that is taking the concept of internet videos by storm. This is not YouTube or Hulu, while both very effective sites. This is TED.com; a site all about creators, innovators, and dreamers sharing their ideas online and getting support for them, or just spreading them to a cyber net audience.

One of the video presentations that stood out the most would be that of Andrew Bird. Of course I was a bit skeptical in seeing the title say this man is a “one-man orchestra”, but nonetheless, I will say it caught my eye.

In playing the video, the viewer is welcomed to Andrew recording a song in front of our very eyes in the form of various loops. The interesting thing was he would play a loop of his violin, move on to another melody loop, pluck the strings for another, whistle, then play on his xylophone for another loop meshing together a very beautiful song structure live for his audience.

There wasn’t much speaking, as most of his performance saw Andrew creating and performing songs right in front of the audience. He did go on to explain some of his songs and some of the ideas behind them. It was very exciting to see Andrew become, as the title very much suggested, a one-man orchestra.

This one man shows that technology has taken us so far as to say that the creation of music itself is now a DIY, or “do-it-yourself”, project. There is no longer a need for a middleman, and the sky is almost literally the limit as far as what you are able to do and accomplish. For Andrew to record an elaborately composed song live is indicative of where the music industry itself is heading. The record label as we may have known it, is collapsing in a way that the newspaper/print industry is becoming obsolete.

As long as there is software, hardware, and other forms of technology that allows a man like Andrew to become his own band, you eliminate the need for other musicians who may complain because you didn’t pay them, or may have a conflict in their schedule to where they can’t show up to a gig. That in itself brings its own implications: less egos/attitudes to deal with for promoters, less people to pay (or more money for Andrew), less money for travel, but on the flip side, in this case one monkey could very well “stop the show”.

For now, we’ll look at technology as a good thing for the music industry. And hopefully, more people will follow the lead of Andrew, and take the matters of their music into their own hands, instead of waiting to hire other people. This is beneficial if you have the talent to do so. If you don’t believe in your music and take the time to invest in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to? Follow Andrew’s example, keep an open mind, and ALWAYS expand and evolve your craft. Until next time.

Stay Tuned.

How to Stay Relevant...

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:06:00 +0000

As a music artist, our dream and passion is to get our music out to be listened to the most people possible. Most of that dream is to be achieved through the sales of an album or mixtape we have put together. Artists of all kinds, whether unsigned, indie, or major, are always wondering how to reach more people and how to get their name out to the masses.

This article will focus on two hip hop projects one finished, the other still in production. These projects will prove to be examples of how to market yourself within this very fickle industry.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

Usually with the fans, when the buzz around an artist dies down they are mentally dropped for the next hottest (read: memorable) performer who is out right now. The key to this industry is to always be on the fans’ minds. This is why you see celebrities of all sorts taking advantage of the exposure from blogs, tabloids, and paparazzi.

Back in 2006-2007, hip hop artist Lil’ Wayne made well use of getting his name out in the public. Now already a key player in the “rap game” and dictionary (see: “bling”), Lil’ Wayne (born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr) took his star even further. Wayne was a featured artist on almost every hot song and remix released to the mainstream in gearing up for his “the Carter III” album released in June 2008.

Quite obviously, this took some planning on the part of Lil’ Wayne and his handlers. For two years after the release of his “the Carter II” LP (Decemeber 2005), Wayne released many mixtapes, rapping over the beats of current mainstream songs, and collaborated with many different artists. This made the fans want an official album to actually spend money on.

Kanye West had the same hiatus in between his album

releases. Kanye’s last official ablum, “808’s and Heartbreak” was released in November 2008. While Kanye has been in the midst of controversy, including his stunt with Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye has taken a new approach to his music and advertising himself.

Although the Taylor Swift incident did put him in hot water with many fans and celebrities including President Obama, there are many people waiting for an album from Kanye. With this, Kanye and his team has planned to release new music every Friday until Christmas. According to his official Twitter (@kanyewest) on Aug 22, 2010, Kanye has planned to promote himself with music either he recorded, produced, or from artist of his self-made G.O.O.D. Music label.

