NdustryNsider

Trending Music Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:20:00 +0000

If you’ve been following me here on my blog, you’d remember that I’m a Full Sail University student. My major is Entertainment Business. This degree sets me up to work in several different professional entertainment fields like management, event planning, and artistry. I choose to focus on the music side of things. I would like to work in behind the scenes in management, event planning, and the creative side of songwriting. All of these encompass my desire to help an artist develop to a budding star.

There are also some new trends in technology happening in the music industry today that I’d like to shed focus. Some of these ways I’m just learning about myself. The digital music era is upon us and to remain current we as entertainment graduates need to educate ourselves.

The first savvy technology trend most of us use now, which is being able to download music to our several devices. But there’s this thing called icloud by Apple that allows you to link downloads together on your Apple devices. This is probably what makes me love Apple. Since I spend so much money on downloading music from itunes, I would really be upset if I couldn’t hear the same music between my iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Pro. So giving customers convenience is really the drive for this product.

Speaking of the iPad, we have more and more apps that do everything you can think, even music production. Owning the iPad for the last year, I have discovered various music production software apps that you can download like Logic, Garageband, and my latest find, impc. The impc is a smaller version of the ‘motherboard’ MPC Studio. Apps like this give people like me who may be technology challenged and easier way to make some incredible music. It’s easy to use, portable and I make music right from my bedroom. How convenient is that?

Needless to say, there is so much more technology that we’ll keep discovering in this ever-changing business. My advice is to try and stay current as much as possible by subscribing to the newsletters of reputable companies that sell these devices. Good luck!

Alternative Funding For Your Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 02:27:00 +0000

Since I’ve been working on my business plan I’ve been working extremely hard on the intricate details needed to complete a business plan. The bottom line is in all of our understanding, expertise, fire, and desire we still need funding for our ultimate dreams.

Lets take a look at two funding resources from websites Association for Enterprise Opportunity and Opportunity Finance Network. Both are alternative resources for funding for future entrepreneurs like myself, and my classmates at Full Sail University.

Association for Enterprise Opportunity and Opportunity Finance Network strives to develop more microbusiness around the U.S. while developing entrepreneur with the skills to start a business, fund a project, or gain a loan. AEO focuses on the low-income and low-wealth as well. Ultimately, both companies help those in need with a plan to get the resources that will help them be successful. The focus is being able to lend money to business that will service our underserved communities. OFN or Opportunity Finance Network has several different types of loans. Two of them stuck out to me and that was the Participation Loan where the requirement has to benefit low-income and low-wealth communities. Places like supermarkets, multi-family housing, and charter schools would be eligible. The Health Financing loan allows you to create a business where healthy foods are not readily available.

For those of you contemplating becoming an entrepreneur, there was an interesting fact on AEO’s website that there are an average 85%microbusinesses across the U.S. I checked out my state of Pennsylvania and it says as an African-American without owning a business my median net worth is $10,000, but as a business owner my net worth is $77,000. So what do I have to lose…lol I definitely have some work to do. AEO also offers financing and training for business owners and financial planners.

The advantage is that there is money out there and for a good cause. If you can get past the work that is required to get that funding, then I totally take my hat off to you. I have very close friends who just opened a charter school in New Jersey and it was one of the most trying experiences they’ve ever had, but well worth it. Now that they’re open they see the fruit of their labor.

Some of the disadvantages to this type of funding are that it has to benefit the low-income or low-wealth community. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen in my low-income community is that once someone tries to do something nice in this area. The community doesn’t appreciate it and/or deface or rob the business. This is not encouraging. But someone has to do it and has been doing it for years. So if that’s you, Go Get It in 2013. Good Luck!

Evaluating Business Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:16:00 +0000

As I approach the end of my degree program here at Full Sail University I’ve learned and am still learning how to develop my business plan. Of course it has changed with every month I’ve had a chance to think about it, but now this is the real deal. Things that stood out to me were the financial aspect of the plan. It was very hard to imagine this part of my plan, so I will spend extra time focusing on getting it right. Especially since money is not that easy to come by.

During my next two blogs I will be evaluating two experts on the ‘value of business plans’. I will discuss the ideas of Kevin Gieger and Daymond John. Kevin Gieger is film producer, computer animator and CG supervisor for Disney. He discusses that it’s important to have a unifying creative plan, it should be organized and this is what should be pitched to potential investors. He also believes that its important to development your own company. Concerning film, this could serve as a production for all the entities or an umbrella as a LLC (Limited Liability Company). He has a great video series on indie film business plans that goes through more detail. This is very interesting and helpful.

