Rap Coalition

I've just set up two new blogs through my websites. They are a blog where I'm posting ALL of my articles (in one place so there aren't 5 article archive sites with articles, just 1....and that blog is: www.rap-coalition.com And then I've set up a personal blog where I talk about life and music industry stuff (everything BUT articles I've written)...and that blog is: www.WendyDay.net Also, my new eBook dropped today and you can get it here:

By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition (www.WendyDay.com) 2.08 updated 3.11

The term “record label” stands for many different types of companies that put out music.  It can signify a conglomerate like Sony or Universal which are huge well-established multi-national corporations with offices in many countries around the world, or it can indicate a small artist-owned company with a staff of one or two, putting out their own CDs, like Killer Mike’s GrindTime Records.  Therefore, an artist who just wants to sign to a “record label,” ANY record label, is doing him or herself a real injustice unless they do the proper research and have a solid understanding of how the music business operates.

Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, we could all feel sorry for the artists who were unfairly exploited and taken advantage of.  But with all of the information available today in books, and on-line (much of which is free), it’s hard to feel sorry for folks who get jerked because they didn’t take the time to understand what they were doing before they jumped in with both feet.  Action is a wonderful thing, provided it is backed up with the proper research, planning, and understanding.  Greed and quick, uninformed decisions have never been a good thing.

Here is some of that free information of which I speak.

The Major Labels

A major label is a large company that has numerous departments that are involved in propelling an artist’s career forward.  All of the major labels are international, and all of them are publicly traded corporations-- which mean they answer to stockholders.  Companies that have stockholders, often focus on the bottom line financially because they depend on people to buy and sell their stock, therefore many of  the decisions they make are influenced by stock prices and dividend payments.

Most of these companies also have other businesses that make up the corporation, so selling CDs is just a small part of their money making operation.  Major labels are huge.  If the marketplace is an ocean, major labels are cruise ships.  They are big and heavy, carry a lot of people on board, and take a long time to stop or to make turns in the water.  Because of their size, they are relatively safe, but also because of their size it can take a lot longer to accomplish anything, like releasing a CD for an artist into the marketplace.

The major labels (that matter for urban music) are:

Warner Bros, which consists of Warner and Atlantic Records, two separate companies.  Asylum has folded into Warner.

Sony, which consists of Sony, Epic, Jive, and J Records.  Their indie distribution arm is called RED Distribution.  They are a good distributor for independent record labels who are properly financed and have some experience in the marketplace.

Universal Records, which consists of Motown, Republic, Interscope, and Island/Def Jam.  Uni’s indie distributor is called Fontana.

And the last major left is now a combined effort of EMI and Virgin.  They just had a large round of layoffs and I am closely watching to see how they restructure and resurface in the marketplace.   They've been on shay ground since 2008, and haven't really had a large amount of success in the rap marketplace since Priority was winning in the 90s.

The Mini-Majors

There is also one large independent rap distributor/label left in rap that must be mentioned.  Folks in the industry usually refer to it as “Mini Majors” because it is quite large.  The major labels don’t necessarily consider it competition, but in the past 5 to 7 years, they have made quite a bit of noise in the rap marketplace: E1, which used to be known as Koch.  They seem to offer splits that are more favorable than the major labels because they have a different business model than the major labels.  They have smaller staffs and can react in the marketplace more quickly than a major label.

Also, with the former New York Attorney General, Elliott Spitzer, coming down on the major labels for payola in the past few years, this opened up radio a bit for radio spins for independent labels.  Both TVT and Koch fell into this category, allowing them increased airplay at radio today.  TVT went bankrupt some years ago.

The Sub-Labels

A step removed from the major distributors and the large independent distributors, are the Sub-Labels.  These are the companies picked up by the major labels because they see them as closer to the streets and more effective at finding and nurturing talent.  Some of the more successful sub-labels include:

Under Def Jam:

 Ludacris’ DTP, DJ Khaled's label, etc.

Under Interscope:

Dre’s Aftermath, Eminem’s Shady Records, Bad Boy Records, Polow Tha Don’s Zone 4, Akon’s Konvict Records, etc.

Under Universal:

Steve Rifkind’s SRC, Cash Money, Young Money, etc.

Under Sony:

Jay Z's Roc Nation

Under Warner:

Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group

Hopefully, I haven’t left anyone out of my Major, Mini-Major, and Sub-Label examples (if I did, it wasn’t intentional).  Also, if they haven't released an album in the past year, I removed them from the above list, like Young Jeezy’s Corporate Thugz, and TI's Grand Hustle.

Indie Labels

The remaining record labels make up the largest portion of the businesses putting out rap CDs: independent record labels.  This includes successful labels like SwishaHouse, Thizz Nation, etc; as well as small labels like Duck tape Records out of Atlanta.  If the major labels are cruise ships, the indie labels are jet skis.  They can move quickly, dart in and out of obstacles in the water, change direction quickly, and turn around in a very small space.  Being able to react to the marketplace and change quickly to meet new demands is important.  Major labels are not able to do this.

Having said all this, just signing to any “record label” is not a smart move.  Any person with a little bit of money can press up business cards saying they are a record label.  Anyone can spend three grand to wrap a van and call themselves a record label.  If an artist is short-sighted enough to sign to someone who can’t afford to market or promote them, or someone without the proper experience to put out a CD, then what?  Recording contracts are for 5 to 7 years in length.  For some artists, that’s an entire career.  If the label can’t afford to work the record properly, it’s not as if the artist can walk away and go elsewhere.  A contract is binding.  There are a million rappers stuck in bad deals who will never see the light of day.

By Wendy Day (from www.rapcoalition.org) 5.06

This is the question I am asked most frequently-- obviously by people who don't know me, because those who do know me ask me how they can sell more records on their own, not how can they get into a slave contract and become a sharecropper. But once again, for those who don't want to do for self, I will attempt to break it down from my vantage point.

I basically see three ways to get a deal in this industry; and let me preface this by saying that I AM talking about a rap record deal with a reputable record label that has a track record and that has experienced some success in the rap music industry through selling records.  I'm NOT talking about the bogus labels that spring up daily all over the country with a business card printed last night at Kinko’s that says they are a record label.  Real legitimate record labels have a staff, they have proper financing to market and promote their releases after they record them, and they have experience and connections in the music industry with radio, retail, and promoters.  The bogus labels should be avoided at all cost until they have a proven track record, as most of them can't even do as much for an artist as the artist can do for him or herself. And I'm certainly NOT talking about the labels or pseudo distributors that already exist within the industry yet can't seem to sell more than 30,000 records, even with a talented artist. So, I see three ways to get a deal (that you'd want to have) in this industry:

1. Get put on by an established artist (but bear in mind that you may only be as successful as that artist. It's rare that someone puts you on and you blow up larger than they are). This means coming up under Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Juvenile, Jeezy, T.I., 50 Cent, Nelly, Eminem, Dr Dre, etc. With any luck, the artist who puts you on is fair and doesn't do to you what was done to him when he was coming up. 2. Create a buzz. In a perfect world, you want everyone in the industry and on the streets talking about you before you get signed. Young Buck was a perfect example of an underground artist who had a very strong buzz when he was coming up. The trick is to keep it going til you get signed and then turn it up a notch so that the whole industry is buzzing about when you're going to drop (50 Cent is a great example of someone who kept up the buzz).

3. Sell units. This is, of course, my favorite method because it proves to the labels you can sell, which reduces their risk and gives you negotiating leverage.  Therefore, you have more control over the "fairness" of your deal, and often a choice of labels to sign with. In a perfect world, you want to be with a label that not only believes in you, but has an experienced hard-working staff in every department that can really make your project happen.  And a nice bidding war never hurts… The average record deal for a new artist starts around $125,000 and 12 or 13 points (which really means 12 to 13 per cent of the retail selling price after you pay back all the expenses) for an independent label or a subsidiary label, and $300,000 and 16 points at a major label.   There are far more indie labels and sub-labels than there are major labels, so it is obviously more difficult to get signed directly to a major label.  The plus of being directly with a major label is that there is no middleman.  Dr Dre’s label Aftermath is directly with Interscope which is a major label.  Eminem’s Shady Records is signed to Aftermath which is signed to Interscope.  50 Cent is signed to Shady via Aftermath at Interscope.  That’s a lot of hands for money to pass through, even figuratively. 

