DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

* You’re good at music, maybe even created a full album worth of material, but you don’t know what to do with it now.

* You’ve sent your music to record labels and faced that cold rejection. Most of the time you never hear back at all.

* You’ve submitted their music online to a few places… but you’re not getting any listeners. You’re getting lost in the crowd, and you’re definitely not making much money.

* You want to start bringing in the big bucks, but you’re stuck playing the same five or six clubs month after month. You feel like your career’s going nowhere fast.

If this all seems familiar, you may want to consider starting your own record label. If music is your thing, but you’re lost when it comes to the “business” side of things, then you need to start thinking hard about how exactly you’re going to pursue music full-time. You need to learn how to promote your CD, how to get people to buy it, how to get it distributed, how to start touring, and how to get on the radio.

THE OLD WAY

The vast majority of people who submit demos to record labels face constant rejection. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Most people don’t get ahead in the music biz by relying on overworked, underpaid interns to listen to your demo and hopefully share your vision for the future. If you keep sending your demos to record labels, they’ll likely keep ending up in the same place: the garbage can.

A key point to understand on that there is only one relationship that matters in the music industry: the relationship between an artist and his or her fans. There are many entities out there that seek to take advantage of this relationship, and one of the biggest parasites are major record labels.

The sad truth is that artists end up losing a lot of money in the complex contracts labels make you sign. Most bands and groups will only see pennies of every $15 CD sold.

You’re also face a great risk if you continue sending your demos to labels. You stand to lose your music. It’s not unheard of for record labels to steal the “good parts” for their signed assets at your expense.

But what about promoting music online? The cold hard truth is that there are literally thousands of people submitting their music online, and it’s very likely you’ll drown in a sea of artists just like you. It’s hard to stand out from the crowd and get a big following if you’re not promoting your music every day face-to-face with fans where real relationships are built.

WHY START AN INDEPENDENT LABEL?

By starting your own record label you take steps towards starting a great career in music.

The biggest and best reason to start your own record label is money. As the CEO of your own label, you get to keep a much larger share of the profits. Even if you can’t match the sheer distributing power of a major record label, you may end up doing just as well as an artist signed to a major label since you have greater control of the finances.

By starting a successful independent music label, you also can explore the option of producing and releasing the music of third party artists. For example, you could set up a profit-sharing agreement with musicians on your label; down the road that could all parties involved very wealthy if done correctly.

Real professional independent musicians must promote, tour, and have successful album releases. And these musicians need strong business plans to make it all work. It takes knowledge of business and an understanding of the industry – but it’s all worth it in the end.

Savion Stearns is a published author and independent musician. For more information about making it in the music biz visit: Starting a Record Label

As a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency and jingle singer singing many commercials such as FOX TV, UPN and O’Charley’s, I’ve had the unusual opportunity to visit with many individuals, just like yourself, looking to enter the music industry from one angle or another. Let’s take a few minutes to explore some ideas and concepts that might help to further your career.

The first concept to explore is that you should definitely follow your dream of singing if you feel this strongly about it. We’ll highlight a few strategies you can embrace to eliminate unneeded spending and to avoid the opportunist that line the internet halls and gateways. For now, just follow your passion of singing and look at authentic methods to get you there – And hopefully by the time you’re done reading this you’ll have a foundation to start building from.

What do you want to do? Are you looking to get signed as an artist or are you looking to get into the lucrative session singing market singing commercials and backup vocals on a myriad of projects? Because of the broad nature of this article, I will write from a viewpoint of looking to get into commercial singing and session work because both singers can make money and break into their perspective areas of the business, launched from here. For those of you looking at the dream of becoming a solo artist securing the record deal, I will write more future articles for your benefit.

Let’s get a basic game plan in place and expand on it. You need to start setting goals for today, this week, this month, year and five year goals. You need to have an affordable website that will become your business card and you will have a number of pages including home, bio, sample music that will include your reel, pictures, bio and misc/links. A website can be created for next to nothing and doesn’t have to cost more then $5 – $10 a month. You will need a demo reel of your singing styles and abilities. You will also have your reel in mp3 format to be able to email to producers, etc. You will need a good record keeping system in place. Figure out what works for you and be consistent. You will need a pager or cell phone which virtually everyone has nowadays.

