Digital Is The Way To Go

5-10 Years ago if someone was to say that the music industry would be primarily digital where free music is a regular and both Hip-Hop & R&B artists like Fabolous, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, & Trey Songz would be releasing album like mixtapes for FREE, anybody would've thought the person who told them this would think they're crazy. However, this is the situation, artists aren't selling a 500,000-1 million copies the first week out anymore on a regular, new school artists like Drake, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Frank Ocean, and The Weeknd are making their name off of mixtapes and even gaining album deals. Digital is the new Physical when it comes to music, physical copy sales are down and digital sales through digital distribution companies like iTunes and Amazon are way up. StudioPros.com defines Digital Distribution as "selling your content online in digital mp3 format." It goes on to say on StudioPros that "This is a sad reality for record stores, but at the same time makes distributing independent music much more accessible!", in a new video "48 Hours With Master P", his son, child rapper sensation Romeo, now 22 years old mentions how with the way the industry is now, his father who was known for selling thousands of copies of his music out his trunk when he first started rapping could've sold millions thanks to Digital Distribution and the use of Facebook and Twitter. Below is a list of what companies offer Digital Distribution that the StudioPros article mentions

1. TuneCore
2. ReverbNation
3. CDBaby

The biggest issue as mentioned on IndieHipHop.Net's site is

instead of record labels taking the lead in developing these new ways to engage its all important end-consumer (which they just now seem to realize they need), they have allowed the innovation to come from the hands of others. Innovators like Apple, Pandora, Spotify, Nokia and many others have developed brands and earned millions (in the case of iTunes, billions) giving listeners new ways to experience their beloved music.

While the RIAA was busy building its case against piracy, Apple was busy building its content and took iTunes to the number one music retailer spot in the US, surpassing the all-mighty Wal-Mart. Companies like CDbaby and TuneCore further extended the blow to the industry by creating gateways for independent artists to get into iTunes for only $20-$50.

Overall the main point from this for an artist, labels, and entertainment companies with artists like my company Muzik MInd Entertainment is "it is extremely important for artists to build a digital presence in order to be considered a viable artist in today’s music environment (IndieHipHop)."

Bonus #1: Interview with Matt Laszuk, President of digital distribution company IRIS, does his best here to demystify the crucial world of digital music distribution.

Bonus #2: Video featuring Jun Mhoon, an expert in digital media distribution, argues that the traditional music distribution model can no longer sustain itself economically.

10 Tips To Advance Your Music Business Career [Courtesy of Hypebot]

Hypebot ended the 2011 year by posting the best and most popular articles that appeared on Hypebot in 2011. Their Top Tips were:

1. Have a Plan

2. Recognize That Everything Is Sales

3. Network

4. Collaborate / Create Partnerships

5. Collect and Surround Yourself with Winners

6. Take Risks

7. Be Optimistic

8. Be Professional

9. Educate Yourself

10. Become Remarkable

In summary of all these tips, I learned and took away from this post that first of all, having a plan is the MOST important thing in order to be successful in the Music Business. With this I have to make sure my company, Muzik Mind Entertainment has clear plan for success to be able to explain to potential investors and clients. Everything is about connections, Tips 3-5 are about how creating relationships is important, I will constantly continue to make connections with other people who I can benefit from and for them vice versa. Taking Risks, Being Optimistic, and Educating Myself is just like the advice from Donald Trump about if/when you fail come back stronger, don't give up learn from your failure and succeed the next time. The Tenth Tip, "Become Remarkable" is one the most important tips because, it sums up all the tips because "At the end of the day, it’s all about being memorable. Personal branding is all about the mental associations people have of you. In order to stand out or move ahead, you must become remarkable at what you do. This also means being authentic - which shouldn't be too difficult if you're truly passionate about what you do."

Expert Advice

After doing some research on Dave Lavinsky and Donald Trump, my two business plan experts, I learned a lot. Their advice will allow me to incorporate what I’ve learned from my research on the experts and make my business better. From Lavinsky, I think the two biggest things I will take from him is the importance of a financial model in order for investors to know when they will be paid back, and sales projections about products and services to be sold, then the other important thing I learned was to make sure my pitch is crystal clear in my one-line summary of what my company does.

