Da House!!

I decided to roll by Morehouse's campus today and low and behold it was freshman orientation day. This is the day all of the freshman move on to campus for the first time and move into their dorm rooms. It was a trip, I walked on campus and it smelled the same as I remember it. There were loads of new buildings, the campus seemed totally rearranged, and the freshman guides had on these weird outfits with straw hats and Morehouse polos; but amazingly enough, the vibe was exactly the same. I heard kids arguing about how the hoods where they came from are worse than those in Atlanta and you can see how proud the parents were while seeing their sons off. It was amazing!!! Made me remember how much my college experience influenced the man that I am, Morehouse is it's own, almost unexplainable experience and all of us who have experienced it...know it without words. There's a smell to the place; an old ethereal charge in the air. Dear Old Morehouse!

ATLANTIS!!

So here I am, exhausted after 2 weeks of recording in Atlanta, Georgia with Martin Luther. This has been one marathon process of 14 hour days; exhausted musicians and triumphant music. It is coming down to crunch time and I am a little nervous about getting everything done before we have to get out of here. We had some remarkable musicians in the studio with us including Nikki Glaspie and Deantoni Parks on drums, Steve Wyreman on guitar, Kev Choice on keys and programming, Andre Bowman and Aaron Bellamy on bass, and Pascael Arceneaux on production and editing. We are also working with producer/engineer Don McCollister for the first time and that has been an awesome experience so far. These are the times that we have to step up big and make it happen. I am faithful that everything will turn out beautifully, but I must have gained 5 pounds since I've been here from stress eating everything that I could grab. Well, I miss New York; I miss the sunshine, I've been inside this cave too long. I think I'm going to go check out the Morehouse campus today and reminisce.

Father and Son

Edgar Hewett

I just spent an interesting 12 days with my dad. He visits the states from Jamaica at least twice a year but he doesn't always make it to NY as he has a home in North Carolina. My dad and I have a long and interesting story. Let me start by saying that my dad's name is Ed Hewett; and my legal name is Shawn Peters. That alone tells a lot about my history with my father. In short I wasn't really raised with my father being around. He and my mom split when I was about 2. My name was Shawn Hewett until I was 5 years old. In fact I remember being Shawn Hewett in kindergarten; and then Shawn Peters in the first grade. It's weird, my dad just disappeared, I mean he was around; in fact he didn't live too far from me until the age of 14 before he moved back to Jamaica. This is all very personal but I feel like sharing. I remember as a child wondering where he was; after a while he became almost a myth, a phantasm. You have this weird psychological trip that you go through as a kid without a father in your life. For me there was this feeling of not being as valuable or protected as other kids. Even though my mom had six brothers who were wonderful role models; it wasn't the same as having a father claim you. The effect that my father's absence on my childhood is hard to really articulate fully. There is just a sadness that is there, an uncontrollable longing for to know that part of your life and yourself. As I got older, sadness turned into anger; I was so angry that when people would ask about my father I would tell people that he was dead.

Before my mom died, she asked me to find my father, that was a little over 10 years ago. When she first asked, I vehemently refused. It took a while, but I warmed up to the idea; funny enough I saw a day time talk show where Chilly from TLC reunited with her father and oddly enough it touched me. I broke own and started probing. My uncle Alfred's best friend Arnie; would tell me that he knew my father well. One day I called him and he was able to locate my father's daughter; my half sister, Tanya (My dad had 3 kids from his first wife, who I was aware of but never met) I got the nerve up to call her and we finally met. We gelled really quickly, and soon after I met my older brothers and my aunt Judes. Finally; a call was arranged between me and my father, we talked a few times and I finally planned a trip to Jamaica to see him (really to meet him for the first time). When I saw him the first time it was weird, he had this huge smile when I came off of the plane. He and his wife Joyce brought me to there home; we talked all night....and I was floored. I couldn't believe how much of myself I saw in him, I loved him immediately. After that trip, my father and I have taken a trip to Cuba together and he has stayed with me in NY many times. It hasn't always been easy. Usually, i can take about 10 days of my father before I am ready for him to go home. I was really sensitive to his personality, he can be really critical; and in many ways I didn't feel like he had a right. So here he was, in my house again this time it was 12 days....and it was actually easy, and I really enjoyed his company. I love my dad there is no doubt about that...its been and interesting journey; and I am actually glad that he wasn't in my life as a child, all things happen for a reason. The timing of my father in my life has been perfect!