Make sure that your goals are realistic – not over aggressive, but challenging enough to keep your career path moving. You might consider sitting down at a coffee shop once a week and looking at and evaluating goals as well as setting up future goals. This doesn’t have to be fancy; you may jot these down with a pen, but keep these handy and up to date.

Your website should include a logo and picture of yourself. Don’t make the mistake of including cheap looking artwork. Instead, spend a few dollars on a program to help you design artwork layout. We use a $30 program that is fabulous and can’t be beat for the price. Spend a few minutes investigating websites, companies that offer hosting with complimentary website building programs and start visualizing a website layout. It must look pro.

Your demo reel must stand out from the rest. To do this you must create a reel that is without question a knock your socks off, make your socks roll up and down, reel. Your reel must sound like you’ve already arrived on the scene. Don’t be mistaken for the, “My friend has a computer, keyboard and mics,” mentality. Your demo reel needs to sound like you’ve been singing national commercials.

You will want to include jingles as well as song demos on your reel although if time and money are an issue, then it would be better to stick with a straight jingle demo reel including as many jingles as possible on the reel – This gives you multiple styles to showcase, etc. You will want to stretch your singing styles while maintaining musical integrity. Don’t showcase the same musical style over and over – You want as much versatility seen in your demo as possible.

In closing, always remember that content wins. Pro looking and sounding demos reels score more work that multiple half baked reels. Your image on print, media and in person must exude a professional outlook. It is better to be simpler to be more professional, than it is to be sophisticated and not as professional. Understanding these key factors will help drive your career and hopefully land you more session work than you can handle.

Mr Gauger is a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency booking many household name artists and is a jingle singer singing on many commercials from FOX TV, UPN Station ID’s, O’Charley’s and many others. Mr Gauger can be contacted at http://www.reelmusician.com or tgauger@reelmusician.com or 615-300-5030.

The town was once a small fishing village with a pretty harbor and a few local shops tucked away a few kilometers from the bustling resort of Protaras. The harbor is still there and now it is home to a host of pleasure craft as well as the little fishing boats. If you don’t wear yourself out clubbing you can still catch the fishing boats as they return in the morning and maybe even pick up some fresh fish too. Another great feature of the harbor area are the many restaurants where you can relax and watch the world go past whilst enjoying a huge range of cuisine including surprisingly, fish!

The beaches in Agia Napa are amoungst the best in the area perfect for bathing or sun bathing with plenty of beach front bars and restaurants to escape to when the sun gets too much for you. Nissi beach is another beautiful stretch of coast with plenty of water sports and facilities for all the family. There is a great paved walkway that runs along the coast from Agia Napa harbor right through to Nissi beach which is a great way to walk off those hoiday excesses and take in the beautiful coastal scenery at the same time.

The town has more than enough shops and supermarkets of every conceivable type so you won’t go short of any of those holiday essentials either. Bars, how many do you want? Even if clubbing doesn’t float your boat it’s still worth paying a visit to the famous Agia Napa square home to all the top clubs and bars. Bearing in mind that things don’t get going properly until about one o’clock in the morning the bars are already bustling from around 9pm. So why not take justa little peep and maybe indulge that hidden party animal just a little. There are even several clubs that play the nostalgic music of the 70′s 80′s and 90′s so even the mums and dads be able to sing along.

If you are looking for a Cyprus holiday that’s suitable for families you will find that Agia Napa has everything you could want. There’s plenty of family resturants including K.F.C. and a Macdonalds too so the kids will be easy to please. The accomadation in all parts of Cyprus is clean and modern so you can expect nothing less in Agia Napa too. The resort boast several top class hotels 5 star and above if you want to be pampered to death or modern apartment complexes if you prefer to please yourselves. Whatever you decide you can be assured that Agia Napa will be a Cyprus holiday to remember and it’s a great place to start if you want to explore more of this beautiful Island paradise.

