That's Major!

A great article courtesy of Big Chew & The Diggers Union

The RIAA would like you to believe that you are participating in the Recording Industry. Be advised, you are not.
You are in the Touring (Gig) Industry, make no mistake.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get as many bodies through the doors of your show as possible.
Then, get them on the list. Then, give them things. Then, sell them things. Then get their friends on the list…
Friends? Yup.
What do you do if you want to see a movie? Most people will read a review or ask a friend’s advice. Most people want an endorsement of some kind before they can get into it. Even if they’ve never heard of the movie, chances are they’ll go based on the buzz generated by someone else’s opinion.
You have your list – your targeted group of consumers. Lets use these people as marketing “hubs”. Think of them as the center of a bicycle wheel and their friends as the spokes. It will be a good idea to incentivize your list to get their friends in the fold as well.
Now that we got the lingo down…
The best way to incentivize your hubs will be to either a.) bring them closer or b.) give them things.
Try offering a free t-shirt for each fan that gives you the mailing address of 5 friends. You can then send these 5 each a free CD. From there, the process will continue with these people as well as you continue to incentivize THEM in turn.
So, how long do your keep doing this? Let’s stop the giving at 1000 and get into marketing a solid product for purchase – which I’ll get into later.
If you’re wondering if the cost of 1000 CDs and 200 T-shirts are worth 1000 fans, the answer is YES!
What I do is consider the LIFETIME VALUE of each fan. If you treat them right, their investment in your music won’t end with just 1 CD or show, or t-shirt. It will be helpful to think of Lifetime Value in order to draft your long-term marketing plan. And NO, it’s not as dry as it sounds – it just makes good sense to do a little thinking, if not planning.
A Little Math

1000 promo CDs, copied and printed at home: $1000

200 T-shirts @ $3.50 per: $700
Total fan investment: $1700 / 1000 fans = $1.7 per fan.
You can call this your Aquisition Cost.
We’ll now have to do a bit of estimating in order to figure out each fan’s Lifetime Value:
Let’s say you play 1 show every 2 months in your town. It’s safe to think that if you communicate with your fans effectively, 7-10% may show up at each show.
6 shows per year, 70 fans per show, $5 cover charge: $2100
$2100 / 1000 fans = $2.10 per fan.
That’s without merchandise sales, without marketing A SINGLE ITEM to your fans. You’ve turned a profit – albeit a small one.
Hell, your break even point is only $1.70 – that’s only 57 bodies a show. ONLY 5.7% OF YOUR MAILING LIST!!!
Meanwhile you’re building goodwill and loyalty which will last alot longer than you realize.
Fan Incentive Idea
Make sure this gets out to as many non-fans as possible. Hopefully before each show, you’ve hung posters in as many places as you can, advertising the gig. Hold a contest where you give away (free is good!) something cool to the person that takes a photo of themselves doing something crazy in front of your poster. (Pick a few winners) Let them know that they can email the photos to you, or send them via postal mail. Either way, you now have a form of return addresss in which to contact these people again because you’ll need to now where to send their prize. More fans, more marketing hubs, more goodwill, more loyalty, more people at your shows, more fans, more LIFETIME VALUE per fan.
Folks, that’s not how you build a band, that’s how you build an enterprise.
That’s how you make a LIFE in the New Music Business!

Two wanna-be players looking to catch the eye of a rap star in a celebrity-studded Chelsea nightclub wound up behind bars after they rang up a whopping $28,500 tab on expensive champagne – and tried to pay for it all with a bogus credit card, The Post has learned.
Robsson Depeine, 23, Jeff Sylvain, 24, and five of their friends had reserved a table Monday night in an exclusive section of M2 Ultra Lounge on West 28th Street, according to general manager Dan Devlin.
Rapper Juelz Santana was throwing himself a birthday party with guests that included Hip Hop superstars Lil Kim and Snoop Dogg, Devlin said.

