Do the Majors Need To Ease Control?...

According to Billboard.biz, Warner Music Group and EMI Music Group are filing suit against SeeqPod, which is an Internet music search engine service. EMI went even further "by naming several SeeqPod employees and investors as defendants." EMI is also suing Favtape, a music-on-demand site that uses the technology from SeeqPod to run it. I tried to access Favtape but found that it had a slow response. I don't know much about these sites or their popularity but I could see a possible infringement of copyrights if they are not making any royalty payments to the copyright owners. Gerd Leonhard is working on a book detailing the "End of Control" and that companies can no longer try to control their stakeholders but involve them and ensure that they have their trust. This is definitely right on when it comes to consumers, however it may be a slightly different case when other businesses are profiting from your intellectual property. I think in this case the majors may have a right in litigating for the protection of their most valuable asset. Although, when consumers are loyal to services such as SeeqPod and Favtape and see them shut down due to the majors suing them, the perception of control comes forth. Therefore it is important that the majors engage these companies and evolve to a new era of music consumption while protecting their content. I will be looking further into this subject and will have more posts to come.

Drake Is the Ish...So Far Gone

So for the past week I've been listening to Drake's mixtape, So Far Gone which was released last Friday and I LOVE it! Seriously, the trance-like sounds along with the synths, melodies and heavy backbeat sounds allows you to listen from start to finish. Drake does a lil more singing than rapping and it works. My favorites are "Houstatlantavegas," "Best I Ever Had," "A Night Off," "Say Whats Real" and "Unstoppable." But the overall hottest in my opinion is "Uptown" featuring Bun B and Lil Wayne. The mixtape also includes features from Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn, Santogold, Trey Songz, Lloyd and Omarion. If you haven't got it already, def download now, right here, gratuit. I expect to see a lot from Drake and he's definitely on his way to the top.

Kanye West feat. Kid Cudi - "Welcome to Heartbreak"

Kanye West's latest vid, "Welcome to Heartbreak" features some artistic and digital illustrations that are interesting to keep up with. Perhaps we need some 3D glasses?..you decide. Nabil Elderkin is the director behind this one.

The New Face of A&R

A few weeks ago, I began a quest to discover where the fate of A&R lies in this ever-morphing industry of music. My theory was that A&R has taken on a new form and that A&R in the traditional sense is dead. However, since I am a novice in the field and have not experienced the change from the inside, I decided to consult a few music industry executives. I sat down with Andrew Kronfeld, General Manager of Motown Universal who gave some very interesting insight on the changing dynamics of A&R. “More A&R is coming from the outside [and within the labels you are seeing] much smaller A&R departments.” Kronfeld went on to say that because labels are often dealing with more producers and other independents in the industry, A&R has become “leaner” and more “decentralized.” I have found that the major labels are spending less time developing acts and want something closer to a finished product in order reduce risk and invest less capital. Kronfeld also added that the opportunities in A&R will be much “more independently minded” and labels will be dealing with A&R consultants rather than in-house A&R executives. So this tells future A&Rs and people on the come up to just do your own thing.
Interested in taking a cue from the independent side of the game, I met with the President of Decon Records (Decon Media), Peter Bittenbender. Peter projects that labels will be “setting quotas” and limiting the amount of artists they sign each year. This meaning less A&R people because there are less artists to sign and less projects to coordinate. The A&R executives that will remain will be the ones who continuously deliver and create albums that sell because “that is what they’re judged on,” says Peter. Has the role of A&R changed? Not dramatically. Yes there are more things to be aware of such as the continued fragmentation of the market and importance of digital. Yes there are tougher goals to achieve since people don’t purchase albums the way they used to. A&R Manager, Andrew Keller of Columbia Records says “great is great music [and] it’s our job to put great music out there.” If you look at it in that sense, the role of A&R hasn’t changed much, however the environment of the music market has considerably. A&R will have a similar fate and become fragmented just as the industry has with more entities other than major record labels, finding, developing and putting out great artists and music. A&R will have less of a concentration within the four majors and will be a role that many will take on in the greater music and entertainment industry.

MTV, a Record Label?

MTV is expanding into the territory of the record labels and planning to release Snoop Dogg's upcoming album "Malice in Wonderland" which is due later this year. According to Billboard.biz, Snoop Dogg "signed a multi-rights deal with MTV to distribute, market and promote" the album. We don't know how MTV plans to get the product on retail shelves but digital downloads will probably play a more crucial role as it continues to trump actual record sales. Especially given the fact that, Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction" single sold 869K digital downloads and the album only sold 382K units. Snoop's previous label was Interscope. The lines between media, advertising/branding and music are continuing to blur as artists turn to acting in television shows and movies and endorsements/partnerships with brands for more revenues. In the same token, the greater media/entertainment business is modeling itself after these dynamics.

Asa - Soul Singer Ambassador of Africa

Asa (pron. Ah-sha) is French born but Nigerian raised and her heart lies in Africa. Her music is a statement, a stand on social inequities and problems but she also sings about love and life's beauty. The first single from her debut effort, is "Jailer," where she sings about the system of modern day slavery. Other tracks include "So Beautiful," a lovely ballad that describes the beauty of her mama in her native language of Yoruba in addition to English and "Fire on the Mountain," a metaphoric song about the issue of child soldiers, militarism and brutality and the lack of a movement against it. Asa released her debut in America this year, in late January. Check out more of Asa on her MySpace page. Asa is truly quenching the thirst of millions of neo-soul music lovers and adding a twist of West African musical rhythms and traditions in a profound way. Look out for Asa as she soars in the international music scene (Asa means hawk in Yoruba).

New President of Epic - Amanda Ghost

Starting Feb. 16th, singer-songwriter, Amanda Ghost will begin her new post as President of Epic Records. Amanda Ghost has penned hits including "You're Beautiful" with James Blunt, "Tattoo" with Stargate for Jordin Sparks and "Beautiful Liar" performed by Shakira and Beyonce. Amanda Ghost was signed to Warner Brothers and released her debut album, "Ghost Stories," via the label in 2000, selling 200K units with virtually no promotion. She is now operating her creative endeavors under her own label, Plan A Records. Amanda Ghost making the move from music creator and performer to record exec is becoming more common as the lines between creatives and business executives blur. L.A. Reid, Jermaine Dupri, Jay-Z and Rick Rubin are some individuals who have tread both the creative and business avenues of the music biz.