I know yall need the music so I'm dropping 1 new song every weekend until Xmas. It may be my song it may be a new Jay song etc...less than a minute ago via webKanye West
kanyewest

I'm calling it good Fridays. Yall know every Friday yall gone have a new joint from our family. We look at the game completely different nowless than a minute ago via webKanye West
kanyewest

Like Wayne, this keeps Kanye in the ears and minds of the fans anticipating an official album from the artists. The key to sales is making the consumer feel special and making them feel like they are getting a deal. Music fans love to “collect” all the music from their favorite artist. It is an advantage to be privy and exclusive to having every Lil’ Wayne or every Kanye West song. This is what makes the planning of these projects effective. It is an exclusive for their fans, and opens doors for new fans to come in.

THE OUTCOME

When “the Carter III” was finally released, the first day it sold over 400,000 copies worldwide. The first week, the album achieved over one million copies sold according to Nielsen Soundscan, making the album #1 on Billboard’s Weekly Album Sales chart. I would say this is customer satisfaction at its finest.

The fans bought into the anticipation Wayne created by his mixtapes and his featured guest appearances. Wayne’s planning had paid off, eventually earning him multiple Grammy nominations and four Grammy awards.

As far as Kanye, his new album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is due out this November. But he is building quite the buzz around his Friday releases. His record label must believe in his star power too, as it has been reported that Def Jam has spent over $3 million on the making of the album. Kanye is said to be finishing the album in studios in Hawaii and Jimi Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady recording studios. We have yet to see the full outcome of this project, but apparently the fans and Kanye’s team are behind him and have big expectations for this album.

Will he come close to Lil’ Wayne’s feat with “The Carter III”, surpass it, or just be a waste of time and money? …Stay Tuned…

SOURCES: MTV.com, HipHopDX.com, UniversalMusic.com, Wikipedia

Taking the "I" Out of "TEAM"

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:03:00 +0000

The music industry is a vast network of people working together to achieve success in all shapes and forms. While technology and the internet has made it easy to be the one man wrecking crew in the industry, there are places you cannot avoid having a team in place.

In one of the most widely recommended books of the music industry, “All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Donald Passman, it should be noted that the first few chapters are about putting together a team to help you succeed. The truth of the matter is, this business of music is just that, a business. There are many one-man corporations, but how many are nationally or internationally successful. It is important to have a team to depend on and to delegate to.

Take a look at the record company structure. There are several different arms within the company itself. The basic departments in a record company are the A&R Department, Product Management (Sales/Marketing/Promotion), Accounting/Finance, Legal, Production/Distribution, and Publishing.

· A&R: The artist and repertoire (A&R) arm of the record label is responsible for finding the talent for the company. They are usually in an office listening to demo cds or mp3s sent to the company all day, then at night travel to different clubs and venues searching for unsigned talent. In some record labels, the A&R is also responsible for developing this new artist. This includes matching them with the right producers and songwriters, and crafting their niche sound and sometimes their look.
· PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: This department is like the public relations of music. This is where the company figures out how the artist is going to be marketed, how the posters and cd art will look, and what shows the artist will perform at, among other things. This is the team that has its success measured by Billboard and SoundScan, because if the music is pushed right, it will show in sales.
· ACCOUNTING/FINANCE: You cannot have a business, and not take care of your finances. Self-explanatory, this team handles the money for the company. This is where royalty statements are passed out to artists and producers based on the sales of the product put out. Of course, they also handle the income and expenses for the rest of the company, like the budget for outsourcing the artist’s stylist, photographer, videographer crew for music videos, and so on.
· LEGAL: Also a necessary arm in any business, this team handles all legal matters for the company. This would include all artist contracts, venue licensing for the company’s music, and any legal disputes or lawsuits that may come up for the label.
· PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION: In a do-it-yourself world, most record labels have started producing their own physical products instead of outsourcing this responsibility to an independent distributor. This is the team who takes care of packaging the physical product we buy at FYE, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart. They ship to stores, radio stations, venues, and other places to help the artist sell their music. In a digital world, this department either works hand-in-hand with product management, or the two are merged together.
· PUBLISHING: This is the most misunderstood department, but VERY important in the music industry. If done right, this is the artist’s 401K plan, provided they wrote or produced their own music. Currently, there are laws being discussed about paying the performers of songs royalties as well as the lyricist and composer/producer. But for right now, this arm handles the mechanical royalties (monies collected from product sales), performance royalties (monies collected from the live/recorded performance of the music), sync fees (monies collected from having the music in film/tv or video games), and foreign royalties (monies collected from having the music played or used internationally).