With so much to offer to such a wide range of Cyprus holiday makers it’s no wonder that families and couples return to Agia Napa year after year and recommend it to their friends and family. If you want to sample the best of Cyprus you won’t go far wrong choosing Agia Napa as your holiday destination. If you don’t find everything you expect for a great family holiday in Agia Napa Cyprus the chances are you won’t find it anywhere. Enjoy Agia Napa and Cyprus!

Kevin Moore owns several Cyprus web sites and writes regular articles about Cyprus holidays and Cyprus property so take a look for yourself here Cyprus Agia Napa

Following are the “five” sins that can destroy and indie artist which are listed below:

Lack of Humility – You get more doors open by being humble with what you are attempting to do and your music. Humility actually will protect you from the industry “sharks” that lurk in the background. They look for unbalanced artists and promise them the world and artists with the big head usually fall head over heels and get stung in the end. Why? It’s because the artist has no humility! All humility means is having a balanced perspective, a reservedness with confidence and being honorable.

Circle of Friends – You don’t need friends that hinder your progress or that are going to introduce you to things that are detrimental to your career. You need honest feedback and for friends to tell you that you are going down the wrong road. You don’t need lackeys! When the money and the fame are gone, the so called lackey friends are gone too! Strive to have quality people on your team that are striving to be balanced and well-rounded!

Groupies – The universe is full of music and everyone on Earth carries a musical vibration which means that as a musician, you are going to have groupies that have higher vibration than other people! You cannot bed every groupie that comes to you! Many careers have died over the “groupie” syndrome and artists getting involved with several groupies. Keep things in perspective! Know that you are making a statement in what you are doing and many people just want a piece of you. Thank them, be kind but be very watchful. Don’t let this destroy your career!

No vision of musical growth – You’re doing rock today but will you be able to do the same thing ten or even 20 years from now? Where you start is not necessarily where you will end. Do you have a career progression chart that states where you want to be at in the future? Your plans should read something like this:

“I am a rock singer that wants to write symphonic music ten years from now for films, symphonies and stage performances”.

Draw out where you want to go across your musical landscape. Embrace diversity in your musical career!

And finally….

Not Understanding the Music Business – This is 2006 so the indie artist has information at his/her fingertips about the music industry that they’ve never had before. It’s now the artist responsibility to understand publishing, mechanical licensing, performance rights and copyrights. Yes, you will probably need an entertainment lawyer but its nice know that when someone is talking about these things that you have a basic knowledge of what they are saying.

Keep your career out of hot water. Avoid the five sins of the indie artist!

Greg Aldrich is the CEO of InBlaze Entertainment, and owner of the Indie Update blog, IndieUpdate.com. He has a passion for helping independent artists and getting the word out about great indie music. This is a sample article from one of the Indie Update bloggers, Brooke.

First the Dos:

DO check into our backgrounds for credibility before dealing with us.

With the ease and access of various search engines on the Internet such as Google, it literally takes just a couple of minutes to get information on someone. Your background check should also include past clients or associates that can vouch for them. Legitimate professionals love to have their backgrounds checked into. It gives you the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation and value for the services we provide. A proper background check in conjunction with time spent together, affords artists the opportunity to know who is representing them, and the professional the chance to know who they are representing.

DO have a full and complete understanding of what our jobs are.

Your knowledge of what various professionals do should not be limited to how our help relates to your success. There are many people and factors that will determine the extent (or limit) of your success in the music industry; know what they are before you assume that the professional you are working with has super powers to make you an overnight success.

DO know what we have to gain from our involvement with you.

This is perhaps the most difficult step in this list for many music artists because it forces them to look at things from two perspectives that they are not very comfortable with: a business perspective and the perspective of someone else. Ask yourself when dealing with any industry professional, on any level, this one question: Why should they help you? If your answer has something to do with money (or the potential thereof), then you will always be partially correct.

Now the Don’ts:

DON’T assume that every industry professional wants to hear your music.

When we have chance encounters with you on the street, at conventions, seminars, or parties, what we want is motivation to find a business reason to listen to your music. You can accomplish this by telling us more about the (success) story that you are building for yourself, rather than how great or unique (you think) you are.

