Enjoy Hip-Hop Responsibly

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…it was how can I get on.

I was just thinking the other day about how things were when XM Satellite Radio agreed to bring Sphere of Hip-Hop onto the air. After reading through some early emails from around then (I was cleaning an email folder for the show) I noticed a disturbing trend of emails not saying “Congrats” or anything like that but “How can I get my radio show on XM?”

Seriously? Then I remember how annoyed I was and remembered the culture of vultures in our scene. Everyone cries about unity but when the time comes to unify behind something potentially great… it’s not “how can I help” or “how can I support” or even “how can I pray” it was… “How can I get on.”

Through the grapevine I’ve heard the skinny about how cats are talking about what we did with the show. “Oh, he won’t play so and so for such and so reason.” Really? Did it ever occur to you to ask me why? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I never received their music for play? It’s far easier to jump to conclusions isn’t it? It’s too bad because that type of stuff is what is really wrong with our scene. What happened to going to the source and seeing what’s up? It’s a lost art or something.

What is annoying about this is the lengths at which I’ve tried to include everyone over the last few years in things I’ve been doing namely this radio show. Emails don’t receive responses and phone calls go unreturned. If you know me personally, I don’t like to chase after people… especially if I am going to do work they should be doing on their own already.

If you do this… don’t do it anymore. Golden opportunities are missed all the time because folks aren’t willing to swallow their pride to jump on board with what God is doing with someone else. Think about it.

Music sales are in a sharp decline. Labels and artists are fading away. Quickly. It’s a shame because there are some very good people being hurt by music piracy.

Reasoning with the folks that do it is usually a dead end. Most know that it’s not lawful but don’t care because they just want to “preview” the music that they full well won’t spend a dime on. That’s the rationalization of it all for many. Of course there is a small minority that just take for the sake of taking without caring one bit about the impact.

You wouldn’t jack a CD off of a stores shelf but you will download an album from a “protected” website? Doesn’t the “protected” and “under ground” nature of most of it give you an idea as to whether the practice is right to be doing?

I love the art. The delivery of it is somewhat flawed but to absolutely devalue it because you can’t physically touch it is ludicrous. The practice of illegal downloading hurts REAL people. Most sensible people wouldn’t want to see their favorite artists quit doing music (most in pure disgust because of the rampant theft of their music) would they? What about that hard working guy or gal who is helping that artist be able to concentrate on music? Put yourself in their shoes.

My suggestions…

Record labels - be forward thinking and creative in how you present your music/product to consumers. I know the current climate is tough and it makes you nervous but engage people. Most people when given the choice to do right will choose right and purchase your music. Position yourselves with EASY ways for people to have access to information and previews. Have good products. Good music will sell itself and will flourish if you promote it well enough to media/radio etc.

Artists -ditto.

Fans - Support the music. Yeah, $17.98 was a lot for a CD wasn’t it? Well, buy the record before it drops and you’ll usually get some free bonus stuff AND save a few bucks. Plus you can’t beat what it does for the release… more sales usually mean more media / radio attention. Your few bucks of support can have far reaching effects. Consider it the exact opposite of music theft (which does hurt in tangible ways) where you can give a favorite artist a boost.

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Sound off in the comments and read Part 1

“You are right, I did mess up. I am sorry”

One of the hardest things to do is to admit fault. I know personally it’s difficult to not become defensive and thus make excuses.

What happens next is what matters.

I love this ad campaign. It’s been very funny especially the hot breakfast bar one with the plate of bacon. Creating marketing that truly sticks is tough but Holiday Inn has pulled it off nicely. It got the wheels turning in my head for sure!

This one is a new ad apparently. I have yet to see it air on TV. Check it out and sound off in the comments.

Today I received a package with CDs inside for review. Every day is about the same, I get anywhere from 1-5 review packages. This one was “special” however because I had to PAY to receive it! What?!?!

POSTAGE DUE

Don’t ever ever send anyone you want support from a package without the proper and correct postage on it. I am an understanding a forgiving guy when it comes to stuff but this one made me upset. Seriously.

Don’t be like this guy.

The other day I received a coverage solicitation. Names have been removed.

Hello my name is [removed] and i am the Music Manger of [removed] and [removed] please review the intro. bio of both artist and also go to there page and listen to there music at myspace.com/ [removed]  myspace.com/ [removed] can call me direct or email me [removed] cell number is [removed]

I’m no English Major myself but… this is my first impression of you! You’re a “Manger”? Spell check homey! I’m not trying to pick on folks but you’ve got to do a better job at presenting yourself. This is the stuff that people at magazines laugh about during break times. We get stuff like this all the time. It’s not only a waste of my time but yours too.