Daymond John is the founder and creator of FUBU and one of the entrepreneurial gurus on the hit series Shark Tank. John talks about the mistakes he made in his early years of opening his company and says he wished he paid more attention to his financials. He found himself buying expensive watches because someone told him “jewelry was an investment”, but realized how they depreciated over time. I was excited to see that John’s Business plan essentials were very similar to ours that we’re learning this week. He just provided more detail in the financials like balance sheets, income and cash flow statements. Although, we did have to add some financialsJ

Hopefully, you and I will learn a lot together from these experts. Stay tuned.

Producer Tracks

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 06:27:00 +0000

Producer Tracks

So you wanna be a producer? Do you think you have that song that's gonna change your life! That's how it happened for producer of the song "Power", by Kanye West says his friend told him that was about to happen to him. The rest was history. I've always wondered if I had what it takes to become a producer. I mean I always heard the music in my head, it should be easy right? Wrong? Anyone who thinks that producing tracks is so easy is crazy, in my opinion. As a songwriter, I'm always looking for tracks that move me. Whether its a melodic ballad that moves me to write a worship song to God or a song that's rocking so I can work out to it. Either way, the song, lyrics, and melody have to become one. I'm partial to making sure the music is great and then I can write for days.

I checked out a few videos on YouTube of some up and coming producers showing us how they go through the process of making tracks. I checked out this one girl that goes by the name IZ, put up a few videos that showcases her skills, she says she gets from her mother. Check her video! She goes piece by piece how she develops her song. It's pretty good too. It shows how she is able to mimic what the typical industry standard 'pop' song sounds like today.

As far as known producers go, I was able to find this video where Kanye West was on 60 Minutes making a track. Check Kanye's track! Within minutes this song was almost finished. It was pretty funny to watch the interviewer try to vibe with him. But if you like hip-hop, you felt the vibe Kanye was getting at with that beat.

When producing a track, one can not just be concerned with what the music is doing, but how its being presented. When the vocals are added to that music, it becomes apart of the track also. Teddy Riley from famed 90s group GuY speaks in this video about various sounds he used to create Michael Jacksons's JAM and She's Drive's Me Wild. It's a great video, with great info. In the video Riley is talking about how since Jackson's death, some of the remaining songs had to be edited with a software called Melodyne to correct Michael Jackson's pitch. Ultimately, its up to the producer to create the sound that he or she wants. They set the tone and feel of how a song will be presented. Hopefully, I'll be able to create my sound that people will love.

Song Submission Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:04:00 +0000

Currently, I'm working diligently to get a few placements in preparation for this next year. It seems like I'm chasing my tail sometimes, but I just can't stop doing what I'm so passionate about. Writing songs for a movie soundtrack has always been a dream of mine. The only thing that was stopping me was not knowing anyone who was doing it or knew about it themselves. Keeping that in mind, I read an article that was very informative about how to submit songs for a movie soundtrack. Some of the suggestions include networking to get close to music supervisors and giving them some copy written music that could be potentially placed on a soundtrack.

One of the things I always try to do when I can is network. When this opportunity fell in my lap that’s exactly how it happen. I was speaking with a colleague about doing some work together and they called me later that week to submit some music for the soundtrack. Now, of course in this business I realize that there are no guarantees, but I'm truly taking full of advantage of this opportunity.

The first thing I did was read the plot and timeline of the whole project. This information came on onesheet and had everything I needed to know like the plot, the characters, the book this movie would be based on and the projected timeline of when the music project should be started and the dates for the projected release for the movie and soundtrack. This is a link for an example of a one sheet. http://onesheet.com.

This is the most excited part where I get a chance to seek out the producers I want to work with and create some music that’s inspiring. I'll let you know later how things work out, but no matter the outcome, its one of my favorite experiences during this journey.

Artist Development

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 05:38:00 +0000

While going through my classes here at Full Sail University, I’ve contemplated whether I really wanted to be an artist manager or more of a booking agent. I began looking at my current demands as a full-time teacher, wife and mother and consider all the things that this job may entail.

Looking at the artist needs I thought about the artist development piece that is even more crucial, in my opinion, than having an artist manager. There are plenty of artist out there that have managers. Did they have the proper development? That’s what I believe is my calling.