Donald Trump’s tips that I learned are that it’s importance to find my passion, know my target audience, and when/if I fail…come back stronger. These tips are important because there’s no point in having a business plan if a person doesn’t know what their passion is for the business. I need to know my target audience so that I know who to cater to and not just anybody or whoever I can get. The last tip is vitally important because we are all bound to fail, we just have to learn from our mistakes then come back stronger and better.

The most important sections of my plan would be the company summary/description, the marketing plan/strategy, and the financial information. These three are important because the company summary helps potential investors know what they are getting from your company and the plans for the company. The marketing plan/strategy is important because its what the company plans on doing market wise to gain money, and the financial information is an overall outlook on what the company’s plans are to get out of debt from the initial loan they acquired.

Experts Views on the Value of Business Plans

While exploring for expert advice on how to improve my business plan for my company Muzik Mind Entertainment, I came upon on the views of two. The first is from one of the Co-Founder's of Growthink, the country's largest strategic advisory and investment banking firm. The other view is from Donald Trump, who is a business mogul and brand within his own right. Growthink's co-founder's Jay Turo and Dave Lavinsky have used their business to successfully secure a countless number of entrepreneurs and business' funding to help them to get started. For this blog we are going to focus on Dave Lavinsky, Growthink's President who as stated on BP Expert's blog "is internationally known for his work with business planning, capital raising, and new venture development...Lavinsky is also responsible for Growthink University, an institution created to assist entrepreneurs and business owners through the process of raising capital for their businesses." Lavinsky received his bachelor's from the University of Virginia and his MBA from UCLA. Lavinsky and his partner Turo state that a business plan needs to include 10 key sections: Executive Summary, Company Analysis, Industry Analysis, Customer Analysis, Analysis of Competition, Marketing Plan, Operations/Design and Development Plans, Management Team and the Financial Plan. On BP Expert's blog post on Dave Lavinsky, it states some essential elements that he believes need to be covered in a business plan which are:

1. A one-line summary of what your company does - This cuts right to the chase of the matter and helps potential investors know exactly what they are doing. Dave says he has sat on many panels hearing pitches and many times it is unclear to the investors what the company does. For this reason, he stresses the importance of this element.

2. Financial Model – A summary of finances, how and when investors will be paid back, and sales projections are essential to the success of a business plan.

3. Risk Mitigation Milestones – For every milestone your company achieves, the risk of investing diminishes significantly. Investors want to see an action plan to prevent the potential for failure.

4. Your unique qualifications for success – Dave says this is the most important component investors want to see. Personal qualifications and ideas such as a great marketing campaign must be included so investors know they can believe in you personally. This helps build confidence in the success of the investment.

The other expert, Donald Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics. Ever since he was a child he was pushed by his parents to be the best and he even today he continues to follow through with all the accomplishments he's achieved. BP Expert's says that Donald Trump's simple stance on a business plan is "with a business plan, there is direction and focus. (Williams, 2009)" Basically Trump is saying "No business plan means the business is bound to fail" and this true because nothing can be built without a plan to follow. An Associated Content article on Yahoo! states that Donald Trump's Top 10 Business Tips are:

1. Find your passion.

2. Business Plans: Plan for Success.

3. Know your target (niche) audience: Target people with money, but help those in need. People who target everyone are really not targeting everyone.

4. Setting Rates: Demand to be paid what your services are worth.

5. Mentors: Surround yourself with smart people, not yes people.

6. Negotiations: Don't be so invested that you cannot walk away.

7. Fail then come back stronger.

8. Business Growth: Always Be Open To New Ideas.

9. Critics: Answer your critics by your actions, not your words.

10. Live Well, but wisely: Never apologize for being successful.

After reading the blog posts and articles about Lavinsky and Trump, I've taken some important and essential tips that will help my business be successful.

Bonus: In an interview with Forbes, Trump speaks on a successful business and his kids following in his footsteps and his succession plans for his Trump Empire.

