Long Term Investments Part 2 of 3

Long term investments

I’m sitting here watching this Warren Buffet and Bill Gates town hall meeting on CNBC. The show was done before business students of Columbia University so, as you can imagine, they were hanging onto every one of these guys’ words. As a matter of fact, every question that they answered was accompanied by an auditorium of claps. My first thought was that it was pretty ridiculous, but then I started to think about the time that I saw Russell Simmons speak at Clark. I was doing pretty much the same thing. Besides, Buffet and Gates were spitting knowledge, Mr Buffet in particular.

For those that don’t know, in early November Warren Buffet purchased Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad company for $34 billion…yep, billion. He was asked about it by a student, and his answer was somewhat surprising. Not to quote him exactly because I can’t, but he basically said that he bought the railroad based on what he believes would happen 10, 20, and 50 years from now. I thought, “Wow  A $34 billion investment based on a theory beginning 10 years from now.” That’s a long-term investment for that ass.

I cut off the television, and began thinking about the plight of an independent hip hop artist such as myself, and how what I just heard could help me. See, I’ve always thought of myself as a long-term thinker, especially when it came to my career; however, like many, if not all, independent artists who use their own resources, I’ve often found myself dumbing down plans based on what’s available, which in turn, usually change my long-term strategies. I don’t want to get into examples because I don’t want my ideas just out there in cyber space, but I’ve probably canceled, pushed back, or stripped down approximately 20 planned projects over the last 10 years. Would Warren Buffet and Bill Gates do that?

Another thing they talked about was how this is the perfect time to get ahead, which basically meant, the economy is slow – so prices are low. I believe Mr Buffet said, “If you wait to see a robin, you’re too late because it’s Spring already.” Relating this to the me as an “indie” artist, I started to think about all of the shows that got canceled, postponed, or passed on  because of money. Or better yet, all of the CD’s that weren’t given to people at my show because I had to sell a certain amount, and they spent all of their dough on the show and drinks. How many fans could I have created off simple acts of giving someone a CD or by playing a show for a pay cut?

The dilemma: When should the independent artist choose short-term results over long-term goals?

The solution: Never…if it sacrifices those long-term goals. We are at a point in music when the general public’s want for something new has intersected with mainstream music’s inability to consistently meet those expectations. Adding to this, the average person cannot purchase music at the rate that they used to and the introduction of technology allows one to get information to people at an accelerated rate for little or no cost. This spells one thing, O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y  Let’s get it.

Water From Turnips out March 2010

Quanstar- When My Bank Comes In feat Juice The Emissary

My first national tour Part 1 of 3

My first national tour

First off, let me apologize for the late release of this month’s article. I’ve been having the hardest time deciding what this issue was going to about. My first thought was to do it on how to book shows, then it was on getting press, then it was going to be about promotions; however, I decided against these because every one of the 12 million music industry books out there can tell you how to do any or all of these things. The purpose of Indie Hip Hop 101 is to give insight past the surface issues. So I mulled over it for a few weeks, but still came up with a blank. And then I talked to a young aspiring emcee who will remain nameless, and got slapped right in the face with it.

This cat was asking me about how I put together all of these tours with no money or radio play. So I told him a little of how I go about doing what I do. Even though I was putting in an effort to be careful not to overload or discourage him, I could tell by his facial expression that I was failing miserably. I pressed on though, because he needed to hear it. Then the youngster slides out, “How do you make your money?” I laughed and replied, “Very carefully.” In truth, that’s when the light bulb went on in my head.

The issue with the game today is that new artists have been brain washed by reality shows and fake “record deal” contests into thinking that it’s an easy feat to survive and succeed in this business. They think that the money’s fast and the fame lasts (that rhymes. I think I’m putting it in a song). So the next few months are going to deal with the realities of the business, or more specifically, the “how-to” behind the “how-to.”

