Do you have talent, but always come up short when it’s time to spend money on a tour, studio time, or charity event. Then it’s time you think out the box and realize that when you want a sponsor, you need to show them what they an get in return. When most people who want [...]
David Banner Goes Direct To Fans With Sex, Drugs & Video Games
Rapper David Banner is going direct to fans for support with the upcoming free (but please donate) release of Sex, Drugs & Video Games. In the process he’s attempting to show that urban artists can take control of their own music and media activities. The album includes such major artists as Lil Wayne and Chris [...]
The 5 Horsemen: Rap’s Richest Dudes
The 5 most powerful men in Hip-Hop are still paid in full. Forbes has released the Forbes Five, its annual shortlist of rap’s wealthiest artists. 2012′s top earners—Diddy, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Bryan “Birdman” Williams and 50 Cent, in that order—were also 2011′s top earners, and rankings on the list remained the same in both years. [...]
Cody Simpson – The Power of Tweeting
Last week I met a kid that a friend of mine mentioned over 8 months ago, would blow up on the music scene. His name… Cody Simpson. Cody is a well spoken 14 year old singer, songwriter, surfer, from Australia who is now signed to a major label. I had dinner with him, his Dad, [...]
Amazon’s 99 Cent Gaga Album Debate
Lady Gaga just dropped a new album and the music industry will be tainted forever because Amazon.com lost their minds by offering the whole album for $.99 per download. Want to know how bad this is… I will let a letter from Stephanie Smith sum it up and let you know what Billboard Magazine’s response [...]
Record Store Day
The original idea for Record Store Day was conceived by Chris Brown, and was founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally. [...]
The Battle For Digital Royalties
If you are a recording artist or a manager and have major label distribution read all the articles and thank Eminem next time you see him…
Amazon Cloud, good or bad?
Now that Amazon has launched their cloud service, do you even know what to do with it? What will content and music publishers think of it? Let’s look deeper into the cloud…
Spotlight: Wiz Khalifa
Yesterday we conducted a Meet & Eat with Wiz Khalifa at the Music Resource Center in Memphis. Good turnout, great food, and a Q&A session with Wiz that was insightful and real. But who is the Real Wiz Khalifa, let’s find out…
Chris Brown Goes Wild
Just when it seems like Chris Brown has transformed his image… Bam! He loses his damn mind. Look at him now…
What’s The Deal With Performance Radio Royalties?
President Obama officially backed Performance Radio Royalties, which would require radio station to pay a royalty to artists. Let’s look at the history of this fight…
So Your Song Is On The Radio, Now What?
So many CD’s, mp3′s, download links and it’s only Monday. It drives me crazy every time I’m in a city and I hear a local artist played on radio and their ego explodes like their the shit. “You hear my song on the radio?” Who gives a fuck? Not you, because if you gave a [...]
The Musicians Guide To The 360 Record Deal
For the past few years, there has been quite a bit of talk of the ’360 deal’ and how it is becoming the new trend throughout the music industry, as major record labels attempt to rewrite the way they do business. Some see it as signing a pact with the devil, and others see it [...]
The Demo: Do’s and Don’ts Part 1 Taking Your Song To Radio
So, you have a hot record? Who told you that? Your boy who always hangs with you? Your mom? Let’s face it those that are close to you are never a good judge of your music. They don’t want to hurt your feelings and in hopes of you maybe becoming a star in the [...]
Do You Really Want To Sign With A Record Label?
Since you were a kid you always had dreams about one day being on stage in front of thousands of people and giving the performance of a lifetime. As you finish your last song the crowd goes crazy, standing ovation, fans running to the stage, albums sales thru the roof, talk shows, movies, commercials, clothing [...]