Industry Expert

Mathew Middleton:

Mathew Middleton a lawyer, who has been in the field for 14-years and he as been entertainment lawyer for in the music industry for the past 10 years. He is a high-powered, veteran entertainment attorney, of the Middleton Law Group.

Mathew Middleton has worked with entertainers such as DMX, Foxy Brown, Juwel Santana, Chris Brown, jagged edge, Fabulous, Shyne, Mario, and different athletes. 

Middleton states that writing, and creating content puts you ahead of the game in the industry.  He also states that its all about the copyright and intellectual property, because when you own publishing, and copyright, it gives you that ability to constantly receive income through other means, other than performing. Middleton says “Content is King”.  He also discussed the pros and cons of being an independent artist; having the resources to market, promote, publish, and write can benefit you more than being assigned to a label, because the record label and all parties need to get paid so your royalties will be very limited. 

His advice to others is Learn the business as much as you can by interning and getting the skills you need, and maintaining your integrity at all times.

Gordon Firemark:

He is a lawyer practicing in the field of entertainment and media law.  He is the author of a e-book called Podcast Guide and New Media Producers Survival Guide, because is says not many people can not afford to hire a lawyer on a retainer and this book could help in someone career of podcasting.

 Podcaster are owners of their work and they are not concerned about copyright infringement because that’s their original work.  When an author creates a work of authorship, once its recorded, written down, or placed on canvas and it’s their original work, it is automatically copyright material and it should be registered. If you are adding someone else work in your media, such as videos, or music you should get that information licensed to you so that you do not infringe on someone else work.  Podcaster should get their episodes registered so that the law of infringement covers them; the work can be bundled and protected for a small fee.  Show titles are not covered by copyright; you must trademark the name of the show to protect it. Firemark suggest getting royalty free music is something to consider when creating your podcast.

Firemark suggest if someone use your copyright work without permission, asking the person to take the information down will mostly likely work, if that doesn’t work you can send them a letter to cease and assist.   Podcasters should be mindful to get permission from the person that they are airing in their podcast, let the person know in advance what your intentions are to utilize their voice; getting them to sign a contract in advance would free you of any problems later.

John L. Welch

John L. Welch a lawyer at the firm of Lando & Anatasi, LLP, he is one of the top trademark lawyers in the country, he is a frequent author and speaker on trademark law issues. He discussed the Bose decision of the Court of appeals for the Federal Circuit and how it has affected trademark owners, practitioners, and USPTO.

Trademark registration is a valuable asset; it provides nationwide protection and constructive notice that allows the owner the right to use the registration symbol.  Bose committed fraud on the USPTO in renewing registration.  Bose initiated an opposition against Hexawave trademark.  Hexawave alleging, that Bose’s prior registered trademark the WAVE, was discontinued prior to them taking the wave trademark.  Bose’s committed frauds when they began using the wave mark again; after it was not re-registered with the USPTO.  The board ordered the cancellation of Bose’s WAVE mark registration in its entirety. 

When you have a trademark you must re-register the trademark if you want to keep you mark.  If another company takes on that trademark and it was not registered it becomes the trademark of the new company.  You can be sued if you continue using that trademark that was registered in some one else company.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8dm4GwZ62g

http://legaltalknetwork.com/?powerpress_pinw=7449-podcast

http://www.melinelegal.com/?tag=trademark

http://firemark.com/?powerpress_pinw=2505-podcast

Industry Liabilities

Pirate Bay is a Swedish based company, it is the largest torrent website in the world.  You can download music, movies, games, and much more.  Pirate Bay is under scrutiny for illegal piracy.  According to an article on torrentfreak.com, the co-founder of Pirate Bay is sentenced to serve time in jail.  The Stockholm District Court found three people guilty of contributory copyright infringement offenses.  Two of the men received one-year jail time and a fine of 1.1 million.  One of the defendants did not appear in court the day of sentences, they tried to contact him without success, the Judged ruled and handed down the verdict to him as well, do all three men had to pay millions of dollars in damages and jail time.  The men are taking the case to the Supreme Court; they are convinced that the final decision will be in there favor.