Family and Friends

I am passionate about people; I have come to realize that it is a attribute of mine that is both a strength and a weakness. As I learn more about the nature of life and spirit and the mysteries of myself I realize that the people in your life that are closest are your greatest teachers about SELF. You learn who you are in the way you respond to and interact with those close to you. Many Buddhist traditions teach that the people in this lifetime that are you are drawn to most whether they are friends or family have often reappeared from past lifetimes. A sibling could have been a lover or even an enemy or a best friend a sibling in a past life. The point is that certain energies attract one another and we interact in this life, in my belief mainly to evolve the soul. So even though I have had many rough times with my friends and even some family members; I must say that for the most part, if I have attracted you to my life then you are for me in some way. You could be in many moments a vehicle for me to suffer enough to learn to make a change in myself and who I desire to be around. You may reveal in me an understanding of my own selfishness, or my own beauty. Either way, I appreciate and love you all.

After a meditation the other day I had this overwhelming feeling of love in my whole body. Love for my life and the experience that I have had so far being me. Love for the people in my life that I have been so lucky to be on this journey with. I walked out of my house soon after my meditation and ran into some friends of mine that I haven't seen in long time and they were carrying there new born son. Big up to Pierre and Jamyla Bennu (www.exittheapple.com) and there beautiful son Osse (I hope I spelled that right.) I want to take this time to acknowledge all of people who are close to me. I love you all!!

Shawn

Floss Scandalous!

I'm back in Brooklyn, well Manhattan at the moment. My trips to LA have always been really really productive. I actually really like LA for what it is. I had a great time kicking it with Sol, Rayzak and Donray. I went to a couple of cool parties and made some outstanding connections. One stand out was a really cool pool party that I went to at fashion designer, Lotta's crib in Hollywood. I had a blast, that party reminded me why folks choose to live in LA.

The reason I flew out to LA was to meet with this famous producer (who shall remain unnamed like a Harry Potter villain) to talk about possibly running his label that he has under Interscope. I have to say; I was really impressed with this dude. For one, I liked him and that's rare for me with music biz types. Second, dude is really really smart, and the new stuff that he is working on is going to surprise folks. He's not making millions producing records for nothing; I got it!! Anyway, we shall see how things progress with our conversations. It's seems like it's going to take a herculean effort to close this dude; cause it seems he has a lot of folks pulling on him. I really like dude and the challenge has me motivated to go after it.

I also had a chance to hang out with a really talented producer named Marshall Altman that we are considering for the Martin Luther project. Marshall was a really warm and thoughtful cat and I'm glad that I met him.

S

Amy Winehouse, Lil Wayne, and K'Naan

I am here in LA trying to stay out of this sweltering heat chilling with my boy Rayzak the Somalian Don Dadda and Sol Guy; for all of you Canadians you may know Sol from the 4 Real series on MTV canada. Anyway, Sol manages an artist named K'Naan from Toronto via Somalia.

Last summer Sol was doing an episode of 4 Real with Cameron Diaz in Peru (when you get a chance go to www.4real.com to learn more about the series.) and he needed someone to fill in as manager on K'Naan's european tour while he was away. I got the call and was pleased because one of the dates was at the Glastonbury festival in England; I've always wanted to go to this legenary festival but never had the opportunity. Well, I have a few memories of that day and let me just say that all of them are bizaar. First of all, I will never go back to that freaking mud pile, rainy, crazy ses pool of a festival again unless I'm working with Fuking U2 and they helecopter our asses on and off the stage for soundcheck and performance. We ran into Amy Winehouse back stage; this was before she really blew up and even though her buzz was crazy, I had never seen her in person. Let me just say, without any exaggeration; when I saw her, I was stopped in my tracks at how deathly sick and crazy she looked. It literally jarred me; the feeling I had was; someone's gotta save this chick or she's going to die. The other weird moment was walking from one end of the festival to the next to go see this hoola hoop artist perform at a gay dance party. Well, it was bizaar, because here I am sludging through knee high mud in the middle of like mid-fck England under moonlight with a Somalian rapper and a half German half Somalian hoola hoop artist (by the way this chick was one of the hottest woman of all time) both probably being the only of there kind on earth.