Most money spent to sign and promote an artist is recoupable.  “Recoup” means paying back most of the expenses before you receive any back end payments (points are back end payments). I can count on one hand the number of rappers I know who've ever even seen a back end payment such as a royalty check.  Most rappers make money by getting advances prior to working on the next release, always in an unrecouped position of owing money to their label.

  The way to increase the figures in any deal, in favor of an artist, is for the label to realize that their risk is reduced. A label takes a risk when signing any new artist (risk meaning that the label could dump hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars into an artist's career and the artist might only sell 10,000 records, which means the label loses a lot of money), but anything that can reduce that risk is considered a plus, and rewarded.

This even applies to established artists. For example, when Snoop Dogg was shopping for his new deal after Priority five years ago, he was able to say he had Dr Dre producing for him again, he was expanding his awareness into mainstream America by appearing in a full length motion picture in 2001, and he had an autobiography out at the time in bookstores called Tha Doggfather which got great reviews. That's the way to maximize opportunity.  A more recent example would be T.I., who dropped a new CD and starred in a new movie that released in the same week.  This would backfire if the movie got bad reviews (Outkast), so it would be more of a slam dunk for an artist who had a track record of success in film already, like Mos Def, for example.

A newer artist might reduce the perceived risk for a label by having access to well known successful producers, or by bringing a hit single with a superstar producer.  This affiliation is one that the label would see as reducing their risk at radio.  Radio is overcrowded and expensive these days, so having a Jazze Pha, DJ Toomp, or Cool & Dre track goes a long way for recognition with radio.  Labels like this.

These are all proven ways to get the little "extras" in a record deal. Those extras could include more upfront money, more points on the back end, a better “stat rate,” less stuff to recoup, etc.  Upfront money is a double edge sword because upfront money is recoupable, therefore it is just more debt. You want to get upfront money for a number of reasons:

to invest in something yourself that will bring more money like a studio or real estate,

to force the label to make your project a priority by being so far in debt with them that they have to work your project hard to get their money back,

to make certain you make money from a record label that has a reputation for not paying royalties or back end money,

etc.

If you have a deal with a reputable label that seems to believe in you and you are confident that you are a priority, you may want to reduce the front end advance in favor of a larger split on the back end. With Trick-Trick’s deal at Motown, he took less money upfront in order to get 40% to 50% on the back end. Of course Trick had a slam dunk single with Eminem called “Welcome 2 Detroit” and had already shot a tight video for it.  He had a follow-up single with Jazze Pha, and starred in a movie that he knew would be in theaters in the Spring.  Most joint venture deals don’t work financially in the artist’s benefit because there is often a production company in the middle collecting the money.  In this case, Trick co-owned the production company, further reducing the risk for Motown to do business with him.

When I negotiate a deal, there are times where I secure money upfront for the artist that will be dumped back into the artist's project because I know the label won't. For example, in almost every deal I've ever negotiated with a major label, I've gotten between $25,000 and $75,000 for the artist to hire his own street team to work his project. Most of the radio driven majors don't understand the importance of building the artist on the streets first, so very often the artist has to do this for self. This fund is never recoupable. An artist shouldn't be taxed for an area where the label is weak, nor should the artist be taxed for something that falls under marketing of the record, like a street team. But in order to negotiate something like this, the artist must have something that the label deems worthy enough as leverage.  You need some kind of leverage to get a good deal.

I guess what I'm saying is that you shouldn't take just any old record deal, you should have a deal with as many extras to guarantee your success as the label gets to guarantee your profitability to them. You are taking a risk with the label as well, but they NEVER see it like that. They always only see their risk. Regardless of the level of your recording contract, you need to go into your deal with the attitude that the label is your partner (even if you never make a dime, because it is YOUR career).  If they drop the ball, you should be able to pick up the ball and run with it. They have many artists on their label, but you only have one career. Don't let yourself become the topic of an article in a magazine about "whatever happened to..."!! Bear in mind that the REAL hard work begins after you get a deal.

You set the tone with your label. If the label has 3 artists, and 2 are lazy and never show up to stuff that they set up, but one is hardworking and arrives on time for everything, guess which artist will get the best push REGARDLESS OF THEIR LEVEL OF TALENT!  Human beings work at record labels and it is human nature to work whatever causes the least resistance and least stress. If it's easier to work a Juvenile record than a Twista record then that is exactly what will happen. If it's easier to work a T.I. record than a Juvenile record then that is what will happen. It has nothing to do with the level of talent or the sound of the music. This is a business. That's why it's called the music BUSINESS.

By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition (www.Rap-Coalition.com) 3.07

Yeah, I know I’ve already written about how I see artist getting deals in this industry, but I still get over 100 calls and emails a week asking me this same damn question, so it looks like I’m going to have to write about it yet again.

Almost every artist I know wants a record deal.  There are basically three types of record labels that offer deals: 1) independent record labels, 2) major record labels, and 3) those in-between labels that consider themselves “incubators” or “independent distributors.”

An indie label is a record label that has independent distribution (meaning distribution that is NOT part of a major label pipeline).  Examples of current indie labels in rap include Swisha House (Houston), SoBe (Florida), etc.

A major record label is one of the Big 4, and they are called major labels because they have their own major distribution companies attached that have a tight lock on the industry in terms of traditional distribution (traditional distribution means CDs sold through retail stores, which is slowly reducing in importance with the rise of the internet).  The major labels include: Universal (Def Jam, Motown, Republic, Interscope, and all of the sub-labels with deals through those labels, such as Corporate Thugz (Jeezy’s label), G-Unit (50’s label), Shady (Em’s label), Slip-N-Slide, etc); Sony BMG (Sony, Jive, J Records, etc), EMI (Capitol and Virgin, which seem to have just merged); and WEA (Warner Bros, Atlantic, and all of the sub-labels such as Bad Boy, Grand Hustle (TI’s label), etc.).

An incubator, as they exist today (in my opinion, which does NOT necessary reflect the opinion of this magazine or any of its employees), seem to be a middle ground for artists and indie labels that the majors do not yet feel can compete 100%, yet have enough value for them to sign to deals.  The deals are smaller, the resources are less, and often if the artist or label experiences any success at all, they are upstreamed to the major label affiliated with the incubator.  This includes Asylum (WEA’s incubator), Fontana (Universal’s incubator), and Imperial (EMI’s incubator).  The incubators and distributors seem to attract the smaller artists and labels who can sell between 50,000 CDs and 300,000 CDs.  If the incubator feels the artist can go Gold or Platinum, they often upstream the project to the major label (the best examples of this are Paul Wall and Mike Jones, both of whom upstreamed to Atlantic and Warner Bros from Asylum). Upstreaming usually occurs at a pre-agreed upon amount of money, which benefits the incubator because it enables them to sign deals for less money when the artists have far less leverage.

An indie distributor is a self-distributed company that takes on projects because they feel they can make a profit.  Examples of rap distributors are Select-O-Hits, Navarre, RED, TVT, Koch, etc.  Although each deal is as different as the distributor, most indie distribution deals are 80/20 splits (the indie label getting the 80% while the distributor makes the 20%).  Some of the indie distributors act kind of like labels (Koch and TVT) offering small advances and offering services (for a fee or a larger percentage split, or both) to the artist or label such as radio, video, marketing, etc. 

Income from record labels and distributors depends on many things:

how much money is spent on a project that needs to be recouped (paid back)

the terms of the contract in the deal [how much of a split is supposed to be paid AFTER the CD recoups (breaks even)]

whether the label or distributor actually pays (many do not)

how many production companies and sub-labels are between the artist and the person putting out the CD (Chingy was a not-so-happy example of this—he was signed to a St Louis production company, which was signed to DTP, which was signed to Capitol Records.  So after Capitol Records recouped all of the money spent on the project, there were others making a share of the money before any trickled down to Chingy).

how many CDs actually sell, less the returns that come back to the label or distributor

So, how do you get signed to a deal at a record label whether it’s an indie, a major, or a distributor without coming through one of the sub-labels (a sub-label is G-Unit, or Shady, or Slip-N-Slide, or Grand Hustle, etc)?  First of all, you need a strong buzz, good music, and lots of leverage.  Since this is a business first and foremost, whoever signs you will have to believe they can make a lot of money by putting your project into the marketplace.  The economy in the music industry sucks right now.  Rap sales are down, in fact they are at an all-time low.  Music sales over-all are in the crapper.  At a time when free downloading of music from the internet is at high levels, the amount of good quality music and delivering what fans want, are at an all time low, as well.  This makes for a weak music economy for record labels, which translates into less risk, lower deals monetarily, and smaller budgets.

