THE IMPORTANCE OF NETWORKING

In this post I will explain the concept and importance of networking in the music industry. Its a trendy word which basically means getting to know all the right people by various means - and hanging on to the most useful contacts you make.

What is Networking
In principle a network is a group of people who provide the framework within which to carry out your interests. Networking refers to making contacts within that framework. In the music business your networking contacts will include producers, musicians, music store retailers, video producers, record and publishing company personnel, talent spotters, club owners, members of the press, fellow songwriters, musicians and technicians. It's through networking that all business is done - this is true in most walks of life.

Who You Know
If you already know someone who runs a record company (who likes you!) you've already got someone to listen to your tape. Most people don't so they have to seek out and meet those who can help out. And if possible we have to be able to help them get where they want to go as well.

What You Know
You wouldn't be studying this subject unless you had a desire to succeed in the music business, so already you have an advantage, not only by being here, but by having a quest for knowledge and the desire to learn about the music industry. The course you are studying and this website will suggest ways to educate yourself about the business. Most of the tactics are cheap. You don't need a ton of money to be successful in the music business, because knowledge is power.

Who Knows You?
Unless you have contacts, your music will never be heard by anyone. You can't hide if you want to succeed. You have to make the effort to meet people; hence a network. I'd played bass and sang in bands, as well as writing loads of songs, for years but it wasn't until I decided to release a record myself that I met people with the contacts to get decent gigs and tours and to enable my songs and performances to generate income.

Its not necessarily your best songs or your wickedest mix that get you started, it's meeting the most connected people. It helps to have the songs or the skills relevant to you but its no use having the skills if no-one knows. So get networking!!!

Building a Network

Acquiring and Building Contacts
To develop your music career it is inevitable that you will need other people - both for their help and guidance and as colleagues in bands, etc. They don't just come knocking at your door (they don't mine anyway!). Getting to know people and the things they do is of vital importance to your career - it is not possible to know it all yourself, both in terms of skills or people.

What you need to do
Understand the relevance and importance of building contact in pursuit of your career objectives;

Recognize and understand situations where networking is of value;
Use networks to get work or find the people you need.

The industry has a vast amount of different roles, many which can earn a decent if not very good living. It is useful to know which are which and what chances you have of getting into them. You need to be aware of who plays those roles in your area of the business and try to get them to know who you are.

Where are the contacts to be found?
Everywhere you go there may be someone who is a potential contact. Some situations, however, are obviously more likely to yield contacts; conferences, festivals, award shows, gigs, record shops, music instrument shops, music college, etc.

If you meet someone with potential as a contact you need to consider whether:

they have a role in the music scene;

their role is useful to you;

they know other people who could be of benefit to you.

This kind of 'sussing out' is common, make sure its subtle enough to not be a nuisance to them.

Having something ready to give people is always useful, in fact I'd go as far as to say that business cards are very useful in these circumstances. They are easy to make and may end up in the wallets of the people you meet - they could of course end up on the floor covered in beer. In other circumstance a CV may be useful. At least have some way of leaving a contact number/email address, etc with people without having to resort to using a pen, although this has its uses.

Make sure you log these contacts in some organised and retrievable manner, such as an address book or on a computer.

The city has lots of small networks in its music scene, some of which you may well need to become part of to enable your career to take off. As a basic rule you will need to get to know as many people as possible, but give some thought to the quality of the contacts aswell.

Take some time to list the people you already know. Something like the table below will be useful:

NAME OF CONTACT

WHAT ROLE THEY PLAY

Depending on how many boxes you can fill in, you can see more or less how much building work needs to be done - only a few (4 or 5) and you need to do some networking if you want your career to take off. What you need to remember is that a good network can be tens if not hundreds of people.
Your list will have people missing from it, especially if you are at the very beginning of your career.

Don't worry - the contacts will come if you put the work in.

Ask Yourself These Questions

Are there any managers or agents in the list?

Are there any promoters?

Musicians tend to form networks around specific genres or types of music. Sometimes they can be really big, for example across Europe and America. But if you aren't part of them you won't even realise they exist.

To try to find out about the networks operating in your area try out some of these techniques;

Talking to staff in the local music store, eg Academy of Sound.

Check out the live scene in the local papers and gig guides.

Try the 'jam sessions' which occur at many venues around the town.

Things that could happen if you do your networking well
People stay in touch with you even if unprompted by you.

People ring up about opportunities even if its months since you last were in touch.

Making an Action Plan for Networking

TYPE OF CONTACT

HOW TO GET IT

I need a manager

Ask other musicians about their managers.

Look in the contact directories (white book, MW Directory, etc) I need a venue Look in the gig guide.

Ask around in the music/record shops. I need a drummer for my band. Read the musicians available columns in the trade and mainstream papers (Melody Maker, etc)
Look on the notice boards at music shops and rehearsal studios

What Is Happening To The Music Industry?

First there are so many things wrong with the music industry as a whole, where do I even begin? The BIG 4 distributors (EMI, Universal, SONY/BMG, WEA) continue to push their agenda forward, of finding new and better ways to rape artists of their rights, their art, their sanity, and even their ability to enjoy an honest living in this business. No one holds a gun to these artists heads, and forces them to sign anything. But the problem lies right there. If more artists took the time to find out what they are signing, maybe they could have more control over their art, and the choices that are made with it. Until that happens the distributors will continue to find ways to push out "assembly line" music.

You've seen it, heard it, and even possibly have come across it in passing somewhere. The concept that is used frequently in the automobile industry. When GM comes out with a model and body type, other car manufacturers, go to their design teams and have them create similar looking products as the competition.

I can remember being in a board room meeting, and one of the topics of a conversation had to do with the state of the industry at that time. A heated discussion turned to Eminem. An executive from the distributor was concerned about Eminem's legal troubles at the time. Another executive stated that if was the distributor that he was employed by that had a similar situation, they would find another Eminem clone, and push him to the consumers. I can't say I was shocked because after working in the industry for so long, it was a regular part of conversations at board meetings.

This is the number one reason this industry has folded inside itself. The executives only care about the bottom line (revenue). Consumers are spoon fed the garbage that these stuffed shirts think you want to listen to and buy. They are pleased with sales numbers of a releases first week being in the hundreds of thousands. That is at best a laugh compared to albums that were released during the period between 1989 up until a few years ago that shipped platinum or gold.

I've been working in this industry for over 18 years now, and the industry died in the early 90's due to "greed". The Big 6 distributors (EMI, WEA, SONY, MCA, BMG, PGD), were more concerned about profits than content, and began a long standing relationship with one another in order to fluctuate the price of their product at the retail level. They became too satisfied with raising this pricing at levels that even consumers could not keep up with.

It became less important for a label having an artist development department, that would develop artists with true talent, writing something to say that edifies, staying power that would attract an allegiance of fans, because they (the fans) appreciated their talent and art. Not because they see them in a video blinging like a 70's pimp, in a strip club balling out of control, "making it rain", demoralizing women with derogatory lyrics, polarizing both the African American and Latino American communities with their behavior, drug use, womanizing, criminal minded innuendos, leaving millions of teenagers that live and breath on their every word, believing that the content of their songs are reality.

I can remember bands, groups, rappers, etc., having their own unique signature sound, and they really worked at their craft as real artists, real musicians, real people. That don't exist in today's music industry. Who would have ever thought that a little tech wizadry by Roger Troutman in the early 80's with his vocoder talk box, would have a roaring comeback with auto tune today?

Anyone can post a wack, corny, garbage song on MySpace, You Tube, Reverbanation, Itunes, Amazon, CD Baby, etc., get a gazillion friends, sell a "few", count them, "few" mix-tapes, and in their eyes they've made it. It's just like being a dj and spinning with vinyl, the feel, the smell, can't be replaced. Now dj's are spinning with laptops and software, and don't have a clue of what the "culture" of Hip Hop represented or meant for urban America. That is just as much a part of the "culture" of Hip Hop as break dancing, graffiti, emcee battles, the fashion, the closeness of being part of one big family.

There was a "culture" that birthed the music of America , a true movement of real artists that worked, sweated, hustled, lived, for real music. What happened to that movement?