One of the articles I read on artist development was from Music Marketeer. They basically feel that the ‘It’ factor that people say they look for comes from a combination of things like talent, hard work, and artist development training. I totally agree with the article and how it breaks down the necessities an artist should be doing before seeking out a manager like vocal lessons and working on their stage presence. It is such a tedious process to begin with that one should not do it half way. You can’t get a Beyonce’ or Janet Jackson type artist without all of those factors I mentioned above.

When you look at the needs of an artist you have to first look at if they have good songs. Today it seems that its more about your look and the ‘shock’ value you can have on your audience like a Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj type artist. I just wish the industry would focus more on the music than the artist. I believe that’s what gives them longevity industry. The former days of Motown and the Beatles were made up of songs that we still sing today. To me that is the most important thing an artist needs. Of course their needs to be a look, stage presence, and even a singer/songwriter is even better, that’s more money for the artist. So much is at stake when developing an artist and its important to be thorough.

So I definitely think that artist development is a better fit for me, what do you think?

Self-Publishing

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 04:59:00 +0000

When it comes to figuring out what the best way is to distribute your music, there are several opinions. This is so important to know because if consumers don’t have a way to purchase your music when they hear it then you’ve lost out on an opportunity to sell it. In case you didn’t know having great songs, stage presence, and a great band is only half of what you need. The other have I would wager to say would be great marketing so that people hear about you and a way to get your music to them. This is publishing your music.

I was doing some researching about publishing and there are two ways you can do it. You as the writer can either find an agent to work for you that finds places for your music to be heard or you yourself can find it. Of course doing it yourself would be less money, but you also need time to invest in yourself. It’s a lot of work calling around to the various publishing houses trying to find someone that needs songs like yours. This can be frustrating and could impede on your creative process. Some people can handle this without losing creativity like Diane Warren. She once wrote in an article that at first she was her own publisher and it was very difficult, but as she made more hits, she then could afford to hire staff to run her publishing company. This is where I want to be.

Companies like TuneCore and CdBaby also help you get your music out there. It’s one of the ways to get it in the consumers’ hands. Choosing either one of these companies will allow you to get to some of the main sites like Itunes or even selling on Facebook. Nevertheless, whichever road you take, you must decide which is best for you.

Distribution Ain't Everything!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 03:50:00 +0000

As an aspiring artist, I’ve always been behind the scenes before getting to this point of even recognizing that I am an artist. For me, I’ve seen projects happen from the writing of the song to the cd in stores. Unfortunately, that’s where the CDs remain. I would always hear individuals say you need distribution as if this would solve all of their problems. But this is not the case and it is important that every aspiring artist, songwriter, and music business individual recognize this fact. I read this article on Music Biz Academy on distribution. I want to focus on 3 aspects distribution, radio play, retail price and positioning, and touring.

The issue at hand is that when you as an artist go store to get your CD sold there you have to consider that the store needs to make money as well. One of the ways you could be considered is if you have radio play. If you can vouch for how many radio spins you are already getting then that’s one way to get their attention.

The second way is retail price and positioning. You think you want to get the CD in a store but they want to shove you in the back somewhere. What makes you think they’ll put you out in front before the mainstream and major artist? A 'one sheet' is an item where a store can see on one page how popular you are becoming and gives them a little insight on what selling potential you may have also.

Touring has always been the win/win. When you think of putting your cd in stores try thinking of putting it where you may be touring at the time on ‘consignment’. Consignment deals put the store at no risk allowing you to sell your CDs for a lower price, but the store will get their cut right away. A bonus is that you could even do an in-store performance as well. All of this can happen as you build relationships with storeowners as you frequent certain areas.

Reality Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Reality shows have been the craze or the “thing” to do for the last couple of years. It seems that anyone can do it if they have a following and able to make money for a network. I’ve tried to see what the ‘hype’ was about shows like Basketball Wives and Mob Wives, but it just seem like some of the most trashy and disrespectful women that I would never want to be around. Especially when I watched Basketball Wives and most of those women were either ex-wives or girlfriends. Not interested.