Since 1996, the way that I have personally seen artists getting signed to successful deals is through having strong leverage.  I’m not talking about just getting signed to a record deal.  That’s not enough!  I’m talking about getting signed to a deal that will come as close to a guarantee of success as possible.  If you look at the deals I have negotiated over the years, almost all of the artists have gone multi-platinum.  Just being signed to a label is not enough—many, many, many careers are killed by well-intentioned labels (and some not so well-intentioned labels, too). 

You must get signed to a label that can create phenomenal success for you, create a lasting career, and allow you to share in as large a percentage of your financial success as possible.  This takes team effort on the part of the label and the artist. 

The best way to build strong leverage is to put out your CD independently in your own region.  Once you sell about 30,000 CDs (verifiable by SoundScan) and get some radio spins, the labels will clamor to sign you.  At this point, you should have enough leverage to get a top deal with a major label that has the resources to push you to international fame and financial success.  Or, you will have enough leverage to get a wonderful split and enough money to push your own release further with an indie label or distributor that has a track record of success in doing this for other rap releases.  All labels are not created equal.  Make certain that you pair your type of music and sound with a label that can excel at that type of sound. 

Without having some leverage, finding a deal will be a huge frustration for any artist.  I have seen many artists over the years spend a grip of money at radio to get some strong BDS spins (labels begin to get excited when they see an unsigned act hit about 200 to 250 spins a week at BDS) with the intention of getting signed to a major label. [BDS is a company that measures radio play for the music industry and you can get more details of how they do it and who they are at www.rapcointelpro.com).]  The problem with artists who try to get signed through radio play is that it is not enough leverage to convince the labels to take a risk on signing the artist.  A lot of radio play does not necessarily turn into strong CD sales.  I can name MANY artists who’ve had a lot of radio play but did not sell in proportion to the amount of spins (D4L, Jim Jones, Terror Squad, David Banner, etc).  This makes labels very leery to put millions of dollars in promotion behind an artist who has only garnered radio play-- especially if that artist has hired a radio promoter to get the spins up to a high level.

The only proof of potential sales ability, is for the artist to actually get out there regionally and sell CDs.  The thinking behind this by the major labels is that if you can sell 30,000 CDs in your region yourself, with the strength of a larger label behind you with their pipeline, you will sell hundreds of thousands of CDs nationally (possibly even millions, which is the ultimate goal). 

For the artist, selling 30,000 CDs on their own through an independent distributor, like a Select-O-Hits for example, means close to $200,000 or more in income.  With income from sales, this makes you less desperate to take a bullshit deal, and it creates a financial starting point for the larger labels in signing you.  Releasing a record is hard work and has expense involved.  You will need money to market and promote the release, so this is not for everyone. 

By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition

One of the main things we lack in urban music is structure for our companies.  Sometimes it seems that those who have the money have mediocre music, and those without real funding have the best shit, but whether this is true or not, one thing everyone seems to be missing is the proper structure to run a company like a real company.

It starts with the basics of doing business.  Have a mailing address, a phone number that actually gets answered and doesn’t get shut off due to nonpayment issues.  If someone calls you, make sure you return the call in a timely fashion (more than two days is unacceptable—this is one of my biggest flaws, so I understand how difficult it is to be on point when you get upwards of 200 calls a day).  If you can’t call everybody back, have someone on your staff help you (even an intern returning calls is better than not calling people back).  If you attend an industry function or if you have meetings, have a business card with all of your information on it (name, position, company name, address, phone number, website address, email address, etc).  A business card is how people will remember you, so make it stand out and make it look good.

If you want to run a business, then you have to run the business.  When you owe someone money, pay them.  If a bill is due on the 5th of the month, pay it before the 5th so it arrives at its destination before the due date.  This seems to be the hardest thing to accomplish in this industry—getting paid when owed money.  Don’t pay by a check that might bounce, either pay by certified check or wire transfer.  If you want to be taken seriously in this industry, you have to be serious.  If you are a deadbeat, word spreads very quickly.  I consistently call out people publicly who have owed me money.  If I don’t do business with you, chances are no one else will either; what happens to your company when no one will work with you?

Make sure your company is set up properly as a corporation, so you can’t get sued personally for something that could go wrong.  If something can go wrong, it usually does.  And while you can’t plan for every mishap, you can protect yourself from the ones that are big problems.  Setting up a corporation with the proper business licenses to operate in your city or town, and paying the proper taxes on your income (city, state, and federal) are all part of operating a legitimate business.  If you don’t understand what you need to do, ask an accountant or the local office of the Small Business Administration (www.sba.org).  Your corporation must be kept in good standing every year with your state.  Find out how to do that, and do it.

Set up a bank account in your company name and pay all of your company bills from this account.  Be careful not to pay any personal things out of this account because business and personal funds should never co-mingle.  Secure agreements in writing with all artists, featured side artists, producers, consultants, and contractors that you hire to help your project or company.  Do NOT use standardized forms if you can help it because every agreement is unique.  A contract is an agreement between two people and they are rarely uniform agreements.  A contract bought off the internet for a few hundred dollars may save you some money now, but it will cost you more down the road when a disgruntled artist wants to break it (and they will, and I will help them for free).

If you have a song that may go to radio soon, set up your writer’s share and publishing company with one of the performance rights societies (www.ascap.com, www.bmi.com, or www.sesac.com), as well as the one for digital music (www.soundexchange.com).  If you are putting out your own CD, you will need to get your own bar code and possibly trademark your artists’ names and label’s name.  Nothing would suck more than to have to change your artist’s name or company name down the road (after you’ve spent all that money) because someone else across the country used it first or registered the trademark.  Pay a little bit now to do it right, or pay a lot more later to fix a problem—it’s your call.

Most importantly, do what you say you are going to do.  If you tell someone you are going to do something, do it.  If you say you’ll do it by a certain time, then that’s your deadline—do it before then.

Have a space dedicated to work.  It doesn’t have to be a fancy office, it just has to be a space where you can get work done and have some helpers come and work.  It takes a team of people to make a project succeed, no one person can do it all alone.  Even if you start with interns instead of employees, you at least have help doing the work.  Keep your work space as work oriented as possible.  Smoking blunts, playing video games, or macking ho’s has no place in an office environment, so keep it out.  Your work space is for work.  If you set the tone, others will follow.  All of the most successful companies have discipline and rules of conduct.  The most successful ones actually follow them rigidly.

Make sure everyone knows what is expected of them in your office environment.  Each job should have a written job description so each person knows their role.  And each person should play their role.  If there is a written description of what’s expected of each person, there is also a way to measure their success, or failure, in that position.  Get rid of the folks who aren’t successful at what they do, and reward the ones who are.  Having your own company entails more than just having a business card—it actually means you have to work and succeed at it.  Don’t floss unless you’ve really earned it—unless you enjoy being perceived as a clown.

Learn the things that you don’t know but need to know to succeed.  Ask others who have accomplished similar things before you, pick up a book, or hire an expereinced consultant to guide you if you can afford it.  Make sure that you are learning as you go, and don’t be afraid to ask over and over until it’s crystal clear to you.  Learn who the key players in the industry are and study the moves they’ve made and are making.  Learn why they have value to the industry.  If you study their successes and their mistakes, you won’t be doomed to repeat them.

Set the tone in your office that you are approachable, open minded, and eager to problem solve, and your staff will learn to trust you by telling you the truth.  Without knowing what’s real and true, you can’t run an effective organization.  Better to know what you are dealing with so you can react appropriately, than to be led down the wrong road costing you tons of money.