Depeine and Sylvain ordered ten bottles of Moet Nectar Rose at $400 a pop, totaling $4,000, Devlin said. Depeine allegedly presented a valid ID and an AMEX card that initially checked out.
Later that night, the pair ordered thirty more bottles of Moet Nectar Rose, bringing the bill to $16,000, Devlin said.
In an effort to impress Juelz Santana and his entourage, the two Long Island men started sending some of the pricey bubbly over to the musician, who has collaborated with Chris Brown.
“They were certainly trying to impress them,” Devlin said.
Depeine then allegedly ordered a nine liter bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne for $3,500. Then he tried to order another nine liter bottle and a $5,500 twelve liter bottle.
“That’s when one of our managers became suspicious. The purchase was ridiculous and Sylvain introduced a second card with his ID and I knew that’s when there was a problem,” Devlin said.
According to a criminal court complaint, Sylvain’s New York State ID was an obvious forgery made out of flimsy material and different coloring. His American Express gift card was doctored using numbers associated with a genuine AMEX credit card.
The club’s staff quickly started taking back the champagne bottles from their table as well as Santana’s, sparking a melee.
When told that the jig was up, Sylvain and Depeine allegedly said, “You got to be kidding me. Are you kidding me?” The two allegedly tried to ditch their buddies and flee the hot spot, but security guards nabbed them.
They are being held on $20,000 bail on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Joseph Coluccio, the duo’s lawyer, denies they even put down a credit card and claims it was the club’s fault, saying the crime was pinned on the pair when they couldn’t find the real culprits.
“My Clients were invited to a birthday party. There were several people putting down credit cards and ordering pricey bottles of champagne. There was chaos at the end of the night and the bartender realized that there had been fraudulent transactions. The club couldn’t find the real person who gave them the credit card, so my clients were wrongfully identified. It’s a joke.”
Earlier that night, a man sporting a dapper tuxedo coat was busted for a similar crime at M2 after buying a $400 bottle of Moet Nectar Rose and trying to purchase three more, Devlin said.
Devlin said they’re taking proactive measures to counteract credit card fraud, working with the Chelsea’s 10th Precinct and The NYPD’s Identity Fraud Squad.
“The combination has made us very sharp now. People better think twice about coming here (with a stolen credit card) because you are going o go to jail,” Devlin said.

Source: NyPost

MissInfo released some real interesting news…

Multiple sources have confirmed to me that Shyne Po has signed a 7-figure deal with Def Jam.*

This ends a bidding war that had industry bigwigs vying for Shyne’s attention, flying to Belize, calling and courting, ever since the Brooklyn emcee was released from prison and deported to Belize back in October.

For Shyne to turn down hard-court pressure from Jimmy Iovine/Dr.Dre and others and instead join LA Reid back at his last known recording-residence actually seems like an inevitable move….because I’ve been hearing that Shyne has been pow-wowing with veteran manager Kyambo “HipHop” Joshua for a while now. Joshua and his HipHopSince1978 partners, Gee Roberson, also manage Lil Wayne, Drake, Young Jeezy and more. Meanwhile, my old friend Al Branch is both a partner in HipHopSince1978and a high-level exec at Def Jam…see how that works? Synergy!  Now there have beenrecent reports of new label-wide pressures, but with this team in place, Shyne is in good hands.

As for the logistics, the plan is for Shyne to work out of London, it’s a buzzing hip hop hub with all the necessary facilities. Oh, and about that first verse which appeared on an early DJ Khaled album leak (and is allegedly scratched from the final tracklisting)…I’m hearing that Shyne didn’t intend that verse to be his first look. After nearly a decade inside, he’s allowed a little time to figure out what direction he’ll take.

*(obviously in this climate, these kinds of numbers are few and far between, so this certainly signals that labels see value in legacy or storyline. Drake got a reported 2 million last year. And of course, this is Shyne’s second time around in a bidding war.)

Damn, what a way to start off 2010′, Teddy was a beast and a huge influence on me musically…

A.P. reports…

The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, says his father died Wednesday at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Pendergrass’ son says his father underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery.”

The elder Pendergrass was injured in a car accident in 1982. He suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.”

His son thanks all the fans of his father’s music and says he will live on through his songs. He says the singer was loved by friends and family worldwide.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A relative says soul singer Teddy Pendergrass has died in suburban Philadelphia at age 59.

The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, says his father died Wednesday at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Pendergrass’ son says his father underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery.”

The elder Pendergrass was injured in a car accident in 1982. He suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.”