The Music Industry Masterminds

Jay-Z. Justin Bieber. Wiz Khalifa. Young Jeezy. Trey Songz. Ne-Yo. Rick Ross. Lil' Wayne. Ludacris. All these artists are great and successful in their own right, but what many fans don't know it's not just the artist themselves but the people who were hired to perform various roles that make a signed act work. There's the A&R, Marketing & PR, Lawyers, Agents, Publishers, Managers, and the Producers & Engineers. All these vital roles make sure everything about an artists' career and albums are successful. These are the people that spend sleepless nights and work tirelessly in order to make sure you're favorite artist is successful and sells a lot of records. The "Creative Choices" article "A guide to the music industry" examines all those positions and defines what the positions are supposed to do. All these positions work together to make an artists' career go smooth and successfully. People like Russell Simmons, Blue Williams, Kevin Liles, Diddy, Scooter Braun, Lyor Cohen, and plenty of other successful industry people started off doing jobs like A&R, Marketing, talent & booking, etc. The best execs in these positions make sure the artist not only makes a hit, but a chart topping album and can make themselves a brand that can garner more money for themselves and the execs. They require someone who is an innovative person with a love for the business side of music, film and television. They also need to be a go getter and have an ear for music and good talent to scout for producers and songwriters if they aren't already a producer or songwriter. It is positions like these that get me excited for the music industry so that I can work my way up like some of my favorite industry execs like Russell Simmons, Diddy, and Kevin Liles. I am ready to be one of the music industry masterminds behind your favorite artists' career!

Importance of Management

As a future mogul in the music business, I’ve learned in this Entertainment Business from my continually growing love for Hip-Hop & R&B, that an artists’ manager is really important. In some realms of the music industry, especially on more of the business side, the manager may be the pull for an artist to get a business relationship/collaboration accomplished. Some of the successful managers I’ve come to learn about are Tina Davis (Chris Brown), Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber & Asher Roth), Blue Williams (OutKast), Kevin Liles (Trey Songz & Big Sean), and Chris Lighty (50 Cent, Soulja Boy, Diggy Simmons). Rap Rehab said in a recent article that “The manager is perhaps the most important
member of your team.” A manager should always be about enhancing their artists career without disturbing how the artist is viewed as to their fans, they shouldn’t do anything that’s not really their style. It’s important to have some groundwork put down in order to show the hopeful manager that you have some fans and that musically you’ve been grinding with constant quality music through mixtapes and/or albums. Plus in today’s world, it helps to have a nice following on twitter and facebook. The Rap Rehab article states “there are three characteristics
that a manager must have in order to help your career effectively—both
before and after you get a record deal. Those characteristics are passion,
connections, and funding.” This is important because just as much its important to have what the manager is looing for in artist, it also works vice versa and in the case of beginning/low level managers who may not have connections or funding, passion becomes the most important because they have to be able to truly show they believe in an artists’ talent and they use everything in their power to make sure the world experiences that talent as well. The article says when both the artist and manager are both starting off in the music industry in a business relationship that “This method, while perhaps being a slower route, is a good one, as it
directly and closely involves you, the artist, in the process of your career
development.” Overall the article sums up that

Good managers understand that new and developing artists are much
like startup businesses. The first couple of years (or records) typically are
money losers. The hope is that after the painful initial period has ended,
there will be a financial reward that will recoup all the early losses and then
some.

I’ve also added some links to an article with Blue Williams about his management and his recent joint venture with Chris Lighty to create Primary Violator Mangement. Also, a video of Kevin Liles speaking on his career, how Trey Songz got him into managing, and how he started managing Big Sean.

References:

Production Market Place. 23 Sept. 2010. http://www.pmpworldwide.com/articles.cfm?contentID=3B50A80A-9A1D-C20F-67300F9B66464EF4

“Feature Video: Make It Happen with Kevin Liles (@KevinLiles1). Al Lindstrom. 26 Oct. 2011. http://allindstrom.com/2011/10/feature-video-make-it-happen-with-kevin-liles-kevinliles1/

“Primary Wave and Violator Merge To Form Primary Violator Management”. Ed Christman. Billboard.16 Sept. 2011. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/legal-and-management/primary-wave-and-violator-merge-to-form-1005355762.story