Running a company in the music business is NOTHING like running an organization on the streets or like moving weight.  This is a completely different beast, even though it often gets compared to “the game.”  It takes tremendous hustle, relationships and connections, and incredible preparation.  Those without tenacity and staying power will be weeded out quickly.  I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and can count on my fingers and toes the amount of people still in the business from when I started.  It is a difficult industry that chews people up and spits them out.  Even though there are an inordinate amount of snakes in this industry, the good thing is that people show their true colors very quickly, so it doesn’t take long to tell who the scumbags are.  Ask around—most people who’ve gotten burned are happy to share their experiences with anyone who will listen.  Just remember there are two sides to every story, so ask around to a lot of different people to get the best understanding of who’s who.

Check the references of everyone you do business with.  Just because someone tells you they can accomplish something, doesn’t mean they can or ever have before.  This is an industry that attracts idiots and people who claim to be something they are not.  Don’t get caught out there by one because they kicked good game and sounded like they knew what they were talking about.

From my Blog on 1.14.06:

I’m not used to writing like this.  Since 1992 when I started Rap Coalition, 99% of everything I write is with the emphasis of teaching folks or sharing knowledge and information about the industry.

So writing a Blog, where I get to drone on and on about whatever is important to me, without giving a thought to the reader, is very foreign to me.  Foreign, but wonderful.

I’m not used to writing shit where I don’t care if others read it or not, and more importantly, without a worry about whether the reader likes it or not.  And without explaining the “how or why” of something.  And if I can’t find a solution?  So what.  How absolutely delicious….

I’m reading this book (I read a book a week, but I don’t HAVE to explain that) called “Are You Ready To Succeed” by Srikumar Rao, and he made this excellent point about why we have no real leadership in the world today.  I can logically take what he has said and apply it to the rap industry: “There are many reasons for this unsatisfactory state of affairs.  Our competitive system rewards naked aggression.  Our consumption-oriented society equates success with the accumulation of material wealth.  Our fragmented worldview perceives leadership as something that can be learned, as a technique that can be deployed.  Leadership is a state of being, not a skill.” 

We have no leaders in rap.  The folks that seem to lead the pack, are so focused on self that the only things they are leading are sycophants and a slew of followers who have made calculated moves hoping to enhance their personal advancement through the association.  Their portrayal in today’s videos don’t encourage others to lead, they encourage viewers to focus on immediate gratification, wealth at any cost, and the degradation of self and others.

We have no leaders in rap.  We have millionaires beefing with each other over claims to be “the best” or other egotistical “he said-she said” disses.  We have stars beefing over whose contribution on CDs had more value.  Did you do it for the kudos or did you do it because you wanted your peer to succeed?  On the flip side, did you accept the help because the name opened doors for you and once the doors were opened you didn’t feel any loyalty was in order.  It all comes down to one thing: your egos are so frail that someone hurt your feelings.  By all means, seek and destroy everything in your path.  That’s justified.  Meanwhile, broke fans are saving up dollars to support your habit and feel multi-national corporations where you are merely a blip on their screens.  Micahel Jackson was a commodity.  He made a ton of corporations and businesses a lot of money.  When his earning potential decreased, who rallied to his side?  No one.  You’re next.  History repeats itself.

We have no leaders in rap.  We have boys in men’s clothing (and some still in boy’s wear) leading the charts and leading sales, but no real leaders.  We have 50 Cent building the island of misfit toys as a label, Puffy solely focused on building his empire, and Jay Z who gave up a lot to get on back in the day, seeing to it that others coming up under him give up a lot to get on (a decade later) while running the pre-eminent label for giving up to get on.  Ain’t shit changed.  Master P was the Enron of rap, only Enron lasted more than 6 years—probably because they had friends in high places.  No Limit only had pimps in high places.  When the cash cow stopped milking gold, it got slaughtered.  Hard to feel sorry for someone who never paid the artists properly.  Artists, ya know, the thing that made the company all that money in the first place along with P’s marketing genius?

When these top of the chart kings do take up a cause, it always seems to be an exaggeration of whatever the recent celebrity cause is.  While Vote Or Die was an important point to make, backing a legitimate candidate that benefits a bulk of constituents would also be important (and take more balls).  Vote Or Die was a lovely tax write-off for a grip of money spent, but what did it really accomplish when voters did not feel there was a candidate worthy of their vote?  I don’t mean to pick on Puff (although he is an easy target), at least he has done SOMETHING while others sat idly by and smoked blunts while clowning Puff making appearances on TV every few hours.

By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition 1.08

My office is red.  It’s not a Blood or a Crip thing, hell, my car is blue.  It’s just that it was planned around a red chair that I liked in a store, and the next thing I knew, most of the chairs, accessories, and stuff were red to match that first chair.

I don’t mind it at all.  It wasn’t planned to be red, but it worked out nicely since my office is so comfortable and pretty.  Rarely does not planning something out ahead of time, work out so nicely.

My office set-up did take some planning.  Once I decided on the location for it (Buckhead), I then had to make sure I could afford it every month.  Office expense is more than just rent—it’s heat, electric, cable, high speed internet, security, furnishings, and payroll for staff.  What seems like it’ll be a quick two stacks a month, turns into a monthly nut of about six stacks.  Without careful planning, one could go out of business as quickly as one goes into business.

Spending money on one’s company is the ultimate form of sacrifice.  It’s not like having kids where they hug you and tell you they love you repeatedly.  It’s like having a husband or a wife that doesn’t love you back.  Yes, I’d rather buy a new pair of shoes or a new purse than pay to have my website redesigned, but that’s just not realistic, is it?!  The website will bring money into the company while the shoes will only make me feel good for a few wears.

The hard thing about furnishing my office was that the actual chairs and such didn’t directly put money back into my pocket.  For example, flyers and web sites are expenditures that bring clients and money into my company.  A hot conference room table doesn’t bring in business, but not having one could actually cost me business.  See what I mean?  So when I planned it out, I had to consider my expenditures carefully.  I didn’t want to spend a lot of money.

I tell the labels I consult that if it doesn’t directly impact you selling CDs, skip it.  That means a $10,000 set of rims on the wrapped vehicle is unnecessary, but spending $10,000 to press the CDs is very necessary.  The artists who tell me they want to buy rims because “image is everything,” need to learn to keep their wrapped truck washed and neat while they build their image as one who grinds hard, instead of flossing wildly.  Substance matters.  The most beautiful scandalous hooker in the world is still a scandalous hooker.  She’ll just be pleasing to your eye as she makes you cry. 

Just waking up one day and deciding to get out there and grind isn’t enough.  You need to have a plan.  While hiring a music industry accountant to put together a business plan for you will cost thousands of dollars, you can put together a plan that will at least cover the basics so you know what you need.  There is NOTHING worse than having a hit record with no money to back it up with promotions and marketing.  That’s even worse than not being able to make a hit at all!

The best way to foment a plan, is to make a list of everything you want to do in order to market and promote your music.  Then call around to see what costs are involved for each.  The costs may determine which direction you decide to go.  For example, an artist who wants to blitz the entire southeast US will quickly discover that the costs involved in that will make him or her plan smaller and slower.  Rather than blitz seven southern states, it may make financial sense to start with one or two and expand slowly as the money comes back into the company from sales or performances.

You may decide that spending $10,000 to give away 2,000 T-shirts isn’t as great of an idea as spending $10,000 on 10,000 snippet CDs that you paid an established DJ to mix for you.  A t-shirt is a great way for people to learn your name, but a snippet CD is a great way for people to learn your music.  Do people buy CDs because of the name or because of the music?  That’s a no-brainer…

Getting into your wrapped van and traveling within a few hour radius of your hometown will expand your buzz beyond just your home turf, and will quickly give you an idea if people outside of your area will embrace your music.  For the more serious artists that I consult, I always pull SoundScan for the region where we are targeting to see what type of music the fans in each area embrace.  For example, in Washington, DC one can sell more copies of BloodRaw, David Banner, Young Jeezy, and MJG & 8Ball than Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, or RhymeFest.  In Philadelphia or New York, the opposite is true.

As you make the list of what tactics you want to utilize, whether it’s local BET cable ads during 106th & Park, or posters and stickers sniped everywhere in the ‘hood, it is important to consider what is legal and available in different areas.  For TMI Boyz, we were unable to buy local BET ads in our best market, McAllen, TX, because BET isn’t available in that market.  In Atlanta, GA, BloodRaw doesn’t spend a lot of time and money hanging posters or putting up stickers because they are illegal and will come right back down as soon as they are put up, with an expensive ticket to the City of Atlanta to pay as the cost of sniping.