When you put yourself out there on your own or someone elses behalf, are you sloppy? Professional? Consider stuff like that before you hit “send mail” or before you seal up that mail package.

This entry is inspired by various emails I’ve read in the past 2 weeks from artists/labels in our scene and also in the mainstream.

Can it be hit single… if nobody has ever heard it, it hasn’t charted and you haven’t mailed it to radio?

Can it be a classic record… if you’ve mailed it to only a few niche websites without a trusted history? Or sites that call everything “classic” in the loosest sense possible?

Can an artist be a superstar… if I asked 100 avid fans of the genre and only a handful have even heard of you much less experienced your music?

A problem here is of outlandish claims and at times 100% dishonest marketing. It happens all the time in our scene and in the music industry in general. Telling such fibs to your fans is one thing, believing them yourself is the most dangerous part of the fib. Believing your own hype creates complacency, laziness and poor stewardship tendencies. A potential fan is going to be turned off pretty quickly and dismiss it as over-hyped. It’s too common and needs to change.

Let radio chart positions tell the story for you. Let a very broad base media decide if your record is worthy of the labeling “classic”. Let the masses decide if you’re a “superstar”. It’s better that way anyways. It’s not of your own doing and will have some beneficial lasting power (the “superstar” thing being whatever).

Besides, if you need to tell people you are something… you probably aren’t.

You know the type… the artist that has only one ambition… to promote his/her music and that’s about it. It comes before caring for others in various forum communities and also at the true expense of effectively promoting their music. People are quick to dismiss or otherwise ignore such a face time strategy. I know better, I learned it the hard way many many years ago.

As a person who wants to see more folks succeed, it bums me out when I see artists posting stuff up on every forum on the planet while ignoring the better opportunities available to them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because it’s:

• Easy
• Cheap
• Seems like a good idea
• Others do it
• Short term it works

I don’t really know how to help fix the issue. When I see it happening and have a relationship with the person doing it, I try to step in and give some loving advice.

When I started to look at the bigger picture I learned that it might be okay for now but the truth was that I was marginalizing what I was trying to share with the world. You become “that guy” who just posts his messages and doesn’t actually interact with anyone. While I do still make the rounds, I do my best to be a genuine participant in each community. Making friends and building relationships… maybe that’s what is worthwhile after all. Think about it.

Most people who are into music (and various other goods) are well intentioned people when it comes to consuming it. You’ve got others who find no wrong in ’sharing’ this music with others… without permission to do so and often very much against the wishes of those who created it. Why?

I’ll detail a few reasons I’ve done some thinking on…

It’s easy to steal - If something is easy to do and seems to also be a ’social norm’ then it becomes like a white lie. If it doesn’t really hurt someone, it’s not so bad right? Besides, if you’re not being caught and there are no felt penalties… it’s easy to become complacent in feeling okay about it. The trouble is that if you apply the same thinking to other things, the same person wouldn’t do it.

It’s free - There is no cost to it. The common rationale is that “I’ll try it and if I like it, I’ll buy it.” Really? It makes one wonder what the follow through rate on such justification.

This also points to a weakness in the promotional department for many artists/labels. Are you offering previews? How about a free song or two? One would assume that simply offering the chance to preview the tunes would discourage a certain amount of piracy and even sell more music in legitimate fashion.

It’s just a few bucks - Well, sort of. You can find a plethora of spots selling pirated music that pay ZERO royalties to those they sell music of. You know, full albums for a dollar or unlimited songs for like 7 cents each. Most based out of an Eastern European nation or even Russia. If it’s too good to be true — it is. Plus knowing these unscrupulous types, you’ll also end up with some bonus “junk” on your computer.

I can’t afford it - Try that at the grocery store, or the car dealership, or at the video rental store… just because it’s downloadable, doesn’t mean you can take it. Again, rationalization downplaying what the act does is dangerous.

It’s out of print or I can’t find it for sale - Most of the time this is a legitimate excuse. Sometimes it’s simply laziness. Especially in our niche of the hip-hop scene, it’s not too hard to find a copy at an online store such as Sphere of Hip-Hop. Sometimes an email to a retailer like Sphere will shed details on the products availability.

I can speak for Sphere in saying, we stock deeply and make every effort to keep pushing older titles. Why? Because if we’re selling… you’re finding past releases AND the artist is usually encouraged to keep the title available… because it sells! This is really where the piracy bug hurts. Sales are down and there is no disputing it. Those albums that are years old may now not be worth printing more copies because of the pace of sale. I know from experience that I think twice when it comes to spending $2,000 on printing another run of CDs that will take years to break even on AND have more boxes taking up space. Consider this from the perspective of an artist or record label and now you’ve got some insight into why albums go “out of print”.

I’ll drop a second installment soon with some ideas and suggestions. Enjoy your hip-hop responsibly.