But then I heard about a new show on the TVOne network. It’s called R & B Divas. Now I totally love the show because it features some of my favorite female artist of the 90s R & B scene. To date the one that put it all together is Faith Evans. She is the widow of the hip-hop star Notorious Big, AKA ‘Biggie Smalls’. She has since worked on several albums that have brought her great success the last few albums. Evans says, “We’re not about jumping on tables and throwing bottles.” Which is something you’re most likely to see on the previously mentioned shows. Another creator of the show and featured on the show is Nicci Gilbert who is the former lead singer of the 90s group Brownstone. Syleena Johnson is another artist featured. She’s best known for her vocals featured on Kanye West’ song All Falls Down. Monifah is another featured artist best known for her song “Touch It”. Then finally my favorite of singer of them all is Keke Wyatt. She’s best known for her duet with male artist Avant with a remake called My First Love, which was originally recorded by Rene and Angela in 1983.

As you can see the “cream of the crop” is featured on this show. Sure, I could name a few more that could be considered R & B Divas also, but we’ll save that for later.

Now back to the positivity about the show. It allows people to see friends and life behind the music. All of them are wives and/or mothers, which is something maybe only fans may have known. The show is full of laughter and even tears as the ladies share their heart about what is really going on in their lives. The last show is October 8^th and they are not sure if there will be another. Evans says that there is also going to be a compilation cd coming out soon with these ladies and some others like Kelly Price and Fantasia featured as well.

Industry Insights

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:29:00 +0000

This week’s blog touches on several topics based on some very interesting blogs I had a chance to listen. In these blogs I’ll discuss a little information from each concerning the 360 Deal, Trademarks, and a copyright infringement case.

Podcast #1: Entertainment Law Update: This podcast discusses the legal aspects of the 360 Deal. It takes a look on whether on the deal is in violation of the California Talent Agencies Act. It says only a licensed agent or agency can only procure or find employment opportunities, except record deals, for their talent. If you are working with a licensed agent that the licensed personal and you were requested, then it’s ok to procure employment. The website has the full article written by Firemark’s guest.

It goes so far that if the Act were violated, one would have to give back all commissions for any items that you needed a license. My company wants to represent artist, and as an independent label and manager, I would first have to look to see how a 360 Deal would benefit me as a label, then how it would benefit my client. I believe if the deal is based upon grooming my client to be a huge artist, then I believe the 360 Deal will be in that client’s favor. As a label, that’s not something I’m interested in that will work for my company.

Podcast #2: This Week in Law 176:This podcast talks about the legal perspective of copyright infringement. The conversation goes into how technology has definitely advanced, but actually hurting our copyright owners. Denise Howell called it the “Whac – A – Mole” mentality, meaning once there was success at handling how songs were getting out for free then something new came along that needed to be figured out.

Laws are still being developed on whether it will be okay to just give music away free. Licensing has been more of an option through venues like Spotify and MOG. Licensing still does give some money to a songwriter, but nothing gets paid barely any money. The example given by guest Loren Mulraine puts it in perspective when she gives an example of a songwriter who sees their royalty statement with 200,000 units, but received $.40 of income. Her college students didn’t really see the significance of why it’s NOT okay to take free music. Why pay for because it’s free? But she said the students sang a different tune when they realized that they wanted to make a living at it. Hopefully there will soon be some progress so that we as creators will benefit. This law applies greatly to my business plan because it seems that I’ll have to be even more creative with finding ways to get my music out there and get paid for it. I can see it’s already hurting the industry, so it will be important to my business to have great marketing strategies to find out who is actually buying music and then marketing to them.

Podcast #3: This Week in Law 119: The legal issue deals with the trademark law with a real life court case in session. Five years in the running because Apple feels that Kokin used part of their trademark to create his brand. Daniel Kokin is the creator of Video Pod. Kokin said he wanted to invent something that would be more for the home and not the conference room. He talks about how he didn’t even think Apple at the time as being a threat since they were focused on audio. Unfortunately, this has been holding his small company from gaining success and Kokin feels trademark laws don’t really support him.

This case was instrumental in helping me make better decisions when developing my trademark for my company. It is important to conduct the proper research to ensure your idea for your business is secure and not infringing on anyone else.

That's My Song!: A Look at Plagiarism

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Collaborating is one of my favorite ways to write a song. Its nothing like getting together with fellow musicians, song writers, and singers that you respect. Although, you might feel like this is the circle where you can trust everyone, its not always the case. Whether its who wrote the song or are you giving credit to parts of a song you've used. It's necessary to get these things street from the beginning.