Once you have assembled the list, and priced everything out, you will now know how realistic it is for you to begin your promotional campaign.  You may want to start your campaign around the time of year that brings large events to your area so you can reach the maximum amount of people at one time.  In New Orleans, it would make sense to hit the NBA All-Star Game at the same time as Mardi Gras, followed by the Core DJ event in March.  In early first Quarter in north Florida, it makes sense to hit Demp Week, the Gainesville Music Summit, and TJsDJs—all of which occur within about 30 days of each other.  August is probably the busiest month in rap music with the Ozone Awards, Core DJ event, TJsDJs, and numerous other conventions and events.  Of course, everyone is thinking that, so you run the risk of not standing out among the other hundred or so artists in grind mode.  Regardless, getting out on the road is the key to success.  Plan wisely.

This industry is over saturated.  There are so many rappers and producers per square inch these days that it’s hard to stand out.  What will you do to be different?  How will you stand out?  And most importantly how will you plan to pay for it all?  Without a proper plan in place on paper, you don’t stand of chance of doing anything but wasting money.

Here’s an idea of what a plan looks like (roughly):

1,000 t-shirts               $4,500

5,000 posters               $2,000

10,000 flyers               $400

Wrapped vehicle         $3,000 (plus the vehicle)

Art work                     $1,000

Website                       $250

MySpace page             $100

Travel expense            $5,000 (gas & hotels)

Mix CD (to sell)          $3,000 (DJ)

                                    $5,000 (pressing 5,000 mix CDs)

Club entry                   $1,000

Buying drinks for DJs $2,000

Snippet CDs                $5,000

So, now I know before I even get in my van to leave my house, I need a MINIMUM of $32,250 PLUS whatever I’ve mistakenly left out (like food).  Not to mention, I need to have my music mixed and mastered professionally so it sounds good enough for someone to buy, spin at a club, or play on the radio next to Kanye and Jeezy!  And if I am going out on the road, I need to make sure that my bills at home are taken care of so I don’t come home to an eviction notice or no lights.

This is why it is sooooo key to make a Plan.  It’s also important to not leave anything out—to try and anticipate all of your needs ahead of time.  It would really suck to only have $15,000 in your pocket and start down a road that might cost you $40,000.  You’d be certain to accomplish nothing more than losing your hard earned fifteen stacks.  And quickly, too.

If you are hiring someone to consult your label, make sure they give you a realistic budget (call printers and pressing plants to check prices to make certain your budget is realistic before you start spending money).  Your consultant should also tell you when the expenditures will come up, way ahead of time.  Nothing is worse than realizing on a Tuesday that you have to press up CDs in the next week or so, and having to come up with $15,000 overnight to make your deadline with the distributor or for a key event. 

Make sure you know what that person’s total consulting fee will be, especially if they are charging you monthly—that’s the oldest swindle in this game.  Five thousand dollars for the year it takes to put out your CD is actually $60,000.  You can get someone with a great track record for $60K; you don’t have to settle for the local industry wanna-be who probably can’t make it happen for you (for the record, I was a local industry wanna-be in the early 90s and both Do Or Die and Twista took a chance on me and both won.  Of course, I worked for both projects for free because I had no track record yet).  Someone who tells you it will take just a few months is either lying to you or has no clue--either way, the wrong answer.  By the way, you should NEVER give up a piece (%) of your company for someone to advise you.  There is no need to do so and you will be stuck with them forever, even if they don’t succeed with your project.

[This article is a bit outdated.  It was written over 5 years ago, but there are still some gems in it...]

  By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition 2.06

  There are a handful of ways that spring to mind for a gifted producer to make money.  First, I must say that not everyone who makes tracks is a producer.  There are beat makers and there are producers.  A producer makes music that suits a rapper’s talents.  A beat maker makes beats.  A producer is able to bring out the best in the artist on top of his or her track.  A beat maker makes beats.  A producer properly showcases a rapper with music that fits the artist’s style and image regardless of the producer’s signature sound.   A beat maker makes beats.  A producer sits in the studio with the artist to make certain he or she gives his best work to the track.  A beat maker sends the beat to the artist or label on ProTools.

  OK, having gotten that out of the way, here are some of the ways a producer can make money in the rap music business:

Sell tracks to labels and artists

Develop new artists and bring talent to a label

Production deal (difficult in this economy)

  How To Sell Your Production

  The way to sell tracks is to network with artists and label A&Rs (at conventions, at clubs, through introductions from friends, etc), and set up meetings to then play your music.  This is a "who you know" business, and either you need to have a manager who is connected who will sell your tracks for you, or you need to get yourself connected by networking directly in NY or LA (mostly NY for rap).  This is not a one time event.  You must keep your name in the mind of the A&R person, because although you may not be right for the project he or she is working today, your sound may be ideal for a project next month, next year, etc.  Your track must be in front of the A&R person on the day he or she is looking for that type of track.  If you are new to producing, find a way to build a buzz around your name to get attention.

  Make a beat CD with your best and hottest music.  Assume the A&R person won’t get past the fifth track, so put the best stuff first…. Your beat CD should have 15 to 30 second snippets of as many of your beats that fit on one CD, so the A&R person can skip through them easily and quickly.  They should already be copyrighted (http://www.copyright.gov/forms.formpai.pdf).  You can copyright a whole beat CD for $30, just keep a copies of the CD so you know which beats are on what CDs if you need to prove your beat got jacked.

  Bear in mind that the A&R person listens to tracks all day, every day.  The competition is fierce.  He or she may not know what they are looking for in terms of music or sound, but they will know it when they hear it.  It seems like everyone today is a producer, and as the price of equipment continues to fall, competition will only increase—so you have to stand out.  You will hear a lot of A&R people say they are looking for music similar to an established and successful producer, because they have learned that a Lil Jon track or a Neptune track almost guarantees radio play.  Not to worry, they are really just looking for a hot track—give it to them.  Play your best stuff first.

  Your prices need to be fair and competitive with what other producers at your level are charging.  Labels are willing to pay based on the budget available.  Major labels have bigger budgets than indie labels, and a new artist will have a smaller budget than an established artist.  A good place to start for a new producer is somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000 per track. Once you have a Platinum or Gold hit, it will be far easier for you, obviously.  But to find someone to take a chance on you with no track record is a bit harder...much like trying to get a credit card without any credit... your best bet is to get to NY, meet as many people as you can, and hustle your beats!  If you are not good at this, find someone who is.

  For a producer, being signed exclusively to a label or artist is not necessarily a good way to experience success.  Neither is being a smaller producer signed to a larger producer.  The “paying dues” process can be long, arduous, and costly in terms of credit and publishing.  Decide upfront what you are willing to give up to follow your dream, and learn from those who went before you about what is acceptable and what is not (in other words, supplying production that a famous producer receives all the credit and money for, is NEVER acceptable).  Avoid “work for hire” at all cost!  Here’s a clue: if the last producer left because he got jerked, chances are you will get jerked too, no matter HOW famous the person is you get to work for.  Quit being star struck!!

  The way a producer gets paid is half upfront and half on the backend.  For example, let’s say an A&R person calls you and says they like one of your beats and want to buy it for one of their artists.  You agree on the price of $5,000 and 3 points.  You will receive $2,500 upfront BEFORE you go into the studio, and after you sign the contract (at this point, you should already have an entertainment lawyer that you plan to utilize who will negotiate the contract for you).  Then, you will receive the other $2,500 after the song is finished (usually as the album is releasing).  That $5,000 is considered an advance against the 3 point royalty (3 points is basically 3% of the suggested retail price of a mathematical formula that divides your song against all of the songs that appear on the CD).  Never focus on the points, because there’s a very good chance the artist will never recoup and therefore the points will be worthless.  If you are doing a beat solely for the backend of points, accept the fact that you may never get a dime-- therefore I do not recommend this.

