the Freshest: Interview with Manager/Promoter, Nickey Fresh

the "Stay Tuned" blog had the opportunity to sit down with NickeyFresh, an up and coming manager/booking agent/event coordinator who works in the New York and Connecticut areas. For the purpose of this interview, we decided to focus on what makes her a good decision maker in the hard ball game of the entertainment industry. She is a very talented individual who is holding her own as a female in a "man's world". Let's listen in....

What makes you different in the industry?

What makes me different from the industry is that I step outside that box. I tend to work with very talented artist but have their very own unique style. I love mixing up different genres of music, experimenting and trying new things.

Who are you influences when it comes to music?

Music wise two of my biggest influences are Michael Jackson and my uncle Don. My uncle was a dj. He had me in the studio every since I was seven. I been in love with music every since. He passed away last summer so now I feel it if my responsibility to carry out his legacy and take it to the next level. As far as Michael Jackson, his work just speaks for itself. R.I.P to the both of them.

As for a business was Oprah Winfrey and Russell Simmons are my two big influences. They are two powerful African American people who came from a tough background and made something of themselves. I love their drive and passion for everything they do. I also love the way they give back and like to help other people.

Two things you love about the industry?

I can honestly say that the only thing I really dislike about the music industry is how they try to commercialize artist. I love the individuality of artist. Music to be is all about being yourself, expressing whatever emotion you need to express at the moment and most importantly having fun.

Anything you dislike about the industry?

I think some labels are put a lot of pressure on their artist and put some restrictions on their music out of fear that it won’t sale.

What are some projects you are working on?

Currently I am working with my team, Starque Ent. We have two male rap artists. One of them is Dee Jonez, who has done shows with B.o.B and Corey Gunz. He currently has an EP on iTunes entitled dO.Ob. Then there is Young Steady, the newest member of the team. He is currently working on his first mixtape. Outside the team I work with other artist like KoMika, Lady Angel & B.O.$.$. They are all currently in the studio working on new music.

How do you promote your talent/artists?

I promote my artist every way possible, from word of mouth, internet (twitter, facebook, myspace), shows, and just pushing their music out there.

What advice would you give those trying to make it in your position?

The thing I would tell those two are trying to make it is just true to yourself. It is not going to happen overnight but you just have to be dedicated and keep pushing yourself. And most importantly just have fun!!!

As a manager, you work to make decisions & negotiate on an everyday basis. Do your emotions ever get in the way or play a factor in your negotiations?

Sometimes it’s hard not to let you emotions get in the way because when you’re working so close with your artist you become friends. And I personally take my friendships seriously so when I am making business decisions I want the best for them. But at the same time I know it’s about the business and we all have to make certain scarifies. It’s hard but I’m still learning.

How often do you reach a mutual benefit when you are deal making, if ever?

Making deals is hard and some people try to get over on you. Being a female I run into a lot of male in the industry that come at me like I may not know much. But I tend to surprise them when they realize I am about my business and they can’t get over on me.

Do your try to negotiate with objective criteria (points that would benefit both sides)?

When I negotiate I try to be fair at all times but at the same time my main interest is my artist so if it doesn’t feel good then we have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another play.

You can check out NickeyFresh at DaMan Productions, Starque Ent, or follow her on Twitter @NickeyFresh

Should Performers Have Rights??

The “Stay Tuned” blog wants to focus on a big issue here in the music industry. Support it, or oppose it, the Performance Rights Act is making big headlines in the industry. According to Wikipedia, “The Performance Rights Act is an amendment to United States copyright law proposed by representative Patrick Leahy. The bill would expand the protection for public performances of copyrighted sound recordings. Under the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act, sound recordings have a limited public performance right in digital transmissions, such as webcasting.” This bill is set to expand the performance right to cover terrestrial broadcasts, such as AM/FM radio. It currently covers songwriters and producers of the song. The bill is both strongly contested and supported. Artists who support the bill argue that it properly compensates performing artists. Broadcasters who oppose the bill argue that the performance right is unnecessary and overly burdensome.