If the courts continue to monitor and convict people who commit piracy, preferably go after the websites that allow illegal sharing, I believe it will eliminate the crime eventually.  Piracy does not just damage the profits that the artist receives, but it takes money from all the team that worked on the project, producers, writers, musicians etc.  In reality, with technology today, you may stop it now but someone will come up with something new and creative to continue pirating others work.

LimeWire is hit with another lawsuit, according to an article that Jaikumar Vijayan wrote.  He said, “ Eight music publishers have sued LimeWire LLC of massive copyright infringement.”  RIAA is requesting that LimeWire be shut down.  The companies that are filing the lawsuit are members of the National Music publishers association (NMPA), EMI music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner/ Chappell Music Inc.  According to the article, Copyright status provide for statutory damages up to $150,000 per violation. 

Like I previously stated, if they crack down on the websites that allows illegal sharing, it would be difficult for other to pirate music, and movies.  Copyright infringement is a very serious offense and shutting down these sites it just might bring some money back into the industry. 

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178209/Music_industry_hits_LimeWire_with_yet_another_lawsuit

http://torrentfreak.com/jail-sentence-for-pirate-bay-co-founder-made-final-111014/

Networking in the music industry

The definition of networking is, a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest.  Networking is the key to success in the music industry, most times its not what you know it is who you know in the business. 

The most effective way to get a artist music publicized, heard, distributed or a artist booked is through people.  Networking allows you to find people who can help your career in different areas.  Its best to find the areas that you are weak in and find the network and resources that can help you turn those weaknesses into strengths. 

According to Dalena Radabough of Entertainment online “the key to being successful in the music industry relies heavily on using the correct techniques to network yourself and/or your artist with the appropriate connections”.

No matter if you are a singer, band, or individual musician you need the help of other people to have a successful music career.  Even if you do everything yourself, you still need people to purchase your music, people to book you, and people to attend your events.

 Social networking is a important part in meeting new people, to get your music heard, from your friends and from friends of your friends and so on.  Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are good sites to begin, uploading your music and posting videos to your site to get reviews from your friends is a great tactic as well.   When networking, try to be around people who work in your field, people with the same interest as you.   Find the centers of influence, Influential people often get that way because they are masters at networking. At any networking event or party they will be the ones with the most people around them. Get to know them, they can lead you to a lot of other people who might be important to your career.  You should always be in networking mode. 

http://www.entertainmentmanagementonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/12/19/3fcc348f2f077

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/networking

Artist Management

Artist Managers are in charge of running the business side of an artist or band’s career, because the band or artist needs to concentrate on creating the music.  The artist manager, work in many areas i.e. the promoter, agent, accountant, any role that is necessary to help that artist/band’s career.  The artist manager ensure that the artist/band is booked and paid, helps to promote a project, get the proper people who will help to move an artist/band career.  When an artist manager has a new artist trying to get established in the business, you work extra hard because you play so many roles, you are trying to establish that artist/band career in the industry.  The artist manager is the mediator between the artist/band; they play a personal role or business role.  They may be involved in image development, acquiring record deals, hiring publicists, etc.  They help in all aspects of an artist/band career; their income is usually a percentage of an artist/band earnings. 

Depending on the level of the artist/band career, artist management can be strenuous and time consuming.  It requires networking and getting to know all the lead people in the industry.  As an artist manager you should make sure you have a contract signed with the band/artist to ensure that you receive your earnings, because in some cases different contracts are utilized for i.e. concerts, booking, etc.  When reviewing contracts, you should always utilize a professional in that area, such as a lawyer.  As an artist manager you can have more than one client, it is up to you to know what you can handle at once.

Interview with Robert “Big Bob” Crippen

I interviewed Robert “Big Bob” Crippen; he has worked in the entertainment industry for the past 20 years as a road manager, artist manager, promoting, and other jobs.  He is the CEO of “Higher Power Promotions” and he is currently working with a Spanish group called S.A.1 “Stand As One” as one of their managers.  Big Bob has worked with some of the best in the industry, people such as Jamie Fox, Keisha Cole, Jay’Z, names were flowing from his mouth I couldn’t keep up with them all. 