DON’T underestimate our creative sensibilities.

Most industry professionals come from creative backgrounds. Many of us sing, play, and perform. Because of this, we are intimately aware of what it takes to make a quality song, or give an outstanding performance.

DON’T let your mouth be your greatest sales tool – unless you are using it to sing.

Your talent, songs, fan base, promotional materials, and sales are the ONLY things that will provide us with business reasons to work with you. This is critically important because many industry professionals are merely performing a service for someone else, and we rely on these tools to build interest and support for you from the key allies and decision makers in the communities that we belong to.

At the end of the day, it really does come down to having mutual respect and value for what each party brings to the table. Take the time to assess what your business needs are before approaching professionals, and be receptive to guidance when you receive it. After all, your success is our success, and we are in the business of helping you achieve that success.

Gian Fiero is a recognized authority on commercial music and Independent A&R Specialist who is best known for writing insightful reviews on Muse’s Muse.com. He has been an influential factor in obtaining record deals for artists signed to RCA, Bust It!, Gasoline Alley and Interscope Records. He currently represents Grammy nominated music producer Cori Jacobs (Beyonce, Pussy Cat Dolls, Lauryn Hill, Teedra Moses, Brooke Valentine, and George Clinton) in addition to being an adjunct professor of music industry studies at San Francisco State University.

Clubbing is what separates the men from the boys. You’re either one of the guys dancing with women on the floor, or you’re on the sideline with your Corona watching him. It’s difficult, but definitely possible.

1. Whoever approaches the most, leaves with the most numbers

When it comes down to it, clubbing is really just a numbers game. Some women come to the club just to dance with their girlfriends (while dressing like they want every guy to approaching them). It’s hard to weed out which girls are approachable and which are not. The best thing to do is to just grab your balls, and go for it. If you get rejected, then move on to the next girl. And don’t take it personally or let it ruin your night. If you approach a girl, you have a 50% chance of success. If you don’t approach, then you have 0%.

2. It’s all about Social Proof

Not only do people judge you by what you wear, but they also judge you by who you’re with. Who’s more attractive: The guy with a few girls at the bar taking shots with them, or the guy with his friends standing near the wall checking out the dance floor? I always try to take females friends along when I can. I like to dance with them at the beginning because it lets me scout the area to see who’s there, much better than walking around by yourself.

The majority of women that I meet are through people I already know in the club. After you start going there a while, you’ll get to know more people and start noticing a lot of the same groups go every week. When I enter I say hi to everyone I know, and usually they bring with them some friends. I get introduced and it’s game on, no need for the approach phase.

3. What to wear

Many clubs are strict when it comes to the way you dress entering the club. My friend gets in all the time for this one club wearing black converses, but he can’t get into another wearing the same thing.

The “safe” outfit – Black oxfords, dark socks, dark jeans, a button up dress shirt (top 1-2 buttons unbuttoned and you can roll up the sleeves to slightly below the elbows).

You can get into any club wearing this and you won’t look “bad.” But if you read my article on peacocking, then you know you wanna look a little bit different from the standard. Personally I like wearing a t-shirt with an interesting blazer.

I know this is common sense, but please take a shower and wear some anti-perspirant before you go out. Also put on some decent cologne because you’re going to get close when you dance. My two favorites are Issey Miyake and Burberry Brit. If you don’t have a cologne, ask a female friend to help you pick one out at Sephora or Macy’s.

4. Have a good wingman

Women are never alone in the club. The best targets in my opinion are when two girls are by themselves. You can approach them by yourself, but the girl you’re with is not going to leave her friend to dance with you. That’s where having a good wingman can be helpful. Also wingmen can encourage you to to approach and help you rebound. I remember one time we had an approach go bad. Afterwards my wingman told me “Man those bitches are ugly anyways, let’s find someone else.” We kept going and found ourselves even better women later.

The golden rule is whoever approaches the girls and picks them up, gets first pick. So don’t be bitching about getting the fat chick if your buddy made the moves .

