iTunes, is it still a great option for Artists?

By: Ethan Smith & Nick Wingfield
(The Wall Street Journal; Market Place Section, 8-29-08)

iTunes has been the runaway hit of the music business, selling more than five billion song downloads since it started five years ago. But a growing number of record companies are trying to steer clear of Apple Inc.'s behemoth music store, because they say selling single songs on iTunes in some cases is crimping overall music sales.

Kid Rock's Rock 'n Roll Jesus album was kept off iTunes' virtual shelves. It has nonetheless sold 1.7 million copies in the U.S. since its release last year---a sizable number for the depressed music industry. Sales of the album have increased in 19 of the past 22 weeks, according to Nielsen SoundScan, vaulting it to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 sales chart. After witnessing the album's performance, his label, Warner Music Group Corp.'s Atlantic Records, last week yanked an album by R&B singer Estelle from the iTunes Store, four months after it went on sale there---and the same week that one of its songs entered the top-10-selling tracks on Apple's download service.

... there is growing discomfort with the dominant role iTunes already plays: The store sells 90% or more of digital downloads in the U.S., surpassing Wal-Mart Store Inc., according to research firm NPD Group Inc.

Label Executives, managers and artists chafe against the iTunes policy that prevents them from selling an album only. iTunes, with few exceptions, requires that songs be made available separately. Consumers strongly prefer that, though Apple also typically offers a special price for buyers who purchase all the songs on an album.

Some artists see their albums as one piece of work, and don't want them dismantled. Their handlers believe they can make more by selling complete albums for $10 to $15.00 than by selling individual songs.

Irving Azoff (manager of the Eagles) says, "I'm underwhelmed by the number of sales I see on iTunes for the classic bands."

That sentiment was a factor in the Eagles' decision to sell their latest album, Long Road Out of Eden, only through Wal-Mart.

Shunning iTunescarries risks for the labels. Not only is it the biggest force in music sales, but keeping songs off the service could prompt listeners to look for illegal downloads instead. In addition, customers have demonstrated a clear preference for buying singles instead of entire albums. Only in few cases have record labels been able to boost album sales over those of individual songs.

Kid Rock's manager, Mr. Levitan, points out that if his client's album were sold the way iTunes wants, many of his 1.6 million U.S. album sales to date would instead have shown up as 99-cent downloads of the hit single "All Summer Long."

A Warner Music Group Spokesman, Will Tanous, calls removal of certain music from iTunes like Estelle's "American Boy" is a part of a broad range of digital-release strategies "uniquely tailored to each artist and their fan base in an effort to optimize revenues and promote long-term artist development.

In other cases, Mr. Tanous added, Warner has made songs or albums available exclusively on iTunes for certain periods, if that seemed a promising approach.

Since the beginning of 2006, only the Beatles have sold more "catalog" albums in the U.S. that AC/DC---also without licensing their music to iTunes. Among the six best-selling catalog artists during that period, the act that sold the most individual songs digitally--The Rolling Stones--sold the fewest albums, digital or physical. That is important because while the Stones' six million single tracks sold may seem impressive, they represent low-cost, low-profit transactions. Album sales, on the other hand, are much more profitable.

Southwest Georgia Radio & Music Conference

By: B. Brown (BREG)
http://www.breg1994.com/

It's amazing how when an individual and/or a group of individuals come together for the same cause and truly want something to be a success, positive results will occur!

Let me start with saying congratulations to Solo and his entire GA - Entertainment.com http://www.ga-entertainment.com/ Team! They did it again! The 2nd Southwest Georgia Radio & Music Conference on Saturday, July 19, 2008 in Albany, GA went very well! Conference Attendees came from different places like Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Atlanta, GA; Jacksonville, FL; Anniston, AL; etc. Students from Albany State University attended! A group of Job Corps students from the Southwest Georgia area came. It was a great atmosphere!

Big up's to several Artists that caught my attention during the Artist Showcase Saturday Night - Mayne Lyne (Pronounced Main Line), KJ Hines & another young man (I apologize, I have forgotten his name, but he is 17 yrs. old and he performed first. He's from Florida.) They rocked the show!

