I guess the first thing you’d want to know is what qualifies me as an “industry angel,” to go around popping off info about the music industry.
Well let me present my credentials: first, I’m a staff writer for Allhiphop.com and I’m the entertainment editor on my campus paper. Those two factors put me in contact with a lot of artists and more importantly, their label contacts. I get to check out the imprint-side of the industry. Second, I work for Radio One Dallas, that’s 97.9 the Beat and 94.5 KSOUL. This connect also puts me on the corporate side of the business. Finally, I’m a consumer, just like you. I’m in the record stores (actually Best Buy), I go to the concerts, I go to the clubs. I see whether an artist is being pushed along on a gimmick or really working their talent. I meet the local performers and the Indie outfits breaking their asses to get into the business. I see both sides of the game… and after hearing so many of the same types of questions I feel like I have knowledge to share.
Dallas hosted a hip-hop summit in October. Unlike the first one in 2002, which consisted of an organized presentation to the masses, the agenda this year focused on answering the audience’s questions. Minister Benjamin Muhammad, Russell Simmons, Reverend Run, Erykah Badu, the D.O.C., Headkrack, an on-air personality at 97.9 the Beat, and two students from Paul Quinn college sat before an audience in the chapel at Paul Quinn College.
The panelists told the audience what hip-hop meant to them, then opened the floor to questions. The question that came up the most frequently were questions of how to get on in the music game. The panelists gave their own [long winded] responses, but I’m giving you my answer. A clear one. A concise one.
I’m an artist and I’ve made a CD, how do I get my music to the big record labels?
Russell Simmons used Roc-a-Fella, Cash Money and No Limit as examples, you need to get the majors interested in you through the buzz you created for yourself. A&R reps aren’t in the streets taking demos like they are on TV and the movies. You either need an inside connect or you need to make so much noise in the streets that you can’t be ignored. A local act in Houston named Chamillionaire & Paul Wall sold 20,000 independently and now they’re being courted by the majors. The majors don’t want to gamble on possibilities. They want something that’s already certified by the streets. Certify yourself with the streets and they’ll take notice.
Well I’ve already done that, I’ve been selling CDs out of my trunk but nothing’s really been jumping.
That’s the grind homie. I know it looks to us like cats just jumped up out of nowhere but artists were in the grind for YEARS before they could get majors to take note of them. DJ Clue was making mix tapes in the hood forever before he got a distribution deal. Joe Budden was an all-star on the mix-tape circuit for 5 years before Def Jam signed him. Look how old Wu Tang was when they released “Protect Ya Neck.” None of this happens overnight.
The streets already know about my Indie label. How do I get the radio to play my music?
Ask industry people and they’ll say “call and request the song.” That’s only partially true. Before the requests can make any impact, the people at the station need to know who you are–and by the people I mean the people in the offices–not just the DJ’s. It’s the program director’s job to put songs into rotation. Everything goes through him first. He works off of a playlist, usually the top 40 in other similar markets. Get the program director interested in your product. Use the radio to advertise. Airtime is cheaper than people think. You can cop a 30-second commercial advertising *whatever*, and if your music is playing in the background then that’s the radio’s whole audience taking in your sound. If it’s undeniable, people will call and ask what song was playing in the commercial. Create your buzz and keep yourself fresh in the mind of the program director. Then those requests will start to mean something.
How do I start my own record label?
READ. I don’t care how inarticulate some of these rap CEOs can come across, all of them are SMART. And it’s because they took in all of the knowledge they could about their trade. There’s a million and one books on the record industry. All you need to do is pick one up and start reading.