Do I listen to theses artists, yes I do. Do I have to like what they rap about or what they represent? No I don't. Consumers are just as much at fault at these labels for pushing garbage out here. If more consumers would make their voices heard by simply not supporting, buying or downloading some of the garbage that is out here. A statement to the BIG 4, would be made, that you want more options when it comes to your music choices.

I will touch on radio briefly, but that is another topic altogether. I will say this. A few boards at the major radio broadcasters like Clear Channel, Beasley, Cox, etc..., pay consultants to direct program and music directors what their playlist should consist of at a station in a particular market.

These corporate boards control the content of what goes over the airwaves, and the stations heads must follow that playlist and not deviate from it. This is why I also think radio has died. Just take a look at the smooth jazz format around the country. What happened to even those stations that played traditional jazz for so many years?

How boring it must be when you are traveling, and you cross the border from one state to the next where the same music is being played as a radio station from the previous state because it's a Clear Channel network. This is why very few new independent artists are being broke on traditional radio these days. There is some good music out there, but the masses have to start demanding it.

EU cracks down on mobile services

Websites mis-selling mobile ringtones and other services have been forced to clean up their acts, following a European Union crackdown.

Some 301 sites were investigated, resulting in the closure of 54 and the correction of 159.
The biggest problems were unclear pricing and misleading advertising suggesting ringtones were free.
The investigation was a direct response to hundreds of complaints from parents and consumers across Europe.
Over half of the websites specifically targeted children.

"Young people should not have to fall victim to scams like misleading advertising that lure them into ringtone subscriptions they thought were free," said EU consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva.

"Parents should not find nasty surprises in their phone bill, when their children by accident have signed up to more than they have bargained for," she added.

Of the websites investigated, 41% had some irregularity related to the offer's price. On many the price was not referred to at all, until the consumer was invoiced via their phone bill.

Three-quarters gave no information about how to contact the service provider, which is against EU law.
A smaller number, 28%, advertised the services as 'free', with 35% hiding the information about price in the small print of contracts.

Ringtone sales are estimated to make up 29% of the mobile content market in Europe, with ringtone sales in 2007 bringing in an estimated 691m euros (£613m).

The EU vowed to continue its investigations into the selling of such services. It said it would work with national authorities to conclude outstanding cases, with several more sweeps likely next year.

During two such sweeps in Italy this year, nine companies were found to be in breach of the rules and fined around 2m euros (£1.7m).

In the UK, new rules for the providers of services such as ringtones were issued in January this year.

Providers now have to obtain a licence from regulator PhonepayPlus. Prices must be clearly displayed and customers on subscriptions to any service costing more than £4.50 must to able to opt out.

VERIZON WANTS TO SET TREND OF SENDING RIAA COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICES TO USERS

Verizon Communications customers who pirate music files may soon receive an unwelcome letter from the company, reports cnet news.

Verizon, the second-largest phone company in the United States, is expected to begin issuing "copyright notices" on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America to those accused of illegally downloading songs from the Web, according to sources with knowledge of the agreement.

The sources, who asked for anonymity, said Verizon's letter campaign is part of a test, which is expected to begin by the time of this posting.

50 CENT LAUNCHES FREE IPHONE APP WITH VITAMIN WATER

Following the lead of other artists such as Soulja Boy, T-Pain, and Lil Jon, 50 Cent is hopping on the mobile apps train, with the launch of 50's Sound Lab.

Via a partnership with Vitamin Water, 50 Cent's free iPhone app allows users to create and share their own mixes of the rapper's latest single, "Baby By Me," off his new album Before I Self Destruct.

"Musical talent unfolds in many ways and I'd like to see what tomorrow's producers can do with my track with nothing but a bottle of Vitaminwater, my 50's Sound Lab App and an iPhone," said 50 Cent.

50's Sound Lab is powered by Moderati's Romplr remix platform, which allows music fans the ability to create their own versions of artists's popular tracks, by recording them and if you'd like, share the personal mixes across social networking platforms.

The app only gives you access to the one single, but is available for free. Download it at iTunes App store.

Also, 50 is holding a content for the best mixes, where the winner can enter to win a chance to meet 50 Cent himself. For more info or to share your mixes, head over to http://www.50soundlab.com

.


Before I Self Destruct, is out now.

Warner Music Has Surprising 4Q Loss

Warner Music Group Corp., one of the nation's largest record companies, posted an unexpected loss in the fourth quarter as severance costs weighed on results despite a strong slate of music releases from artists including Jay-Z, Madonna, Michael Buble, Muse and Paramore, as well as Japanese artists Ayaka, Kobukuro and Superfly.

Sales of digital copies of music grew faster than CD sales, and international sales far outpaced domestic business. Digital music sales in piracy-loving Sweden have soared this year. The music industry says that it's all about tough new laws and court prosecutions, but some major labels are seeing worldwide increases. But Warner, based in New York, said strong music releases were dampened by weak economic conditions and an industry shift from CD to digital music sales.

Could this be a telltale sign of things to come in the "new" model of the music business? With a number of major companies turning to digital sales over cd sales as early as 2005, with Warner Music Group leading the way, with it's launch of "Digital Music Labels", this could be part of an unforeseen trend for revenue loss over a long period of time.

It seems that a switch to digital only sales platforms may be a dead end street. With so many consumers now illegally down loading copies of leaked albums, such as the "Before I Self Destruct " release of 50 Cent, I can understand them wanting to try to compete with the downloading of digital content, but do they really think changing over to digital sales wholly, will curtail piracy?

Warner Music reported a fourth-quarter loss of $18 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with net income of $6 million, or 4 cents per share a year ago. The quarter included $14 million in severance costs as the company shifted resources from promoting CDs to generating revenue from digital music.

In the quarter, U.S. sales fell by 7.4 percent while international sales rose by 8.8 percent, or 17.8 percent excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Digital revenue was up 10 percent to $184 million, or 11.5 percent on a constant-currency basis. Digital sales made up 21.4 percent of total revenue in the quarter, up from 19.6 percent a year earlier.

Warner reported a loss of $100 million, or 67 cents per share, compared with a loss of $56 million, or 38 cents. Revenue fell 9 percent to $3.18 billion.

Students Get Schooled On Hip-Hop At Minn. College

By JEFF BAENEN, Associated Press Writer – Wed Nov 25, 3:06 pm ET

ST. PAUL, Minn. – DJ Freddy Fresh slaps a vinyl record on the turntable, cues it up and tells a student, "Remember, the top of the note was there, right? Grab it."

The student places his hand on the disc. Freddy Fresh sets the tonearm down on a record rotating on a second turntable. He starts the first record spinning as a percolating beat fills the classroom, then twiddles some knobs.

"Bing, bing, boom. There it is," Freddy Fresh says while showing the student the precise beat where to stop the platter. "Let's hear it. Scratch a little so we can hear the top of it."

The student "scratches" the record, moving his left hand back and forth, then lets the disc go.
"Perfect," Freddy Fresh declares.

A professional DJ since 1992, Freddy Fresh (real name Fredrick Schmid) is among the new teachers brought in by McNally Smith College of Music for a hip-hop studies program that school officials say is the first in the nation.

The private downtown St. Paul college — where rapper-actor Ice Cube already funds a scholarship for music technology studies — began the hip-hop program in September and hopes the first students, after completing a recorded project and a live performance, get their diploma certificates at commencement next summer.

Even though hip-hop is only 30 years old, McNally Smith officials say the urban culture of rap has become a dominating commercial force and deserves serious study. Students say they enjoy the chance to learn from established rappers and DJs.
"What I like the most about it is there are actual artists teaching us, as opposed to just some guy coming in a suit and tie and being like, 'This is what hip-hop is,'" said student Tim Wagner, 19, who came to McNally Smith to learn studio production and polish his MC skills.

"They know what they're talking about because they've done it."

College classes on the language of hip-hop or how to work turntables are not new. Berklee College of Music in Boston held its annual Business of Hip-Hop Symposium in October and has had visits from pioneering hip-hop DJ Grandmaster Flash and rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently hosted a semester-long fall lecture series on hip-hop. Marcyliena Morgan, a professor at Harvard University, founded The Hiphop Archive in 2002.

But McNally Smith is offering a full, 45-credit, three-semester hip-hop program. Courses include "Deejay Techniques," "Diaspora of African Music" and "The Language of Rap and Spoken Word III." The school hopes that hip-hop graduates will then enter McNally Smith's two- or four-year programs, where those students can apply some of their credits, said Cliff Wittstruck, dean of academic affairs.