My first national tour

The first time that I booked a national tour was with my band, First Team. I booked it out to Cali, up to Portland, and back to Atlanta. This was going to be monumental for a few reasons:

1. We’d just finished our second album, “Life Is…” and had brought pre-release copies along.

2. This was the first time that we would play out of the Southeast.

3. A national tour allowed us to separate ourselves from the other acts on the Atlanta hip hop scene.

It accomplished all of that and more. I think we sold close 450 CD’s, which was about 28 CD’s/show. Also, we made a name for ourselves with a lot of promoters in a lot of cities. All in all it was perfect…not. The truth is, that with all of the good and great that came from the tour, there was a whole bunch of behind the scenes shit that made me want to pull out my hair.

For most independent artists, your first tour will be your hardest to book, it will take the most time to book, it will cost you a lot, and you will lose the most money. I can almost guarantee it. The silver lining, though, is that you have to do it any way. I know, not much of a silver lining. Okay, try this one. Everything begins with a step, and if you don’t take this first step, you will never have the opportunity to take a second. Hip hop is full of cats that never take a first step; just look around the scene of your hometown.

My first step took me almost 6 months at 4 hours/day to book 16 shows. All of this on top of already having a full time gig, a woman, and still booking and promoting all of our local and regional shows. Since this was before Myspace totally blew up the digital world, everything I did was by mail. Which meant that I sent out 6 months’ worth of press kits, which was about 275-300, at about $1.50 each. That’s not including the price of the ink it took to print the press kits and CD’s.

What it took to book the tour paled in comparison to what it took to actually leave: I had to get a rental that would fit all five of us and our equipment; the cost of CD manufacturing; gas. Plus, leaving money with my lady to cover rent, bills, and expenses.

Then, you have to somehow figure in that things won’t go as planned. Two months before the tour I reserved a minivan, but when I got to the rental place they were completely out and didn’t know when the next one would be in. So after bitching, a couple of curse words, and a where’s your supervisor, they gave me a week free on the rental; however, the largest thing that they had was a Durango. I don’t know if you know about a Durango, but it’s not an ideal vehicle for a band and their equipment. So somehow we had to fit our bags, the drums, our two amps, and two guitars in this. We did it, too; it just wasn’t very pretty or comfortable.

Once we were on the tour, there were a couple of things that we had to account for. In most places, we were given hotels, but there were a few places where we had to accommodate ourselves. Eating out killed us too. We ate at A&W, Burger King, McDonald’s, Whataburger, Jack In The Box, Taco Cabana, and everywhere else you can name. I spent at least $20/day on eating; however, none of this combined even came close to the price of gas. Also, we were touring with Dropbombs, and their van broke down somewhere in Kansas. So we had to find them, rent a trailer, and tow the van back to Atlanta. Truth be told, the only reason we sold 450 CD’s was because we needed to to get back home.

All in all, to leave Atlanta cost us about $1200/each, and we came back with $200/each, which I spent on the next bill that came through the door. However, by most standards, the tour was a flying success. After the band broke up, Evaready RAW and I continued to tour as solo artists. Two tours later we broke even. The next tour after that, I netted 3 months rent.

Soon after that, the economy tanked and those guarantees were either split in half or turned to door splits, and hotel rooms turned to crashing at the promoters crib. We still toured very successfully, but we revamped how we did so. I became smarter and more efficient with our money and time. Here’s some of the things that I learned:

• Always choose efficiency over comfort. Don’t get a Suburban when you can get a minivan, and don’t get a minivan when you can get a PT Cruiser. This will do wonders with your fuel costs.

• Figure out rough estimates of everything before you book a tour so you can get a better idea of what it’s going to cost you. I came up with this crazy formula to figure out how much fuel I would actually use (Total hours of the tour/4 hours, which is how often I have to fill up = the total number fill ups. Then, the size of the tank in gallons x an average cost of gas per gallon = the total cost of gas. Then multiply the cost of gas by the number of fill ups, and there you have it).

• Grocery shop for the whole day, and stay away from eating anything that won’t be more than one meal.

• Do not buy anything that doesn’t contribute to being a necessity of the tour. Stay away from malls and souvenir shops as much as possible.

• If you have to pay for a hotel, don’t. Have the promoter find you somewhere to crash for free, whether it’s theirs or one of their folks cribs.

• Include meals in your contract, when possible.

• Keep a record of what you make per show. One for the performance, and one for merchandise sales.

