Business Matters via ProHipHop.com

UPDATED: Amanda Palmer Blows Past $1 Million On Kickstarter

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:39 GMT

UPDATED: "WE. FUCKING. DID IT. $1,000,000 OF PURE FUTURE ARTMUSIC ASSKICKING," tweeted Amanda Palmer on Tuesday afternoon along with a half naked photo with "One Fuckng Million" scrawled across her chest. She'd asked asked fans for $100,000 on Kickstarterm and now she's raised 10X that. In fact, overnight the singer/songwriter added just shy of...

7 Things to do the Week Before Your Release

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

If you are anything like me, which is an obsessive compulsive hustler that would rather sort through 500 business cards and procrastinate until the last day of a release to get anything done, I have prepared a little checklist for you to get ready to push your release, whether it be a video or a single or something else. Don’t worry: its...

Trinity: DIY Chicago Style

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

More Chicago talent this week: a motivated and talented young rapper named Trinity has been quietly building a name for quality. She is living the DIY hustle like a full-time job and learning every aspect of the industry available. This was a dope interview and I hope you can catch some of this energy. There are cats working this hard all around...

The Homeboy Sandman Interview

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

When I moved to NYC almost 4 years ago, there was no name or figure more ubiquitous in the underground hip-hop scene than Homeboy Sandman. Everyone I met and everywhere I went they were talking about the Queens MC. After taking the NY scene by storm Sands dropped numerous well-received projects, gained an incredible amount of buzz nationally and...

Clarity: Promoters vs. Fans

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

Real simple: If you need to charge your opening acts money, you’re not a promoter. You’re a fan. This is about what job titles really mean in 2012.

Clarity: Listeners vs. Fans

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

A short, simple clarification on the difference between fans and listeners, and why it matters. Chances are pretty good you’re doing it wrong. Hopefully this helps.

Promote the Promotion!

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

Many of us go “hustle happy” when we accomplish a great feat. We drop the new single and then we get all the buzz on the blogs and college radio. Awesome. Thats what you’re supposed to do. Once we land on the blogs, no matter how big or small…what do we do after that?

A DIY Hip Hop Guide to Touring Europe

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

Got something awesome for you this week: NYC artist PremRock shares some gems on booking European tours as an independent artist. He’s gone into considerable detail here and I’m honored to share it you folks…enjoy.

Godforbid & Thirtyseven - "Big Day for the Little People"

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

I’ve been tightening up my video promo this year, starting with the Humpasaur Jones project. I’ve been getting into elaborate lyrics videos, like this puppy here…

The Re-Up: Tev95 Talks Album Promotion

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

We’ve featured NYC producer TeV95 twice before — Crime Loops and Crime Loops 2, specifically — and this post is the first time we’ve talked about the Dark Arts of promotion and marketing. His upcoming project, Delorean, is a perfect example of an effective, low-cost independent promotion campaign. I’ve written about...

Rusty Redenbacher: Making Indianapolis Great

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:30 GMT

When it comes to building something out of nothing, miracles are the name of the game. “It can’t be done” is a comfortable conclusion for lazy artists, but cats like Rusty Redenbacher don’t accept reality — they sculpt it. This is an interview about how he and his team have been putting in work to build a hip hop...

New York’s Tech Boom Here to Stay This Time?

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:40 GMT

These are heady times for New York City’s tech scene, as I wrote about in Monday’s newspaper. But as local businesses find success and the city government talks about the flourishing industry as a firewall against finance’s boom and bust cycle, it is worth remembering one thing: this has happened before. During the tech bubble in the late 1990s...

Miami Hip-Hop Duo Looks To Set The World On FYAH

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:45 GMT

Grooveshark Launches Beluga - Free Tool For Collecting Fan & Musician Insights

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:45 GMT

Despite ongoing lawsuits with major record labels and music publishers, Grooveshark is looking to diversify its product offering with the launch of a free music information tool called Beluga. Beluga combines Grooveshark’s in-house market research with the streaming service’s own data, providing music insights and allowing anyone to conduct...