The hip-hop program grew out of a summer workshop at McNally Smith that attracted 22 young people, mainly of high school age. When it was time to draw up courses for the college program, organizers made sure "that it was not just something that was sort of, 'Oh, we're going to have a hip-hop diploma and somebody grab the graffiti font and we'll be all set,'" said workshop director Sean McPherson, bassist and leader of the Twin Cities hip-hop band Heiruspecs.

Program coordinator Toki Wright, a Twin Cities MC and poet, says the program aims to teach all the behind-the-scenes roles in hip-hop: promoters, DJs and producers. Classes on hip-hop business practices, music production and history are among the course offerings.

"So you don't have to be a great rapper to still receive a diploma," Wright said.

Fourteen students — 12 men, two women — are enrolled in the hip-hop program, which has eight teachers. Overall enrollment at McNally Smith stands at 685, and the school — founded in 1985 by two guitarists — has 118 faculty members.
McNally Smith President Harry Chalmiers says rapping — although it sounds spontaneous — is not easy.

"The best rap is fine art. It is poetry. It is music. It is rhythm. It is color. It is living history. It is of political, societal commentary. It's significant work. None of that is easy," Chalmiers said.

Margret Wander, who raps under the name Dessa Darling with the Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree, had been teaching songwriting at McNally Smith when the school invited her to become a teacher in the hip-hop program. She says she could have used some formal training when she was learning to rap.

"I did a lot of my learning in a Festiva parked outside an Old Country Buffet while one of the guys who was my mentor was pounding on the hood of the car. He goes, 'Nope, you're not getting it.' And I continued to rap and rap and rap until I got it right," Dessa said.

"And I learned it, but I'd loved to have not had to have sat in a Festiva for six hours."

A hip-hop music industry pro agrees. Ted Lucas, founder and CEO of Slip-N-Slide Records in South Florida, says marketing, promoting and getting your record played are all skills that a hip-hop artist could stand to learn in school.

"I think it's a great thing. I wish someone would have had something like this for me when I first started," says Lucas. "It took me a long time to learn this business. It wasn't something that just happened overnight."

Freddy Fresh, the McNally Smith teacher, calls DJ'ing — seamlessly mixing songs at a disco, party or wedding reception — an art.

"It's the knowledge of the music. It's mapping out the tempos on your songs. It's the ability to blend smoothly records that have similar tempo ranges to provide a fluid, nice mix during the evening to keep people on the dance floor. There's many elements to it," he explains.

Toyosi Duroshola, the student working the turntable in class with Freddy Fresh, says he appreciates learning from a professional. A rapper since he was 13, Duroshola plans to complete McNally Smith's hip-hop program and sees a possible future as a DJ.

"I'm able to learn this, make some money off of it," Duroshola says. "This could actually turn into my passion, instead of being an MC."
___
On the Net:
McNally Smith College of Music: http://www.mcnallysmith.edu
Freddy Fresh: http://www.freddyfresh.com
Doomtree: http://www.doomtree.net
The Hiphop Archive: http://www.hiphoparchive.org
Slip-N-Slide Records: http://www.slipnsliderecords.net

Records Labels Try To Break Artists Again!

Are The Record Labels Using Bluebeat's Bogus Copyright Defense To Avoid Having To Give Copyrights Back To Artists?


Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick
from TechDirt


from the oh,-those-record-labels dept

As you hopefully know, back in 1999, the RIAA had a Congressional staffer named Mitch Glazier slip four words into a totally unrelated bill on satellite retransmission of broadcast TV, literally in the middle of the night, that effectively changed the way copyrights worked on songs by major label artists. It effectively took much of the control out of the hands of the artists and handed it right to the labels. Remember that the next time the record labels claim they're representing the best interests of artists. The use of four simple words, buried deep within the bill, which no one other than the RIAA knew about (seriously, those who voted on it later said they had no idea), turned songs recorded by artists signed to record deals to works made for hire. That meant that those artists could not reclaim the copyrights to their songs later on via a "termination" right, as any other content creator could. Glazier, the staffer who slipped this into the bill, ended up going to work for the RIAA just three months after putting this text into the bill. He was apparently hired with a $500,000 salary. Not a bad payoff for changing a key component of copyright law in the middle of the night when no one's looking.

Luckily, soon after this passed a few people did notice, leading to a big uproar from artists, and an eventual backtracking from Congress, who never did believe the RIAA's line that this "change" just "clarified existing law" rather than changed it entirely.

But, it's important to remember all of this when discussing termination rights for music. Back in October, we had discussed how the songs of many top musicians were quickly approaching those termination rights, and some of the major record labels stood to lose the copyrights on some of their biggest hit albums. Wired recently ran a similar article about this "ticking time bomb," and I wasn't going to post it, because I wasn't sure it added much new, until reader Mesanna pointed out one little factoid down at the bottom:

The second option is to re-record sound recordings in order to create new sound recording copyrights, which would reset the countdown clock at 35 years for copyright grant termination. Eveline characterized the labels' conversations with creators going something like, "Okay, you have the old mono masters if you want -- but these digital remasters are ours."

Labels already file new copyrights for remasters. For example, Sony Music filed a new copyright for the remastered version of Ben Folds Five's Whatever and Ever Amen album, and when Omega Record Group remastered a 1991 Christmas recording, the basis of its new copyright claim was "New Matter: sound recording remixed and remastered to fully utilize the sonic potential of the compact disc medium."

Now, of course that sounds ridiculous, to hear that record labels can get a new copyright on just remastering a work... but, that sounds an awful lot like the argument made by Bluebeat.com, concerning its "psycho-acoustic simulation" re-recordings of famous songs, that enabled it to claim a new copyright. Now, the record labels are crying foul about this, and the vast majority of copyright law experts say that Bluebeat's claim has no chance at all. But, if that's the case, then the record labels own attempts to get new copyrights on remastered albums to avoid the termination rights might also be in jeopardy. It seems like any argument that is made against Bluebeat can soon be used against the labels as well if they really do try to claim copyright on remastered albums.

Hova/Beans Beef Boils Over

According to fellow Philly native, former lightweight and middleweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins, the reports that Jay-Z had Beanie Sigel removed from a concert have been confirmed by the pugilist, whose plans to fight Roy Jones are still in the works.

Hopkins stated that, Jay-Z had dozens of cops and dogs on hand to harrass Sigel and remove Sigel from an October Powerhouse concert in Philadelphia. Hopkins went on to say, “He had K9’s smelling, they said everybody had to move to the side to escort Beans out,” Onlookers were shocked that Sigel was escorted out of the show, and the performance shut down.

DJ Eric B. of "Eric B. & Rakim" fame came to Jay's defense saying that it was his management team that shut the entire thing down. The managament shut it down, and overreacted to Sigel's appearance.

Hopkins says that it's much deeper than just them removing Sigel. It seemed to him that they were focusing on one person, and that person just happened to be Sigel. He went on to say that what Beans is saying on the radio has been taken out of contect, because he is just speaking on people not keeping it real with him.

Do we have to continue to see stuff like this in Hip Hop spiral out of control because of a misunderstanding, or another young artist being signed to a major label early in his career, and not taking care of his/her business?

Sigel has lashed out with several diss songs over the past month: “Average Cat,” “How I Could Kill Jigga Man,” and “Think Big”, in response to what he feels were shots from Jay-Z's Blueprint 3.

Jay-Z’s kind of touched on the entire situation at the American Music Awards with his slanted “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t” phrase. that some think may be a
covert reference to 50 Cent’s rumored subpar 1st week numbers for Before I Self-Destruct.


I think both need to sit down without all the antagonizers and work this out before it jumps to something else, blown out of control by the media.

Fox CEO wants US to join France on Internet piracy

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment said Monday the U.S. should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films.

CEO Jim Gianopulos said Internet piracy is the single biggest threat to the film industry worldwide, and independent films are the hardest hit.

"The bad news is that the Internet is big, and it's anonymous," Gianopulos told a news conference in Athens.

But he said Internet service providers can track down subscribers whose IP address — the unique number assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet — has been spotted downloading films illegally and issue warnings.

Gianopulos said punishing repeat offenders would help create "a level playing field" for filmmakers.