So here I am in LA a year later with Sol and Rayzak (K'Naan is in Miami and I won't be able to see him until Tuesday and I leave that night, drats!) band listening to demo's from K'Naan's new album to be released on Octone/Interscope (Maroon 5). I must say; I am sooooooo happy that a somewhat major label is going to invest in promoting music like that. Many of the sounds on K'Naan's new album were recorded in Bob Marley's Legendary Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston Jamaica (K'Naan is the dude in the picture with the guitar and Rayzak in sitting in front of him with the cheesing), with Legendary Jamaican session musicians and Damian Marley and the legendary Track and Field team out of Toronto on production. This sound that they came up with (a mixture of Hip Hop, Pop, and East African Folk music) is brilliant and infectious. K'Naan also raps and sings about the truth of poverty and the struggle for liberation. Certain songs actually brought tears to my eyes and others joy to my heart. All I could think about while listening to him was Lil' Wayne. Now, I'm not really hated on Weezie, but I just find it a little crazy that this dude has the fastest seling album in year of any genre out right now (Platinum in less then a week) and I can't really say that anything that he does really moves me. I mean at this point he has become a pop star and image wise he's just kinda, let's admit it fucked up and kind of tragic. Kind of like the person I mentioned earlier who blew up this year. It makes almost wonder if we have become Jerry Springered as a cultured and are voyeuristically obssessed with the tragic lives of others. What happed to liking beauty for beauty's sake. I don't want to over hype K'Naan's next album it because it's not coming out until next year, but if you aren't hip to him check out his last album the Dusty Foot Philosopher; it finally gets released (after 2 years in Canada, Australia, and Europe) in the US on Tuesday.

Well, that's all i have to say about that!

Cheers

WONDERFUL!!

Went to DJ Spinna and Bobitto's Wonderful (A Dance Party Tribute to Stevie Wonder) party last night! This party has been running for about 10 years and I think I went to the very first one back then and hadn't been to one since until last year when I went and left early after becoming sick from something I ate earlier that day. Anyway, I'm 38; which isn't that old by today's standards but I always think I'm too old for everything; so I wouldn't normally go to the wonderful party, but my boy Barry Cole gave me tickets for my birthday. Boy am I happy that I went. First of all that party has GROWN; the first on I attended was crowded but there may have been 200 people there; last night they hosted a crowd of over 2000 and it was at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The crowd...was about 65% woman, incredibly gorgeous woman! I was like a 2 headed cat in a fish market. I danced my ass off and had a great time until something incredibly wonderful happened. I heard to crowd scream I looked up on the stage by the DJ's and low and behold the man himself was there. F*cking Stevie Wonder came to the wonderful party and did a freestyle, 5 song, off the top of the dome concert. Get the heck out of here. Every body went crazy!! It was one of those nights that I would been vexed to hear about and not have been there, but I was; thanks to Barry Cole!

Cody ChesnuTT, Fela Kuti, and Barack Obama!!

Does anyone out there remember Cody ChesnuTT from his famed and heavily talked about debut The headphone Masterpiece released in 2004? The Headphone Masterpiece inspired the The Roots to cover Cody's song The Seed and there version with him singing the hook became an international hit for the band. Anyway, what folks don't know about Cody is that before that in 1999 he was signed with Hollywood Records with a band that he lead called The Crosswalk and in that year produced one of the best unreleased albums of the last 20 years, entitled "Venus Loves a Melody." Hollywood Records foolishly dropped the band and never released the album; the frustration led Cody into his home studio to produce the highly personal under-produced 4 track recorded album that is now fairly legendary. I must mention that Cody and I have an active business partnership and friendship, well our friendship is much more active as Cody hasn't been very active lately musically. I want to say for the record that those who have heard the Headphone Masterpiece would probably think that Cody is a masochistic, oversexed, pimp who yells at his kids and gets high all day. He is infact the opposite; The Headphone Masterpiece was a collection of short stories or observations of characters that Cody has met along the way during life. Alot of the characters are influenced by his own stories as well; like, the tune My Woman My Guitars is actually about his struggles at the time dealing with multiple woman and how it was breaking down his spirit. The pimp songs however are purely fictional observations of people that he has known. At this time in Cody's life he lives on a Farm in Florida with his wife and son and is a deeply pensive and spiritual man who is looking to find a space musically to communicate his new found learning and love for life and God in a way that people can receive and enjoy. With that, you can understand why it is taking him so long to come out with another album.