Given the structure of the record label, how can one person be effective at making all this work? Often times, when the head of the label is also the label’s premiere or only artist, you find contradictions. When handling the business side of the company, the creative side fails. When trying to run the company, you don’t have much time to write or produce music. And alternately, when focusing on the creative side, your business side takes a dip. As the flagship artist, of course you will be impartial to your music. You will put what your think is your best music into the project. The beauty of having a team in all this is the second opinion. There are countless stories where an artist has had a #1 single, and the artist didn’t have faith in the song itself, or didn’t even like it.

The fact of the matter is, if you are planning to make it in this business, you will need a team. The internet and technology has given us great ways to promote ourselves and to be independent artists without the record label middle man. You can buy software to help you produce and master your music, then make cds off of your computer. You may even be efficient at accounting and can handle your own money and keep track of your revenue. And of course, who else knows how to promote you, but you? But when you break down each department, can you really be your own manager, lawyer, accountant, personal assistant, stylist, photographer, artist development, CEO, and still have time and energy to write music and perform shows, return phone calls, monitor website traffic, pitch your music different films in production or tv shows, etc.?

The bottom line is, get you a team! No man is an island, so they say. If your goal is to be the best in the world, you can’t go it alone. This will reduce your stress levels, and free up time to focus on the things you need to focus on. Starting off wearing many hats is fine. But in order to truly succeed, you will need a team. The president of the United States has a team. The pope has a team. Some of your favorite artists and business moguls have a team. Teamwork really does make your dream work, and work successfully.

SOURCES: “All You Need to Know About the Music Business (Fifth Edition)” by Donald S. Passman; “Making Music Make Money” by Eric Beall

Stay "Tuned"...

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:55:00 +0000

Here the “Stay Tuned” blog is once again, diving into the world of music to bring you more of what you want. Today, CqE focuses on a rising trend in the Hip Hop and universal music world: Auto-Tune.

I first must clear up a common misconception I stumbled upon myself. There is a difference in the vocoder and Auto-Tune. The vocoder was first used in music in 1969, and was used heavily by artists like Roger Troutman (Zapp & Roger), George Clinton, and Teddy Riley. The Auto-Tune software, developed by Antares Audio Technologies, wasn’t released until 1997. And received prominence in 1998 with Cher’s “Believe”. Since that time, many artists including Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have confessed to using the pitch correction software in their performances.

Hip Hop artist T-Pain, who has inspired many other artists to use the technology in their songs, brought the software to light more recently in 2000. These artists include, but are not limited to: Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, Avril Lavigne, Natasha Bedingfield, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Sean Kingston.

But of course, many of you know this. The point of this post is to show you how far Auto-Tune has gone. Let’s take a regular news story, like this one…

And now let’s make a song of it. Like so…

The credit goes to “schmoyoho” and his YouTube channel “Auto-Tune the News”. This song is actually one of the most popular in recent months. There is an iTunes version and a T-shirt out. Antoine Dodson has given interviews on the fame of this song, which has close to 25 million views on YouTube. I actually think the video is pretty funny. In order to really appreciate the song, I think you must be exposed to the original video.

Has Auto-Tune oversaturated our lives? You be the judge.

My sources include my own knowledge, and Wikipedia.

