Kanye West's 35 minute video (film?) "Runaway"

Runaway, Kanye West's new 35-minute music video that desperately wants to be called a film, premiered on MTV and BET and then hit the internet on Saturday.

Going back to his "first rapper with a Benz and a backpack" days, he's spent so much of the last decade trying to be two things at once: the embodiment of a pop star and a singular artist.

How Much Of The Music Industry Is Resting On Taylor Swift's Shoulders?

Will Taylor Swift set the parameter for other artists to follow with her new cd release "Speak Now"? Being the largest money earner in the music business is certainly a strong act to follow, even with Kanye making a stand against her in that infamous incident at the MTV awards. She can sort of thank him for helping her with the recognition and numbers she is achieving now. They both are using this incident to their advantage, but it balances out more on Swift's side. Even with the success that Eminem, Lil Wayne and others have achieved thus far this year, they will no doubt pale in comparison to the numbers that Swift will more than likely achieve.

Listen to NPR talking about both Swift and West below:

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS DREAMING, STREAMING, SHARING, UP/DOWNLOADING & HEMORRHAGING

Many Americans are guilty of illegally downloading music, to the tune of 20 billion songs a year. Innovation on music piracy estimated the economic damages at over $6 billion in losses to the music industry, $422 million in uncollected taxes, and 70,000 music jobs uncreated or lost.

The recording industry thought by supporting streaming sites that offer free listening, it would persuade file sharers to make the switch to "free legal listening", yet it can also induce a person to switch from purchases to free legal listening.

BRIGHT IDEA?? Look at the current state of the music industry and ask yourself that question!

The major record distributors which were six at the time, WEA, MCA, EMI, UMG, SONY, and BMG began the "BLEEDING" of the industry over a decade ago. They are directly responsible for the current state of the industry by raising the retail price of a compact disc to levels that were not affordable by a large majority of consumers by agreeing to place the exact median prices on their products for "new release" and "catalog". This birthed the current state of the industry as we know it today. The internet had been around for decades before this move by the major distributors, yet not a single one of them jumped the gun to establish a viable internet presence before tons of fledgling "file sharing" sites began to spring up all over the world wide web. Napster, Bearshare, and numerous others were the catalysts and models for numerous file sharing companies that share in the consumer driven sharing of intellectual property today, often illegally uploaded and downloaded.

From Glenn on Coolfer.com - "Consider a song sold at iTunes. The label collects about 70 cents (ignoring publishing and distribution). A typical on-demand streaming payout would be, realistically, around half a cent per stream. That means the song must be streamed 140 times to generate the revenue of a single track purchase. A sale results in an immediate 70 cents while streaming spreads out that revenue over time (the time value of money dictates that money now is better than money later). The sale of an entire album results in revenue equivalent to 1,400 streams. The buyer would have to spend about 5,600 minutes -- over 93 hours -- listening to music on a playlist site to generate the same revenue generated from the purchase of a digital album"

Streams are substitutional at best and should not be totally depended upon for broadening your product's market base because of the strong possibility of you not being able to track when, where, how and who may be downloading and sharing your music for "FREE". It is a viable marketing and promotional asset to have in your tool belt, and especially for the independent artist, yet numerous artists who currently have their music on several file sharing or "music distribution" services (at least that is what they are passing themselves off as), have yet to financially benefit from the "NEW AGE" of the music industry!

Is the digital age of the music industry going to slow down any time soon, the answer to that is a resounding "NO"?

What is the solution?

The French music industry seems to have come up with an innovative and at least temporary approach to this world wide problem in their own backyard by offering music subsidies in the form of prepaid music cards. Consumers ages 12 to 25 will be able to purchase 50 euro cards for only 25 euro, with the government chipping in for half. France expects to sell a million cards annually for two years, estimating that the initiative will cost $34.65 million. The companies that accept these cards are expected to offer music at a reduced price, helping to keep the cost of the program low.

A temporary fix? A disaster waiting to happen? Or a boon for new companies to launch new music portals and capitalize off of consumers who have already prepaid for music before actually downloading it? Only time will tell, but the American music industry needs to take heed and at least try something, if not, what the French are doing.

Virgin Media Rumored to Be Partnering With Spotify

Virgin Media is reported to be close to signing a streaming music partnership with Spotify after talks to offer unlimited downloads collapsed. Licensing negotiations with EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music Entertainment to make unlimited downloads available within an ISP package have hit a brick wall and so Virgin was forced to reconsider its music strategy.

Rapper Ghostface Killah To Release New Album

Rapper Ghostface Killah will unleash a new album, Apollo Kids, on December 14. He's also hitting the road with Sheek Louch for a 25-date national tour,

Eminem Tops American Music Award Nominations

With Eminem topping the charts most of the year, it's no surprise that he also would be topping the nominations at the American Music Awards, and I'm sure more brass is to follow at some of the other awards shows slated for this year.