• Put money away before you leave, so that if anything goes wrong, you have a back up plan.

• Book locations that are a few hours away from each other when possible to save on fuel and time.

• Keep enough money in the pot to cover expenses.

• Enjoy every minute of it, because when you get back, it’s back to work.

• Book as many shows as possible in as short a time as possible; in other words, plan to book 7 shows in 7 days. The only way you should make an exception is on drives of more than 12 hours, which would allow a day off for travel.

• If you’re not tired when you get back, you didn’t play enough shows.

• Don’t ride in a vehicle with anyone you don’t trust. Believe me – it doesn’t work.

• Google map the entire tour and print it. Then, go buy an Atlas to use as a reference.

Water From Turnips out October 2009

Water From Turnips Quanstar feat Juice The Emissary

Infrastructure: Part 3 of 3

Part 3 of 3

MANAGER

At least once every few months, I come across someone that asks me to manage them, and I always tell them the same thing, “I don’t even want to manage myself. Besides, I am the last person you want to be managing you.”

They always retort, “Why not?”

“I’m an artist. What’s worse is that I’m an artist who runs my own career. I would never give you a fair shake. Let’s say an opportunity to play with The Roots came across my table, do you think that I would offer it to you over me? Your manager should represent your best interests at all times, no matter what. Besides, what constitutes you having a manager right now anyway?”

“I need somebody who could help me get my foot through the door, and represent my interests.”

“You have albums out?”

“No.”

“You touring?”

“No. That’s why I need a manager.”

No matter the person, the conversation’s the same. More and more artists have latched on to this idea that they have to have a manager in order to get ahead. So oftentimes they sign with the first or second cat that approaches them with a resume or a mouth piece without really knowing anything about managers and what they should be doing. Also, they sign these contracts full of legal jargon and one sided clauses that, in the end, enslave them to the people who should be working for them.

Taking this into account, the first thing an artist should do before signing any contract, especially a management (publishing or label deal also) one, is go see a lawyer that is completely independent of the person whom you are making the agreement with. In other words, don’t let the lawyer of the person that you are doing the deal with explain the contract to you. You’re not their client. Most lawyers I know want a $1500 retainer before reviewing the contract and negotiating terms with the opposite party. Pay it, it’s worth it.

The average manager compensation is 10-20% of the artist’s gross income. The spectrum is usually based on the work the manager believes they have to do. Newer artists are typically on the high end, more established ones are on the low end. Also, most managers want to be reimbursed for their expenses. For instance, if your manager pays for your studio time, at some point, they would like to recoup that cost without it being apart of their fee earned. Regardless of the agreement, every penny that is to be paid should be 100% explained in detailed in the written agreement, and all reimbursements to your manager should be done only at your approval and with a receipt that proves the expenditure.

Choosing a manager is about more than the numbers though. It’s about trust. It’s about knowing that what that person brings to the table benefits you. It’s about having an active hand in your success.

My disclaimer: What I am about to say is in no way a judgment on the profession of entertainment management. Also, the opinions of Quanstar do not represent the opinions of First Team Music (well, yes they do) or WordPress.

Before I go on, let me say that I’ve never had a manager and have never come close to hiring one; however, the reasons for me not having one are based solely on not being able to find the right person for the job. So, Evaready and I created First Team Music to take ownership of our own careers.

That doesn’t mean we haven’t stopped looking for a qualified individual. As a matter of fact, over the years I have and will continue to meet with dozens of them, hoping to find someone who could ease our load and handle the job of representing artists who already have a plan in place. Of course we haven’t found one, and I have promised myself that I won’t settle for someone who can’t do a better job of building the Quanstar and First Team Music Brand than I can.

Before seeking or signing with a manager, I recommend everyone read and own This Business of Artist Management by X.M. Frascogna and H. Lee Hetherington and All You Need To Know About The Music Business by Donald S. Passman. These two books, along with Kashif’s Everything You’d Better Know About The Record Industry (even though some of it is fairly outdated) will allow you the opportunity to make an educated choice on representation. They have proved irreplaceable for me.