There was the court case between a song writer Janne Suni and super producer Timbaland. He produced a song for Nelly Furtado called Do It. Suni was suing for the usage of samples from his song Acidjazzed Evening. Timbaland denied all claims and said he heard the music on an old Commodore 65 Game System. He also said he didn't know who it belonged to anyone. In the end, the case was dismissed for the plaintiff because it was found that the song was never sent for copyright. Huh? I was a little confused. I was trying to find more information other than Wikipedia, but it was interesting to me that Timbaland, knowing it wasn't his music on that Commodore 64, didn't check for the owners of the music. I'm just wondering. Not cool in any instance.

In the gospel genre of music there was this great song performed by Vashawn Mitchell and written by Darius Paulk. The song rose to the top of the charts and everyone loved it. It even won a Stellar Award for Song of the Year. But there was another person claiming to be the other writer on this song, Travis Malloy, and he's suing EMI Gospel and Darius Paulk for have of the earnings. According to Paulk he wrote the song by himself and Malloy says that Paulk sang the song to him and he wrote the music to it. The case is still open and I'm very interested to see what the outcome will be. I do believe that if they were together working on this tune and Paulk didn't pay Malloy for his services, they should share the copyright.

The last example I wanted to point out is why its important to understand the contract and follow it. Matthew Knowles company Music World Entertainment, also the father of superstar Beyonce', is being sued by Cathy Hughes, owner of Radio One. She is suing his company, BET, and MTV for violating the exclusive rights deal she has with the Essence Festival in New Orleans. This article is interesting because it seems to have gotten personal with Ms. Hughes. Since she knew that Matthew Knowles company has some of gospels great new stars, she had all 12 of her radio stations to pull all of the artist off of the their playlist. Of course this seems evil, because Knowles is losing money. Nevertheless, someone broke the contract and they'll have to pay regardless.

So there are more cases that we could analyze to give us examples to show us that in we always should have the proper understanding when collaborating and make sure we get permission to use any portion of creativity that we didn't create. Simple right? Not in every situation, but at least you can cover yourself in the end so that you can have the proper back-up in case you ever come across a situation similar to ones above. Go create!!

Knowing Your Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:59:00 +0000

Since the last couple of classes that I've been engaged in at Full Sail University, I've been given a wealth of knowledge on the importance of knowing your artist. I have been looking into my business plan and evaluating or reevaluating what my strategies are to make sure that I'm representing an artist correctly. The first thing I had to look at was if me and my artist were a good fit for each other. This is very important for me to have an understanding of the artist's vision. Then the question is if I am capable of helping the artist fulfill the vision. Sometimes a manager may not be able to travel and that's ok, but it needs to be understood so there can be a road manager in the works of the contract. Finally, I would want to make sure that as we move forward that we make sure we agree on the contract that we put together. This requires research of my artist type of music and population they're trying to reach. This is important to the success or failure of any artist/manager relationship.

Life of an A & R Rep

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:16:00 +0000

The A & R Rep also known as the Artist and Repertoire representative is the core of any label. Before there is any success for a record label it is imperative that there is a song and artist that is unique enough to garner enough attention to gain millions of records in sales. It's about the song and the artist. If you look at music past and present and really analyze the presence that our huge artist have had, they had to be unique, and there's a song that just makes you remember where you were at that particular moment.

Attached is a video documentary segment I found on You Tube about the A & R rep for Def Jam Records. She is a young lady by the name of Tina Davis. She has been successful in spawning the careers DMX, Method Man, LL Cool J, and Redman. In this video you get a glimpse of her life as a record executive. She is seen in a few meetings with hopefuls as she listens to track after track, instrumental only or some with vocals. She gives positive yet constructive feedback. She says, its just a gut feeling that she has to have that she just knows what artist needs to be apart of the label, and what songs need to be on the album. "Her advice is to stay focused, and don't do anything that does not pertain to your goal." She believes that the A & R department is the most important part of a label that you can't do without.

If I didn't learn anything else that she discussed was the importance of asking one of the hopeful managers, "What makes him special?" As a potential artist manager, I know now that its very important not to waste anyone's time telling them they've got 'it' and they don't. What I mean by having it, means that your set apart or incomparable with what you're bringing to the industry. "Build your own story", Davis says.

Check the video out if you'd like. Tina Davis A & R Rep for Def Jam

Entertainment Management

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:23:00 +0000

I interviewed a manager of clients like Christian hip-hop artist, musicians, and singers. He said he heavily deals in negotiations 75% of the time. I truly thank him for the time he made for me.