Nobody Holds A Gun To Your Head When You Sign On That Dotted Line!!

Music Business 101: If you start working at McDonald's, don't you first have to learn how to run the register, cook the fries, clean the machines, the bathroom and mop the floors properly, in order to be the best employee you can be?? The same should be applied to your music business career, stop sleeping on it, and letting non-music professionals handle it for you, who are just trying to separate you from your money. In order to reap the full benefits of the business you have decided to become a part of, then you need to learn it inside and out, no excuses!!!

This was a response that I had to commenters yesterday on a blog that had posted Nas's letter to Def Jam. This was not a direct response to Nas himself, because as an artist and producer I feel his pain, because I was left hanging in the balance by a major a few years ago, and because they didn't support the album, it didn't go anywhere.

Know that creativity, or having aspirations to make it is not an excuse to not know the business. I'm an artist and producer myself, so I will always stand in defense of artists, but they need to learn the business before they get into these contracts, whether it's with one of the 4 major distributors, an online digital distributor, or otherwise. How can you expect to create and earn revenue if you don't know the sources of that revenue and how to protect them? I can't tell you how many artists I've worked with that know all, say all, but as I break the business down to them, they find out they truly didn't know as much as they thought they did. No company is holding a gun to any of these artists and telling them to sign on the dotted line or else. They have more than enough time and opportunity to consult with a music professional and/or entertainment attorney before they agree to the terms of any contract without knowing what is in it, or completely understanding it.

I place a lot of information on my fb, myspace, and other social networking sites, and my blog, musicbizinfo, that is pertinent to an artists and his/her career, yet I can count one one hand how many access this "FREE" information for themselves. It's one thing to not know and want to know, but to act like you know, and then get screwed anyway, who can you be angry with but yourself? I know numerous other music professionals right here on fb that pour out information daily, but no one accesses this information either. Yet some half naked girl posts something and everyone is on board.

I remember while I was working at a one stop distributor, we had a corporate meeting with some execs from what was then the "6 major distributors" at the time. A conversation was struck up about Eminem. The label he was signed to let it be known that if they had not signed Eminem, they would have signed several clones like him. So to them it's not about creativity, it's the bottom line, revenue. They could care less about creativity as long as they can make a buck off it. This is why the state of the industry is spiraling out of control now, because of the content out here that folks are passing off as "music", brought on by the insatiable appetite of the major distributors of reaping more and more from the artist's creativity.

Traditional radio is dying, you need to know a radio consultant in order to get stuff played on radio now, because the radio broadcasting companies have a monopoly on a block of stations, there are only 4 majors, numerous one stop and wholesale distributors have bitten the dust or merged to stay afloat, and a host of online digital distribution companies that are providing content to the masses, have sprung up overnight it seems, and are slowly taking over the business. Little Wayne just moved over 100,000 units of an all digital release of his new album "I Am Not A Human", further proof that the days of "physical" distribution are dying a very slow and hideous death. Look at the inroads that Prince and Radiohead has made for artists these days in moving their own intellectual property digitally and more importantly, independently.

In today's music industry selling half a million units is looked at as a good album, when just 10-15 years ago, artists were being dropped from their contracts for moving that many units. That in itself tells you the current state of the "New Music Industry".

WHY I SUPPORT THE RIAA AND THEIR STANCE ON PIRACY

If you had an idea and wanted to make money off of that idea, got it trademarked and protected, would you want someone stealing your idea and coming up with something similar or giving it away it for free? Copyright laws were enacted to protect the intellectual property rights of artists, authors, poets, and music artists. If you don't understand that, then maybe you don't need to be writing anything that pertains to copyright laws.


The music industry’s implosion has become a cause that even the federal government can't ignore because the same issue – unfettered exchange of Internet files – has bled into the movie and publishing industries. Now any intellectual property that can be digitized can also be shared/stolen/cannabalized within seconds of hitting the Internet, and multibillion-dollar businesses -- most of them with roots firmly planted in the pre-digital 20th Century -- are crying foul.

Consumers complain but truly don't know what it takes to put together an album, and the hard work that goes into it, only to see some greedy individual sell your family's mortgage, car note, and your kid's college education down the drain. Simple and plain it is a way to earn money, and if that is taken away from the artists what reason do they have to make music, write a book, paint a picture??

I've been a music professional for over 20 years, and I get tired of the old blame the RIAA game. They are a union paid to protect the rights of artists, in as much the same way the UAW protects auto workers, the Teamsters protect truck drivers, the Service Employees International Union protects the rights of hospital and healthcare workers, the United Steelworkers protects the rights of women steelworkers, and the AFL-CIO union movement represents 12.2 million members, including 3.2 million members in Working America, who are teachers and miners, firefighters and farm workers, bakers and engineers, pilots and public employees, doctors and nurses, painters and plumbers—and more.