Also, as to not leave you hanging, here’s some practical advice from Mr. Blue Collar (me) himself. Before signing you should:

• not hire anyone that you’re not 100% sure about. The wrong person can absolutely ruin your career, or at the very least, set you back for years.

• realize that your manager should be working for you, not the other way around. This is your career, your music, and your heart. Not theirs.

• know specifically what you want out of your career and from anyone that’s coming into the fold.

• be honest with who you are and what you’ve accomplished so far. Don’t under sell yourself, but definitely don’t over sell.

• understand that if the first thing out of the potential manager’s mouth is about how much money they could make you, run the other way. They are telling you this to keep the focus off of how much they are making off you.

• never give up publishing rights or ownership of your masters to a manager. They can have a percentage, but you should have the majority stake.

• know that most managers are fast talkers and hustlers. Make sure they are doing that for you and not to you.

• understand the contract, sentence for sentence. If possible, write it yourself, and have your lawyer review it and make any amendments to it. Keep it simple and direct.

• have a clause that clearly states that they are not to make any major decisions or commit you to anything without your expressed permission.

• never give your manager any kind of power over your assets.

• make as much of your contract incentive based as possible. They are still going to get their base percentage, but give them the opportunity to make more. Don’t be selfish with it either.

Quanstar \”Heard It All Before\” feat Akil The MC

Water From Turnips out October 2009

Infrastructure: Part 2 of 3

Publicists

I am an enormous cheap skate. I would rather tour in a PT Cruiser with no cruise control than a roomy minivan because it saves gas. I would much rather burn CD’s and print labels out of my house rather than send it out to be done. I would even rather sleep on someone’s floor over paying for a hotel; however, the biggest misstep that I’ve made in my cheapdom is not understanding the value of a great publicist.

A publicist is as general of a profession as being a teacher. Some are Kindergarten educators while others are fifth grade. Some teach high school history while others teach eighth grade biology. Their specialties vary based on their specific accomplishments; however, they all have the same basic training and work under the same purpose…teach. The same goes for the publicist. Some specialize in event planning while others focus on sponsorships. Some work with nonprofits, and some work with music. Their one purpose, though, is to get their clients as much exposure as possible.

Now don’t get me wrong, that exposure comes with a price. Most publicists that I know that deal in the independent markets charge between $1500-$2000 a month and want a 3 month contract. So really you’re talking $4500-$6000. Most times, the money’s due up front. For the average hip hop artist that’s scraping together everything that they have in order to survive and slowly prod ahead, this is almost an insult. I know, I’m one of of them. This is more than my entire recording budget. There was no way I could afford to pay that much for a publicist…I should have found a way though.

Here’s the reasoning:

The average independent is a one man show. We record, executive produce, book, manage, fund, and find a way to be an artist in between all of that. We either do a little bit of everything and really get nothing accomplished, or we excel in one or two areas and let everything else go to the wayside until we can figure out how to properly deal with it. The things that we concentrate most on is our musical content, booking and things related directly to them. The thing that usually suffers the most is presence (I’m using it as a synonym to exposure). With presence, comes value, with value comes money. In other words, the more you’re talked about, the more you make.

Convinced? Great! Slow your role for a minute though (that rhymes). As I said a few paragraphs ago (still rhyming), publicity is a general profession, so it is imperative that you know exactly what you need from a publicist. Do you need press to support touring? A project? Are you looking for sponsorships? These are things that you should know before sitting at the table with someone to discuss being represented. This is your money…your hard earned money that takes food out of your mouth and away from your dream if it doesn’t work out. So make sure it does.

Here are some things that you need to be wary of:

• Stay away from cats that charge way less than the average. If they are invoicing you for $500, that’s what you’ll probably get…a third of the effort and expertise that you should be getting.

• Stay away from quantity based contracts. If someone tells you that you hired them to send out X amount of press kits, run away very quickly. Credible publicists charge you for a time period, whether they send out 20 press kits or 2000 press kits (you do have to cover postage though).

• Make sure they have references of some sort that you can verify. Anyone can make claims to have been Jay-Z’s publicist. Make them prove it.