"If we can do that, it would be a big victory against piracy," he said, cautioning that taking away the small percentage of profit many films make threatens the industry.

Gianopulos said that it is equally important to inform young people about the problem of piracy.

"It is important to show them that there is a connection between what they're doing and theft, and what they're doing and people's jobs," Gianopulos said. He was in Greece for a lecture, and talks with Greek film industry professionals.

France has already created what it says is the first government agency to track and punish online pirates.

The European Parliament initially opposed efforts by European Union governments to cut off a user's Internet connection without a court order — but the two sides reached a compromise this month and EU lawmakers and governments agreed on new rights for Internet.

Film and record labels have heavily lobbied the 27-nation bloc, demanding better enforcement of copyright rules to protect profits that are shrinking in the face of online file-sharing, in which people swap music files without paying.

AMA's Shock, Smash, Surprise, and Serve Up Great Performances!

There were numerous surprise winners at last night's American Music Awards, but the highlight of the night, in this writer's opinion, was Michael Jackson taking home 4 unprecedented awards, posthumos. Jackson was recognized in four categories, including Favorite Male Artist in the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories. Taylor Swift seemed to get a little revenge of her own, in spite of Kanye's presence, by picking up five awards, including Artist of the Year, Favorite Female Artist in the pop/rock and country categories, and Favorite Adult-Contemporary Artist (Swift accepted her awards live via satellite feed from London).

The AMA's, have always been about performances more than the award recipients, and last nights performances certainly did not dissapoint. Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Adam Lambert of American Idol fame, and Lady Gaga, with her "smashing" rendition of "Speechless", were the perfomances that turned heads, had people standing on their feet, and mouths agape.

Lady Gaga, started out with singing her hit "Bad Romance", and then "Broke" into a seething rendition of "Speechless" by breaking open a glass box with her mic stand, which contained a piano. Wearing a body hugging "skin" outfit, with lights to similate ribs, I would guess, her shocking performance continued to "ignite" the crowd as props behind her burst into flames, then wowed the audience and viewers at home, by smashing whiskey bottles on the piano, while still singing and playing.

Asian call centers target for social media

With the opening of numerous Asian markets across the globe to international commerce, you would think that the call centers in those regions would be getting an influx of new business, but it is just not happening fast enough according to Salesforce Chairman Marc Benioff.

Call centers, abound in Asian countries such as the Philippines India, and Malaysia must retool and adopt social networking applications to maintain their competitive edge in today's evergrowing scoail networking market, say executives from Salesforce.com, which this week launched its own social network tool.

Benioff said, during his keynote address Thursday at the company's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, it was unfortunate companies, particularly call centers, have invested in traditional software only to realize that customers are venting their frustrations and leaving comments in social media sites and online communities.

It seems these days that people know more about strangers on Facebook, Twitter Linkedin, and other social networking sites than their own family, friends, employees, or co-workers. Although numerous call centers have made strides in providing the connectivity to demographics that normally could not be reached through traditional means, it is not an end all to reaching a targeted market, and definitely does make these entities smarter through social networking, but why aren't businesses using these sites not getting any smarter?

He added that it was ironic that companies were "disconnected" from their own workers. "We've been eclipsed by consumer applications like Facebook and Twitter. Aren't we ready for a change in enterprise collaboration?" he questioned.

Call centers, which main purpose is to cater to the needs of customers, have not adapted their business practices to move in line current customer demands, he said. "It's time for a change in the industry," he added.

To tap this trend, Salesforce today launched its Web-based social networking service, dubbed Salesforce Chatter. The new tool integrates the functionalities of Facebook and Twitter into an interface for corporate users.


Jim Steele, chief customer officer and president for worldwide sales at Salesforce.com, said call centers, including those based in Asia, need to retool and adopt social media to stay relevant and competitive.

"Customer service and retention are paramount in this age. If you're not listening to them, you're missing an opportunity," said Steele in an interview.

The Asian region, he noted, is a dynamic market with customers habitually changing preferences. Customer engagement, he added, is therefore a crucial element for success.

Chatter also features user profiles, status updates, real-time feeds, groups, social applications, and business content such as documents, spreadsheets, and presentations similar to those found on Facebook.

The new tool will be available on the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and iPhone platforms, like Facebook, but Chatter will not be available until the early part of 2010.

I Want To Be A Model!

First I'd like to give credit to all those people who go after what they want in life, and make their dreams come true instead of chasing them all their lives. You can sleep all day and night and have plenty of dreams, but when you wake up and get on the move, then dreams can happen!!!!

Yes, I know this is a music business blog, but you can't talk about music without pointing out all the other entertainment industries that are interconnected with it. One of those being the modeling industry. So many women each year embark on a journey to pursue their dreams of being a "supermodel", "video girl", "foot" and "hand" model, etc.. Not everyone is going to make the cut, but for those that do, the rewards of all the hard work is worth it, unless your journey was a little more tragic than most. I've compiled this blog to help those models that are having a rough go of it. I don't claim to know everything, but one thing for sure, you have to protect yourself no matter what part of the entertainment industry you are in.

Now I'll give some tips to aspiring models because just like the music industry, there are many scams and scammers out there that will try and use your face, body, and your willingness to get "in the game" to their advantage to get out of you what you should be getting paid for, totally free.

Getting started, ask yourself if you are serious about modeling..Take an honest look at yourself and decide what type of modeling would be best for you. Find some books on modeling and/or photography. Get some photos taken that you can be proud of and make sure people see them. Get some photos scanned and get some web space somewhere. If you have to, use free web servers like Tripod or Geocities. Put your portfolio on some of the popular modeling sites, like GlamourModels. Visit some modeling message boards and read some posts to learn what you can about modeling. Post some messages with some pertinent info and photos. Be honest, reliable, and enthusiastic. Go for it!

Safety Tips: Keep in mind that the internet, by its very nature, is anonymous. This means you need to take a cautious, informed approach to your modeling. Never put your full address or phone number on any post in a modeling forum or other public area.

ALWAYS PAY FOR YOUR PORTFOLIOS AND PICTURES, AND COPYRIGHT YOUR OWN PHOTOS SO THAT YOU HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO THEM!!!

That should have got you started, but here is the beef of this blog..

So here it is....

Put Together an Impressive Portfolio. No matter how attractive you are, you need to have professional photographs if you are seeking modeling work. Nothing will turn off prospective employers faster than posting grainy or poorly lit photos in your portfolio. The biggest mistake is to submit pictures taken with a webcam, since these are very low resolution and are usually too small to properly judge anyone's appearance. Another common mistake is to only submit nude photos or worse yet, close-ups of one's private parts. As a general rule, photos that leave something to the imagination are the most effective and compelling. You should always include at least one or two photos in your portfolio in which you are neatly dressed in an attractive outfit. For these reasons, it is well worth paying a photographer to create a nice portfolio of pictures. To choose the right photographer, get references and look at his/her previous work. Are the pictures good enough to be found in top magazines or on video box covers, or are they amateurish? Does the photographer seem to have a good sense of how lighting and background can be used to enhance the image? The better the photos in your portfolio, the more job offers you are likely to receive.

Create a Special Look: Make-up and fashion can go a long way in helping you create a special "look" for yourself that will attract attention. You can learn various make-up techniques, such as the proper use of concealer to cover up bags or unwanted blemishes, by perusing women's magazines or by hiring a professional make-up artist to help you look your best for your portfolio. Also, don't show up for an interview or your portfolio shoot in clothes that are too casual or that represent a style that is outdated or frumpy. You may want to hire a stylist to help you craft your image.

Consider Unconventional Jobs: There are many unconventional domains where models can find work to enhance their career above and beyond the standard modeling gig. This could include things like acting, spokesmodeling assignments, Internet performing, magicians' assistant, or tradeshow representative.

Be Graceful on the Runway, Print Ads, etc...: There is an art to posing gracefully on the catwalk. Stand up straight and always look out towards the audience—don't look down. Keep your hands in a natural position. It helps to practice your runway walk in front of a mirror to develop your own carefree style.

Practice Good Etiquette: When you're offered a modeling job, pay close attention to the instructions you are given. Write them down if necessary. Always be pleasant and courteous to every staff member—photographers, make-up artists, etc.— whom you encounter during any modeling assignment. Always be on time to your shoots. Send a nice thank you card to the company after the shoot.