and a song to leave y’all with…

DJ PREMIER’s TOP 20  HIP HOP LP’s OF 2009

1.  BLAQ POET–THA BLAQPRINT
2.  RAEKWON–ONLY BUILT FOR CUBAN LINX II
3.  O.C. & A.G.–OASIS
4.  A & E–ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
5.  OBIE TRICE–SPECIAL RESERVE
6.  ROYCE da 5′9″–STREET HOP
7.  MARCO POLO & TORAE–DOUBLE BARELL
8.  STATIK SELEKTAH–PRE GAME EP
9.  JAY-Z–BLUEPRINT 3
10.  SLAUGHTERHOUSE–SLAUGHTERHOUSE
11.  CANIBUS & KEITH MURRAY–UNDERGODS
12.  DIAMOND DISTRICT–IN THE RUFF
13.  SAIGON & STATIK SELEKTAH–ALL IN A DAYS WORK
14.  KRS-ONE & BUCKSHOT–SURVIVAL SKILLS
15.  GHOSTFACE KILLAH–GHOSTDINI: WIZARD OFF POETRY
16.  M.O.P.–FOUNDATION
17.  50 CENT–BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT
18.  METHOD MAN & REDMAN–BLACKOUT 2
19.  LA COKA NOSTRA– A BRAND YOU CAN TRUST
20.  DJ JS-1–NO SELL OUT

Any Thoughts?  Blaq Poet #1?  Seems wicked off.

FROM DJ PREMIER:

I WANT TO SEND OUT THE UTMOST RESPECT AND CONDOLENCES TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN RIVAS—-aka MR. MAGIC

HE PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING OF A HEART ATTACK…..

TRUE HIP HOP HEADS KNOW THAT HIS HISTORY IS SO LONG DUE TO HIM BEING THE FIRST RAP MIXSHOW TO EVER BE ON COMMERCIAL RADIO ON NEW YORK’S WBLS–(107.5) WITH MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY IN 1982-1984…….THEN WENT ON TO WHBI IN OCTOBER OF 1984 AND THEN BACK TO WBLS in 1985 and WDAS in Philly SIMULTANEOUSLY

HE PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL RADIO STATIONS THAT EVER DID MIXSHOWS AND ALSO SPARKED THE CAREER OF BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS DUE TO THE DISS HE SHOWED WHEN THEY CAME TO SHOP THEIR DEMO TO HIM AND WAS TURNED AWAY WHICH THEN SPARKED “SOUTH BRONX” AND “THE BRIDGE IS OVER”…….

HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS DIRECT AND SARCASTIC ATTITUDE ON THE AIR AND EVERY ARTIST WANTED HIS APPROVAL WHEN IT CAME TO BREAKING NEW RECORDS……..HE EVEN HAD SONGS DEDICATED TO HIM BY THE LEGENDARY WHODINI–(“MR. MAGIC’S WAND”) WHICH WAS SURPRISINGLY PRODUCED BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS THOMAS DOLBY…….

SHOUTS OUT TO MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY FOR THE CORRECT INFORMATION ON THIS……

REST IN PEACE MR. MAGIC………….DJ PREMIER

Mr.Cee just did a great job of honoring Mr. Magic on Hot 97.  For those that missed it Download HERE
(Shout To Dj Eclipse)

Just one day after Slaughterhouse was spotted behind Eminem in the new “Forever” music video, there are rumors going around that the rap group is in negociations with Eminem to join his Shady Records. Radio personality Miss Info recently said “So here are the ‘rumors’ that I’m hearing…That Slaughterhouse appearance in “Forever,” was indeed a non-verbal announcement of the contract negotiations going on behind the scenes. For the past month, both sides have been working towards bringing the group to the Shady label. And that the gathering of Em and the guys at the shoot, is the first of more collaborations to come.”

Source: RapBasement

Back from my week long vacation, and now im back for 24 hours before I head out for another week… Hopefully I can throw up enough posts to keep yall busy for the next week without my constant posting… I really appreciate the steady stream of traffic in my absence!

damn! The New York Post is reporting…

A rapper once signed to a record deal by Jay-Z was arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing a man during a fight inside a Manhattan building lobby, authorities said.

Robert Rosado — known as the rapper Tru Life — was busted three days ago for the June 15 stabbings that left 27-year-old Jason Grey dead and another man in critical condition, police sources said.

Rosado, 33, is currently held at Rikers Island on murder, assault and weapons possession charges, the sources said.

The stabbings occurred at 9:30 a.m. as part of an ongoing dispute that began earlier that day at Club Pasha on West 46th Street.

Police sources said the fight escalated in the lobby of a building on East 26th Street.

R.B. reports…

Scott Storch may have found a way to make the money he blew. Reports now coming out that the hit-producer has signed a deal to star in an upcoming reality show that will give viewers an inside look into his personal life and the music industry. Documenting Storch as he makes hit records for the hottest artists in the business, the new show will also feature the hot and trendy Miami music scene.

“This is a monumental moment to see a producer of his caliber let the cameras into his world and see how hit records are made,” executive producer David Weintraub explained. “A lot of people have tried to get Scott to open up the curtain to this process but have never been successful.”