5. Don’t drink too much

Self-explanatory.

6. Timeline

Approach -> Talk -> Dance -> Get her phone # -> Go somewhere with her.

You approach the women with whatever opener you have. You talk to her a bit and engage her. When a song I like comes on I tell her I love this songs. “Let’s go dance” and take her hand to the dance floor.

The dance floor is something that comes with experience and hard to put into words. But basically you make small advances towards her and see what her limits are. I’ve had success making out with women on the dance floor, but the majority of them just want to dance at this stage. After dancing I take her back to where my friends are and we all drink. Talk to her a bit more and get her phone number. The clubs usually close at 2 or 3am and I always go out and eat with my friends, so I will invite her along. After that the rest is up to you.

Clubbing can be intimidating for anyone that’s going there for the first time. But like all things, you’ll improve with experience.

http://beawomanizer.com/double-your-dating-ebook-review

Touring is a bands greatest opportunity for success. But, touring can be very expensive. Getting your tour, band or event sponsored is critical to your success. Sponsorship can off-set production, travel, promotion and virtually any of your expense. The right sponsor can also significantly augment your advertising, publicity and promotions. But, getting sponsorship participation can take a lot of effort and commitment on your part. You will need to prove to potential sponsors that your opportunity will deliver a good return on investment for them.

The following is a step by step procedure we have used at Multimediary Entertainment Marketing to secure hundreds of thousands of sponsorship dollars for numerous tours, events, artists, television programming and feature films. We have done this for several major record labels and both signed and unsigned artists. Now we want to share our knowledge experience so you can do this on your own.

Create an Introduction Letter

The first step in securing sponsorship dollars is to craft a professional introduction letter highlighting the features and benefits of the opportunity you are offering. Some of these features and benefits might include inclusion in advertising, product sampling, banner display and more. After you have given a brief overview of the opportunity close the letter by asking their permission to send them a more detailed presentation. The introduction letter is the most critical part of the sponsorship success equation. If well crafted, it will get your foot in the door.

Demographic Analysis

Understanding your audience is critical. Potential sponsors will want to know who you are reaching. The best way of gathering this information is right at you finger tips. Call radio stations you think should be playing your music. Ask for an account executive and ask this person to fax you their Tapscan, Scarborough or Prism demographic and qualitative information. In all likelihood you will now be armed with a detailed overview of what your audience looks like and can match this up with potential sponsors. You will also have a great hit list of companies to start hitting.

Creating Your Sponsorship Presentation

Now that you have your introduction letter and demographic profiles you are ready to begin creating your presentation. The presentation will seal the deal with sponsors only if it contains all the information they will need to make an educated decision on your opportunity. The presentation must contain the following elements:

1. A Two to three paragraph overview of your opportunity

2. A detailed overview of tour routing, markets and venues

3. An overview of what type of public relations and media support you expect to have and how the sponsor will be included

4. Your audience and demographic profile

5. Tour partnership deliverables or what the sponsor will receive for their investment

6. The total investment you are looking for from your sponsor and the return a sponsor can expect

Now that you have all of the pieces of the puzzle you are ready to go out and shake the trees for sponsorship dollars. With effort and consistency you will land a sponsor. Always deliver on what you promise to retain your sponsors year after year. Under deliver and they will promptly kick you to the curb. Our philosophy is to always under promise and over deliver. With this philosophy you will be assured ongoing solid sponsorship participation for years to come.

Multimediary Entertainment Marketing can get your tour, band or event on the right track by providing you with the following:

• An Introduction letter that garners results

• An accurate Demographic Analysis extrapolated of 5 major markets

• Sponsorship Value Analysis to determine the worth of your opportunity

• Sponsorship presentation in Word and PowerPoint

• Press Release creation announcing sponsorship opportunity

• Press Release distributed to all major markets announcing your opportunity

• We will also include your opportunity in the Multimediary Entertainment Marketing Newsletter which goes out to over 1500 Corporate Brand Managers monthly

• Professional Sponsorship Contract/Agreement you can use to seal the deal

• One-hour Professional Consultation to ensure you’re going in the right direction

For details and pricing please visit our website at: http://www.multimediary.com/sponsorship.html

About Multimediary Entertainment Marketing and Thom King

Multimediary was founded by Thom King in late 2001. Multimediary has worked with Virgin Records, Capital Records, and Universal, Warner Brothers, Lions Gate Films and several other major and independent record labels and entertainment production companies. Multimediary has also worked with several consumer brands including: Lifestyles Condoms, Miller Beer, Red Bull, Monster Energy Drink, Dr. Martins, Snapple, Honda Motor Company, British Petroleum, Adidas and more.