Me: Ok..I know you have managed different artist which means you have had to negotiate on their behalf in some way. Can you give me a brief description of what type is your business, and how much of your business is negotiations?

Dave: Sure...I do mostly artist development & road management although I have been heavily involved in contract negotiations for record deals, DVD production deals, & publishing deals. About 75% is negotiations...even negotiating with the artists I represent.

Me: Awesome..I definitely have a lot to learn from you!

Dave: Successful negotiations always begins with you knowing two starting points...your WATNA (worst alternative to a negotiated agreement) and your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement). All the space in between these two points is your room for negotiation.The goal is to end closest to your BATNA while facilitating a win-win agreement between opposing parties.

Me: That's what I was going to ask you..When reaching for your BATNA, how have you handled separating people from the problem..if any. How do you separate the emotion?

Dave: Separating the emotion isn't very easy all the time...honestly, I've had to remove myself at times by taking any "gain" for myself out of it. In other words, I've done lots of negotiations pro bono. I build in my take away on the other side of my successful negotiations.

Me: I hear you, that has to be hard at times, especially know that some of your clients have been your friends as well.

One last question and I'll let you go, can you give me an example of a time of how you worked toward a 'mutual benefit' when negotiating?

Also, what is your favorite type of deal?

Dave: Remaining neutral is essential. You have to do your research to know what is of value to the opposing party as well as know what is of value to the individual you represent. Also, you must think of more than immediate gratification...think big to make concessions or offerings over time

Dave: I don't have a favorite type. Just as long as I can make all parties feel as of they've had their main needs/wants satisfied.

Me: Well put Dave..I can tell this is your passion and study to show yourself approved:) I can't wait to sit and really talk with you this summer. Thank you sooo much for your time

Four Quick Fixes To Your Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 07:58:00 +0000

So I was checking out BMIs news section and noticed an interesting article on Song Writing. This blog was written by Cliff GoldMacher, who has a couple of studios in Nashville and California, also is a songwriter, producer, session musician, and engineer. The article focuses on what he believes to be four quick fixes when writing a song. These include cutting your intro in half, putting more concrete details in your verses, your chorus should be what your song is about, and make similar sections have similar structures.

Now the first quick fix, cut your intro in half speaks to all of us who feel so passionate about the vibes and sounds coming from our session and how it makes us feel. Goldmacher reminds us to remember that people who’ve never heard a song before are not quite attentive the first time or second. You must give the listener something to remember, therefore getting to that verse quick.

Put more concrete details in your verses. Goldmacher suggest using imagery, or painting a picture when writing your verses. This makes your writing more colorful and exudes variety, though you could be saying something really simple. He used the popular phrase as an example, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, and you get the picture, rightJ

Your chorus should be what your song is about. He notes that your choruses should definitely drive the point of your song home. Your verses should connect the song right to the conclusion, the chorus. He says, “This is where your message becomes clear and memorable”.

Lastly, he says to make sure similar sections have similar structures. That being said he means that your first verse should match your second verse. Though he does mention that this is just his opinion and makes things simplified and memorable, and for commercial music, memorable is good. He also reminds us that song writing is definitely an art and there is no particular right or wrong way to write, but these quick fixes or guidelines can be a blessing and I agree since it could possibly make the difference of making a song pop or not.

The Bee Gees Member Robin Gibb

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:03:00 +0000

The Bee Gees

Who are they? I’d heard more of their music than as a group, so I figured I find out a little more. First off, if you’ve seen the classic movie “Saturday Night Fever”, you’ve heard the music; you’ve heard the song, “Staying Alive”. This movie was made popular in the late 70s and its then young star, John Travolta plays a young single guy who frequents the discotheque’ on the weekends. Even though I was only 4 years old, I’ve watched and enjoyed this movie several times and as I write this blog am listening and grooving to the movie’s hit song.

Sadly, one of the Bee Gee’s members Robin Gibb died at the young age of 62. His life is definitely celebrated as he is quoted saying, “an artist is an artist because he is not happy with the world”. Wow! What a quote! I believe he did just that in his unique way. Consequently, though fans mourned his death, they also paid homage to he and the Bee Gee’s by causing their record sales to soar. Article from Billboard says that the Bee Gee’s album sales soared to 319%. Their two biggest songs were “Staying Alive” and “How Deep is Your Love”. Greatfully, his estate will receive these residuals.