Amanda Palmer Passes $1 Million On Kickstarter

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:19 GMT

"WE. FUCKING. DID IT. $1,000,000 OF PURE FUTURE ARTMUSIC ASSKICKING," tweeted Amanda Palmer along with a half naked photo of the singer with "One Fuckng Million" scrawled across her chest. She'd asked asked fans for $100,000, but as of today she's raised 10X that with 58 hours left to go. By early on Tuesday afternoon, 20,849 backers had pledged...

Mike Dean Speaks on Watch the Throne Sequel

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:42 GMT

Remember last year's Watch the Throne album and concert tour? We know that it was a collaborative studio album by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West that was released on August 8, 2011, by Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings. Earlier today, we...

Groupon to Compete with Square And PayPal in the Processing Space?

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:00 GMT

Word on the Digital Street Word on the digital street is Groupon is considering entering the payments space. Keywords like “Extremely aggressive” and “reaching” have been used to describe their pricing in recent bids to gain entry, and here’s why. Groupon already has a major deficit of trust among many small business owners. Add that to...

Musicians: Learn The Power Of The Pivot

Tue, 29 May 2012 09:56 GMT

As a musician, it is vital that you listen to your audience as much as you'd like them to listen to you. Sometimes that could mean going through a change. The Beastie Boys did it, Katy Perry did it, and the Black Eyed Peas did it among many others. At one point, these artists shifted their focus towards a newly refined target audience after...

Content Is King: Marketing Plan Tactics For Indie Musicians

Tue, 29 May 2012 09:27 GMT

This week we continue with Marketing Plan Tactics For Independent Musicians. Check out part 1 and part 2 if you missed them. In part 3, Chris Hacker reminds us that content is king. Check out the marketing tactics on Music Think Tank. “To build off of all this progress that has been made, you will now have to keep supplying content to...

101 Distribution Launches Arena Mobile Music Streaming With 100% Ad Payout To Artists

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:56 GMT

101 Distribution recently announced the launch of 101 Arena, a music streaming mobile web app that is free to listeners and pays out 100 per cent of advertising revenue to artists. It's a smart addition to 101 Distribution's services to indie musicians and filmmakers that leverages concern over streaming service payouts to artists. Whether...

New Facebook Camera App Sees Both Artists & Fans

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:26 GMT

Guest post by Knar Bedian of Evolver.fm. Buzz enveloped Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram even before its big IPO. Now, part of Facebook’s plan for its recent acquisition is unfolding. Facebook released an Instagram-like camera app on Thursday. Photographers and musicians like me as well as plenty of other Facebook regulars could...

Business & Music: EDMbiz Invades Vegas, NMS Adds NY Music Festival, Sweden's Trigger Creative

Tue, 29 May 2012 07:49 GMT

Music industry conferences and live music festivals seem like a successful combination so news that new ventures are being launched to add business to music and vice versa should come as no surprise. EDMbiz is a new conference focused on the electronic dance music industry taking place prior to Las Vegas' Electric Daisy Carnival. The New Music...

The Week's Top Music Apps: Beethoven, Soundboards, Seaquence & More

Tue, 29 May 2012 07:05 GMT

Guest post by Wren Leader and Knar Bedian of Evolver.fm. Between Google’s Moog-inspired playable doodle (Moogle?) and our editor’s nomination for MTV’s NILF award, it’s safe to say it’s been an exciting week for the music nerds at Evolver.fm. In other, less-nerdy music news, American Idol just finished up its eleventh season. I don’t know about...

NEWS BRIEF: Samsung Music Hub, 'Soul Man' Loses Lawsuit, Viki + WMG, ToneMedia, IUMA Returns & More

Tue, 29 May 2012 05:55 GMT

Samsung has launched Music Hub, designed simplify and consolidate it's mobile music offerings. 7digital has been named the music download and streaming partner, which debuted on the Galaxy S3 smartphone today. How the Weinsteins Beat 'Soul Man' Singer Sam Moore in an important lawsuit. (THR) Publicity rights, trademarks, libel, unfair...