The three reasons simply put are:

1) The Hobby Factor
2) The Experience Factor
3) The Focus Problem

Through dealing with countless aspiring rappers, we at The State of Hip Hop have noticed that most problems emcees face can in one way or another be traced to these three root troubles.

Simply stating the problems is of use, but of more use is what I’m sure you all are looking for…a solution.

So let’s begin…

1) The Hobby Factor:

Millions of people around the world play poker. Of those, only a few thousand are professional. The remainder would probably like to be…they sincerely like the game, yet they don’t have a passion for it…for them, poker remains simply a hobby.

This is the case with a good many aspiring emcees. They love rap, they have favorite rappers, know all the words to their songs…but in reality, hip-hop is simply their hobby – enjoyable entertainment. Even so, there is nothing wrong with this.

There are a good many rappers who are successful and yet don’t take rap very seriously. For every KRS-One and Common Sense, you have a pair of Ying Yang Twins or a Master P.

The idea of “not taking rap seriously” does not necessarily refer to the art of rhyme, but instead to rap as a career or business opportunity. So while Master P may not rack his brain trying to craft the most amazing rhyme, he does seriously analyze marketing strategies, distribution outlets, promotional events, etc…all part of the rap game.

But I’m jumping ahead. You may not think this pertains to you. You may think, “I’ll worry about that if and when I get that far.” But therein lies the problem…a mind that is not preparing itself for the big picture. It goes back to the old “thinking ten steps ahead” philosophy.

Some common signs that a new rapper is stuck in this rut are that they try and come up with good ideas, have writer’s block, and stop. Or come up with a few bars or verses, think they’re no good, get upset, give up for a while, and pick the pen up again in a couple of days or weeks. For these people rap is a hobby.

Rap is made a hobby by others because they are afraid to fail at it…Remember this! And it applies to everything you do; Success is achieved only after many failures. If you can’t handle failure, you’re not ready for success.

The Hobby Factor – Solution:

Make rap a priority, set some time aside to dedicate to it. This doesn’t mean “forget all your other responsibilities, but do write every day. Writing every day sounds very simple, agreed, but it is rarely practiced. The practice becomes understood to be “write a hot verse/song every day”…which it is not.

“Write every day” simply means that. Write down your freestyles, a poem, the opening page of a short story, ideas for a song, literally anything! You’ll be amazed at how drastically this will speed up your learning curve.

Another good idea is to change your entire frame of mind. Let’s say you’re living at home with your parents. Things are pretty straight, you’re not starving. You plan on being a mechanical engineer…What then is motivating you to improve your raps?

Now let’s say you got your girlfriend pregnant, are living partially on the streets, working two jobs to eek out a living…and you see rap as your way out. Well now you got some fire under your ass don’t you?

The point is not that you need to be in any particular circumstance to be a good rapper…but that if your situation isn’t motivating you, you need to force that motivation on you by some other means.

Rap with a hunger…like you literally need it to eat! Don’t treat it like a pastime. Whether you end up becoming a successful musician or not, the time you dedicated is never wasted. Good rap skills and song writing skills are amazingly beneficial to developing a good ability to express yourself in any field.

2) The Experience Factor:

This problem is very common among new rappers.

In the hood you might hear a 12-year-old kid spitting a raw 16 bars. That’s because 12 in the hood is like 21 anywhere else.

A lot of new emcees are hesitant about what to actually write about because of a lack of experience. They haven’t really seen the world first hand. It’s hard to write good raps when you don’t really know yourself yet…because part of what a rap does is communicate to the listener the personality and character of the rapper. Still, not knowing who you are is nothing to be ashamed of.