Don't Get Scammed: There are a lot of crooks out there trying to take advantage of model wannabes. If someone tells you that they think you need to go to a modeling school or pay for instructional tips, remember that many successful models have never taken a single class. There are schools out there that exist simply to part you from your hard-earned money; do your homework before signing up. Beware of agents asking you for money to represent you. Legitimate agents make money from commissions, not from up-front fees. Also, stay away from any company that wants to list you in a talent directory for money. Most agents don't even look at these directories.

Ask for References: The prospective employer shouldn't be offended if you ask for references. This could include a list of other jobseekers who've worked for the employer, as well as business colleagues who can vouch for him/her. Ask the references what kind of working environment the employer provides, how long they have known the employer, and get their general impressions and opinions of the employer. If the prospective employer is reluctant to provide references, you may want to reconsider applying to work for him/her
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Bring a Chaperone: If you are going to a new job site for the first time, consider bringing someone with you. This is especially important if you're a model, companion, or actor working as an independent contractor and you're going out on assignments for photographers or producers whom you have never met. If the employer has a problem with you bringing a chaperone, this could be a sign that you may want to steer clear of the job.

Tell A Relative/Friend/Neighbor: Don't go to a new job site without telling somebody where you are going. Give them the contact information of the employer. Let them know how long you expect to be gone.

Demand a Safe Workplace: U.S. law dictates that your employer must provide a safe, healthy workplace. You have the right to refuse any work that might be dangerous to your health. If you feel that your rights are being violated, you can report safety problems to the government. For workers in the United States, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Agency) handles complaints about workplace safety violations.

Do Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment: You have a right to work in an environment that is free of sexual harassment. Despite the pervasive myth of the "casting couch", adult industry jobs are no exception to this rule. You do not have to nor should you do anything you're not comfortable with in order to get a job. If you experience sexual harassment on the job in the U.S., contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Your Health Is Your #1 Asset: No matter what type of career you decide to pursue, your health is of paramount importance. If you feel good about yourself and your body, this will carry over into everything you do, but it is especially important in the adult entertainment industry. After all, this industry is built on the glamour and appeal of the human body. You can't be sexy if you're not healthy. Therefore, as an adult industry worker, you should have an especially strong commitment to maintaining a healthy body. Not only will this make you more likely to be hired by potential employers, but it will also allow you to enjoy your work more and sustain it for a longer period.

Keep Physically Active: Study after study shows that the key to staying healthy is to get plenty of exercise. Our bodies are designed for constant motion and activity. Unfortunately, the modern world with all its technological advances does not require as much activity as we need. Our ancestors had no choice but to stay on their feet all day hunting and gathering, but we can get away with spending hours on end lying on the couch watching television or hunched over a computer monitor. As a result, we must stay in a state of constant awareness that we need to move, move, move. Resist the temptation to become a couch potato! Even simply walking 15 minutes a day can reap benefits. Better yet, stop taking elevators and instead always use the stairway. And of course, there are any number of excellent fitness gyms you can join. You may even want to consider hiring a personal trainer to get you started, or try pilates, yoga, meditation, or stretching. In all truth, the very best way to stay physically fit is to cultivate a sport or activity that you are passionate about, so that it is not a chore to exercise, but rather a joy.

Eat a Sensible Diet: Our society loves to jump from one fad dieting craze to the next, but the fact is that there is no magic, perfect diet. Instead, the key to good health is common sense and moderation. Don't get hung up on the idea that some foods are "bad" and others are "good." The truth is never that black and white. The human digestive tract is built for a wide range of different foods. You want to eat lots of different types of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains. Remember, variety is the spice of life. It is easy to fall into the same repetitive eating habits day after day, week after week. To break up the cycle, consider visiting a farmers' market and pick out a few exotic fruits and vegetables you've never tried before. It can be fun to explore the gigantic universe of food options, and it will pay even bigger dividends for your health. Whatever you do, make sure to avoid heavily processed foods as much as possible. That doesn't mean that you can never go to fast food restaurants again, but you definitely do not want to rely on them as a primary part of your diet.

Avoid Smoking Cigarettes: Probably the worst thing you could do for your health is to smoke. Of all the substances on the earth, one could make quite a strong case that nicotine is among the most damaging to your body. From heart disease to lung cancer, the health complications from tobacco use are severe and frightening. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, so why would you want to fall prey to a substance that basically enslaves you and lines the pockets of the tobacco companies at the same time? If you've already started smoking, don't despair. The U.S. Surgeon General has an excellent set of consumer tips to help people who wish to quit smoking. The important thing to remember is that much of the damage caused to your lungs by smoking can be reversed if you quit, so it's never too late.

Consume Alcohol in Moderation: Numerous recent studies have documented the health benefits of drinking a modest quantity of beer or wine on a daily basis. That doesn't mean you should become a drinker if you aren't one already, because you can get most of these same benefits by drinking a glass of grape juice every day, too. However, if you are a drinker, you probably don't need to reduce your consumption to zero, you just need to make sure that you are not abusing alcohol. As with everything, the key is moderation. One or two glasses of wine a day is probably okay. Two or three cases of beer a day is not.

Don't Take Drugs: We don't mean to sound like Nancy Reagan here, but we would be remiss if we didn't point out that recreational drugs can be extremely dangerous and hazardous to your health. Drugs may seem like an easy way to run from your problems or alter your mood, but in the long run, they cause more problems than they solve. This is a pill-popping society, and everywhere we turn, we seem to be bombarded with ads telling us that we need to start taking this or that new medication. Social conditioning of this type might make us think that even recreational drugs are okay or even advisable. In reality, we can find so much more fulfillment by addressing our problems and needs more directly. It might take a little bit more work to make the effort to find joy in our outer world by stopping to smell the roses or watching the sunset, but it is ultimately worth it. This world is full of magnificent and uplifting experiences that don't require any drugs at all.

Stay Mentally Healthy: The stresses and pressures of modern urban life can often take a toll on our mental health. We live in a world where anxiety and depression is rampant, and psychiatric medication is given out like candy. Sadly, this dog-eat-dog capitalist world is not very concerned about any one individual's mental state, just about one's bank account. That's why you have to take responsibility for tending to your emotional and psychological wellbeing yourself. Write poetry, have soulful talks with your friends, try a meditation tape, take walks in nature, do yoga, keep a journal—these are all good methods of maintaining your mental health.

Twitter Levels The Playing Field!

Seems that anything newsworthy of note in pop culture, celebs flock to Twitter to clear up the rumors or throw in their two cents, while fans hang onto their every tweet as if there is nothing else going on outside of the Twitter epidrome.

Can you imagine if twitter existed say, some 40-50 years ago, when so many if the world's most important historical events were happening in the span of a few decade? What would JFK tweet if someone exposed the plot to assassinate him? If any of the military Generals had gotten the tweet from an unknown source about the imminent bombing in Pearl harbor, could the course of history be changed? What would have Havlichek tweeted in the locker room once he intercepted Hal Greer's inbound pass to clinch the Eastern Conference Championship on April 15, 1965. Could the first Astronauts to the moon have been able to tweet back to earth?

What would have the artists like Joplin, Hendrx, Havens, etc., that performed at Woodstock been tweeting to their fans? How more popular worldwide would "Float Like A Sting Like A Bee" Muhammad Ali have been if could just as easily tweet what he spoke at his press conferences? How effective could Twitter have been for Kobain, Shakur, or Smalls, had they each lived to see it's birth?
No one knows for sure, but I bet that the world would have seemed a lot smaller, and their impact much greater, had the aforementioned been able to just tweet their feelings, opinions, and thoughts to a multitude all at the touch of a button.

What Is The True Essence Of A DJ?

I've been involved in the dj culture for over 20 years, have traveled the globe, seen many different elements of what a dj is supposed to be, and definitely what a dj isn't supposed to be. I will say this though, a dj is a fine tuned instrument, like a guitar or piano, and he/she is a mirror reflecting the numerous flavors of sound on sound created by the original artists and musicians. I started out as a musician first and branched over into being a dj while in the Marines. It gave me an edge over other dj's because I knew music theory, so I developed a feel of exactly where the break was going to be without having ever listened to the song, so I knew where to come in and out of a song.