If you want intellectual content pay for it and stop griping about not getting it for free.

SEX SELLS; OR DOES IT?

Sex sells is the oldest adage in advertising. We associate sex with mostly everything in today's world.

You see it every single day infiltrating your computer, tv, ipod, and cell phone screens. Plastered on billboards, bus stops, on buses, and the side of buildings. Companies want to tap into your subconscious mind, by displaying this imagery and hoping that it prompts you to associate sex with their products thereby causing you to purchase it.

Go to any of the social networking sites and you will see a bevy of hotties, scantily clad men and women posing, posturing, insinuating sexual things, just to sell unrelated products like real estate, a book, their music, hearing aides, or something so far unrelated to sex as in a product that helps you clean your clothes better, could fail. Abusing your audience's attention is a dangerous thing. Showing skin to get attention and then trying to sell completely unrelated products can be disastrous to say the least.



Does this type of advertising really pay off the dividends that these advertisers whether corporate or individual are expecting?? Some do benefit, but a large majority of others do not. You need to be careful and think how nudity is sufficient towards a targeted market, no matter how free thinking of a society they may be. You need to take into consideration that everyone in that market is not going to see the advertising in the same vain, so focus on what matters to you as a company, the commodity or product you are selling, and how it will affect you in the long run. There are numerous companies that still push the envelope though and fail miserably as witnessed in some of the ads below..

DON'T KEEP YOUR MUSIC CAREER LOCKED UP, BECAUSE YOU REFUSE TO LEARN THE BUSINESS

I see so many artists today focused on their art, music and not placing more emphasis on their "BUSINESS". More than half of artists today are in a non-recoupable status where the distributor and/or label has spent more money than the album releases has garnered. This moves onto to the next album, and then the next, until the artist is so much in a hole, it seems they will never make any money from their music. I also come across tons of artists who don't even have a clue what publishing is, why they are owed mechanical royalties upfront, or any other pertinent information that will insure they collect all monies from the revenue streams out here today. Why aren't these artists interested in knowing the business. I can call out names from the cable television's TVONE UNSUNG program that details the careers of numerous artists. Just recently Bell, Biv, Devoe and TLC were on the "Monica" show and talked about them being ripped off and not receiving what they thought they should have gotten from their art, because they didn't take the time to pay attention to the "BUSINESS".

LESSON: Find yourself a music professional that knows the business and proves to you to be a trustworthy source of information and resources. Your partner "Juinor" who knows no more than you about the industry, is not the idea of a music professional who you should be linking up with, no matter how close you two may be.


There are over 60 items on the list of sources of revenue streams for your music!! Are you as an artist tapping into all of them?? Some of the most common are: performance royalties, mechanical licensing, ring tones, use of a song in a motion picture, use of a song in a television series, use of a song in an advertising campaign, digital download license, video game music license. Being armed with information is being a step ahead of the scammers, sharks, and cheats!!


Are you also tapping into the NEW MEDIA of the business: “Internet service providers, digital rights management, podcasting, blogs, compression, downloads, wireless, streaming, subscription and non-subscription services, MP3, hyper-distribution, encryption, decryption keys, platforms, interactive music, portability, mobile devices, watermarking, fingerprinting — these words and many more form the vocabulary of the new music business.”

THE MIX, CUT, BLEND, SCRATCH AND JUGGLING DJ IS DYING A SLOW DEATH

NEW TECHNOLOGY has been a boon and a bust for the dj business. Not too many dj's mix anymore, they are focused on a laptop, instead of making the crowd move and stay on the floor, and often cutting the songs in midstream just when the crowd gets into a record. I can't tell you how many clubs I've been to just to peep out what's going on, and the crowd complains all night long about the dj.

With so many legends in the game dying off, it's hard to see how the new crop of dj's will place their mark on the game as the legends who came before them have. What kind of new gimmick can someone come up on their own, waiting for a manufacture to update software or hardware. This is how scratching, blending, cutting, mixing, and juggling came about. The dj's took the little they had and use their innovative minds to come up with tricks.


There were even innovative dj's that taught themselves to mix on cassette and reel reel decks, witnessed by the videos in this article. Delia Deryshire was probably the single most important of these innovators, and she wasn't even a dj, she was an engineer.

Since the release of Serato, cd turntables, and many others, there is a crop of dj's springing up who have no clue what it is to mix, blend, cut, scratch, and juggle. Pick up a copy of that latest "MIX CD", and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, with some dude screaming over songs, instead of actually mixing. They just put on record after record, like in the old days with mom and dad's record player that had the automatic arm, and you had to wait until it came down to play another record, lol!