Blame it on Tha Boogie

noreply@blogger.com (Blacq) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:07:00 +0000

CqE’s “Stay Tuned” blog had the exclusive opportunity to interview Korus of the “experimental” trio Tha Boogie. Signed to Raphael Saadiq’s independent imprint, Velma Records, these Southern California natives are making a name for themselves by keeping true to themselves and not conforming to the mainstream music scene. Influenced by other “abnormal” artists such as Andre 3000/OutKast, Static Major, GorillaZ, N.E.R.D, Timbaland, and Gwen Stefani/No Doubt, NuSchool, Lejin, and Korus take pride in being the epitome of original. Korus gives an insight on how Tha Boogie came to be, where the group is going, and even touches on the future of the industry…

CqE: Hey Korus! First off, how did you all get together?

Korus: Well, NuSchool is my cousin. And then, Lejin is my cousin’s godbrother. They were going to school together. NuSchool was friends with Lejin’s sister, who kept telling him about her brother, like “He’s gonna be the next Timbaland.”. So NuSchool was like “I gotta hear him”. And he told Lejin to make him some tracks, and NuSchool could see his potential. So it started like that. And I was always around; people knew I could kind of sing.

So we formed “Tha Boogie Down Movement”. It wasn’t yet a group, but it was just all of us who did music together. Like my other cousin, a rapper named Lady G, she was a part of it. We were all solo artists working on different projects. But then a few years down the line, we were thinking “This would be a lot easier if we just formed a group.” And we ended up being the three last standing members of Tha Boogie Down Movement, and we already meshed well together. It just felt right. So we just came together and shortened it to “Tha Boogie”.

CqE: Speaking of “Tha Boogie Down Movement” (a collective of solo artists, producers, and songwriters who support each other on MySpace & Twitter), how does it feel to have it on a more national scale than just amongst your family and friends like when you first started it?

Korus: It’s really crazy! At times, it’s overwhelming because it’s more people appreciating what we do. We have all these fans. And the things people say to us or how they react to us, it’s always shocking. It will never be normal, like “Oh, they like us”…it’s always crazy! It’s really a blessing.

CqE: I can understand that. How did Tha Boogie go through the process of being found by Raphael Saadiq? How did you get signed?

Korus: Well, my cousin, NuSchool, he was on MySpace. And he just hit Raphael up. Like, “Hey we really like your music, we pretty much grew up off it. And one day it would be great to work with you.” And [Raphael] hit us back saying, “I really like you guys’ music. Here’s my number, call me.”

CqE: Wow!

Korus: Yeah! So, of course, we didn’t believe it to be true. So we were all in one room, and we called him, and he told us to come to the studio. We still didn’t believe, we were thinking, “this is probably some crazy person pretending to be him”. So we went to North Hollywood, and went to his studio. We had already had like three albums done. So we went in the studio and let him listen to the first album, and he listened to it all the way through. Like every song, all the way through. He was feeling it, like he was bobbing his head and turning it up really loud. [laughing] When we got there and we met him, that’s when we were like “this is real. This is real right now”. That’s how we got with Raphael Saadiq.

CqE: Wow. That’s an exciting story.

Korus: Yeah, that was crazy. [laughing]

CqE: That brings me to my next question, in this industry, in our generation, you know, MySpace is popular and Twitter and Facebook. How do you all put yourselves out there? How do you self promote?

Korus: The internet….and you know, I think the biggest thing right now, like how we get recognized is our shows. We do around 4-5 shows a month. We do a lot of shows in Hollywood and that’s how we get recognized, it’s word of mouth. People see us perform and they’ll tell other people, “Wow, they’re really good”, or whatever they thought about us. Maybe we sucked [laughing], I don’t know. But then there are other “promoters”, like we get shows off of doing shows. And they’ll like us, so it’s growing organically. It’s jus word of mouth.

CqE: How does “Love Tha Boogie (Steal This Sh*t) Vol. 1” (currently on iTunes) help?

Korus: Because that’s our first piece of material that people can actually buy. Everything else is pretty much on MySpace. Like that’s how people can hear our music. It’s a tangible way for people to hear what we sound like [if they can’t attend our shows].

CqE: Nice. How do your individual styles come together? You said; the three of you really cliqued. Is that natural? How does that work?