“Primary Violator”. Primary Wave Music. 16 Sept. 2011. http://www.primarywavemusic.com/news/post/MjczLTI0MjBmYQ

“Finding The Right Management”. Rap Rehab. 18 Oct. 2011. http://raprehab.com/2011/10/finding-the-right-manager/

The Mixtape Makes The Artist

The Mixtape. In today's hip-hop generation, it's pretty hard for an artist to survive without having a mixtape or slew of mixtapes for fans to listen, critique, analyze, and compare. Years ago, mixtapes were popular by famous DJs such as Kid Capri and Red Alert then it came to DJs such as DJ Clue, Greenlatern, and Enuff. Today's popular choices consist of DJ Drama, DJing Duo Ill Will & Rockstar, and DJ Khaled. Before they started off as "Blends" of popular R&B and Hip-Hop tracks over other beats to exclusive freestyles and original tracks to today's mixtapes being a mixture of the previously mentioned types as well as all original tracks. Today some of the more popular artists and mixtapes came from Fabolous' "There Is No Competition" Parts 1 & 2 and "The Soul Tape", Big K.R.I.T.'s "K.R.I.T. Wuz Here" and "Return Of 4Eva", J. Cole's "Friday Night Lights", Wale "More About Nothing", Young Jeezy's "The Real Is Back" Parts 1 & 2, and Wiz Khalifa's "Kush & OJ" and "Cabin Fever". For artist these days Mixtapes = Consistency & Relevancy. Even R&B artists like Trey Songz, Chris Brown, The-Dream, Ne-Yo and newcomer The Weeknd have adapted the "mixtape" strategy to stay relevant. New artists such as Drake, Wiz Khalifa, and J. Cole have used their mixtape releases as the "actual album-before-the-album, one that could spawn chart-topping singles"as well as gain them record deals and successful selling albums (Mixtape Economy). In the article "The Economy of Mixtapes" they mention how 

They're offered on websites like DatPiff.com and LiveMixtapes.com, which have erased CD-peddling bootleggers from city street corners...And where MCs once hijacked beats from others to serve as the sonic quilt for their release, mixtapes have become a creative survival of the fittest. Rappers who dropped freestyle mixtapes can no longer show-and-prove through lyrics alone-original beat selection, artwork and overall artistry determine worthiness.The philosophy is often described this way: As a reward for artists remaining loyal to them (by giving away original music), fans return the favor by buying concert tickets, merchandise and "real" albums from record labels. The result is a give-and-take relationship that keeps rappers in control of their brand and marketing, and iTunes playlists full of free albums disguised as "mixtapes." The payoff is an active fan base, which labels and management hope stimulates retail purchases.

For myself as a fan of Hip-Hop & R&B, I truly believe in the philosophy, I recently bought BOTH the physical and digital versions of Big Sean's "Finally Famous" & J. Cole's "Cole World" The Sideline Story" albums because of my love for their "mixtapes", grind, consistency, and features on some of my favorite records. That's around $40 because I am true fan for these artist and them achieving success like artists like their mentors Kanye West & Jay-Z. I believe this is where the problem still exists because fans will download the "free" mixtapes that artist spent their time and money to create and give out but when it comes to returning that favor for the free music by purchasing the album, many fans would rather illegally download the album than take $10 to buy the album in iTunes or from a record store.

On the other hand, an issue for mixtapes in general because of the growing popularity of mixtapes over the past few years, the RIAA has begun to crack down on DJs such as DJ Drama and Don Cannon, and DJ Big Mike for music piracy. The RIAA and labels don't like that artists are giving out so much free music, they consider it property of the label and the artist. Many labels however are coming around to understanding that this process of giving away free music is the norm, this can be seen by the signing of Wiz Khalifa to Atlantic Records who gained notoriety off his mixtapes and his endless touring.

With the music business today basically suffering off of the recession and illegal downloading, the "mixtape" helps an Artist survive off hopes that tracks and videos from the free release can garner touring, future radio singles, album deals, top selling albums and just overall money for them. "Indeed, for artists who have constructed careers on a mixtape foundation, signing with a major may not always be the end-goal" but it's a great way to stay relevant and consistent with the fans.