I treat the tables like 2 seperate instruments and my hands are the keys, the strings, the valves that bring forth the musical piece waiting to be heard. A dj is an instrument when you are playing in front of a crowd, they are waiting for that improvisation that those musicians could only dream of, because you can remix, remake, and redo a song to satisfy that hunger for a newer sound landscape..

I don't believe in or hold myself to genres of music or a style of dj'ing. I am comfortable mixing back and forth from cultural to house music, just as much as hip hop or retro, or blending a mozart piece with a rap vocal, a James Brown backing instrumental with vocals from a house record, ect... I have seen too many dj's lock themselves into a genre, and thereby killing their earning potential from opportunitites that come up. There is nothing wrong with that, and I commend all fellow dj's of their skills and talent, so I'm not berating anyone, hope you didn't think that. I did a night at Prince's Glam Slam, where I played the traditional music of the world, music from China, Germany, Jerusalem, Africa, America, South America, ect... People were so surprised that I had vinyl records from all of those different countries. I have a house, garage, storage room, full of records, from every country, and genre of music you can name. I am a vinyl junkie and always will be.

I have nothing against the latest technology that allows a "true dj" to expand their skills, and them having that capability to draw from a much larger catalog of music at the press of a button. What I do have a problem with is the dj who started out with this technology and hasn't "paid their dues" by going through the trial and tribulations of carrying that vinyl, working with vinyl, and having that knack to overcome that technology if it ever fails them.. Just as a kid working with software and calls themself a producer, but never picked up any instrument, and don't know what music theory is if it bit them in the rear.

Yes it may be much easier to carry a few things vice carrying the equipment and a number of crates, but to tell you the truth, I carry both. A dj should always be prepared for a mishap. Computers and digital machines do fail and crash. I've seen it happen at a club before. The dj put on his mixes from a pc, and left. The pc crashed in the middle of the night. I being the resident dj, was prepared when it did. The promoter never hired him again. So fully prepare yourselves for anything. Yes that drunk can knock over your tables, bump into them and scratch a record. But what can you do if you haven't brought vinyl with you, and that software or digital machine crashes, or you don't have a backup plan?

I will speak on one more thing and I am done. My fellow dj brothers and sisters we have got to stop accepting any and everything as payment just to satisfy the urge to be spinning in a club. I can see working with people and their budgets when playing out at private parties, but in a club, festival, or large type event, you kill yourself and other dj's that follow behind you by accepting anything to play. I've been at a club at the end of the night and have seen them count out over a quarter of a million dollars from the bar alone, and a dj walks out with a few hundred dollars. You are "talent" bottomline, just as an artist that comes to perform at the club, you are just as equally or even more important. The artist performs a half hour set at best, but you are spinning for at least 5 to 6 hours, and you should get properly compensated for it. A trend started in Miami a few years back when a few eager young dj's (very well known today) started accepting just a few hundred dollars to dj on South Beach and other places. This in turn would cause club promoters and general managers to tell the top drawing dj's, "Why should I pay you a large sum of money, when I can get "so and so" to spin for a hundred dollars"? This killed the dj culture here in Miami. We had a dj coalition meeting about this very subject at the very last "How Can I Be Down" conference, but dj's were just not hearing it because of their egos. We are all in this together, so let's stick together, and stand up for each other by not accepting just anything to dj at these clubs.

You can find me on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/djgiovanninsane and numerous other sites, just google my dj name dj giovanni nsane. I am available for booking for all events at 305-321-2895

To hear some snippets of my mixes go to: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=app_2405167945&ref=profile&id=100000016396134

What Is The Hype Behind Precious?

There is possibly no fate worse than that of 16-year-old Claireece "Precious" Jones. She was impregnated twice by her father, and her mother abuses her.

This is a tragic story indeed, yet this same story has been played out over and over again in America's mostly Black and Latino inner cities, without much news media coverage. Bringing this story to light, which has been hidden in the closet long enough in urban America, is tantamount to numerous children, men and women across the country having "their" story told on the silver screen.

This movie may yet prove to be the therapy that some of those aforementioned may need to bring themselves to allow their hidden secret be told as well. I think it's a great movie! We need more movies like this in the urban theatre, to tell the true stories of urban life, vice the "run of the mill" shoot em up, bang bang, drug and pimp filled genres that seem to line the shelves of Blockbusters across the country.

Shine: The lead actress is newcomer Gabourey Sidibe. Like the character Precious, Sidibe was raised in Harlem. Watch her interviews.

Buzz: Comedian Mo'Nique plays Precious's mother, and her performance is generating Oscar buzz.

Big names: The movie also features a pop star and a rock star.

The book: "Push" was published in 1996. Tina Brown, editor in chief of The Daily Beast, recommended it on National Public Radio last week. It is the only novel by writer Sapphire. Was "Push" based on real life?

Controversy: Some African-Americans take issue with the story.

Support: When filmmaker Tyler Perry saw "Precious," he committed himself to promoting it, and he got Oprah to help. What is Perry's personal connection to the story?

Significance: "Precious" confronts many important issues, including incest. Mo'Nique was inspired to talk about abuse she suffered.

Early accolades: The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won big. What do critics say?

Promise: "Precious" opened a few weeks ago, but in only 18 theaters. It set a new box office record for a limited-release movie.

Is Hip Hop Dead! Will Real Music Have A Resurgence?

The 2009 holiday season is approaching fast, yet holiday season sales were a dreary time for the recorded music industry in 2008, as it struggled through another season of plummeting CD sales that, along with continued file sharing on peer-to-peer networks and rapid advancements in myriad forms of digital distribution, continue to disrupt the traditional music business. The resulting turmoil among the four remaining "major" music labels (and their signed recording artists) has led to waves of file sharing lawsuits against individuals (their own customers), massive restructuring of music retail and distribution relationships, and continuing layoffs. Amid this chaos however, there are visions of the "celestial jukebox" – an idyllic, digital future in which all music is accessible to consumers all the time, from any device, anywhere, at a reasonable price, and in which music creators share in ever greater pools of advertising and subscription based revenue, in the place of traditional sales.

Until the record distributors, EMI, WEA, UMG, SONY, decide to provide their consumers with better content, and consumers demand better music, until that happens, it is just how it is. The downturn of the industry just didn't happen overnight, this has been a long process that has been transpiring for years in the record distribution, radio, and ... Read Moremedia oulets. The distributors are more interested in the "bottomline" (more revenue, less input) , instead of "good" music. Let's face the facts, more consumers than not are into the music content that proliferates the radio, MTV, VH1, BET, Itunes, MySpace, Imeem, AOL, etc...

The business models that were created by the "BIG 6" back in the late 80's with the adjusted retail prices, has literally killed record sales, forcing would be consumers to pirate at an alarming rate. The difference now is that virtually every company is a participant in the "new" music and entertainment business. The new technology available and the advent of the internet, with social networking sites like MySpace, FaceBook, Iseecolor, etc., independent artists and labels can now deliver their products quickly to consumers. The problem is that there are no controls on what is being put out there, the content is most times not professionally recorded, and the performances sub-standard at best, and to keep up with these new companies, record distributors seem to have lowered their standards to stay in competition with them.

Corporate radio consultants for Cox, Beasley, Clear Channel, etc., rule over MD's and PD's and mix dj's at traditional radio stations these days. 10 years ago and beyond, it was much easier to program what the actual listeners wanted to hear, vice a board deciding what listeners allegedly want to hear. There are some good consultants out there, a few of my friends, but for the most part the majority are controlled by the corporate boards at these radio broadcasting companies.

What You As An Artist Need To Know To Prevent Getting Ripped Off

I have posted this in other music groups, social networking sites, music forums, etc., but I think this is something that is a must read for inspiring artists/companies. This will be the foreward for my new book on the industry, coming soon.


"Being an Independent Artist doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself"
* the above quote was taken from itsaboutmusic.com


I am amazed at the multitude of entertainment professionals and groups on the many sites that I have visited on the internet, dedicated to the profession that I love so much. However I am perplexed that there are enough of both "music business" and "music industry" professionals and companies with a large wealth of knowledge to cause a slight dent in the publication of all "industry" books as we know it, yet, very few, if any at all, independent artists or companies, that are trying to break into the industry, are even attempting to access this knowledge or these professionals.