Works Cited

Caulfield, K. (2012, May 30). BEE Gees' Album Sales Jump 319% After Robin Gibb's Death [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/bee-gees-album-sales-jump-339-after-robin-1007188762.story

Graff, G. (2012, May 20). Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees dead at 62 [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/robin-gibb-of-the-bee-gees-dead-at-62-1007106952.story

YouTube (2009, December 11). Saturday Night Fever (1977) Trailer [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq4ZMKqWk80

RIAA-Recording Industry Association of America

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:43:00 +0000

The RIAA..we'll call it represents a wealth of music information. It stands for the Recording Industry Association of America. You can find artist of any genre's information on latest news, top selling songs, who's record went gold or platinum, even links to other musical sites that would be of help to you.

There was a section on piracy that in simple terms spoke to how one commits online piracy. Some of the statements shared how its ok to buy a cd and make a copy for yourself, but it becomes piracy if you make the songs mp3s and send them to your friends or placed them on online file-sharing sites. Even if you pay a fee to be on these file-sharing sites, you have to make sure that the sites has its licensing through the major record labels.

Their research information for parents and educators grabbed me as well. For parents who are concerned about what their children are listening to, they gave suggestions on instead of banning your children from listening to certain music, spend time with them teaching them the moral issues that are represented in your home while discussing the lyrics as well. Parents were also reminded of the Parental Advisory Label that are on cds that may not be appropriate for their children. As for educators, (which I will use), there is a component that gives a curriculum to help educators show students how to use the internet safely while surfing online.

So its safe to say that RIAA has a wealth of information concerning the music industry that I'll be able to use as a permanent resource for my company.

A New Connection-Blazetrak

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 05:20:00 +0000

A New Connection-Blazetrak

So I’ve been writing songs, for 23 years now. It may have started out as a hobby, but now it’s in me to write more than I’ve ever had. I‘ve tried to leave writing alone and just focus on my second career of teaching, but every time I did, it would just put me in this place that I didn’t like. I would find myself being down not knowing why. But I would hear a track a producer friend would send me and wind up staying up all night just to work on a song and get right up to go to work. That’s living to me.

It’s been hard though making the right connections. It’s often said that getting somewhere in this business that its in who you know. Well, that can be frustrating, especially when I began raising a family. It became harder and harder to spend the sleepless nights in the studio creating with some of the best to collaborate. Now its more like I want to work on this song, but I’m so tired from working, spending time with my husband and children that there’s not enough energy in me to do this every day. So what do we do? Check out Blazetrak.

What’s Blazetrak? Blazetrak is a company that allows creators from all around the world to connect with some of the hottest artist and producers in the industry. Co-founder Ron Harrison said that he and his co-founder were working for a small label and were frustrated at the mass amounts of demos that were sent daily. They thought to themselves lets start charging people to listen to their demos and it seemed that more people started sending the demos in because they knew they would actually get feedback. This was a great revelation for them and they realized this is a way for them to start their company.

Blazetrak began in 2009 and is still going strong. There’s a membership fee of $49.99 then you have to purchase credits, which range from $8.50 to $15.00 per credit. Each celebrity could range from 0 credits, which would be free, that may introduce you to some names you’re not necessarily familiar. You will have to do some digging just to see if they’re legit to send your music. A small star like Blake Lewis asks for 8 credits but a huge star like Paul Worley, grammy producer of Lady Antebellum and winner of the country album of the year in 2012 asks for 12 credits. Once you submit your song, music or question, they have 30 days to give you a personal response. Does it work? There are success stories on the website as well.

Will you try it? Let me know, I’ll come back and tell you about my experience. Thanks for readingJ

Jacki

Lionel Richie Comeback

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 03:58:00 +0000

So do you remember the song Say You, Say Me, All Night Long, the classic Endless Love or my favorite Hello? These are the masterpieces of the great song writer Lionel Richie, who is making his comeback doing a country album laced with special duets with the likes of Blake Shelton and Shania Twain.

I remember the Hello video distinctively as the clay is molded in his head and face. A little creep huh? Well I was young then, but not know then that those were the hits I would know for years to come.

