A Declaration of Principals by @BrokenCityLab
Posted on | April 17, 2012 | No Comments
We Are All Sellouts!
Posted on | March 5, 2012 | 1 Comment
This was written in reply to a post by Ronald “@RonGreezy” Grant titled SOUL FOR SALE: HIP HOP AND THE IDEA OF “SELLING OUT” on the blog http://muzikissuestoday.blogspot.com
You like wearing suits? I know I don’t, but I wear one when I go on job interviews, and I’ll wear one if my job requires I do so. See, that’s the way I and many other Black Americans have been taught, is the way this whole thing works. We are whoever we have to be to get a job. If you can’t get a job with natural hair, you perm it. If you can’t get a job with braids, you cut them off. If you can’t get a job with a beard, you shave it. There’s this consensus that sounding black makes you undesirable to employers so many of us Black People have that all important “white voice” we pull out of the stash for employment purposes. You know the voice. The one where you’re not as much trying to sound white as you are not trying to sound black. The Al Rocker voice where you suppress the base in your voice and speak through your nasal passages is by far the most famous of them all.
A recording artist that signs a recording contract with a record company is employed by that company to record music. It’s a job. All our lives we’ve been cultivated to compromise ourselves when it comes to employment. We change the way we look, the way we act, the way we talk and it is acceptable when it gets us a job, but when a commercial rapper changes the way he looks, the way he acts, and the way he raps for his job he’s a sellout. Maybe that’s because we don’t view recording Artists as employees and if that’s the case, maybe we should. When an employee doesn’t do what he was hired to do he gets fired. If you’re a signed recording artist your employer is in the business of selling records. You were hired to make records the record company can sell. If you don’t make records it can sell, you get fired.
People don’t like to look at artists as people. They don’t like to think about them having a mortgage, they don’t like to think about them having kids to care for and put through school, and they don’t want to think about them having bills. Consequently, they don’t want to think about what will happen if they’re unable to pay those bills. The fact of the matter is that, yes, many recording artists are sellouts, but so are we. And it’s the lack of empathy that allows the hypocrisy of us thinking otherwise.
Hoodhype: A Lesson In The Value of Being You
Posted on | February 23, 2012 | No Comments
Do you remember that “Hey Love” commercial for the R&B compilation album where three guys are sitting on a couch across from three ladies bored as hell and one of the guys says “Hey y’all, I got a great new album in the mail today”? I’m kind of a nerd about obscure commercials and songs that used to play on BET Soul so maybe you don’t, but the most famous line from that commercial was “Noooo my brother. You’ve got to buy your own”. Still doesn’t ring a bell? Maybe this will:
Not too long ago my lady and I were up after a long day of dealing with the kids, making a late dinner. All we wanted was some good music to jam out to, preferably Hip Hop, since that’s what we both love. We turned to Last.fm but were tired of the same old songs that played from my music library. We turned to Pandora but were tired of the same old songs from the 90’s golden era of Hip Hop we usually rock out to. We turned to the blogs but sorting through all the stuff that sucked to find something to listen to was too much of a process. Everything seemed to be failing us. Read more
Ownership, Access, Availability
Posted on | February 15, 2012 | No Comments
In the 20th century, ownership of copies of musical works became the primary way to make our favorite music available to us, at any time. It became such a strong standard, that instead of saying that people were buying copies of musical works, we conflated it to ‘buying music’. No end consumer has ever paid for music though. I’ll explain.
At the turn of the last century, the availability of your favorite music depended mainly on your own ability to play an instrument or that of those around you. When performing live, they could ‘sell’ music as a temporary experience. Then came the copy and people started paying for sheet music, records and later CDs and MP3s. Read more
Tags: Bas Grasmayer > Direct-To-Fan > Midem > Spotify > Streaming Services
Know Your Value + What Can A DJ Teach Me…?
Posted on | January 2, 2012 | No Comments
I read this great article in Forbes by Adrienne Graham about not giving away information for free (Read it here: http://onforb.es/BrainPick). It reminded of a post I wrote a while back on a money blog of mine. Hopefully you’ll pull some ‘good information’ from it.
What Can A DJ Teach Me About Selling Online?
A world famous DJ uses the same marketing techniques to sell a product as most online network marketeers do, but what’s different? For starters, he has an actual project of quality. It’s not a recycled eBook slightly modified from a previous version filled with hype and circle talk. His web presentation is on point and aesthetically pleasing. It doesn’t look like some ‘fly by night’ html page tossed up in the early nineties hosted by Geo Cities (No disrespect to Geo-Cities, just making a point. Yay Geo-Cities!Go Geo Go!). There’s a fair amount to read but it’s engaging and about something interesting. It speaks to a specific niche and most importantly, it’s issued by a real person. A person that obviously has a reputation that would be damaged if said product was in fact not up to snuff. (Mind you he’s actually accessible. He literally could be snuffed by an unsatisfied customer). His approach comes off super genuine. It’s like he’s selling you something without trying to well, sell you something. What he’s really doing when you think about it, is offering a service. A true service granted is going to out sell most items made available online. My suggestion is, if you don’t have anything in particular of your own to sell that’s as personal as Danny Rampling’s eBook, localize your area of expertise. Offer a service based on what you know best. You may think, since so much information is readily available, ‘why would anyone pay me for it?’. It’s simple, people will always pay for the service of you doing all the work. Gathering useful information and redistributing it in a very concise, clear cut graspable way. (Cliff Notes will never cease being relevant, will they?) It’s really not that hard. Take the time to figure out what you’re most comfortable with offering and have the most passion for. Start organizing and make it happen.
PS Not only does Danny Rampling offer you a great eBook on becoming a DJ and how to be successful in the entertainment industry, he also provides a number of bonuses (and a 60 day money back guarantee). Bonus items are essential in locking in the sale of your product. If what you furnish is already a sound investment, giving your customer more just tips the scale in your favor. At the end of the day it’s about a quality product that will ultimately sell itself.
PPS There’s also an audio version of the eBook…