There absolutely are not enough artists and/or companies engaging these professionals in these discussions on all of these sites. They think they don't need help, because they have the one "best theory" that most artists have. "I'll sell a a ton of cd's on my own MySpace page, gather a ton of friends and plays on my music player, and write my ticket". It seems everyone is banking on being discovered on MySpace, FaceBook, CD Baby, Itunes, Mixtape.com, Itsaboutmusic, or so many similar sites as these. The problem with that is that none, and I repeat none of these sites promote or market your product, and even if they say they do, you are probably doing a much better job in your own backyard or neighborhood, promoting and marketing at the corner stores, local festivals, underground radio stations, local disc jockeys, bars, club concerts and events, than any of these sites ever will. They are only a resource to expand on what you are or should already be doing on your own, and should be treated as such.


Yes, you may have to pay for some knowledge whether through a resourceful and informative book or the services of a professional. But it sure beats remaining in the unknown "twilight music zone" and causing more problems for yourself and your business, than if you were well informed and knowledgable about this industry, that you are trying to break into.

The music business/industry is one of the hardest and most ever changing businesess to try and break into. In most industries, you can have a business analyst prepare a business report, that will entail projected sell through estimates, projected product placement over view, ect.., ect.., But these things are hard to predict in the ever changing volatile environment of this business. You can't even depend on release date info., because they (the labels) are constantly moving them back. This is why you have to be fully prepared to "stay in the know" of what is going on, the why, where, and when it happened, how it will or won't affect you and your business, so that you can transform, update and stay right in the fray of it all.

There are new laws routinely enacted by Congress, new technology opening up the financial landscape of the music community, new business practices that can alter your relationships with companies or artists that you deal with directly or indirectly. You should be aware and not only keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, but have a team of professionals that will as well.
So I offer this little bit of information and you give me some feedback whether or not you have benefited from it or not. I offer my advice and services to all that seek assistance. I do run a business, but I wll help as much as I can. Some may dispute it, but I guarantee that it is better than doing nothing but depending on the aforementioned sites as your only resource. This was not gathered from a book, this is my knowledge that I have gained from over 20 years of working in this industry on various levels.


First thing that you need to do as an artist or independent company, is to acquire all the knowledge you can about the "music business", and the "music industry".

I. You are going to have to know all of your rights afforded to you in the copyright law. Why do I need to own my master recordings and all rights to them?
a. How do I protect my rights? What forms should I be using for complete protection?
1. What are my Performance Rights? What is Music Publishing and why is it the single most important right to me?
2. What are my Mechanical Rights and why do they matter to me and my music?
3. What are my Music Licensing Rights and why is it important to me?
4. What are my Print Rights and why are they important to me?
5. What are my Synchronization Rights, and why are they important?

b. The poorman's copyright is a waste of time, and does not hold any legal bearing!!(see my post on the Poorman's Copyright)

II. Why do I need to trademark my image, name, likeness, and logo? Why is branding so Important?

III. You are going to have to know all sources of your income from your music and how do you get paid from them.

Music Publishing
1. Mechanical Royalties (from Manufacturing)
2. Performance and Broadcasting Royalties
3. Synchronization Licensing
4. Sales of Sheet Music
5. Cover Versions (language translations)
6. The Print Licensing (sheet music, lyrics)
7. CD/DVD sales (traditional & digital downloads)
8. Administration and Registration of Copyrights
9. Obtaining a Record Deal

Other Sources
1. Artist royalties from record sales
2. live performances
3. personal appearances (movies, television)
4. merchandising (branding)
5. ring tones


* insure that you receive the money that you have earned by joining
* keep the rights that are yours (so you can keep generating income)
* PAY YOUR TAXES and you won't be bankrupted and have your assets seized by the IRS or any of the other tax authorities around the world.


THE VOLATILE ENVIRONMENT OF THE BUSINESS

The music business is a cutthroat world and there are numerous victims. You don't need a major record label to have a career—especially with all of the changes that the industry has been undergoing in the last few years—but you do need a successful business. Most artists today find themselves in what is called a "non recoupable" status, where the artist has been charged for all album costs incurred. If the album does not generate enough sales to cover these costs, the balance of what is owed is transferred to the next album, until all costs have been paid, for the last and current albums. The sad reality is that the artist may never recoup the costs, and will never have earned a single royalty from their work. This why it is so important to get your business in order and gain the knowledge that you need in order to give yourself a much better chance at success.

IV. What are the various music contracts or entertainment contracts I will encounter as an artist, or issue and/or encounter as an independent company or producer.
a. What are the individual points in a contract and what does each mean?
1. What is an artist royalty
2. What is the "statutory rate"? Why do I need to be concerned about it as an artist?
3. What does recoupable mean?
4. What is a contract term?
5. What is a sliding scale and how does it affect my artist royalties?
6. What is a 360 deal? Who is Live Nation? Why has it become a mandatory contract term with most labels?


* EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE, AND I DO MEAN EVERYTHING!!!!!

V. What are the various sources and descriptions of distribution, and which one will best benefit me as an independent artist or company?
a. How will distribution get my foot in the door in other areas of the industry?
1. What is Distribution?
2. What is a P & D deal?
3. What is a 50/50 deal?
4. What is a major record distributor?
5. What is a wholesale distributor (one-stop)?
6. What is a specialty distributor?
7. What is a rackjobber?
8. What is "artist direct"?

VI. What industry associations do I need to join to either protect my rights, give me an opportunity to vote on a grammy, certify record sales, collect data for sales and record airplay, or allow me to be an offical part of the "industry"?

*i.e. - NARAS, NARM, RIAA, HARRY FOX, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, MPA, BDS, SOUND SCAN, GEMA/BIEM, BIEM/MCPS, BIEM/STEMRA, SOUNDEXCHANGE, ECT......
VII. What resources are available to me for concert promotion, radio airplay, print media, local media, advertising & promotion (traditional and internet), merchandising (branding), manufacturing, ect..?

Since you are more than likely already working with other people, companies or artists I suggest you do some research on all the above immediately.

Second, If you are on a shoe string tight budget, I wouldn't be utilizing any of that budget, until you have sought out the knowledge and information that you need in order to progressively allow your business to move forward and begin making a profit. First thing you need to do after gaining this knowledge and information, is creating a solid music business plan. You will definitely need this. Don't assume just because you have the hottest mix tape, or cd in your local area that you don't need to have a music business plan.

There are over 1 million artists that try to break in the "music industry" every single year. Less than 1% of them ever make it to the next level. You are all in the "music business", as well as many other companies and entitities (Itunes, Best Buy, Amazon, BET, MTV. Apple Music, Kmart, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Target) that deal directly or indirectly with the "music industry" (SONY/BMG, Universal Music, Warner Music Group (WEA), EMI, Fox Lorber, Fox, Buena Vista Studios, AEC One Stop Group, NARM, NARAS, RIAA), ( and there is a difference between both the actual "music industry" and the "music business").

Third, you need to put together a team of people, whether it is an artist, fellow producer, or dj that you currently are working with. Once you have created that business plan, all those I have mentioned need to have a responsibility in your business. Everyone must be accountable to the next person, so that you will have no doubt who will be relied on for things such as promotion, marketing, product placement, distribution, production, packaging, ect.... What this does is level the playing field, so that every member will know what their specific role is, and they won't feel left out or overburdened with the overall operation of your business. There is no I in TEAM, you can never, and shouldn't try, to wear all the hats. You must and should delegate responsibility to your TEAM.

Fourth, I would retain the services of a good "entertainment attorney", "certified accountant", "business manager", "publicist", and "tax professional", if your budget will allow that. This is called your "Conference Of Managers". If not, there are tons of resources out here. You just have to weed through all those that are junk, and choose the resources that best benefit you, your business outlook and situation. Eventually though, you will need to seek the help of these professionals.

Know this, and etch it in stone though: In order for you to grasp what an industry professional is speaking to you about, you must have gained at least a working knowledge of what they are relaying to you. This is the only guarantee from getting ripped off or being taken advantage of. No one person knows everything there is to know about this business. Even I learn something daily, because of the ever changing business environment of this industry.

WITHOUT PREPARATION YOU PLAN TO FAIL HORRIBLY.