Now I have to say what's up to JaWar (Music Industry Connection), DJ Judgemental (Dirt Law Radio, Radio Mix-Show DJ & Official Drift City Records DJ) & Doug Davis (Cumulus Broadcasting)! As Guest Speakers, we were given the freedom to deliver positive, practical, powerful & essential information to the Conference Attendees and the informational theme on How to Make Money Online was received with open arms!

DJ Unk (Big Oomp Records/Koch) & DJ Jelly (Big Oomp Records, Radio Mix-Show DJ) came through. The Rich and Famous Models Blessed the stage! Congratulations to the Modeling Contest Winner Roxanne! I have to say what's up to the South Georgia Wildcats Dancers! http://www.southgawildcats.com/

Ozone Magazine, Urban Grind Magazine, StreetTalk Newspaper & SIR Magazine (Southeast Indy Report Mag.) were in the house!

Let me give a mad shout-out to Tom Swain (Celebrity Photographer) of Xtratainment, Kris Letlow (Cumulus Broadcasting) & Pookie (Urban South Entertainment) as well!

As you may tell, I enjoyed myself, but more importantly I am a part of a movement that is about education, productivity & success. I actually care about people and want people to succeed!

See you in October of 2008 for the next Southwest Georgia Radio & Music Conference!
http://www.radiomusicconference.com/ - 229.255.4016

One Love!

http://www.breg1994.com/

http://www.winbush-brown.successuniversity.com/

American Idol --- Is it still an option for stardom?

By: Joshua Alston (Vibe Magazine; pg. 31-34; May 2008)

American Idol creates music industry royalty. But with the finale of Idol's seventh (7th) season looming (David Cook won), labels are dropping past winners and the model is floundering. Are the days of pop reality show dominance dead?

On November 28, 2007, the word "failure" had its parameters reset. That Sunday, the previous week's record sales were released, revealing that Jive's self-titled debut album from 18-year-old Jordin Sparks, the sixth winner of American Idol, debuted at the bottom of Billboard's top 10 albums. Not only did Sparks' debut appear in the lowest first-week chart position of any idol winner, moving 119,000 copies, the album's total sales were the lowest in the show's history. In today's imploding music marketplace, a previously unknown artist selling 119,000 copies of their debut would be deemed a massive success. Though Sparks was previously unknown, she was also---at least in theory---the country's hottest new pop star.

When reality television began to boom, producers quickly realized that viewers were invested in how the contestants got there, the drama in the joys, creative meltdowns, and quiet backstabbing inherent to glamour professions. Idol, like Making The Band and others, was borne of this idea and the notion that cross-platform products---like a pop star and a television show---could sell each other. But after peaking with megastars like Fantasia and Kelly Clarkson, the genre appears to be on the decline. In both television ratings and record sales, the relationship between show and artist has become increasingly lopsided.

Says Sharon Dastur (Program Director at N.Y.'s Z100 [WHTZ-FM]), "In the finals, American Idol winners always have that championship song, and back in the day, people asked, 'When are you going to play it?' But over the last four years, that hasn't been the case."

Searching the Web for the next big thing!

By: Marco R. della Cava (USA Today - Fri/Sat/Sun, May 30-June 1, 2008)

"There's a huge cultural change going on out there, The model of how people consume their entertainment is totally up in the air," says Jason Nadler of United Talent Agency.

That's not the only thing up for grabs. The foundation of Hollywood's dominance in pop culture and the entertainment industry is being threatened by the democratizing force of the internet, which posits that anyone with a snappy idea and a video camera can dish up features to the masses.

Network executives are busy signing deals with online content producers with a knack for wooing audiences with short attention spans.

There are some encouraging signs for the executives diving into an unpredictable world of entertainment fueled largely by the whims of twentysomethings:

- For companiesused to spending millions of dollars on talent and programs, the Web is a bargain on both fronts.

- For what you spend on one TV Pilot, you could do an endless online serial.

- The beauty of the Web is that you can easily test an idea and move on.