Mr. Crippen is also affiliated with Premier Luxury Rental, Inc., doing marketing and promotions, as well as assisting with driving actors, and artist to important events such as shows, parties, and interviews whatever is needed.  He is affiliated with many people in the industry, he has worked with some of the top DJ’s in the entertainment business located in or around Philadelphia, PA, Dj’s such as Golden Boy, Lady “B”, Doc B, Larry O, to name a few.  He has done work with legendary producers Kenny Huff and Leon Gamble, known as Gamble and Huff, who is best known for working with Billy Paul, O’Jays, Patti Labelle, and Teddy Pendergrass, to many to name.  Big Bob has promoted blockbuster movies in his assigned regional area, Philadelphia, PA, such as Tyler Perry movies,

Being affiliated with these different entities in the industry has brought recognition and clientele his way.  It has brought him to a status, in which different executives in the industry seeks him out.  But due to his illness, he has not been able to be as busy as in the past; but it has not stopped him. He says that each day brings new and exciting opportunities his way.  His main focus at this time is getting recognition for his new and upcoming group S.A.1. 

I have had the pleasure of meeting and networking with Mr. Crippen; I met him at one of the events he promoted back in 2007.  We have spoke on several occasions, and he is always willing to help me when I ask him for assistant with some of the artist that I have worked with, he gives me advice on some of my current projects as well as him giving me some of his contacts to work with.  He has introduced some important people to me, some who can help me along with my career.  He has went as far as contacting some of his people from New York, to give me the ins and outs to the business.  “Big Bob” as he likes to be called, has always told me “its not just what you know, its also who you know in the business”.  I appreciate the advice and the constructive criticism that he gives me.

http://www.gamble-huffmusic.com/home2/
http://www.facebook.com/S.A.1fanpage
http://www.premierluxuryrentals.net

Jay-Z & Kanye West "Watch The Throne"

Jay-Z and Kanye West have been collaborating on several projects together, with Kanye producing several songs on Jay-Z Blue Print Album,which gave him the opportunity to sign with Roc A Fell Records.  Jay-Z teamed up with him on his album “My Beautiful Dark Secret Fantasy, at that time they decided to work on there own album together, which produced their most recent project “Watch The Throne”, the name of the duo “The Throne”.

"Watch The Throne" the world anticipated album with the collaboration of two geniuses, Jay-Z and Kanye West.  The album has already been deemed by most as an instant classic.   As JP DelaCuesta of ALL HIP HOP states “The dynamic duo do not disappoint”.  The first single to be released was Otis, a soulful sound, which featured Otis Redding 1966 classic “Try a Little Tenderness”, which is “the hottest rap song of the summer”, as Trent Fitzgerald of PopCrush website says.    Jay-Z got his swagger back!  And then comes in the tickling piano, a flourishing bass line and a thunderous beat produced by Kanye West.  As the world await, with anticipation the album dropped on August 5 in stores everywhere.  According to the Billboard top 200 charts “Watch the Throne” came in at #6 this week, last week came in at #4 it was at #4 for 5 weeks.  Other songs on the album start off with “No Church in the Wild”, Lift off, featuring Beyonce, In Paris, Gotta Have it, Who Gon Stop Me, and Welcome to the Jungle, just to name a few.  The CD has collaborations, with other artist as well such as Frank Ocean, Curtis Mayfield, and Mr. Hudson.

The Throne cannot make money from CD sells alone, so they are on tour with a schedule of 28 dates so far.  The Throne Tour will be in Philadelphia on November 2, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center, with only limited seating left.  Coming to a city near you, be on the look out.  I give Watch The Throne two thumbs up!

http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/billboard-200

http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/611672/jay-z-and-kanye-wests-musical-history.jhtml

http://www.ticketmaster.com/JAYZ-and-Kanye-West-tickets/artist/1620810#artist_table_focus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoEKWtgJQAU&ob=av3e

Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” Nears Platinum in its First Week

Lil Wayne’s has earned a platinum plaque thanks to the first-week sales of his latest album “Tha Carter IV which sold 1,000,690 copies according to Steven Horowitz, of Hip Hop DX website. According to Billboard.biz, Carter IV earned the biggest sales week for a hip-hop album, and it also shifted 362,000 digital copies in its first week, it marks the second largest digital sales week of all time for an album, behind “Born This Way” Lady Gaga’s new album with 662,000 digital downloads. “Tha Carter IV” according to Nielsen SoundScan enabling its No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart.
It also broke the US ITunes stores single week album sales record with around 345,000 sold via ITunes. 