I have toured the workd with Cody and spent hours on the phone with him talking about Sprituality, politics, race, and the music business and he has come to the point in his life where he wants to release any fear of conforming and just release music that he feels in the moment and not wait for a deal, the industry, a particular genre, or audience to dictate his musical expression. As a manager and indie label guy that obviously defies the logic of my marketing plans, but I truely believe in Cody as a human being and as a miraculous talent so I'm riding. I told Cody soon after Obama announced that he would be running for the democratic nomination that I was going to start volunteering and contributing to campaign. Cody, at that time like many of my friends was very skeptical as he didn't really know his background and wanted to learn more about who the man was in his heart. I was actually skeptical in the very beginning as well; but a good friend of mine who happened to know Obama personally vouced for his character and I respected this particular friend's judge of character very highy, so I was in. After numerous converstations about Obama with Cody and his own observations, he eventually was in and in a big way. He was so happy when he clinched th nomination. I told me that he was working on something that he wanted me to check out. This morning I opened up my email and I recieved this Fela Kuti inspired track called Afrobama that I am now sharing with you. He wanted people to have it; so I hope that you enjoy it!! Peace!

Wild 4 Days!!

My wild 4 days started with the M.I.A concert at Maccarren Pool in Williamsburg. 7500, freaking hipsters paid to see her. I've never seen so many Dr. Seuss characters in my life. I have to say though that M.I.A's branding is bananas. You can say whatever you want about whether she has credible talent or not, she may not be able to really sing or rap but her marketing talent is fucking amazing!! In fact her brand is way bigger than her music; I would even say that her music is the soundtrack to her brand. 7500 kids at $35 is $262,500 earned at the gate of which I'm sure her booking agent and management negotiated at least 35% of which is $91,875. She probably actually got more like 50%. But whatever she negotiated she had a good night. After her booking agent and management got paid, she walked home with $64,312 or so before overhead. Her production including crew, dancers, stage design and DJ may have cost her 20 grand. I would say that she walked away with a good check for a night's work. I have to say that I really enjoyed it was a big party and MIA and gang brought an awesome energy that never stopped. I went to the show with some friends of mine who were opening for her on tour; an off the hook new band out of Toronto called LET's GO TO WAR. Their manager Phoebe is a friend of mine and after the show we went to a Dante Fried Chicken party. For those of you in NYC who haven't been to a Dante Fried Chicken party; its a must, I don't want to diverse but for $7 you get a plate of gourmet eats cooked the man himself, a drink ticket, and 4 of the hottest bands that he seems to find before anyone else. Anyway Google Dante Friend Chicken and join the email list; the location of the party changes every month to and announced the day of so you have to get the announcement. Anyway, i didn't get home until 4 that night and haven't gotten home before then until those lunatics left my apartment last night to head home for the NxNE festival in Toronto. The good news is that I made some great connections with iTunes and Kobalt why they were here, and they are going to co-produce a couple of tracks of one of the artists that I work with. Good times!! I haven't really edited this at all so I'm sure there are plenty of grammatical errors but anyhow. There is is! Oh yeah, I forgot; I bought the new album from The Kills "Midnight Boom" on iTunes, it's really dope!!

Music 2.0 and Chamillionaire

Thank you to everyone that has made such nice comments about my last post; I kind of feel under pressure to post things that will be appreciated at least as much. I hope that this post measures up.

As we all know these are very interesting times in the music business; all of us who make our living in this space are scurrying around trying to figure out the answers to developing and monetizing our content. This post is going to be more about independent music than particular songs or artists so I hope I am not outside of my jurisdiction here. As independent labels and musicians that are primarily self financed we must constantly think out of
the box as we approach marketing and we must continually seek out new low cost, new media tools that can help us and our content gain exposure. First thing we must do is set our expectations appropriately.