Although media companies of all types continue to wrestle with how to make money from the Web, money is flowing into that part of the entertainment industry at a time when TV and Film are finding it increasingly difficult to capture audiences. Online advertising spending is projected to double to $50 billion by 2012, according to forecasting group eMarketer.

"Ultimately, what will win out on the Web is story-driven content," says Michael Eisner (former Disney Chief).

"Online entertainment is as different from TV as TV is from film", says Brent Weinstein (former chief of United Talent Agency's Online Division).

Thoughts from an online content producer: "When we first started getting attention, people would say, 'Hey, you've got a great steppingstone into the world of real entertainment.' But from day 1, we never felt the internet was some sort of proving ground. It's a new platform, period!"

Raheem The Dream

Written by: pbrown (Atl's StreetTalk Newspaper - 2nd Qtr. 2008)

For most, a 3-month stay in intensive care after suffering a double aneurysm would have been a blow not to recover from. After signing one of his many deals, this particular one with Universal Music and Dem Franchize Boyz, and preparing to shoot the video for the hit single "White Tees", that is exactly what happened to Raheem the Dream about 3 1/2 years ago. And although many expected him not to survive, Raheem has been up and running for the last 2+ years, even securing the deal with Atlantic Records and DG Yola in 2005.

Releasing his first single in 1986, over 20 years ago, Raheem the Dream became one of the first southern black label oweners when he founded On Point Records in 1990 and released his first Album If U Don't Konw, U Betta Ask Somebody. Ten (10) years later, after a series of hot singles and albums, Raheem renamed his label, Tight 2 Def Records and entered into a joint venture agreement with Breakaway Entertainment where he released the hit song "The Most Beautiful Girl" and the acclaimed Tight 4 Life album. Although it is not commonly known, many of Atl's known artists had there professional start with Raheem, including Drama, Young Dro, Fabo, Dem Franchize Boys, DG Yola, Just 4 U, Ms. Neka and now very popular artist named Terrius Nash, who took on a very similar name to Raheem after leaving Tight 2 Def, and is now known as "The Dream". Not only had Raheem signed and worked with some of Atl's hottest artists, but also had ties to producers such as DJ Toomp, Shawty Redd, Cooly C and Red Money. With all those projects under his belt, Raheem still found time to author two really intensive and educational industry books, How to Get Paid from the Record Game and The Record Game Can Be a Dirty Game, which I will say I have read both, and they are great!

What's in the future for Raheem the Dream? Well he's putting his label, Tight 2 Def Records back in full gear signing new producer and artist, Ole-e from Albany, GA, who has produced for Field Mobb and now his own single "Like the Huxtables", and Raheem has been on the look out for fresh talent constantly, signing two hot artists out of Montgomery, AL --- Killa Kat & King South. He says you can definitely expect some blazing singles to come out of these artists, as well as his new Columbus, GA artist - Wish and Alabama native - Chryme as well as Male R&B Crooner D-Suave and Female R&B Singer Amanee.

Be on the lookout for Tight 2 Def Records in 2008, they definitely got something brewing for you! Keep doing you, Raheem the Dream, the streetz are talking!

Damn, it feels good to be a Gangster!

By: Chris Norris (Blender, December 2007)

Now that you're so successful, do you still experience racism?

Jay - Z: Not openly. Money insulates you from things like that. You know, if people's kids love you, it's hard for them to say anything bad about you. But I'm aware of it, certainly.


On your new song "Ignorant Shit," you rap about Don Imus, who referred to the Rutgers female basketball team as "nappy-headed ho's." When that happened a lot of black leaders-Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton, Oprah-squared off against hip-hop in general, trying to hold it accountable for such language. What did you think about that?

Jay - Z: I don't have a problem talking about censorship. If we're gonna talk about it with movies, if we're gonna talk aobut it with video games, if we're gonna talk about it with all the pornography sites that are bigger than hip-hop, then I'm cool with people talking about it with hip-hop. But to single out hip-hop and pull us into the ring with Don Imus, that's wrong. It wasn't dealing with the real issue. What Don Imus said was racist. It wasn't about censorship, and it wasn't about free speech. And it wasn't about rap's influence, because Don Imus is not influenced by rappers. He's not a fan of rap. I mean, he couldn't name Wu-Tang's first album.