The benefits to this bill:

· Any recording artist who is not a songwriter or producer of a song will now receive performance royalties when that song is played on the radio.

· For radio broadcasters, this wouldn’t go into effect for 3 years after legislation (or 1 year for stations that bring in more than $5 million annually)

· This bill would regulate laws for all forms of radio, since cable and satellite radio already pay performers royalties.

· The bill would incorporate value to process of setting licensing and statutory rates to the “spins”, or the amount of time a song is played on the radio.

· The bill would regulate international royalty collection, as many other countries pay their artists a performance royalty.

This disadvantages to the bill:

· Radio broadcasters will have to pay out more money to publishers and record labels.

· Terrestrial radio may alter their format to either talk stations or only play certain artists limiting the chance to break and introduce newer artists.

· Jobs at terrestrial radio could be in jeopardy.

The Major Players

There are two major sides fighting for or against this bill to be passed in Congress. On the supporter side, there is the MusicFIRST Coalition. They brand themselves as “Musicians, Recording Artists, Music Businesses, and Supporters United for Fair Pay”. Big names included as supporters include the AFL-CIO, Harry Belafonte, Brooks and Dunn, Miley Cyrus, Dr. Dre, the American Federation of Musicians, the American Association of Independent Musician, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), who awards the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond statuses to artists according to the album sells.

The other side that opposes this bill is the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). This is obviously made up of many terrestrial radio broadcasters all over the country, as well as various representatives in the House and a number of senators.

While nothing has yet been decided and this issue is still being fought, it is said that this issue has been going on for many decades. Many artists have defined the songs that we have heard throughout the generations. One great example of this is Aretha Franklin and her song “Respect”, released in 1967. What many are not aware of is that Otis Redding (known for his song “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”) is the writer of “Respect”, who also released first in 1965. Under the current system, as big of a song as “Respect” was, Aretha was not paid from the song being played on the radio. But it is her vocals and version that are well known worldwide. (And in an added note is the “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” bridge is exclusive in Aretha’s version, not in Redding’s).

As big as a song as “Respect” was, under a revised system, Aretha could have received royalties from the song’s radio spins. This is what the bill is trying to achieve.

What is your take on it all?

For more information, you can visit the NAB and/or the musicFIRST websites.

The Best in the Industry

Being a music publishing and production company, CqE is all about music and its influence. What influences CqE the most is using music to save lives. Music is a powerful medium, and honestly, no matter what the financial state of the country or even the world, there will always be a desire and need for music.

In the fight to save lives through music, the “Stay Tuned” blog wants to focus on one profession association who seems to do it the best. We are influenced by VH1’s Save the Music Foundation and all its efforts. The foundation is a non-profit organization focused on reintroducing instrumental music education in the public schools of America. They are also adamant about raising the awareness about how important music is as part of the youth’s “complete education”.

For those unfamiliar within the foundation, VH1 Save the Music Foundation’s goal is to work with school districts of elementary and middle schools to implement instrumental programs in all school within the district who don’t have such programs. VH1 Save the Music Foundation is willing to provide each school with grants of new music instruments in order for that school to develop and offer instrumental music instruction curriculum for its students regardless of financial background.

HOW THIS HELPS THE INDUSTRY

In creating and sustaining these programs, you give the youth a better chance at being a success in life. Starting at this age, you are preparing the next generation of music artists, songwriters, and/or music producers. For some youth who come out of dangerous backgrounds, this foundation has also saved their life.

No one person can truly be a success, until they learn to give back. What is the point of gaining a lifetime of knowledge and experience just to keep to yourself? Any artist who has had his/her fair share of success is looking for a protégé. When you support and have a foundation like the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, you are ensuring that not only does music have a future, but also you are investing in the next Michael Jackson, Bono, Prince, Billy Joel, or even Jay-Z.

VH1 Save the Music Foundation’s website has a section on “Success Stories” which run the gauntlet from music saving kids from dropping out of school, to music allowing someone to be the first in their family to make it to college, to music giving students more focus academically. According to its website, the foundation has “provided more than $47 million in new musical instruments to 1750 public schools in over 100 cities around the country.” We can easily say that the VH1 Save the Music Foundation is not only saving the lives of the youth all over the States, but also the future of the music industry itself. This is important to the industry not only for the obvious reasons, but also further proof that used in the right way, music can and will save lives.