So while the 21 year old from the outskirts of New Zealand may be intelligent, he may not be quite sure he knows who he is, what he stands for and what really matters to him, perhaps precisely because he thinks too much.

On the other hand, the 12 year old from the slums of Tokyo may be illiterate, irrational, and arrogant, but he has already come to understand himself…he’s comfortable in knowing who he is (regardless of whether he is wrong or has limited his growth).

The Experience Factor – Solution:

Have fun, live, read, and think about who you are.

The best way around this obstacle, really, is just to put yourself into various situations, open your ears to knew ideas, learn your history, etc…All the while asking questions, analyzing things, finding out what in this world matters to you…

Everyone gets around this problem eventually, but for many it’s too late. Try to understand who you are at any given time, and spit your rhymes in that image…amped up a few notches…that’s what makes it art

3) The Focus Problem:

We’ve realized that a lot of people who are interested in rapping are simply naturally artistic and expressive. I personally have always enjoyed drawing since I was a child and could always appreciate a well-written book as well as various types of music.

Being as I grew up in the “hip-hop generation” I naturally gravitated towards the art form of rapping. I loved it, the rhyme, the rhythm, the meaning and wordplay…

However, I actually dove into my obsession with rap before I fully developed any of my previous interests.

There is a negative side effect or problem that comes about here.

An aspiring rapper, for example, might be naturally more skilled at or inclined to being a poet, novelist, journalist, public speaker or other type of musician. He or she might then decide to pursue an interest in rap, essentially ignoring their other talents. This is not fundamentally problematic, however…

Rap is NOT (contrary to some beliefs) the same as poetry. It is poetry and more. There are innumerous factors involved in making good rap music. One factor is the fact that it is a form of music…which separates it from other forms of literature on a number of levels.

Furthermore the skills necessary to writing well, speaking well, etc…are all forgone if one decides to skip these optional outlets for expression. This is a HUGE mistake.

The Focus Problem – Solution:

Stay on track and stick to what you’re good at.

This not only applies to the above-mentioned outlets of expression but ANY outlet of expression. Dance, art, ANYTHING. You will learn tremendously from these. I can’t even begin to explain how much you’ll be missing out on if you decide to forgo these means of expression.

Everything that you learn about being a good public speaker, for example, can be effectively applied to rap…whatever you learn about developing a good storyline…can be used in rap, non-verbal communication techniques you might subconsciously pick up in dance class…they help in rap…the list goes on and on.

So there you have it, 3 of the biggest reasons why new rappers fail or quit…

Another additional reason why rappers fail to succeed is that they don’t fully understand the business of music. Our section www.thestateofhiphop.com/rap-industry.html can begin to help you understand the workings of the music business. We’ll refrain from further detail until a future article.

Until next time, stay on the grind and you should be fine…

See you around!

-prof

TheStateofHipHop.com was created out of the tremendous worldwide demand for practical advice, pointers, rap tips, and more that aspiring musicians need on their journey to learn to rap. Visit http://www.TheStateofHipHop.com for more great articles, tips and information on the music business all 100% free!

As I clicked on a popular music business forum, I was greeted with a question. “Why won’t commercial radio play music by Indie Artists?”

My reply to this person was as follows:

“As a former Operations Manager and Music Director on both the Comm and Non-Comm sides, Let me break the reason down for you.

Commercial Radio needs ratings to get paid from advertisers. Most advertiser’s, on radio, are ad agencies. Ad agencies base their “buys” (sponsorships) on a Cost per point (“CPP”) basis. CPP is based on how many thousands of listeners a radio station can capture in a 15 minute period (or cume).

Many commercial radio [Program and Music] don’t want to put thier ratings at risk, by airing an ‘untested song’ on the air. So what these commercial radio directors do, is, air music based on the national charts provided by Radio and Records, Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) and Billboard.

These charts are mainly influenced by the major labels via promotions and strategic alliances.