Rihanna Speaks On Release Of New Album

With Rihanna's new album, Loud, due on November 16, the singer gave an extensive interview to the BBC's Radio 1 channel. She touched on a wide range of subjects but mostly about her not following the current rends in the business and having an album full of dance club songs ala Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and others.

"I can't believe it's the fifth album already," she told host Scott Mills. "That's insane to think about. I've never been this excited about anything I've done creatively, and this is just the perfect Rihanna album: Every song is tailored to me... I wanted songs that were all Rihanna songs, that nobody else could do. I didn't want the generic pop record that Ke$ha or Lady Gaga or Katy Perry could just do and it'll work. I wanted songs that were Rihanna songs, that only I could do, had that little West Indian vibe to it, had that certain tone, a certain sass and a certain energy."

Rihanna also talked about her upcoming movie, Battleship, which is based on the classic board game. She will play an officer named Raike in the film.

Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj Scoop Up BET Hip-Hop Awards

The 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards were held in Atlanta on Saturday night, where Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj took home three trophies each. Jay won for Perfect Combo for "Empire State of Mind" with Alicia Keys, CD of the Year for The Blueprint 3 and Best Live Performer, while Minaj earned Rookie of the Year, People's Champ and the Made You Look award, which was given in recognition of her fashion flair. Minaj hasn't even released an album yet, and garnered the three wins.

"Last year, I was here in anticipation of [rap freestyle showcase] the cypher," Minaj told the crowd, according to an MTV report. "Now I'm here in anticipation of my debut. I'm paving the way for girls. I wanna thank all the girls of Hip-Hop."

Other winners on the night included Rick Ross, who took home two awards for the song "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" for Club Banger of the Year and Track of the Year (for producer Lex Luger). Salt-N-Pepa were honored with the I Am Hip-Hop award, while Diddy won the Hustler award, Swizz Beatz was named Producer of the Year, and DJ Khaled won for Best DJ.

The BET Hip-Hop Awards show, hosted by Mike Epps, will air on Tuesday, October 12 at 8 p.m. on BET.

NEW Eminem video premier of "No Love" ftg. Lil Wayne!!

DR DRE TALKS ABOUT SERIOUSLY WORKING ON DETOX ALBUM AFTER BEING ON STAGE WITH EM AND JAY-Z

After getting on stage with both Eminem and Jay-Z, Dr. Dre says it is time for him to get serious about finishing up the Detox album. He told MTV that the response he received from the crowd was an indication of what he is doing is worth it!

Dre said "Being on the stage with Eminem and Jay-Z was one of the most incredible feelings I've felt in a long time. It inspired me, it made me want to hurry up and get back in the studio and put more effort and more work into my own project." "The response from the people out there was just incredible. It let me know that I still got love out there and I'm not wasting my time in the studio with what I'm doing, with the music or with all the Beats [headphones] product that we're putting out."

COPY & PASTE Journalism Is Destroying TRUE Journalism

COPY & PASTE journalism is destroying "TRUE" journalism reporting!

It has been awhile since I posted something on my blog, but I thought this was something that needed to be addressed!

There are numerous websites, blogs, podcasts, etc that are plagiarizing the national news and masquerading as valid news sources. I know of a few in particular that will copy & paste, run a story, then have to rebut the story, because of false information in the story itself, because they didn't take the time to do their own investigative reporting and fact check before posting. It is one thing to share a hyperlink to a story, but to take a story and copy it verbatim as if it is your own, and fooling your readers into believing it's your story is another. Try it, just GOOGLE a national news story and see the numerous sites that have it posted word for word on their site as their own story!

I have a few friends that are "TRUE" journalists that do the hard work of investigative reporting to get a story from their perspective, and they get hardly any recognition because of all the trash that is out there! I put out the information that really matters to an artist's career, and I can count one one hand how many artists ever take advantage of this information. But behold, let a half naked female posing as a blogger place a comment like "I need some ________in my life, and watch the roaches come out from between the walls!!

I write my own stories and hyperlink those pertinent stories that I think will provide information to folks!

I saw this on a news story recently: "HYPER SPEED journalism; you know, all the blogs and posts that pop up on websites every six seconds or so, is it out of control?? Is it utterly ephemeral?? Are people just churning out copy to fill space? Or is it improvement over the molasses pace of the past"?? In my opinion, only time will tell, but as a fellow journalist, write the stories that come from your perspective, not someone else's.

For true reporting, go to www.musicbizinfo.blogspot.com There are a number of true journalists out there, and as I stated above, a few I know personally. One of the best journalists in the game, Lisa Ford Blog: www.lisafordblog.com is celebrating her 1 year anniversary! Congrats sis!

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