How to Stay Relevant...

As a music artist, our dream and passion is to get our music out to be listened to the most people possible. Most of that dream is to be achieved through the sales of an album or mixtape we have put together. Artists of all kinds, whether unsigned, indie, or major, are always wondering how to reach more people and how to get their name out to the masses.

This article will focus on two hip hop projects one finished, the other still in production. These projects will prove to be examples of how to market yourself within this very fickle industry.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

Usually with the fans, when the buzz around an artist dies down they are mentally dropped for the next hottest (read: memorable) performer who is out right now. The key to this industry is to always be on the fans’ minds. This is why you see celebrities of all sorts taking advantage of the exposure from blogs, tabloids, and paparazzi.

Back in 2006-2007, hip hop artist Lil’ Wayne made well use of getting his name out in the public. Now already a key player in the “rap game” and dictionary (see: “bling”), Lil’ Wayne (born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr) took his star even further. Wayne was a featured artist on almost every hot song and remix released to the mainstream in gearing up for his “the Carter III” album released in June 2008.

Quite obviously, this took some planning on the part of Lil’ Wayne and his handlers. For two years after the release of his “the Carter II” LP (Decemeber 2005), Wayne released many mixtapes, rapping over the beats of current mainstream songs, and collaborated with many different artists. This made the fans want an official album to actually spend money on.

Kanye West had the same hiatus in between his album

releases. Kanye’s last official ablum, “808’s and Heartbreak” was released in November 2008. While Kanye has been in the midst of controversy, including his stunt with Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye has taken a new approach to his music and advertising himself.

Although the Taylor Swift incident did put him in hot water with many fans and celebrities including President Obama, there are many people waiting for an album from Kanye. With this, Kanye and his team has planned to release new music every Friday until Christmas. According to his official Twitter (@kanyewest) on Aug 22, 2010, Kanye has planned to promote himself with music either he recorded, produced, or from artist of his self-made G.O.O.D. Music label.

I know yall need the music so I'm dropping 1 new song every weekend until Xmas. It may be my song it may be a new Jay song etc...less than a minute ago via webKanye West
kanyewest

I'm calling it good Fridays. Yall know every Friday yall gone have a new joint from our family. We look at the game completely different nowless than a minute ago via webKanye West
kanyewest

Like Wayne, this keeps Kanye in the ears and minds of the fans anticipating an official album from the artists. The key to sales is making the consumer feel special and making them feel like they are getting a deal. Music fans love to “collect” all the music from their favorite artist. It is an advantage to be privy and exclusive to having every Lil’ Wayne or every Kanye West song. This is what makes the planning of these projects effective. It is an exclusive for their fans, and opens doors for new fans to come in.

THE OUTCOME

When “the Carter III” was finally released, the first day it sold over 400,000 copies worldwide. The first week, the album achieved over one million copies sold according to Nielsen Soundscan, making the album #1 on Billboard’s Weekly Album Sales chart. I would say this is customer satisfaction at its finest.

The fans bought into the anticipation Wayne created by his mixtapes and his featured guest appearances. Wayne’s planning had paid off, eventually earning him multiple Grammy nominations and four Grammy awards.

As far as Kanye, his new album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is due out this November. But he is building quite the buzz around his Friday releases. His record label must believe in his star power too, as it has been reported that Def Jam has spent over $3 million on the making of the album. Kanye is said to be finishing the album in studios in Hawaii and Jimi Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady recording studios. We have yet to see the full outcome of this project, but apparently the fans and Kanye’s team are behind him and have big expectations for this album.

Will he come close to Lil’ Wayne’s feat with “The Carter III”, surpass it, or just be a waste of time and money? …Stay Tuned…

SOURCES: MTV.com, HipHopDX.com, UniversalMusic.com, Wikipedia

Taking the "I" Out of "TEAM"

The music industry is a vast network of people working together to achieve success in all shapes and forms. While technology and the internet has made it easy to be the one man wrecking crew in the industry, there are places you cannot avoid having a team in place.