If anyone honestly believes that you are going to be able to out market the major label system by being creative or crafty online only, you are delusional. The latest PEW study on online buying trends states that (I'm not sure who they are interviewing) 56% of the folks interviewed use the Internet for product research, only 7% percent of those interviewed said that the Internet had a major impact on their decision to purchase (the operative word here being major). This same study says that 83% of music buyers find out about new music via radio, TV, or in a movie and 64% of those interviewed say they find out about music through word of mouth. Are these percentages accurate I don't know; I do know that while iTunes has recently become the second largest retailer of music after Walmart; digital downloads still only represent 10% of music sales.

There are some music futurists like Gerd Leonhard (whom I greatly respect) that say music and video content should be free and that we can longer control distribution so we have monetize our content based on user engagement via sponsorship or advertising. That's a lot harder than it sounds and most independents can't afford to experiment long enough with possible income from the Long Tail when they need to sell records to eat.

Today I went to the Advertising 2.0 conference in Manhattan, to see if I could gain some new wisdom on how to market and promote my content in a way that would attract possible sponsors and guess who there hanging out at the conference going to seminars; the rapper Chamillionaire! I was compelled to approach him and ask why he was there. He said, "hey man, I'm trying to get up on this advertising and technology game." Wow!! I was really impressed with this guy and his understanding of what he needs to do to separate himself in a marketplace that is saturated and many artists are marginalized as ringtone rappers or one hit wonders.



The moral of this post is that even though in the Music 2.0 economy there are a plethora of new media tools to market yourself and engage with your audience, whether that is Reverb Nation a Twitter blog, Vlogging, or free content RSS feeding your fans; but the simple fact is that you cannot replace spending some money on traditional marketing. Spend some money on a decent creative publicist and some sort of inexpensive video. It is also important to create a partnership with a company that can go after TV or film sync licenses for your songs for a 10% commission. And if you think you have some really good songs you should know the different distribution points for them; educate yourself; get daily RSS feeds from Hypebot, Coolfer, Mashable, and Paid Content. Well, anyway, I am new Chammilionaire fan, "Riding Dirty!" That's wassup! I wrote this while really sleepy I hope i didn't bore you to death.

Aftermath?

As I sat on the A train on the way to the office: I was thinking about the interesting weekend that I just had. On Saturday night I had a really cool birthday party. I was surprised at how many people eventually showed up. It was so nice to see everyone. It was an honor for me to see all of my friends and make a lot new ones. My homey Michael Weintrob was the best person to through the party with as he is a crazy social butterfly in his own right and has a completely different set of friends then mine. Although I had an awesome time; I think the next time I do a party it I will do something during the day; like a brunch or a cookout. I want to do something where folks can socialize a little easier, maybe play group games or something. Why do we all have to be so grown up and hip all the time. Folks didn't leave the party until 5AM and I went to sleep around 6:30PM then woke up to clean up at 9:30 so I was exhausted all day Sunday. I finally took a nap at 4PM and woke up at 7:30PM to a text from my friend Jomo asking me if I could come to the emergency room and stay with our friend Scott because he just got admitted for severe abdominal pain. Jomo couldn't stay because his sister in-law was admitted to the hospital and he had to be on call as that developed. It was a lot to wake up to. Anyway, I went to the hospital and waiting with Scott; he received a cat scan and they found a kidney stone. They gave him a bunch of pain killer and I took him home.



On my way to the office while I was writing this blog I was listening to what may possibly be the best Live album ever; Bill Withers: Live at Carnegie Hall. If you have not heard this album I suggest that you cop it and give it an intent ear. This album is especially important for musicians as it is a text book for how to engage and audience and pace a show. Keep in mind Bill Withers was a huge star by the time this show was recorded; but his comfort on stage and his ability to make Carnegie Hall into his own backyard or living room was remarkable. The lesson that we learn as artists and those like myself who consult and manage artists is that you have to give of yourself in some way. People want to get to know you in someway that goes beyond the hype. With the gap closing on physical distribution and the influx of millions self produced artists that are cluttering the internet with songs and videos; it is really hard to find a means for distribution. Well, what comes before the opportunity to distribute and sell is the ability to make a connection to someone who gives a f*ck enough to patronize you. So at the end of the day Bill Withers in the 70's had hit records but he didn't have the internet; he didn't have YouTube or Blogger or MySpace or Facebook. As artists and promoters in the independent music game; we need to be known on a much more intimate level than ever. Whether it's Twitter or YouTube or Blogger; create a way for consumers to know a bit of your story and your life, you would be surprised at who would watch and listen.