“Tha Carter IV” album was illegally leaked on the Internet 5 days before the album official release date. Lil Wayne was not concerned about his album leaking because he new it would still do good.  According to MTV, Lil Wayne stated,

"We did real good this time, real good," Wayne told MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello after his show-closing performance at the VMAs in L.A. on Sunday. "It just means people want to hear it," he said. "I mean, 'cause there're people's albums that come out that can be leaked and don't leak, so I'm glad mines leaked."

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/retail/lil-wayne-s-carter-iv-debuts-at-no-1-with-1005340572.story

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.16764/lil-waynes-tha-carter-iv-nears-platinum-in-its-first-week/

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1670206/lil-wayne-tha-carter-iv-album-leak.jhtml

Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself

A TED Presentation by Thandie Newton, an actress who discussed her story of growing up in two distinct cultures; her mom is black from Zimbabwe and her dad white from Cornwall, she grew up in England in the 70’s. By the age of five she knew she didn’t fit “she said she was a black atheists kid in and all white catholic school run by nuns” and her self began looking for definition, and she said, “self likes to fit", in other words she just wanted to fit in with others.

Thandie was in a place where she felt she didn’t exist that she was in otherness, and she struggled to find self, another world opened up for her, performing and dancing, she used dancing to lose herself, she stated “I wasn’t able to be in real life, in myself”. She began acting at the age of 16, she felt peace in acting because she was able to lose herself in her roles and become in another self and not her own. This gave her a sense of belonging, which she thought she was fully functioning in self; the one she controlled, and she gave life to it. By the age of 19 she was a full-fledged actress, but still searching for definition.

Thandie didn’t know where she belong in society, what race embraced her. She said, “Race is an illegitimate concept which our selves have created based on fear and ignorance”. Even though she understood this fact, it didn’t help cure her low self-esteem and her feeling of otherness. Thandie suffered from bulimia and ended up seeing a psychiatrist. The world is made to believe you have to be a certain way to fit into society; you need to have a certain self-image, so we create in our minds a self-image. Thandie created self when she danced, or she got a role in a movie, she lost herself in her role, until it was over and back to feeling of nothingness.

We need to live in reality and appreciate who we are as one and not try to fit in to what other believe is the right way and except what and who we are in this world. Society makes us believe we are not the right color, size, or culture. Be one with yourself and don’t try to be in otherness, be yourself, who God created you to be.

http://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself.html

Lady B 30th Anniversary

A tribute to the legendary Lady B Philly’s one and only aka, Wendy Clark, she has been DJing and representing hip-hop for the past 30 years, according to an AV Club article. In her honor tonight an OLD School Hip Hop show at the DELL East Music center in Philadelphia, PA.

The article states that, Lady B brought Hip-Hop to Philly, she was probably the most influential woman in hip-hop radio history; she began her climb to her title in 1979. She started at an interning job at WHAT and releasing “To The Beat Y’all,” a Sugar Hill Gang track, which was considered the first hip-hop recording by a female artist. She started working at Power 99fm in 1984, her legendary show “Street Beat” brought artist such as Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Run DMC, and Queen Latifah. She also brought locals such as the legendary Will Smith, Schooly D and the roots to the show as well.

To honor her a anniversary party, with a group of old-school artist attending, many of which she help rise to the top; gathered together to give tribute, artist such as Salt N Pepa, Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Doug E Fresh and more with special surprise guest appearance from Will Smith, a real old-school party. People came from all over dressed in old-school attire, big bamboo earrings, addidas sweat suites, shell top addidas, kangos all representing old-school hip-hop culture.