UPDATED: Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter Campaign Nears $1 Million With 63 Hours To Go

Mon, 28 May 2012 10:26 GMT

(UPDATE 2) Amanda Palmer's impressive Kickstarter campaign has raised more than $981,881. With 63 hours to go as of 8:30 AM ET Tuesday morning, 20,482+ backers have put the D.I.Y. musician within easy striking distance of $1 million, well in excess of her original $100K goal. That shatters the previous record for music on the crowd-funding...

10 Reasons You Shouldn't Wish For Overnight Success

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:03 GMT

Today, Americans are celebrating Memorial Day. It’s a day to reflect and for some, to relax and enjoy their day off. People get caught up with chasing after success everyday and many musicians wish for overnight success. However, Brian Thompson warns you to not make that your goal. Check out the 10 reasons on Music Think Tank and take some...

Separating Yourself From The Pack - The Story of My 450 PR Contacts

Mon, 28 May 2012 05:34 GMT

The Week In Music Commentary

Sun, 27 May 2012 09:50 GMT

Gold Motel's Eric Hehr: The Musician As An Entrepreneur Tyler Hayes Asks Is It A Music Video Or A Video Of Music? Infographic Answers Why Radio Plays Same 20 Songs: The Sad Truth Of Media Consolidation

Getting It Done: The Week In D.I.Y.

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:00 GMT

Hypebot Debuts The Upward Spiral Podcast United Manufacturing's 13 Step Guide To Building A Cult Of Superfans Martin Atkins Has A Kickstarter Campaign & Why You Need To Give A Fuck 35 Denton Festival Revives Denton, TX Valeria Bornstein On Using Pinterest for Artist Marketing Readymade's Radical New Model Recreates Team...

MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: How Vinyl, iPods Ganged Up to Kill the CD & More

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:23 GMT

Where The Music Industry Thinks Out Loud Ariel Hyatt: Marketing Plan Tactics For Independent Musicians - Part 2 of 3: Album Launch Tom Dennehy: How Vinyl and iPods Ganged Up to Kill the Audio CD Mark Knight: Can You Recover From Free Music? Simon Tam: How to Get Gigs on Sonicbids

Photo Album - Darian Cunning in CT

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:45 GMT

REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:20 GMT

The Hypebot Sessions @ NARM looked at Why Most Music Startups Fail with Kyle Bylin (Live Nation Labs), Larry Marcus (Walden Venture Capital), Mike Dougherty (CEO of Jelli), Joey Flores (Earbits), Brenden Mulligan (OneSheet). Watch the video. Pandora Losses Widen But Stock Surges As Listeners Rise To 52 Million O Music Awards Announce Nominees...

Is It A Music Video Or A Video Of Music?

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:28 GMT

Why was the music video born? The same reason bands trying to create a presence and fit in on Pintrest and use Facebook's timeline, music goes where the people are. If people like music, but aren't willing to trade the visual stimulant of sitting in front of the glowing box, then labels and bands needed to make their music visual. I think...

Hypebot Debuts The Upward Spiral Podcast

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:56 GMT

Hypebot is proud to present The Upward Spiral Podcast, which features Kyle Bylin of Live Nation Labs (and former Hypebot Editor), music industry consultant Jason Spitz (Former Director of Marketing at Topspin), and Hypebot's own Hisham Dahud (also of Fame House). The three have started this podcast as a platform for conversations regarding...

Recreating Team Indie: Readymade's Radical New Model [VIDEO]

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:15 GMT

Part 2 of The Hypebot Session @ NARM's Music Biz 2012 offered an inside look at the radical new model for independent labels created by Brendan Benson and Emily White at Readymade Records. Here are video highlights. Recreating Team Indie “Emily White Is Remaking Indie” declared a recent Billboard cover. Hypebot’s Hisham Dahud interviews...