In one of the most widely recommended books of the music industry, “All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Donald Passman, it should be noted that the first few chapters are about putting together a team to help you succeed. The truth of the matter is, this business of music is just that, a business. There are many one-man corporations, but how many are nationally or internationally successful. It is important to have a team to depend on and to delegate to.

Take a look at the record company structure. There are several different arms within the company itself. The basic departments in a record company are the A&R Department, Product Management (Sales/Marketing/Promotion), Accounting/Finance, Legal, Production/Distribution, and Publishing.

• · A&R: The artist and repertoire (A&R) arm of the record label is responsible for finding the talent for the company. They are usually in an office listening to demo cds or mp3s sent to the company all day, then at night travel to different clubs and venues searching for unsigned talent. In some record labels, the A&R is also responsible for developing this new artist. This includes matching them with the right producers and songwriters, and crafting their niche sound and sometimes their look.
• · PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: This department is like the public relations of music. This is where the company figures out how the artist is going to be marketed, how the posters and cd art will look, and what shows the artist will perform at, among other things. This is the team that has its success measured by Billboard and SoundScan, because if the music is pushed right, it will show in sales.
• · ACCOUNTING/FINANCE: You cannot have a business, and not take care of your finances. Self-explanatory, this team handles the money for the company. This is where royalty statements are passed out to artists and producers based on the sales of the product put out. Of course, they also handle the income and expenses for the rest of the company, like the budget for outsourcing the artist’s stylist, photographer, videographer crew for music videos, and so on.
• · LEGAL: Also a necessary arm in any business, this team handles all legal matters for the company. This would include all artist contracts, venue licensing for the company’s music, and any legal disputes or lawsuits that may come up for the label.
• · PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION: In a do-it-yourself world, most record labels have started producing their own physical products instead of outsourcing this responsibility to an independent distributor. This is the team who takes care of packaging the physical product we buy at FYE, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart. They ship to stores, radio stations, venues, and other places to help the artist sell their music. In a digital world, this department either works hand-in-hand with product management, or the two are merged together.
• · PUBLISHING: This is the most misunderstood department, but VERY important in the music industry. If done right, this is the artist’s 401K plan, provided they wrote or produced their own music. Currently, there are laws being discussed about paying the performers of songs royalties as well as the lyricist and composer/producer. But for right now, this arm handles the mechanical royalties (monies collected from product sales), performance royalties (monies collected from the live/recorded performance of the music), sync fees (monies collected from having the music in film/tv or video games), and foreign royalties (monies collected from having the music played or used internationally).

Given the structure of the record label, how can one person be effective at making all this work? Often times, when the head of the label is also the label’s premiere or only artist, you find contradictions. When handling the business side of the company, the creative side fails. When trying to run the company, you don’t have much time to write or produce music. And alternately, when focusing on the creative side, your business side takes a dip. As the flagship artist, of course you will be impartial to your music. You will put what your think is your best music into the project. The beauty of having a team in all this is the second opinion. There are countless stories where an artist has had a #1 single, and the artist didn’t have faith in the song itself, or didn’t even like it.

The fact of the matter is, if you are planning to make it in this business, you will need a team. The internet and technology has given us great ways to promote ourselves and to be independent artists without the record label middle man. You can buy software to help you produce and master your music, then make cds off of your computer. You may even be efficient at accounting and can handle your own money and keep track of your revenue. And of course, who else knows how to promote you, but you? But when you break down each department, can you really be your own manager, lawyer, accountant, personal assistant, stylist, photographer, artist development, CEO, and still have time and energy to write music and perform shows, return phone calls, monitor website traffic, pitch your music different films in production or tv shows, etc.?

The bottom line is, get you a team! No man is an island, so they say. If your goal is to be the best in the world, you can’t go it alone. This will reduce your stress levels, and free up time to focus on the things you need to focus on. Starting off wearing many hats is fine. But in order to truly succeed, you will need a team. The president of the United States has a team. The pope has a team. Some of your favorite artists and business moguls have a team. Teamwork really does make your dream work, and work successfully.

SOURCES: “All You Need to Know About the Music Business (Fifth Edition)” by Donald S. Passman; “Making Music Make Money” by Eric Beall