"Broke" Documentary Trailer

What does it take to "break" a music artist? How much does it cost? What sacrifices must be made? What is success in the new music business?

Broke examines the above issues and many more as they relate to recording artists and the transitioning music industry.

Sylvia Robinson Discussed - The Sidebar 17: Dan Charnas and The Many Lives of Sylvia Robinson

Sylvia Robinson, founder of Sugarhill Records. Photo: SoulSides.com

Dan Charnas, the author of The Big Payback discusses the life and evolution of singer/writer/producer Sylvia Robinson.

Solid and insightful interview!

Listen to the Soul-Sides.com interview...

In spite of the rumor and innuendo that surround Sylvia Robinson's legacy I encourage anyone who learns about her to study and embrace her PERSEVERANCE. Her life is an example of a person who continued to move forward in life, finding the many things she was put on earth to do. This interview exemplifies this point.

I don't excuse or justify any (commonly discussed) questionable business practices(that's another discussion), but I don't think those negate the drive, determination and focus it took to accomplish her degree of success as not only a woman, but a black woman during the 60s and 70s. ~ Martin Cameron Smith

Producer 9th Wonder Talks the Jamla Label & Being Indie

9th Wonder speaks with Hip Hop Wired about what it takes to run his Jamla label and why everyone isn't meant to be a part of his "program".

Ethiopia Habtemariam Named Sr. VP of Motown Records

Universal Music Group announced this week the appointment of Ethiopia Habtemariam as Senior Vice President of Motown Records.

Read more...

via billboard

Citigroup Puts EMI Music Up for Auction

Everyone had an idea that Citigroup would want to unload EMI.

This is the second major label to be on the market within the last six months, signaling to those interested - if you want to buy the time is now while the price is low(and the maintenance high).

EMI is the parent company to Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood, EMI Records, Virgin Records and Blue Note.

Read more...

via latimes

Video: Beat Society @ Tammany Hall - February 12th, 2011

If you weren't present to witness the return of Beat Society in NYC in February, this vid will give you an idea of the energy that went down that night.

Don Cannon, Khrysis, !llmind, Nottz, Buckwild, DJ Revolution, DJ Evil Dee(cool dude) and others played beats for the crowd and showed how they rock records and crowds.

Viz Ink presents: A Sit Down with Producer Bink

Music producer Bink(Jay-Z, Lost Boyz, Blackstreet, etc.) recently visited Old Dominion University and spoke with a class of aspiring engineers, songwriters and producers about the music industry.

Viz Ink was there as he encouraged the students to master music, sharpen their talents and beware of shady individuals in the music business.

Live Nation Interested in Buying Warner Bros.

In a move that has surprised everyone from the music industry to the banking industry, Live Nation Entertainment made an offer to the Warner Bros Music Group for their recorded music operations.

At a time when labels are changing ownership, this is less of a surprise to some - EMI/Capitol records is now owned by Citigroup after the company defaulted on its loan of $4.2 billion.

Unlike the Citigroup deal, two things make this deal different:

 1. Live Nation already controls the promotion of music industry artists concerts - they bought Ticketmaster and now control the venues as well as the ticket sales. 

 2. Music manager Irving Azoff of Live Nation has experience running major record labels - MCA and Giant records are two successful labels he has run. During his time with MCA during the 90's the label enjoyed enormous success with Urban, Pop and Country artists.

 This means they would not only own it, but they would know what to do with it and in the process, dominate the recorded music and live performance sides of the music industry.

After the Live Nation/Ticketmaster deal, is there enough cash in their reserves to do the Warner deal? Is there too much debt at Live Nation? Will federal regulators see this as the creation of a monopoly?

Read more in the Company Town article...

DEMOS: An Independent Artist's Guide To Success(Trailer)

DEMOS: An Independent Artists Guide To Success is a documentary coming in the summer of 2011.

The film was created to inspire and educate artists who aspire to pursue a career in the music industry. The film is Executive Produced by Kevin Nottingham and Kareem Fort.

The film will answer questions like:

• How do I stand out from all of the other artists?
• Should I put out a mixtape or an album?
• What is a brand and how do I build one?

You'll hear from industry insiders, artists and power brokers, like Michelle McDevitt of Audible Treats, Talib Kweli, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Statik Selektah, Da Beatminerz and many others.

They will explain how the business has changed and how you must adapt to compete for attention.

Head over to the website to learn more...

Editor's note: If you plan on being in the entertainment business, make sure your talent is at a professional level. If not...develop it and improve.

Word.

Concert Revenue Beginning to Slide

via wsj

In the past if a performing artist wasn't seeing much income they could always rely on making money from their live shows. With the advent of the 360 Deal(or Multiple Rights Deal) and the decrease in ticket buying for major concerts artists are going to have to find another revenue stream.

Although earnings from concerts have gone up in recent years, it was due to an increase in ticket prices, not sales(same number of sales at a higher price).

The fall in revenue appears to be attributed to higher ticket prices reaching a wall. Fans aren't having it. They're staying home instead of attending concerts with inflated ticket prices.

Read more...

REWIND: Malcolm McLaren & The Supreme Team - "World's Famous"

Another Malcolm McLaren classic from 1983's Duck Rock album.

It's important to remember, this album did a lot for Hip Hop and Hip Hop did a lot for Malcolm McLaren as well.

His embracing of NYC Hip Hop culture at the time is akin to Paul Simon's mid to late 80's South African musical recordings and releases... each producer needed the new musical inspiration enough to travel to it, not vice versa(McLaren also did African influenced recordings years earlier than Simon).

Yes both musics benefited from the exposure, but, the primary credit, again, goes back to the musical culture... not the vehicle.

A great musical pairing.

Dame Dash Addresses Beanie's Comments

I actually believe what he's saying. He could have come out of his mouth with a lot more than that "love talk", but, he didn't.

Perhaps he messed up the money, but, that doesn't make him a troublemaker. That's an entirely different M.O.(modus operandi -method of operating).

Read more about what Dame has been up to...his new art gallery, studios, magazine and website...