Medicine For Melancholy

With all of this Obama hype; and that fact that he has been pretty much categorized at this point as African American; it has made me contemplate blackness and what that means in terms of class, education, culture, country. What is the pervasive African American cultural Aesthetic, in the minds of most Americans? This discussion is an old one; but it is really rediculous how far away from Flavor of the Month my world and the world of my peers seems to be. Is it Reverend Wright? Is it Morehouse and Spelman? It's complex as we know but I have been yearning for something to represent me; a mass media voice for my friends and our conversations. Our aesthetic and our concerns. We seem to be caught in the middle of Jeremiah Wright and maybe even Barack Obama. We are cultural aware and the concept of defining ourselves is a constant part of the conversation. We are Anti-American and proudly American, we are extra-black yet proud that we enjoy non "urban" shit and have white friends. It's funny! Anyway, I came across film and even though I've only seen this trailer; I am praying that it is amazing and that it finds distribution so my friends and I and all of the black folks like us can have something commercial that represents us.

Thankful!

Yesterday was my birthday and I am definitely thankful for another year. I am 38 now and closing in on 40 really quickly. Seems kind of weird as it feels like I was just 28, though I would not choose to go back to those times. I was actually older, mentally and spiritually at 28 than now. I also had more cash back then, go figure. Anyway, yesterday I had a wonderful birthday. I am a very social person who seems to easily gain friends; in fact in someways I may have too many folks in my life. But yesterday, I had a day of one on one quality interactions. I had lunch with my new younger brother homie Joel Then at Victors (Victor's is amazing, I highly recommend it for a nice night out) Joel is only 22 years old but he is wise beyond his years and I really respect and love that dude. Then I went to see the new Narnia film with my close friend Michael Wientrob; who actually hurt my feelings, earlier that day, LOL; but redeemed himself by being the only one of my friends to come to the movies with me. I give Michael a hard time all of the time because he's a bit of a lunatic, but I really love that dude. I must say though that the best that thing happened to me yesterday was a phone call that I received unexpectedly from a GIRL. I'm not saying who it was because that's a secret, but I will say that it was the first time that I have talked to this particular crush of mine in about 8 months. We have sent texts to each other back and forth here and there recently; but we haven't actually talked. After hearing her voice again really reinforced my crush. I can't lie, my heart was kind of bugging afterwards, I really miss talking to her. I'm 38 damn years old and I feel like a kid with a crush a huge crush. Anyway, unfortunately she doesn't live in NY (that's a clue for those who know me). I will leave another clue as well. Anyway, I am supposed to have a party on Saturday to celebrate my birthday and Michael's moving back into his studio, why he left is a long and crazy story and getting back in merits a celebration. Oh, by the way; Narnia was hell of long but I really enjoyed it!!

ADGER COWANS!

On the A train, on my way to my meditation class in New Rochelle I ran into Adger Cowans; an African American photography pioneer and legend. I learned about Adger Cowans in graduate school after I was introduced to the work of Roy DeCarava by my photography professor Gene Crediford. When researching the upper echelon of black photographers those 2 names would come up again and again. So when I got back to NY; I sought both of them out to show them my work. Roy DeCarava I found out was teaching at Hunter College so I arranged to meet him during his office hours. He told me then that I had real talent but that my prints had too much contrast. Adger, I met while volunteering one summer at the Black Film maker Foundation with Warrington Hudlin. He was a trip then and is a trip now; a strikingly handsome man that must have been a huge player in his day. He must be in his seventies now and yet he has the spirit and youthful ness of someone my age. For that short period on the train we talked about spirituality, cinematography and Barack Obama. Seeing him was a real treat and certainly made my day. He gave me his email and I will certainly keep in touch. The only thing that I regret was that I forgot that I had my little digital camera in my pocket as I was so engrossed in the conversation, so I forgot to snap his picture for this blog entry. All I could find online is this low-res deal that doesn't represent him well and a picture of his eyes.

Is this dude about to be President?