  Developing New Artists

  If your goal is to get an artist that you have discovered signed to a label (most likely because you don't know the negative realities of that if you have not read all the stuff at rapcoalition.org), here's what labels are looking for, as talent has not mattered much since the mid-90s.  Labels are in business to make money, and they will pick up ONLY what reduces their financial risk since the music business is so speculative (this explains why a gifted talent like Ras Kass sells 50,000 CDs while Master P, with no real lyrical skill, can sell 50 million CDs).  What the labels sign is based upon what the public buys, like all good businesses.  This is why it is called the music BUSINESS instead of the music art forum, or the music friendship, or the music opportunity…

  There are two huge fallacies in this biz: one is that a banging demo will get you a good deal (in the 12 years I've been in this industry, I have yet to see one artist get a real deal from a demo), and the second one is that a good connection can get you a deal.  A good connection (like a powerful attorney, or a friend at a label, or a deal broker, etc) can only match what a label is looking for with the artist.  So, if you put yourself in a position to supply what a major label is looking for, perhaps a match can be made.  Until then, there is not much anyone can do for you personally.  The bad news is that labels do not always know what they are looking for, and often can’t put it into words.  This is where SoundScan helps.

  In order to get offered a deal that is respectable, you will need to sell units regionally.  The only ways I see folks getting deals these days is either to come up under a platinum recording act, like Nelly, Eminem, 50 Cent, Jay Z, DMX, etc...or put out a record regionally and sell 30,000+ units yourselves.  Then the majors will come around and take you seriously!  If you decide to take this route, www.rapcointelpro.com probably has some helpful info for you.  This is the only way I've seen folks getting good deals for many years now, actually.  I'll explain why in a minute....

  I hear the same frustration from artists everyday regarding finding a deal.  It is next to impossible these days to get a deal without either coming through a platinum recording artist who has a deal (again, 50 Cent, Eminem, Nelly, etc); OR putting out your own record and selling units regionally on your own (again, like in excess of 30,000).  The labels are looking to reduce their risk, and since there are already so many artists selling units around the country, they have an already established pool from which to choose new artists to sign.  For example, if there is a group in Houston who are selling 75,000 CDs, an artist in Jackson, MS that has 500+ BDS radio spins and 24,000 CDs sold, and a bunch of artists in Atlanta with radio spins and sales in excess of 30,000 CDs each, why would any label sign a rapper with a great demo, when they could sign a rapper that has some radio spins, proven marketability, a fan base, and sales already underway?  Sad, but true!

  It has been this way for awhile (since the late 90s) and I don't see any signs of it changing in the near future.  Artists used to get discovered and signed by label A&R folks, but now it seems they get attention through moving units (which, by the way, gives the artist better leverage and better deals).  To keep creative control or to get a label deal for more than one artist, you will need to put out multiple albums successfully, with each one out selling the one before.  THEN the labels will allow you to retain control once you’ve proven that your success is not a fluke.

  Production Deals

  I have not seen many production deals lately.  However, this is a deal that a very successful producer with a proven track record of platinum hits does exclusively with one label for a set price.  Under that deal, the producer gets an overhead budget and brings to the label an agreed amount of artists and is paid additionally as each artist is delivered.  This is a production driven industry, and a smart label was able to control the market on producers, until it got too expensive to do this.  Also, platinum producers have become more savvy, and learned that making upwards of $100,000 to produce one track for a superstar is far more profitable than doing a deal with a major label even for ten times that amount and being tied to that one label for 5 to 7 years (far longer than the length of most rap producers’ popularity).

By, Wendy Day (www.WendyDay.com) 2.09

Over the past ten years, the price of equipment to make beats has come way down.  In addition, the ability to upload production to the internet and circulate music quickly, easily, and cheaply has made the amount of producers and beatmakers soar in the urban music industry.  And if you also factor in that EVERYONE thinks they have the perfect ear for music and knows exactly what is missing from the current music industry, you get exactly what we have today in the music industry: a glut of producers.

Producers, like rappers, have exploded onto the urban music landscape in droves.  Hundreds of thousands of artists have set up MySpace pages attempting to sell their music, influence the industry, and take their shot at fame and success.  What we have is way more producers than we need.  What this means is that the supply far outweighs the demand, driving down the income and opportunity for all producers.

Very few producers really stand out in today’s business.  The ones who do rise above the din most assuredly have platinum hits under their belts.  The majority of A and B list artists and the bulk of label executives seek out the producers who have a track record of success in delivering hit singles, and are willing to shell out bigger checks to secure the hits.  Meanwhile, there are usually between 10 and 15 songs on a CD, leaving room for the album filler to be filled by lesser known and new producers.  The prevailing attitude at labels is that maybe we’ll get lucky, and one of the $1500 to $5000 filler tracks will be the next big radio hit.  The more entrepreneurial rappers have set up production companies and signed their own production teams so that they can even claim ownership of a larger share of the music on their own releases.  Very few are willing to use producers outside of their own camp because that eats into their profit margin.

At the labels (major or indie), each artist has a recording budget.  The budgets are determined by a mathematical formula based on how many CDs the label projects the artist can sell either based on previous sales, or based on the buzz and hype of the artist.  For example, 50 Cent or T.I. will have a larger recording budget than Hurricane Chris or Alphamega because of their track record of success.  However, Hurricane Chris and AlphaMega will have a larger budget  than Roccett or PapaDuck because their buzz is bigger.

An entire album must be delivered within the confines of the recording budget.  That budget includes production, studio time, features, sample clearance, and often mixing and mastering costs.  If an artist has a recording budget of $250,000, then the album must be delivered to the label without spending more than that $250,000.  If mixing and mastering costs $15,000 and recording at a decent studio is $125 an hour, that doesn’t leave much for the production of 10 or 15 songs—especially for artists who believe in recording 25 or more songs and choosing the best 10 or 15 for the album.  If the artist wants a Jazze Pha, Jim Jonsin, Mannie Fresh, or Drumma Boy track that can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000 depending on the relationship.  It is easy to spend $100,000 or more on the production for three or four hot potential singles.  And since it seems that one out of six Americans is a producer today, finding the remainder of the album filler is quite easy.  The competition to sell tracks today is crazier than I’ve ever seen it.   Even my mailman makes beast on the side.

The best way for an aspiring producer to sell beats is to develop a relationship with the artists and the label A&Rs who buy beats.  Selling tracks is an on-going thing, because you just never know who is buying beats and when.  And because there are so many producers out here hawking beat CDs, you need to have your music in front of the decision maker at the exact moment he is buying tracks.  Easier said than done!

For a producer without access to large number of artists (meaning you don’t live in southern FL, Atlanta, or NY), and who isn’t able to make the regular rounds to the record labels (meaning you don’t live in New York City or Los Angeles either), this approach can be very difficult.  The next best thing would be to find artists in your local area and provide their sound—their production, hoping that they blow up and achieve some level of success.  That way, when they blow up, you blow up.  This worked for Beats By The Pound, Mannie Fresh, Dr Dre, and others.  Of course, it’s harder now than ever for local, regional acts to break through and secure the attention of a major label the way No Limit, Cash Money, and Death Row did back in the 90s.

Sha Money XL, who manages many producers, feels the best way to get on as a new producer is to “be the man everyone goes to for tracks in your area.  Work with every artist and build a name for yourself locally and then expand that.  Get your name out there as much as possible.  In today’s viral world that’s easier than ever!  The internet is a great tool to spread the word.  To sell beats on-line, you may need to be a little better known, but spreading the word is still key on-line for a new producer.”

Some producers have even chosen to take the loss and give up part ownership in their own music to secure a spot in a production company owned by a more established producer or artist like Jermaine Dupri, Dr Dre, Jazze Pha, CTE, etc.  The thinking is that it’s better to give up half now to build a name and reputation underneath someone else.  In my personal opinion, this doesn’t work out very well—just ask Sam Snead, Mellman, Butta, Ced Keyz, Carl-So-Lowe and the list goes on and on….

So what’s a newer producer to do?

The good thing about the glut in the marketplace is that only the truly dedicated will survive.  The folks doing this because they think it’s easy, or because they think they can make a quick buck, will give up quickly and leave.  When they see how hard it is to survive, they will move on.  Only the folks with music in their blood and souls will be able to withstand the bullshit.

Also, there are many levels of producers.  The key is to figure out where you want to fit in and go for it.  Not every producer needs to be a Dr Dre.  There are many underground producers in the ‘hood selling beats for $100 to $500, and perfectly content to be that underground go-to guy.  Fearing my article was sounding a bit pessimistic, I put in a call to the ever positive Drumma Boy for advice.  His opinion is that “this industry has always had a lot of competition making beats.  Right now is no different…just the numbers have changed.  It’s important to figure out what level you want to be on as a producer, and go for it.  Opportunities open for those who are prepared and talented.  Always have your beat CD on you.  I’ve made connection with artists at the airport.  They might not buy a beat then, but they’ll remember me.”