As a label president, do you feel responsible for the lyrical content of your artists' music?

You have to look at the people who are making the music, and the areas that they come from. On the whole, you're talking about kids who are 17, 18 years old coming out of bad neighborhoods. They're angry, they have issues and they're not mature yet. You gotta let them grow. You can't control anybody's art.


What role did you play in engineering the sales battle between your artist Kanye West and 50 Cent?

I just championed it. Kanye had the idea, and I was like, "You sure? You know what this gonna entail. I mean, 50's a fierce competitor. You never know what could happen-you could get, like, eight diss records."


Why is hip-hop so full of one-hit wonders right now?

It's how people are conditioned to listen to music. Singles are 99 cents, and you break albums up on itunes-what do you expect?


Would you ever release a record the way Radiohead just did-put it on the internet on a pay-what-you-want basis?

I thought that was genius. That's a fantastic idea. You have to be in a position to do that, but I think it was a great idea.


What would you say your biggest strength is as a person?

I'd say I'm fearless about trying new things, putting myself out there.


And what do you consider your biggest weakness?

I expect people to know certain things. If you're my friend, you should know certain things, and I won't tell you, even though I should. Sometimes relationships deteriorate around me because I only address things when I'm upset. I shouldn't assume people know what I'm thinking.


At the end of a song on American Gangster you yell out, "It's just entertainment!" What do you mean by that?

It's my way of saying, "People, stop taking it so seriously-not everything rappers say is true to life." It's entertainment, too. If you can watch a movie and see Denzel as a character, you should be able to do the same when you're listening to rappers. I know we're always saying, "Keep it real." But for the most part [he laughs}-it's not true!

The Art of Survival

Words by: Camilo Smith (Source; pg. 17; March 2008)

As record sales continue to plummet, the record industry adopts a new outlook. But is the plan viable?

O say the recording industry is hobbling is an understatement. It’s got a terminal disease that may have no cure. According to a recent New York Times article, Hip-Hop has been the most ailed. Sales continue to tumble, charting a more than 20% decline according to industry figures from 2005 to 2006. With things getting worse, record companies have had to look at different ways of doing business in the digital age.

Two possible solutions are gaining steam. On the distribution side, companies have begun to open their own digital stores and explore subscription based music services. Furthermore, the labels’s approach to contracting artists is changing into an artist’s recordings (both digital and physical), but also monies from touring, merchandise, publishing and other ventures the artist may take advantage of with assistance from the label.Traditionally, record companies have derived most of their bank from a chunk of CD sales. But with the plastic discs going out of style, other revenue streams have to open up for record labels to stay afloat. “itunes and Rhapsody is really killing them,” says Mickey “Memphitz” Wright, Jive Records’ VP of A&R. It appears that record labels are no longer sleeping on a digital future. “I say in about five to ten years CDs gonna be outta here, man.”

Wright has seen this play out with his own recent signees. Huey’s Jive debut didn’t come anywhere near his digital sales. “On ‘Pop, Lock and Drop It,’ we sold 2 million ringtones, only 300-some thousand albums.

In many ways, 360 deals act as an insurance policy for longer than a year or two, the initial investment made to promote and market the act is balanced by breaking bread on merchandising-like clothing line, or a TV show. Getting a cut of those types of ventures would have meant millions if the likes of multimedia megastar Will Smith or Mogul Jay-Z had once been signed – or would’ve signed – with this thinking. Now labels are banking on this becoming the new template.

“We’re never going to be able to sell as much music as we were ten years ago. But these artists are generating billions,” notes Aahmek Richards, formerly of Def Jam and current president of Trigger Happy Productions, a major music video producer. “Jay-Z alone – you know Rocawear, 40/40 Club, Reebok shoes – all these different opportunities actually came from him being an artist and having a successful music career. So now the labels are like , ‘Damn, we’re creating stars, but we’re not benefiting from it.”