• Make sure that your needs are being met. Hire someone that expertise fits exactly what you need in order to advance. Don’t ask someone that deals with coconuts to grow you apples.

• Don’t hire someone to get you press that you can get yourself with a phone call or email. They should be getting you coverage in publications that you have never been in before with distribution that justifies you being in it. The newest up-and-coming Atlanta magazine about unsigned artists is cool to be in unless your publicist is the one focusing on that. Their time is your money, so don’t waste it.

• Don’t pay someone to get you press that you have to pay more for. There are more than enough publications that or more than willing to feature artists for free. If they want you to be in one that you have to pay for so bad, have them take it out of their payday.

• Don’t give anyone any money without a contract and invoice of the charges that reflect exactly what they did. Read the fine print because, if you don’t it may cost you. Also, they should be able to articulate what they did for you in person. I should’ve put that at the top of the list.

Heard It All Before feat Akil The MC of Jurassic 5

Water From Turnips out October 2009

Infrastructure: Part 1 of 3

Every artists’ career is made or broke by marketing and infrastructure. Marketing is your advertising and is the engine that drives the car in the race. The best marketing strategies are pretty simple and easy to execute. All have general tasks across the board, but vary on specific terms and tactics which are based on the artist and the demographic that is being targeted. I am currently working on a series of articles that deal with marketing to the “underground hip hop” (I hate that phrase) and college demographics. This will take a few months to complete, so by process of elimination, my next three articles are about infrastructure.

Your infrastructure is all about who’s handling your marketing and revenue streams; in other words, the pit crew that makes that engine run. The most important components of this is management, publicity, and booking. They determine how you’re going to get out there, who’s getting your music, where your music should be pushed, and when is the best time to put your music out there. For many independent hip hop artists all these questions are dealt with and answered by one person…you. This in itself is a pretty huge task, especially when adding the time and concentration it takes to write songs. Overwhelmed by these tasks, most artists, including myself, have shopped the market for help to alleviate some of the pressures of the “Do It Yourself” lifestyle; however, in the process of looking for a manager, booking agent, and/or publicist I can probably guarantee that most run across one of these people:

• cats that don’t know what they’re doing and looking to figure it out at your expense
• cats that do know what they’re doing and looking to take you for everything you get

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that all individuals in these three professions are shady. I know managers that represent their artists with all of their hearts, booking agents that are intent on putting their clients on the best stage possible, and publicists that work hard to get as much media exposure as they can for those they are working for. That fact still remains though, that for every artist walking around claiming that they’re rappers and producers, there are just as many people walking around claiming to want to represent those rappers and producers.

This perfect storm of give and take makes it nearly impossible to know who’s legit. I felt like I was making nothing more than a guess, and I wasn’t; however, I wanted that guess to be an educated one so I hit the books at my favorite “free read” spot, Border’s. The following articles are some of the things that I’ve learned about each.

Part 1 of 3

BOOKING AGENTS

Booking a tour is very meticulous. First, you have to figure out where you want to go, then you have to contact all of the promoters and clubs in each area. Compensation has to be negotiated, contracts sent and received, and, in most cases, deposits made. Booking agents take this stressful task out of the hands of the artist. Good booking agents are aggressive, and fight hard to get their clients the money they deserve. They DO NOT increase your money. If you average $500/show before you have an agent, you’ll probably get the same with the agent minus their fee.

Here are some things that you should know before looking to to hire one though. First, a booking agent’s standard fee is about 10%-15%. If an agent asks you for a flat fee, like some might, they are probably not very legit. Why would you want to even do it anyway? If you have someone working strictly of a percentage of what you make, then it is only obvious that they would bust their ass to get you your dough because they get paid only from you getting paid. So be prepared to give that agent $50-$75 per show for that $500 that you’re making. It’s worth it.

Please note, though, that just because you’re looking for a good booking agent doesn’t mean that they are looking for you. For one, unless you’re signed to a major labor or a touring heavy hitter none of the bigger firms will fuck with you (though there may be a few exceptions); the smaller agencies typically always have a full roster because if they don’t they probably won’t eat.