What will you contribute to the industry?

D-I-Y Music

CqE’s “Stay Tuned” blog has had the distinct pleasure of stumbling across an innovative website that is taking the concept of internet videos by storm. This is not YouTube or Hulu, while both very effective sites. This is TED.com; a site all about creators, innovators, and dreamers sharing their ideas online and getting support for them, or just spreading them to a cyber net audience.

One of the video presentations that stood out the most would be that of Andrew Bird. Of course I was a bit skeptical in seeing the title say this man is a “one-man orchestra”, but nonetheless, I will say it caught my eye.

In playing the video, the viewer is welcomed to Andrew recording a song in front of our very eyes in the form of various loops. The interesting thing was he would play a loop of his violin, move on to another melody loop, pluck the strings for another, whistle, then play on his xylophone for another loop meshing together a very beautiful song structure live for his audience.

There wasn’t much speaking, as most of his performance saw Andrew creating and performing songs right in front of the audience. He did go on to explain some of his songs and some of the ideas behind them. It was very exciting to see Andrew become, as the title very much suggested, a one-man orchestra.

This one man shows that technology has taken us so far as to say that the creation of music itself is now a DIY, or “do-it-yourself”, project. There is no longer a need for a middleman, and the sky is almost literally the limit as far as what you are able to do and accomplish. For Andrew to record an elaborately composed song live is indicative of where the music industry itself is heading. The record label as we may have known it, is collapsing in a way that the newspaper/print industry is becoming obsolete.

As long as there is software, hardware, and other forms of technology that allows a man like Andrew to become his own band, you eliminate the need for other musicians who may complain because you didn’t pay them, or may have a conflict in their schedule to where they can’t show up to a gig. That in itself brings its own implications: less egos/attitudes to deal with for promoters, less people to pay (or more money for Andrew), less money for travel, but on the flip side, in this case one monkey could very well “stop the show”.

For now, we’ll look at technology as a good thing for the music industry. And hopefully, more people will follow the lead of Andrew, and take the matters of their music into their own hands, instead of waiting to hire other people. This is beneficial if you have the talent to do so. If you don’t believe in your music and take the time to invest in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to? Follow Andrew’s example, keep an open mind, and ALWAYS expand and evolve your craft. Until next time.

Stay Tuned.

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

Stay "Tuned"...

Here the “Stay Tuned” blog is once again, diving into the world of music to bring you more of what you want. Today, CqE focuses on a rising trend in the Hip Hop and universal music world: Auto-Tune.

I first must clear up a common misconception I stumbled upon myself. There is a difference in the vocoder and Auto-Tune. The vocoder was first used in music in 1969, and was used heavily by artists like Roger Troutman (Zapp & Roger), George Clinton, and Teddy Riley. The Auto-Tune software, developed by Antares Audio Technologies, wasn’t released until 1997. And received prominence in 1998 with Cher’s “Believe”. Since that time, many artists including Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have confessed to using the pitch correction software in their performances.

Hip Hop artist T-Pain, who has inspired many other artists to use the technology in their songs, brought the software to light more recently in 2000. These artists include, but are not limited to: Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, Avril Lavigne, Natasha Bedingfield, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Sean Kingston.

But of course, many of you know this. The point of this post is to show you how far Auto-Tune has gone. Let’s take a regular news story, like this one…

And now let’s make a song of it. Like so…

The credit goes to “schmoyoho” and his YouTube channel “Auto-Tune the News”. This song is actually one of the most popular in recent months. There is an iTunes version and a T-shirt out. Antoine Dodson has given interviews on the fame of this song, which has close to 25 million views on YouTube. I actually think the video is pretty funny. In order to really appreciate the song, I think you must be exposed to the original video.

Has Auto-Tune oversaturated our lives? You be the judge.

My sources include my own knowledge, and Wikipedia.