I have sat on many panels at conferences and I get fed up with a hundred artists coming to me with that same old story. "Go to my MySpace page". First don't assume that any music professional is at any conference to handle any type of business. Truth be told, they have more than likely been "paid" to be there, and all accomodations have been taken care of. Most, not all, are there to take in a vacation, and especially if it is in an geographical location that is warm and tropical, while the rest of the country is snowed under. If you don't believe me, walk out into the hallway of any conference panel after everyone has left. If you have been passing out flyers, posters, cheaply produced demos with a photocopied picture of you and your boys on the cover, I can guarantee, that you more than likely will a see large amount of your material on the floor. Now go look near the panel table, and you will probably see the same thing. I am not saying it happens all the time, but it does benefit you if you aware that it does happen. My philosophy is this: If you can afford your daily habits and vices of black & milds, weed, strong drink and/or beer, going to the strip clubs to sit and posture like you've made it because you got your mix tape together, or even buying that fly expensive gear to fit in with the "in crowd", then you can change those habits and pour that wasted money into a professionally created promotional package.

As a former buyer/purchasing agent at a major music distributor, I used to get tons of packages on a daily basis of companies and/or artists that had sent their packages into the office, hoping that someone would come across it, discover it and/or them, and then pick it up for sale in our distribution network. I tell you all now that more than 99% never even made it out of the package, and if it did, the cd quality was horrible, the packaging was not up to par professionally, and more times than often once the cd became seperated from the package itself, it was lost forever. You see, the artist or company forgot to place pertinent contact information on the cd itself or even in the package. They seemed to think that a pretty picture of themselves or their artists was enough. Like we were going to have a bombastic idea to do a google search of the artist's picture and find them by that method. They would eventually end up in several filing cabinets . The only time they got touched again, was when someone needed a jewel case replacement for a broken one, from some promotional material they may have recieved from one of our vendors. That is the reality of not being prepared, and doing what it takes to seperate yourself from other artists or companies that are out here competing for that less than 1% of a million that get dicovered every year. Whether you are an independent company seeking distribution or an artist seeking a deal, you must be completely prepared. Seek out professionals that can assist you, and don't ever try to wear all the hats. There is no I in TEAM.

You need to have a professional or semi-professional promotional package. In this package you need to include a one sheet (detailed information about you, the cd, the key selling points, the upc code, addt'l info.), a black & white (professional) photo, a cd with j card insert (preferably mastered), cd/dvd business card (if your budget allows for this), a professional business card, a website to back up or support what you have on hand (not be your entire promotional package), and if you are selling cd's on sites such as Itunes, MySpace, Cd Baby, ect.. then you need to set up an account with Sound Scan, so that you can present any pertinent sales information that you have. Selling your cd's or mixtapes on the streets and all these mix tape sites I see is cool. But it will not hold any bearing with an industry professional you come across, if you don't have proof of those sales. And for those artists that have been lucky enough to get airplay, then I suggest you get registered with BDS, which tracks radio airplay. You will have this information (Sound Scan / BDS) included in the one sheet I mentioned above.


WHY DO I SEE NO PROGRESS?

First impressions are lasting, and a lot of artists have seemed to forgot or overlooked that old adage. You more times than often bump into these industry professionals by accident or just haphazardly even if at a conference or music event. You have just a few minutes, sometimes even a few seconds to get across to them what you are trying to promote, so be prepared, or you will miss your opportunity. Having your artists plastered all over the side of a hundred vans, rubbing elbows with industry artists or professionals (splurging your back account on them), or thinking that your inept knowledge about business (most times street business), will get you in the door, is the mistake that a ton of you are making out here. Radio has changed, the music industry has changed, technology has changed, so you need to update yourself to the changing environment of the industry and be prepared when the opportunity presents itself to you.
Everyone seems to think that CD Baby, MySpace Music Sales, Itunes, and other sites similar to them mean that you've made it, and forgo all the steps I have mentioned above. All it really spells out is that these sites are making money off of you, (sometimes 50%) and are not promoting anything about your music or artistry. I think MySpace is a great resource for everyone, and the fact that is has been a great tool for artists to utilize, is awesome, but depending wholly on MySpace is not going to get it done!!


I suggest reading this awesome, informative article on what record executives are looking for, what they expect, and their insight of the "new" music industry:(http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/02/maria-egan-cohe.html)


I consult on a contingency basis. I will help you put your music business plan and promotional package together, for your music business. Contact me at earthbrothersinc@gmail.com or 305-321-2895.

As each of you travel on your individual journey down the path of success in 2009 and beyond, I am hoping that you start taking control of your business, and treat your music career as such..

Spotify US launch delayed by record labels' concerns

Spotify, the UK service for free downloads has delayed it's US launch until 2010. Sources from several of the major labels here in the states are concerned that Spotify's ability to convert enough ot it's free users to paid subscribers.

However, sources in three of the four largest music companies (EMI, UMG, SONY, WEA) told the Financial Times that record labels' financial concerns were the greater hurdle. "We think Spotify is a great service but they're going to have to convince us they can convert enough people from free to paid subscriptions to make it worth our while," one label said. "As an ad-supported service the economics don't work at all."

Music Industry Executives want solid evidence that Spotify could achieve a conversion rate of about one in 10 users paying for a premium service such as its iPhone application. The conversion rate figures are not at the level that the executives are satisfied with.

The industry's disagreements over digital strategy emerged again yesterday when EMI announced it would start putting videos from some artists, starting with Norah Jones, on Hulu, the online video site backed by NBC Universal, News Corp and Walt Disney.

Hulu's first music industry deal comes as YouTube, Google's online video service, is planning to launch Vevo , a Universal Music-backed music video site, on December 8.

Universal has support from Sony Music, but is still in negotiations with EMI and Warner Music.

Once again it seems the industry is too greedy for itself. The current delivery methods to consumers are what have fueled the debate between consumers, labels, and content providers for a number of years, yet the artists continue to be left out in the cold.

Oprah To End Show in September 2011

CHICAGO (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey's production company says Winfrey will announce Friday that her talk show will end in 2011 after its 25th season on the air.

Chicago-based Harpo Productions Inc. said Thursday night that the talk show host will give more details live on the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" broadcast Friday.

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This may be another section of the entertainment industry, but I thought it was noteworthy, because Oprah has fueled many artist' careers, just by appearing on her show.

I can't tell you where a number of artists' careers would be after reaching a plateau on their own, with just a simple performance on Oprah's show. She has also promoted numerous companies' products on her show, and saw their product lines take off, and revenue grow exponentially, and it has been termed the "Oprah Effect". She definitely has a pulse on the music industry and American culture period. She has had some infamous misunderstandings with some rappers, but for the most part, she truly has been a Godsend for the music business. A legion of new fans across various demographics, were more than likely to be gained by an artist after being interviewed or performing on the show.

Although she had previously announced the possible launch of her network OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), I'm wondering if her stepping down and parterning of late with Tyler Perry could be for the purpose of something bigger in her future? Time will tell.

Composers, Lyricists Ponder Unionization

Meeting held to consider affiliating with Teamsters

By DAVE MCNARY

An initial meeting to unionize composers and lyricists working in film and TV has drawn about 400 attendees with half of those signing authorization cards.
The Monday night informational meeting at the Pickwick conference center in Burbank was held for composers and lyricists to consider the possibility of affiliating with Intl. Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 399.

Composers and lyricists are among the few Hollywood creatives without a collective bargaining agreement. Services like orchestration, conducting and music performance are covered by American Federation of Musicians (AFM) agreements, but not the act of writing music or lyrics.

Steve Dayan, organizer for Local 399 of the Intl. Brotherhood of Teamsters, told Daily Variety that efforts to organize the composers and lyricists are at an early stage and will require a series of meetings. He estimated that about 900 people would be covered should the unionization drive succeed.

"They are in the process of learning about us," he added.

Organizers of the unionization drive have complained that composers must write more music than they did 30 years ago for far less pay. The two groups were represented in the late 1950s and 1960s by the Composers & Lyricists Guild of America, but after a 1971 strike and a 1972 lawsuit against the studios and networks over music-ownership rights, companies refused to negotiate with them.

MySpace acquires Imeem

MySpace will pay about $8 million for the music-focused social network. For consumers all this means is that the number of places to obtain free music appears to be shrinking.

MySpace, a unit of media giant News Corp., by acquiring Imeem, a free online music service, is a bid to expand its MySpace Music service which allows users to create a profile, and can recommend music to others or find out what they're listening to.