I asked Drumma if he was a new producer today, what he’d do to sell beats.  “It’s still all about getting to the artists.  I’d pop up at studios every night.  If I were in a smaller town, when the artist came to do a show I’d be at the club with my beat CDs.  I’d still do what I did to get on…pop up on the artists.  If Jeezy is performing, I’d be at the club pressing a CD into Jeezy’s hand-- not anyone in his entourage if I can help it, but Jeezy’s hand.  After doing this over and over again, they’ll at least know about you at some point.  They remember the tracks that bump.  Every artist wants the hot tracks.  Eventually they’ll call if your beats are hot enough.”  Thanks Drumma!

What else should a newer producer do?

It’s important to focus not just on the creative process, but also the business side.  Making hot music is necessary, but so is understanding how the business works.  The price a producer quotes for his beat is really an advance against backend royalties.  Depending on the budget, and depending on how badly the artist or label wants your track, a new producer is usually paid $1500 to $5000 by a major label, and $500 to $3000 by an indie label for a track.  The producer almost always goes into the studio with the artist to record.  This is the difference between a beat maker and a producer.   A preliminary agreement called a “producer dec” is usually circulated, prior to recording, between the lawyer for the artist or label and the producer’s lawyer (yes, you have an experienced entertainment lawyer who is well versed in production agreements on your team). 

A producer gets paid half of the advance upfront BEFORE GOING INTO THE STUDIO TO RECORD, and half after delivering the track (that second half is usually paid when the album is released, if it’s a major label).  The “backend” royalty is whatever you agreed to accept while negotiating, usually somewhere between 2 points and 5 points (3 points is average).  Those points come out of the artist’s share, and artists rarely recoup.  That means there isn’t always a backend, but be sure to negotiate it just in case there is.  If you don’t understand what points are, there’s an excellent explanation in Donald Passman’s “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Music Industry.”  At the very least, read that chapter on points and royalties in your local Barnes and Noble store.  Also, attending Sha Money’s producer conference, One Stop Shop, in April in Phoenix is money well spent--it’s the best convention of all of the ones that I attend each year!!

And if you remember nothing else about this article, remember this: keep 100% of your publishing on ANY track you create.  If you choose to sample, monies will be withheld from your backend and from your publishing to pay for the sample.  That is why more experienced producers rarely sample anymore.  Avoid any and all agreements that ask you to sell your beats as “work for hire.”  They are fuck boy contracts.

 By, Wendy Day 8.06

Attending conferences and seminars is a great way to build a career in the music industry or to promote an artist to industry insiders and industry wanna-bes.  Industry functions are a great way to learn, network, promote, and meet other people.  It’s also a wonderful way to see who’s who.  Over the phone, any radio promoter or street team person can tell you they are the shit, but seeing how others interact with them and who they know and how they do their jobs is priceless.

Most artists who are coming into this industry have weak teams.  This is due mostly to the fact that when you are brand new or up and coming, it’s hard to attract the top level people to help build a career.  To drive my point even further, in the past 15 years I have been in this business, I can count on one hand the number of artists that have had worthy teams behind them (the reality is: who an artist has representing them is a huge reflection on how that artist handles business and the level of success he or she achieves).  An industry-savvy team, with some knowledge of how the industry works (real knowledge, not perceived knowledge), with good networking skills can balance out a host of negative qualities. 

The best way to prepare for an industry event, convention, or seminar is to get an advanced copy of the schedule of events.  This can usually be found on the event’s website, or by calling ahead and asking for it.  A smart person has already registered in advance for the event, which often includes an automatic receipt of the information and schedule.  Look over this information before even leaving for the event.  Know which panels and performances you want to attend. 

If you already have some experience and connections in the industry, call around and see who else you know will be going there.  Then, you can set up meetings ahead of time to reconnect with people you know, or people who are crucial to moving your career, or your artist’s career, forward.  Make sure you attend as many educational events as you can--that’s where the real movers and shakers are.  Coming up, that’s how I met Puffy.  I happened to be sitting next to him in the audience at a panel at the New Music Seminar.  We were both relatively new (he was an intern at a record label back then) to the industry and shared information. 

If you are attending the event with more than one person, and there are simultaneous events happening at the same time, you can each attend separate events so you can share knowledge and meet the most people.  Ask everyone you meet for a business card, and make sure you have one to give to them (Kinko’s is the cheapest place to print up B&W business cards if you don’t have a budget). 

You can jot a note on the back of each card you receive to remind you who they are and what they do.  So if you meet Blue Williams from Family Tree, for example, you might jot down on the back of his card: “tall, bald guy manages Nas and Nick Cannon.”  When you get home, you have a better chance of remembering who and what Family Tree is.  After you meet hundreds of people, it’s hard to recall who’s who without these little triggers for your memory.

At each event you attend, break out of your comfort zone and sit or stand next to people you don’t know.  Be outgoing and introduce yourself to people.  Meet the folks that everyone else seems to know, and the person to your left and to your right.  Everyone is shy, everyone is afraid of being rejected, but if you want to succeed, this is what you need to do.  This is a “who you know” business, and if meeting people scares you, you need to be working at another job where you don’t need to interact with others.

If meeting the speakers or the panelists is your goal, bear in mind that this is the same goal as hundreds of others.  They will not remember you, even if they just met you on the elevator yesterday.  Keep reminding them of who you are and where they met you, if being remembered is important to you.  For example, I meet hundreds of people each week.  If you walk up to me and say you met me ten years ago when I spoke on a panel, I won’t remember you or the demo you gave me.  Best to reintroduce yourself and update me on what you’ve been up to or what you feel I can do for you.

When you step up to the panelists, either right after the panel or elsewhere at the event, don’t take up a lot of their time.  They are there to be accessible to everyone, not just you.  If you don’t have that little voice in your head that tells you when to walk away, a good rule of thumb is to never take up more than 3 minutes unless they are speaking to you as much as you are speaking to them.  Someone nodding while you are running your mouth a mile a minute is politeness, not them being engrossed in what you are saying.  If they are engrossed, the conversation will be more of a give and take with them asking questions and interjecting ideas and thoughts.  Get their card, move on, and follow up later.  You only get one chance to make a first impression—make it a good one.

OK, I know it’s hard to get executives (or anyone who is actually doing something) to call you back.  I used to pride myself on returning EVERY call and email.  That stopped about 7 years ago.  It’s impossible for me to call everyone back and respond to every email (although I do try).  It’s impossible!  I get over 300 calls a day, and close to 150 emails (Saturday and Sunday are a bit slower, but not by much).  And I consider myself VERY accessible.  If you think you will call Chris Lighty at Violator or Jermaine Dupri at Virgin, and get a call returned immediately, you are nuts (or you are a platinum recording artist and they actually might call you back).  Everyone has a business to run, and experience has told the executives that 99% of the calls they get are a waste of time.  They are from people who: 1) didn’t do their research and are asking questions they could have found out elsewhere by doing some reading, or 2) they are asking for something that the executive can’t do for them anyway, or 3) they won’t be in the business by next week anyway because they thought it was easier than it really is.

If you want to catch the attention of someone who is relatively well known, or successful at what they do, you may need to have some level of success, even if it’s minimal.  When you meet people at an event, tell them what you’ve accomplished.  If I meet 50 people with names I do not recognize, but one person is someone I’ve read about or heard about, that person is getting my attention first.  Because they have built something already, they have a better chance of catching my eye (and ear).  This goes ditto for phone calls, and if I have time leftover at the end of the day, I call back as many people as I can—but the names I recognize get called back first.  Also, do the research…if you are a new artist looking for a manager, for example, don’t stalk managers who never take on new artists as clients.  You get one chance to waste people’s times.

In this industry, we all remember the people who have lost us money, made us money, or wasted our time.  If you have to be one of those three, be the one to make us money.  But don’t be angry when you call us out of the blue with a “million dollar” idea and you don’t get a return call.  Chances are good we are already working on our own million dollar ideas.  Better to build your idea and call us when there is a buzz on it and we feel we can just apply our connections to help you.  I find most people in this industry are helpful and will share their connections and contacts, but only when you are ready for that (ready in our opinion, not yours).