Korus: Yeah, it’s really natural. For some reason, we just all compliment each other. Even how we are as people [outside the music], it’s our style. Like you can just put three people together and they might look like they’re supposed to be together, but we’re actually all really close. We don’t fight. We’re a family, and we’ve been through a lot with each other. So that makes us even tighter. And this is something that we wanted to do, like no one forced us together, or said “it would be cool to put a girl in the group”. It wasn’t even thought it. It was just like, “this makes sense.” We love this and we’re family. It just felt right.

CqE: With that being said, how does it feel to be the “first lady” in the group? Or is there a first lady feeling at all?

Korus: A first lady feeling?

CqE: Like, you know how Eve was the “first lady” of Ruff Ryders and Faith Evans, the “first lady” of Bad Boy. Do you have that feeling?

Korus: No [laughing]. I feel like one of the guys. I never think about it like that. I’m just like, “I’m in a group”. Maybe if I were with two other guys I really didn’t know that well, then it would be like “two guys and a girl”. But we know each other so well that it just feels like I’m another person in the group. More so than just “the girl in the group”.

CqE: [laughing] Right.

Korus: [laughing]

CqE: What makes Tha Boogie different?

Korus: I guess because we always do what we want to do [musically]. Not to say other people don’t. But our sound, when we create albums and songs, it’s never like we’re trying to sound like anything or anyone. It’s just whatever comes out. Like sometimes, you might hear a song that’s very alternative. Or you might hear something that sounds a little more soulful. Or you might hear something that sounds like R&B or Hip Hop. It’s because that’s how we feel. And yeah, we’re all over the place, but we don’t want people to [put us in a box and] say “oh, that’s a Boogie song”, or “They just sound like one thing”. So it’s just being able to do any kind of music we want to. And also, our style of dress, like, the way we dress is kind of crazy people would think. But, that’s just how we feel. It was never planned. It was “Just put on whatever you feel comfortable in and let’s get out there”.

And our energy on stage, a lot of people are like “Wow, you guys are so energetic”. And, you know, that was never planned either. I remember the first show we ever did, we just went out there. Like, we didn’t even rehearse what we were going to do. We rehearsed it totally different, but when we got on stage, we were just hyped. And it just came across as a lot of energy, I guess. So from then on, that’s just how we performed.

CqE: So where do some of the concepts for your songs and videos come from? Like how did a song like “I Am Peter Parker” come about?

Korus: NuSchool, he mostly does the writing. So with that song, “I’m Peter Parker/I’m Clark Kent”, you know, you can kind of be who you want to be in a sense. And as far as our videos, it started with Mike Quain. He’s our director. He has the idea. Then he relays it to us and then we just kind of go off whatever he says. It’s not even scripted, like he doesn’t send us over a treatment. It’s like, we get there and put all of our ideals together, and it comes out like what you see. So it’s not completely planned out, there are ideals, then after that, it’s just kind of spontaneous. [laughing]

CqE: [laughing] How much input does Raphael Saadiq have in Tha Boogie’s music and in the videos, if any?

Korus: He’s more of like a mentor. He oversees the things that we do, and he just really lets us be ourselves. So, he just listens to what we do, and he’s like “Ok…you guys are keeping it ‘Boogie’, you guys are keeping it yourselves.” That’s really it. But as far as our shows, he helps us out with that. Like making the shows sound better. We just got a full band for our shows, like his shows. And his shows are crazy! But, he’ll help us out like, “Ok right here, this is where you make it big”, you know. He helps out with the structure of our shows. He does give us a lot of advice, about this crazy industry.

CqE: Speaking of the industry, where do you see the future of the industry going?

Korus: Right now, it seems like the industry is more open. And a lot of people are trying to do different things. Not the stuff that you hear on the radio, but more so the people that are underground. There are a lot of really good underground artists that are coming out now. But the industry is in a crazy transition right now, like where you don’t really need record labels. But, the hard work is we’re learning. We’re learning because there is so much change now. And we are trying to adapt to that change and where everything is going within the music industry. But I think music will be in a really good place pretty soon.

CqE: I agree. I totally agree. Let me ask you this, we’re going to focus on you. What are two things you love about the industry?