The next thing, which is always hardest for entertainers to grasp, is that you may not be worth their time. Booking agents, as stated before, are compensated through a percentage of what you make. You being paid $300/show may not be worth their time, because that means that they would only get $30/show. For example, $300/show at 100 shows/year is $30,000. The booking agent would get $3000 of that. This is small beans in eyes of the booking machine; however, there are instances where agents may take you on as a client because of your upside. Who knows?

Also, another reason why a booking agent may not be interested in picking you up is because hip hop is a specialized art form that deals with specific crowds. Meaning that, unless you are an established artist, there may not be 100 shows/year worth any real money available to you.

Despite all of that, if you want a booking agent you should look into getting one; however, make sure your ducks are lined up because first impressions are everything in this business. Here are some quick points:

• Have a clean, professionally designed bio with a pic both in physical copy and digital form.
• Provide as many articles on you from as many different publications as possible.
• Have at least one album with regional or national play of some sort.
• Use the internet and social networking to increase your presence on google (ie myspace, facebook, twitter).
• Have video clips of performances posted everywhere (like youtube), and provide footage when requested.
• Provide an extensive tour history with cities played and venue names.

Next issue: Publicist out August 6, 2009

Water From Turnips out October 2009

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Now playing: Quanstar – on top of the world mastered
via FoxyTunes

Make a plan

In 2001, when I joined forces with my business partner, fellow emcee, and close friend Evaready RAW and started the group First Team, our perceptions of the music business were the same as most that come into it. To get a hot product, get radio play, hire a manager, get signed, have a booking agent, and become millionaires within a couple of years. Lol. Suffice to say, after about a year the reality of the game slapped the shit out of us.

We had a pretty good product but was still recording. Our efforts to get play on V-103 and Hot 97.5 (now is 107.9) weren’t working. We realized that most people that say they were managers knew less about the business than we did, and the few cats that did know what they were doing couldn’t be trusted to walk more than two feet in front of us (the subject of next month’s entry). We weren’t signed. Booking agents wanted a tour history, which we didn’t have. We had no clue of what it would take to succeed or, at the very least, properly function as artists and entrepreneurs in this industry, but I was going to find out.

The beautiful thing about huge bookstore chains is that they let you just sit and peruse the inventory for free, and since money was short, I took full advantage of Border’s Books hospitality. Matter of fact, for 6 months I was there almost every day from open to about 7 or 8pm. Two books that I did purchase were This Business of Artist Management by Harry Blumenthal and Oliver Goodenough and Everything You’d Better Know About The Recording Industry by Kashif and Gary Greenberg. In these two publishings I was able to grasp the true nature of what we’d stepped into, which was a cesspool of tomfoolery; however, they also gave me a better idea of how to navigate through that cesspool by talking about compensation; roles of mangers, booking agents, and other music industry professionals; and what to expect from labels and production companies.

So now that we knew what we were into, we then needed to figure out how to beneficially apply that knowledge to us. So we sat down with a pen and paper and asked ourselves some questions. Who is our audience? What did we want from music? When would we have a finished product? Where do we fit in? How do we succeed in the over-saturated market? What are our strong points? What are our weak points? Who are some of the people that we would like to work with? What are we willing to sacrifice to make this dream a reality?

After we figured all of that out, we then began planning. First, we started with goals. We put down our lifetime aspirations for our group. Then, by using our lifetime goals, we came up with or 5 year goals. From the 5 year goal came the 1 year goals, and from the 1 year goals came the 6 month goals. From the 6 month goals begat our Quarterly plans. From the quarterly came the monthly, and from the monthly, weekly goals were added. We review each at the end of the perspective periods and tweak what we need to.

Then the next thing that we did was to come up with a business plan. I know some of you may be wondering why you would need to have a business plan as an artist; however, I believe every artist should look at themselves as a business, whether you are registered as one or not. It gives you a realistic idea of what you can, will, and should accomplish. Where goals are what you want to do and the things that want to own, your business plan is the who, what, when, where, and, why. A very good plan is your complete career path, even providing possible bumps in the road that may come along.