We must realize what we may be witnessing; if a guy named Barack Husien Obama becomes President of the United States, everything has been turned upside down..in good way. It's a monumental shift in the America psychology. It changes the lexicon of commander and cheif; the change is way beyond policy or Washington culture; this is an American cultural shift.

China, The New Frontier?

Earlier today I was reading a blog post from an Ed Peto, an American music critic living in China. He was talking about the music industry there and giving advice on how American labels can do business with caution. Most of the opportunities as he describes them, seem to be Long Tail. My label; being a small fish in a global pond, seems to have the disadvantage when approaching Long Tail opportunities for the simple fact that by the time I am able to sort out the benefits, I may not still be in business. If you listen to Gerd Leonhard, whom I greatly respect intellectually, you would learn that he believes that the notion of Copyright, which is essentially the right to sell a copy of music whether it be physical or digital is becoming or is irrelevant. Well, where does that leave me as a poorly funded independent producer of media content. Well as Gerd says is all in the clicks or the audience, once you have galvanized an audience by essentially allowing them access to your content for free; you can sell them ancillary products as well as use your content to sell other products visa vie licensing.

I know that I went on a tangeant but this is where China comes back into focus. Everyone knows that China is coming into it's own as a new super power and even though it is a communist country, their doors are open for business. The question is how does someone like me get a chance to play and how do I navigate the culture. Well, the article that I read gave some sound advice: 1) Create Chinese Metadata online for your media products, so that the folks who use Baidu, China's number 1 search engine can find you. 2) Create a Chinese version of your web presence and make it simple. 3) Align yourself with a respectable partner in China that is tapped into the local music industry. 4) If you are a label and you want to make money in China make sure you have some type of 360 or partnership deal with your artists because the money there is in touring and merchandise. Well, I'm going to pick up a some Rosetta Stone software and be about the business of learning Mandarin; Nee Hao Ma, bitches!!

Funniest Ever!!

I came across this today and to me this is the funniest thing I have ever seen. Well not ever; but definitely up there check it out!!

Fear is an incredible emotion! Fear will often trump hunger. It has the power to keep a slave from seeking freedom. As I watched the comments from anti-Obama West Virginians it dawned on me that Obama's candidacy for the democratic nomination threatens much more than we can imagine. It threatens the concept of white supremacy; and as my brother Christopher Moye stated in a recent email to me, it brings up the subconscious fear that America's dominance in the world is quickly coming to an end. This fear is real; most of the hard working white people in rural America that Hillary counts as her core constituency has never had to deal with the cultural the ideas of other races and nationalities. These people have always been on the outside and seen as inferior to America and especially to white America. Is Chris stated; the bottom line is the largest publicly traded company in the world is in Beijing, and the largest investment fund is in Abu Dhabi. We all know how the dollar holds up against the Euro. These details are probably consciously unknown to most heartland patriots but subconsciously, maybe even spiritually, they are sensing change, and that change for the most part doesn't include them. Maybe that's what they feel about the change that Obama represents? Maybe subconsciously, this man of multi-ethnic, multi-national background represents a different paradigm of what an American that wants to compete in a newly accessible global economy needs to be. Maybe, he threatens the old American, bend to our culture and you don't matter attitude towards the world that we American's used to get away with.

I found this image of this black man in Kentucky obviously upset with Obama; and it dawned on me that there must be a segment of the Black community that is also fearful. Fearful that the Obama family represent a change that they are not ready for. Maybe this image creates an intra-racial xenophobia that we as the educated leisure class can not understand.

It's been couple of days since I have had a chance to write I need to catch up on things. Oh, I had an extremely busy day on Saturday. My new artist Kameron Corvet; opened for Tamia and Jaheem at the Beacon Theater. That was an interesting spectacle. Let me just say that Tamia is a real talent and if she would have decided to sell a little more sex in her act like Beyonce she would be much bigger now. I must also say that Jaheem is one of the worst live performers of all time. He is completely uncomfortable with himself on stage and although he has a nice voice; he is definitely not a star.

After that Kameron and I went to Fort Greene so that he could perform at my friend Veronica's birthday party. I have to say; Veronica through the party of the year. I had a ball; everyone was cool and open and the DJ's were off the hook! I danced my old ass off!!