“Wit out a Doubt”!!!!!

http://rnbphilly.com/category/ladyb30th-photos/

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez became apart of American Idol in 2011; it sparked her career up again bringing her to the forefront. She is an actress, entertainer, producer, fashion designer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, according to the article. Jennifer Lopez is successful. She is in the process of launching a deal with Khols with an exclusive collection. J-Lo sets the standard for celebrity branding in fragrance, apparel and accessories, her fragrances also took in over 1 billion dollars; she is a successful entrepreneur.

Jennifer “J-Lo” Lopez new album “LOVE” that released on April 29, 2011, Bradley Stern of mumuse.com, said she came back roaring in the charts with her new album. According to musicloversgroup.com, Jennifer Lopez new album theme is examining, questioning and exploring the many different sides and avenues of love and relationships. They also stated that the album had a nice range of styles, beats, vocals, and compositions on this album to satisfy her fans. Jennifer left Epic Record in 2010, moving to Island Def Jam, putting out her new album “LOVE”, according to the article in mumuse.com this is her best work since 2001. J-Lo is back………

http://www.muumuse.com/2011/05/jennifer-lopez-love-album-review
html/http://www.musicloversgroup.com/jennifer-lopez-love-album-review/

Beyonce "Run This World" (Girls) Video

Beyonce is back after over a year off from the music scene.  Her new video “Run This World (Girls)” from her new album “4” according to Huffpost Entertainment “she hasn’t missed a beat”.  Her video was an African eccentric video, the video released on June 28^th, with 56,006,120 hits already. 

African dancers inspired Beyonce, from Mozambican Kwaito dance group called Tofo Tofo who choreographed her video “Run This World”.  MTV ‘s Jocelyn Vena wrote in an article that Beyonce longtime Choreographer Frank Gaston Jr. said, "We prepared a lot for it. We had seen something on YouTube; we had seen these three guys from Africa, this Mozambique African dance troupe ... we were like, 'Wow, this is an amazing movement,'’ [...] and that movement has always been in the back of our head for the last year. From there, we talked about a lot of concepts.” The group brought it all together.

 The video had 245 women in it, and it was set in a desert where the men were trying to takeover their headquarters, the women showed the men who "Run This World".  The choreography was amazing, and having the African dance group, gave her video something new and different than her usual.  Like Jacelyn Vena articles says’, Beyonce Nailed it!  Two thumbs up “B”.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/19/beyonce-run-the-world-girls-video-4_n_863990.html

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664223/beyonce-run-the-world-girls.jhtml

Artist Branding and marketing

 As an artist manager, how an artist is marketed or branded could make or break an artist career, so working diligently getting fans and spreading the artist brand will determine if an artist will make it in the industry.  Working closely with a PR agent would be an asset for an artist and their manager because the agent would get the artist out in the media, through radio and interviews.  In most cases, artist just starting out in their career PR agents are not in the plans, self branding and marketing could be beneficial to an artist.

Lady Gaga is an example of how branding herself, helped her career skyrocket.   According to artist marketing strategy, “Lady Gaga designed a package that stood out from the crowd” in order to get people attention she had to be a performer and not just a singer.  Lady Gaga learned how to market herself, through various means and the media.  She keeps her fans engaged on the daily basis through her fan base on Facebook, which she has over 9,200,000 fans on Facebook according to the article.  She keeps everyone engaged daily through where she is going and where she is performing.  She constantly thanks her fans and supporters through her daily post, while promoting her brand she is keeping her fans engaged, as well as Facebook, Lady Gaga tweets and post on blogs.  Lady Gaga was not created by a record label or producer; she designed her own brand, as an artist and marketed herself through her shows, social media, and one of her brands is not lip singing at any of her shows as some artist do.  She delivers her brand with her elaborate performances, staging and costumes.  According to the article Lady Gaga is the first performer to have one billion hits on her videos on YouTube and 9 million plus of her music has been downloaded, that is a very strong brand.  As a artist you leverage your brand through social media, the Internet, in forums and through postings.  Artist must make contact and expand there base everyday.  Lady Gaga is constantly out there in the media, artist can learn from her on how to market and develop a brand.

http://www.artmarketingstrategy.com/artists-should-follow-lady-gaga-on-how-to-brand-their-art.html