We made our plan, then rewrote it again, and again, and again, and again. We kept writing it over until we came up with a valid map for us with little or no loopholes. From beginning to end, it took us about 8 months, and we weren’t done there. I review it every year to update and alter when necessary. A couple of times I completely redid the entire plan to fit the what we saw as future market trends.

Below is some key points of our current plan. Read it, and hopefully you could get some great ideas about it.
Mission statement- To be the world’s leading hip hop music management company by innovatively connecting our artists with their audience.

• We do this by utilizing interconnecting strategies that:
• are creatively inspiring
• promote longevity
• keep our artists’ integrity
• are cost effective

Our motto- Work hard, and rest when you die.

Our principles-

• Think big
• Be genuine
• Connect the dots
• Enjoy life
• Work hard
• Never surrender
• Finish every meal

Our long range vision- By 2014, our revenue will be completely driven through:

• touring
• advertising
• alternative media
• consulting

Our target demographic- Males and females from middle to upper middle class backgrounds between the ages of 19-35 that:

• are in college
• support hip hop culture
• frequently or occasionally download unauthorized music and video content for free
• are familiar with social networking sites, such as, mayspace, facebook, and youtube
• frequently or occasionally go see live performances
• own an ipod, iphone, or other portable device plays and stores mp3s and videos.

Our goals and rationale-
Our primary objective is to create brand name status and longevity for our artists by:

• primarily focus marketing efforts on smaller cities with a high density of their target demographic
• offering their music for free while driving revenue through advertisers interested in reaching the target demographic of our artists
• using available media outlets to showcase their talents and to create a well rounded message to their target demographic

Our rationale for doing this is based on:

• the exponentially growing number of free music and movies available to the public, whether authorized or unauthorized
• the fact that the market is over-saturated with music of all kinds, and it is now necessary to “think outside the box” in order to succeed in the market place

Now there is more to this, but I don’t want to bore you with semantics. I’m sure you get the point though. Other sections of the plan that we have are:

• summary of strategy
• compensation and revenue
• critical risks
• staff and outsourcing
• 5 year revenue

I know what I’m saying is tedious and extremely detail oriented, and most artists by nature, including myself, are anything but that. In essence, we started taking ourselves seriously. Since we doing this, we released two albums with First Team; 4 solo projects (4th out in Sep 2009) with international sales in Norway, Japan, and Hong Kong; a documentary; a book (out in Sep 2009); and eight national tours.

Music is not the lottery. Not everyone is going to get a big break and luck is a figment of the imagination. If you want it then plan it. Peace. Next issue out Monday July 6th
Quanstar

Get your twitter up www.twitter.com/quanstar

Out in September 2009 with soundtrack.

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Welcome to Indie hip hop 101

Over the nine years of being an independent emcee and business owner of First Team Music, there are many things that I have learned that have directly contributed to the modest level of success that I am currently enjoying. This blog’s purpose is to share many of these things that I’ve learned through my experiences or from speaking to others. I know some of you might be wondering why I would give away knowledge that I have acquired through my own blood, sweat, and tears for free. After all, the music business is cut throat and I should keep every advantage that I have. There has to be an angle, and there is…I want to help people help themselves. Still not convinced? Okay here’s the logic:

In all of the touring that I’ve done, I ‘ve had the opportunity to go a lot of places and meet a lot of people, and the two things that I’ve learned is that:
1)hip hop is everywhere, and
2)just about everyone wants to be a rapper.

In Atlanta, there is no “just about” in front of it. I have yet to go a day without a cat selling me a CD, saying that he is the next big thing, and/or talking about how dope of a lyricist they are. Within itself, that’s not a problem because if you believe in what you do and want it you should go and get it; however, because everyone’s doing it the same way there is a bottleneck occurring on the streets right now, which means that no one is getting ahead in the game as fast as they should. Also, because everyone seems to know someone that’s always in the studio recording that platinum hit, the profession of emceeing, through the eyes of the average person, has become the equivalent of playing the lottery.

The single most reason that I’m sharing my experiences is to give you alternatives to what you are currently doing, and get you out of that traffic jam. After all, if people don’t take you seriously, they won’t take me seriously. Well hope you enjoy the blog, and look forward to seeing everyone blow up. Peace.