The article in Billboard talks about this songwriter singer and how after all of these years coming back. Why he wants to come back doing duets with other stars basically taking the 'shine' off of himself. Gail Mitchell asks the question, "Why doesn't Lionel just do Lionel?" Lionel Richie discusses wishing he had done this a long time ago and it wasn't necessarily a purpose behind it, he just wanted to do it. His new manager says, "We just want to get Lionel back in people's living rooms again.

If you'd like to check out his interview click here

<embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1126070790" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1510748787001&playerId=1126070790&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>

Lauryn Hill is back!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:49:00 +0000

So this past Saturday I was invited by my cousin (James Rouse) to hang out at the Lauryn Hill concert at the Caesers Palace's venue Circus Maximus in Atlantic City, N. J.. This is my second time seeing her since last year in Philadelphia at the TLA. Show would be starting kind of late, but the venue was really nice and our seats were stage right:) I wasn't sure of what to expect, but I was hoping it was going to be better than what I saw last year.

Yes, I heard the rumors of her being late and not sounding good. Stef Mitchell wrote a blog of when she came to Williamsburg Music Hall, he said it was the worst ever. No matter what I've always been a fan of her 'swag', style of dress, and especially her tone of voice. At last year's concert she was only fifteen minutes late. The set was good, but she wasn't in the best voice. She sounded hoarse. I was disappointed. Last Saturday is was a breath of fresh air.

First, let me just say that my cousin James Rouse is the drummer for Ms. Hill's tour right now. So I had great seats on the right side of him on stage. I was able to hear and see everything. Her show began with a DJ for about forty-five minutes then the band joined him. The band was absolutely crazy! Yes, I may be biased because my cousin was playing for her, but every last band member was a great asset!

Lauryn was about twenty minutes late, but ready. It was a non-stop two-hour set. She sang the old Miseducation of Lauryn Hill project along with some of the Fugees hits like Ready or Not and Killing Me Softly. But that wasn't it. Her voice sounded so good this time. My favorite song of hers is X-Factor and she did a wonderful job. It was a good feeling knowing that she's out here doing her thing again and even working on some new music. I know it'll be hard to follow the Miseducation album, but as long as she's singing like I heard her on Saturday, she could sing the ABCs and I'd be happy:) I'm attaching this YouTube video with her on the FUSE network. Check it out!

Whitney Houston, the Woman with the Voice

noreply@blogger.com (Jacki Cordery) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:40:00 +0000

At the age of 12 I used to go to the laundry mat with my family. I didn't mind being there because in 1985 videos was the new thing and they had a new video machine where I was first introduced to Whitney Houston's "You Give Good Love". Most of my teenage and young adult years were influenced by her music. Not only was I influenced by her music, but her ‘classy’ image. I wanted to look like her and wear those beautiful gowns she wore for those award shows. I favor writing ballads because of the types she sang. She will be missed.

Whitney Houston's chart-making history is undeniably most impressive. Hits like "Saving All My Love For You" and "Greatest Love of All" peaked at number 1 in the billboard charts. She totaled seven consecutive number one hits according to Billboard writer Gary Trust. The billboard article http://www.billboard.com/column/chartbeat#/column/chartbeat/whitney-houston-s-billboard-chart-records-1006168562.story list her various hits and times spent on the billboard charts. Whitney Houston hails as the top-ranking woman to score 20 weeks in the #1 spot for the Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992. Though the soundtrack was a huge success, we can’t forget the movie. We were pleasantly surprised when we recognized that Whitney could actually act! But my favorite movie was, ‘The Preacher’s Wife’ co-starring Denzel Washington. In this movie, we saw and heard from Whitney where it started for her, gospel. It was public knowledge that she started singing in her local church in Newark, NJ. It was a very inspirational film and allowed the world to embrace this side to her was so special.

Speaking of inspirational, her new film ‘Sparkle’, which is a remake of the 1976 of the same name. Whitney was one of the producers with the film along with Bishop T. D. Jakes and it will (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679043/whitney-houston-sparkle.jhtml). Jakes wrote in a statement, “At the apex of her career, Whitney had no peer, with a voice that shaped a generation.” She has left behind a musical and film legacy that will endure.

Needless to say, her music and voice are most legendary and the music industry has yet to see another artist such as Whitney with a voice like hers. As of the night of her passing many fans were purchasing digital copies of her greatest hits including "I Will Always Love You" which ran for 14 weeks on the Billboard's top 100. Let's never forget 'That Voice'.