Korus: Ummm….i don’t know. [laughing] That’s a hard question.

CqE: [laughing] Ok, let me ask it like this. What do you love about being an artist?

Korus: [laughing] That’s a little better. [laughing] It’s the way of being able to express ourselves on a wide scale. Like, I could be an artist, and not make this my career, and keep all my music to myself. But being on a national scale, everybody gets to hear what we have to say. You get to touch a lot of people. Music is emotion. You get to express how you feel and you get to touch people. That’s a really big thing, you know. If you listen to a song, and you’re sad, that song might effect how you feel. Or you can listen to something that makes you happy. So us being able to make music that is able to do stuff like that is awesome. I don’t know, it’s just awesome.

CqE: If anything, what do you hate about the industry or being an artist?

Korus: I think the thing I dislike about the industry is everybody has to change now. I mean, you know how they just make carbon copies of [other artists]. I can say I don’t really agree with that. Like, “Ok, let’s get a new Rihanna”, or how about you guys get somebody else new?

CqE: I think that’s really hard to find. Like Willow Smith, Will and Jada’s daughter. The critics are packaging her as the new Rihanna, and I think from a label’s standpoint, it’s kind of hard to not try to capitalize on your powerhouse.

Korus: Yeah

CqE: Like trying to find a new Jay-Z or someone else. Like the thing about Drake is, Drake is Drake. He’s not Jay-Z; he’s not like Nas. He’s just Drake.

Korus: Yeah, that’s what I like about him. When you create new lanes in the industry, that’s when you pretty much blow up. And that’s when people really like you for you. Just like Kanye [West], when he first came out. He created a new lane. He wasn’t like anyone else.

CqE: Right. And I think that’s a big risk you take in being different. Like you can either fall flat on your face, or you can be a genius.

Korus: Yeah definitely. And I’d rather take that risk than to try to make a new Rihanna song or something like that. I’d rather us do us, that to try to do someone else.

CqE: I can feel that. So what advice would you give the up-and-coming or starving artist?

Korus: You have to take your career in your own hands. No one wants it as bad as you do.

CqE: I like that.

Korus: Yeah. We really, really had to learn that. Like years ago when artists like Brandy or Monica were coming out, not saying they had everything handed to them, but back then labels used to do almost everything for their artists. Now, it’s like you have to do everything yourself. A label, yeah, they’ll put you out, but that’s about it. Some give you a little promo, but that’s about it. And you have to take your money and put it into your project and make sure you get the polishing that you need. And make sure you’re doing the shows and everything that you need to be doing in order to be successful. Like, you have to take your money and invest in yourself. That’s what you have to do. You have to push and push and grind and grind…no one wants it as bad as yourself.

CqE: I definitely agree.

Korus: Yeah.

CqE: When will we get some new music from Tha Boogie?

Korus: Coming soon. Hopefully the beginning of the year. Top of the year, we should be dropping the album “Long Time Know See”. We’ll be dropping some new songs within that time period before we drop the album. Like we have this new song with Raphael [Saadiq], that’s not going to be on the album but we’ll drop it as a little teaser. So be on that. It will be on our website and all over the Internet.

CqE: Wonderful! And for new fans, people who want to know about Tha Boogie, where can they find you?

Korus: On iTunes. We have the EP “Love Tha Boogie (Steal This Sh*t) Vol. 1” on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-tha-boogie-steal-this-sh-t/id325264258). And they can go to www.thaboogie.com. On MySpace, www.myspace.com/thaboogie. Twitter, @ThaBoogie (www.twitter.com/ThaBoogie). Facebook, www.facebook.com/thaboogie. [laughing]

CqE: [laughing] So they pretty much have to get “Boogie’d” out?

Korus: [laughing] Yeah.

CqE: Any last words? Anything else you want to say?

Korus: Just that we want to be the biggest group in the world.

(From Left: Lejin, Korus, and NuSchool)

If you are in the California area September 22, you can catch Tha Boogie live in concert at Little Temple (4519 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA). For booking info, email luxcityent@gmail.com. Experience Tha Boogie on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and their own site.