If you are handing your demo to people, make sure it has your name, phone number, email, website address, and myspace page clearly on the CD label.  At the very least, this should be in Black ink, but with the ease of CD label printing today (Office Max, Kinko’s, etc), there is no reason your CD should not have a nice label printed for it--the presentation represents you.  A smart artist would also get the person’s card and send another demo in the mail in a few weeks.  Last week, I went to the Tampa Music Conference.  I received over 200 demo CDs.  I had to buy an additional suitcase just to get them home.  The airline lost my bag, losing every CD I received.  Regardless, even if I got them all home, how long do you suppose it would take me to listen to all of those CDs, with me working 20 hour days, 7 days a week on my own projects?  I don’t critique music or demo CDs, nor am I qualified to give feedback, so why am I even listening to them?  The only way to catch my attention is to build a buzz in your area and stand out (selling 30,000+ CDs regionally according to SoundScan is the ultimate way to catch my attention).  I will have already called you to find out who you are and what you have going on.  If I can help you, I will—you don’t even have to ask.

If you are giving packages to label reps at an event, you need to stand out in their minds as well.  If they are going to sign you (although I do not know of any artist who really got signed from a demo), they need to be able to rationalize the signing to their bosses.  The best way to get a deal is with leverage, some regional sales, and some radio spins.  This reduces the label’s risk.  For a major label to put out your record, they will spend close to $2 million (total) on everything.  That means you saying “I’m the most talented and I know it,” is not good reasoning to them.  But having a buzz and a track record and a few thousand fans already in place (or 30,000) IS good reasoning.  Learn the business.  Learn why and how artists get signed.  Learn which labels are good and which ones suck.  This way you won’t look stupid when you step to them and give them reasons why you’d be a good risk for them.  Just wanting a record deal does not make you worthy.

By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition 3.07

Whether you need a manager to help you with your career or whether you want to be one, you need to read this.  A good manager can enhance and help the career of an artist or a producer.  But an ineffective manager can ruin an artist’s career.  People don’t go out of their way to hire someone to destroy them, but they do inadvertently choose folks who are inexperienced, not properly connected, and who possess no experience in management.  I see this everyday.  If we had better managers in urban music, there would be no need for Rap Coalition, and we’d have rappers with longevity like Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, and Madonna.

When artists call me and ask me to refer managers, I cringe.  I can think of only a few people that I would personally hire if I wanted to be a successful artist in this business, and they are too busy right now to be effective for anyone other than the artists they already manage.  How can I refer artists to someone that I’d never hire in a million years (I don’t), or how can I refer a few folks worthy of referrals, but whom I know are too busy to even find the time to return phone calls (again, I wouldn’t).  So I rarely refer managers.  This is a problem.

A manager is supposed to be the liaison between the artist and the record label.  They are the person responsible for relaying the artists’ concerns and fears to the label.  They are also responsible for offering constructive ways to fix problems.  On the flip side, they are also the ones responsible for getting the artist to do what he or she needs to do, often a difficult task.  Good communication skills, relationships, experience, and being organized are key for the person entrusted with this life-changing position.  An artist who hires a friend is an idiot.  An artist who hires a relative to manage his or her career is an idiot.  While they may be trustworthy (we hope) and hungry (ambitious), they are not experienced or connected enough most of the time to do an even basic job of managing a career.

A manager is also responsible for obtaining opportunities for the artist to make money outside of the record deal (endorsements, touring, acting, etc).  So few managers in urban music are good at this, therefore we now have a spate of companies setting up solely to do deals between urban artists and corporate America (myself included).  If we had better and more skilled managers out here, these cottage industries would not be popping up all over to accomplish what an experienced manager should be able to do on their own (by the way, the manager usually still gets a percentage of that income even if someone else brings it to the table).

I recently looked in depth at the careers of three multi-platinum artists in rap (we only have 5 to 10 of these a year anyway) and see mismanagement, friends and family running wanna-be empires, and a lack of business skills as basic as returning phone calls.  I see this industry in very basic terms: there are mis-managers who sit back and answer the phone (sometimes) and choose opportunities to bring to the artist from what is offered, and then there are effective managers who not only choose from the offers that come in everyday, but are also visionary enough to figure out what the artist wants to be doing, and goes and gets it for them.  The three superstars whose careers I am currently analyzing have hired their friends (in one case, cousin) who “came up” with them to manage them.  All three of them are terribly mis-managed. 

One artist tried to do something about it, hired a second inept manager to come on board to help the first idiot, and now has a power struggle going on within his camp for control of his career.  It doesn’t matter who wins the power struggle, the artist loses either way--they BOTH suck!  His career as a star will be fading VERY soon because the artist never learned the importance of hiring a good, efficient, connected manager.  The resulting power struggle (predictable) is now forcing away many of the good people within the camp who could have been helpful in the artist’s career.  He has changed managers three times in the past 6 months, a bad sign for anyone trying to do business.  I imagine he’ll be a “Behind The Scenes” story of a faded star in a minute, or a made-for-TV movie of the week of what could have been…

I, personally, think managing artists sucks.  It’s a thankless babysitting job for the most part, and unless you happen to get to work with a Platinum superstar, there is not enough money involved in management for most folks to eat well.  So many managers who could have been great, leave to start their own labels (where the REAL money is) or leave the music industry to get better paying jobs elsewhere.  Some who work under the big management companies like Violator, The Firm, etc, leave to start their own management companies long before they have the proper connections and experience in place to do so, because they grow weary of working hard for little pay under others.  They don’t realize the financial realities of the music business, and often jump into a worse situation.

My biggest concern, and the reason I am even writing this, is that management consists of shaping, developing, and controlling artist’s careers--their LIVES.  If a manager fucks that up, they are fucking up another human being’s life.  Most don’t look at that, they look at their own thirst for money.  A manager, by contract, is supposed to have the artists’ best interests at heart.  How many do you suppose can forego a benefit for themselves to benefit their client?  Precious few.

I did a deal for an incredible artist at a major label.  I kept telling him he needs a good manager to help shape his career.  Six months into his first release, he STILL didn’t have one.  He is afraid of choosing the “wrong” one (he got burned 5 years ago by a real scumbag touting lies of managing superstars--I would have had his ass thrown in jail for fraud, personally) so he has chosen none.  He’s on his third release and still has no real representation.  His career is suffering for it.  I think that is a horrible mistake: the artist should NEVER be the bad guy at the label, it alienates the label staff--but the manager can be.  They may hate the manager, but if they love the artist they will still work just as hard for him or her.    If they hate the artist, his or her career is over.  Politics reign supreme at record labels, and the staff works projects that are slam dunks, or projects they like…regardless of who the priority is at the label.

So how does an artist choose a good manager in this day and age where there are so many snakes, and so many inept managers with promising business cards?  The best suggestion I can make is to look at the careers of other artists you admire--whose careers you admire, not music, and seek out that person.  Is that artist getting opportunities that are usually afforded only to superstars, but isn’t selling as many units to do so?  Is the artist getting a lot of awareness outside of what the label does for him or her?  Do they seem to have a stream of income to fall back on besides being beholden to the label.  Research, research, and then more research.  Make certain that if you meet with a manager that they really did everything they say they have.  Look for a manager who has great relationships with booking agents, entertainment attorneys, corporate America (for sponsorship of tours and endorsement opportunities), access to label presidents and A&R staff but who does not have a deal at any given label unless you don’t mind being put through their deal, and even film agents if you want to go that direction with your career.  Follow up, ask questions, get references… after all, you only have one career, and a bad manager can end it prematurely for you.

Things to watch out for:

a manager with a loyalty to any one label

a manager who collects your money (they should NEVER touch your money, a business manager or accountant does that job)

a manager who works at a label especially if it is your label, or a manager who owns a label and wants to manage you AND sign you to his label (this is called double dipping and is a breach of fiduciary duty).

artists he or she has managed before but no longer does (ask the artists why they left)

managers who promise to book you shows (that is NOT their job)

managers who ask for more than 15% or 20% (max) of your entertainment income

managers who want to sign you to 7+ year deals (watch out for those contract terms called “options” that extend the life of the contract automatically)

a manager who wants to take or buy your publishing from you