Your best best is to do like Knarles Barkley. Knarles Barkleys’ single “Crazy” went #1 on the internet and radio couldn’t help but to get them the single on the air.

Get your music on music submission sites, make some noise on the net, and get a CDBaby.com account so you can get your music on iTunes and start promoting.”

I suggested this because the music business is going digital. Clear Channel has a partnership with GarageBand.com where they will feature a certain amount of new artists every week in on their website. Since Clear Channel is the biggest and most innovative broadcaster in the music business, it’s just a matter of time before the other cowardly copy-cat broadcasters will follow suit.

The world is going digital, while radio continutes to operate using an analog business model. You can be successful in the music business if you change your marketing model from analog to digital.

by Jeronimo Black

Jerome C. Ford is a 20 year Radio and Records Veteran, Music Marketing expert and Vice President of Succeed In the Music Biz!

So when I decided I wanted to drop a couple of pounds before the holidays hit I went back to my roots and signed up for a series of dance classes.

Going in I knew that dance requires creativity, focus, control and power. But driving home one day I thought about how much learning to dance is like running a business. Here are 5 business lessons I’ve learned from hanging out in a hip-hop class.

I can do a whole lot more than I thought.

Each lesson is broken down into sections. It doesn’t matter what class I’m in the instructor belts out 8 counts of new steps and I watch thinking, “my body doesn’t do that”.

You know what, after it’s broken down and we practice a bit, “my body can do that”. It’s the same with your business. What business tasks, systems, phone calls, and risks are you not taking because you think you can’t? All it takes is breaking it down and a little practice and you’ll be amazed at what you can do.

It gets easier with time.

My first day in hip-hop class I looked around at the room full of 20somethings and through, “what on earth is a tap dancer doing in a hip-hop class”? I tripped over myself, got frustrated with the steps and pretty much looked like an idiot. But the more I do it the easier it gets and the more fun it is. To top it off I’m surprised at how fast I’m picking it up.

In business you don’t start at the top. You have to try things that make you feel uncomfortable, self- conscious and maybe even (gulp), out of control. But keep at it because soon things that gave you the heebie jeebies become second nature.

It takes more than good feet to be a good dancer.

So there I was feeling a little cocky because I had all the steps down. I was moving all over the floor and then I looked in the mirror and I looked like CRAP.

My feet were perfect. But the rest of me was stiff as a board. I wasn’t moving my arms, hips, head, or shoulders. Nothing. I was only doing 10% of the work, but expecting 100% of the results.

It’s the same in business. If you have the perfect marketing plan, but no systems to back it up, it’s like you’re working at 10%. You need a balance of marketing, sales, accounting, products, staff, etc. Make sure you aren’t dancing with just your feet, use your whole body.

Why do I have to force myself to do something I love?

Sunday morning I’m curled up on the couch with my dog, a nice cup of tea and the TV. I love the dance class, you’d think I’d be ready to jump up and head off to class. But no I literally had to force myself off the couch.

Even though you love what you do, sometimes you’ll have to force yourself to work. Figure out what motivates you to get going even when you don’t feel like it.

A group of peers is really supportive.

When there is a really big class we split into two groups so at the end of the class each group has a chance to really let go without worrying about running into their neighbor. It’s great having more advanced dancers to follow in case I forget the steps. Then at the end the group watching claps and cheers – no matter we look like.

Find yourself a group of cheerleaders. Personally, I have a mastermind group, an accountability buddy, and a coach. All help me when I need help with the steps and cheer for me when I have even a small success.

© 2005 Beth Schneider. Want to reprint this article, feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur of Process Prodigy, is a business process consultant who helps solo-entrepreneurs, small business owners and network marketers who want to systemize their business to increase profits, increase productivity and grow their business without having to give up the family oriented, flexible, balanced lifestyle they desire. Beth works one-on-one with her clients, offers home study courses, and teleclass boot camps. For more information visit http://www.processprodigy.com and sign up for your FR*EE 5- Step Process Starter Kit and FR*EE Process Tips.

Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur, uses her natural ability to create systems and motivate people, providing streamlined, effective and consistent processes and procedures.