February 2012
1 post
5 tags
November 2011
1 post
11 tags
September 2011
1 post
@KD: On Quora: Why didn't Watch the Throne leak?
Watch the Throne did not leak primarily because of the release and recording strategy. An album can leak due to a myriad of reasons but primarily the culprit is, the tracks pass through too many hands. Jay-Z insisted on recording the album in-person and reserved blocks of rooms at hotels exclusively for the album’s recording and production, i.e. “no mailing it in.” It caused...
June 2011
1 post
7 tags
May 2011
1 post
April 2011
1 post
4 tags
March 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Mos Def x Lupe Fiasco x Kanye West Jazz Cypher
iamdonald:
Cypher at the Blue Note w/ Lupe, Kanye, and Mos Def
Fuckin Fire.
Three talented brothers.
Someone want to tell me why I wasn’t at that show? Reminds me why I do this in the first place. And they say live is dead.
1 tag
January 2011
8 posts
9 tags
11 tags
A Social Value Chain Model: Music Ed.
A great artist doesn’t have fans, but brand evangelists. In “Direct Message From @JayElectronica: A Fan Engagement Case Study,” I explored digital brand engagement from the perspective of the fans. The above figure is a social media value chain model as executed by the artist. [Hi-Res]
Research in the economic impact of social media and direct-to-fan marketing is limited but artists...
7 tags
Direct Message from @JayElectronica. A Fan...
Jay Electronica’s fan engagement tactics are very unorthodox and completely worth it.
My first direct message was from Jay Electronica in 2008, days after Christmas. I had just joined twitter and made the premature decision to follow every rapper on the network and Jay followed me back. Soon after, he sent a direct message—no words, just...
3 tags
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WatchDiddy’s Web Conference w/Ustream Staff (video)
6 tags
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Kanye West & Jay-Z's "H.A.M." A Marketing Spoil.
On Jan. 11, Facebook crashed, or at least according to Kanye West. Around midnight, West tweeted a screen shot of an error page suggesting the famed social network had exceeded it’s bandwidth following the release of “H.A.M.”
Rap veterans Kanye West and Jay-Z had released the first track off of their forthcoming album, Watch the Throne, on Facebook but to lukewarm reviews and even more...
Reading is Fundamental.
The blogging hiatus is coming to a close, expect a new “case study” on Jay Electronica next week. Until then, go back and read some previous posts on the site, they’re most intriguing.
Dear @LupeFiasco, You’ve Been UnFollowed: Should artists keep their political views out of the public eye?
Jay-Z’s Shiny New Website. A Review: Shiny? Yes. Social media...
December 2010
6 posts
5 tags
5 tags
NYT: Music Blogs Caught in Labels’ Piracy Fight
Thanksgiving Day had barely begun when Kevin Hofman’s BlackBerry buzzed. It was one of the technical operators of OnSmash.com, Mr. Hofman’s popular hip-hop blog, telling him that the site had gone mysteriously blank just after midnight.
At first I thought it was hackers,” Mr. Hofman said. But within hours a notice went up on the site saying that its domain name had been seized by the United...
3 tags
Marketing vs Legal - The Record Labels' Internal... →
moearora:
Great post by super-blogger, Eskay.
Interesting read, might just have to write about it.
9 tags
EMI No More? And Other Recent Developments in...
Major label Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) has been going through it. Recently, a lawsuit found that EMI illegally distributed their label’s music via Rapidshare as part of a viral marketing effort. Apparently, Mp3Tunes owner Michael Robertson uncovered some “secret” emails that put the British label in a compromising position. EMI has been in...
2 tags
November 2010
15 posts
“Marketing in the future is like sex. Only the losers will have to pay for it.”
– Jon Bond, cofounder of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners (via iamjabari)
3 tags
8 tags
How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?...
5 tags
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Jay Elect’s verse on this record is very...
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“Dear rappers, no need to brag about writing your entire verse in your head. We...”
– Kendra Desrosiers
2 tags
Questlove's Celebrity Stories →
Lily Allen
my first sign of aging in this industry comes courtesy of LA.
we did a panel together at booneroo: she didn’t know who i was.
we were in the elevator at the louis store at kanye’s 30th: she didn’t remember who i was.
we were in the same hotel in france: she forgot who i was.
saw each other at another industry party and sure enough…reintroduced herself AGAIN
...
2 tags
Me and Mark are Boys...
SincerelyJane: sh*t did I miss my chance to get a fb email with my first name?
Catelouie: It's invite only right now. You know Mark personally? Lol
SincerelyJane: We boys. You know that.
6 tags
Dear @LupeFiasco, You’ve Been Unfollowed
Should artists keep their political views out of the public eye?
Hell hath no fury like a follower scorned. After a flurry of anti-Bush tweets from Chicago bred emcee, Lupe Fiasco, fan Robert Nalette (@detroitrobbie) unfollowed him.
In response, Lupe Fiasco retweeted the announcement and soon after, the post was nowhere to be found. Nalette deleted...
2 tags
WatchJ. Cole - #FridayNightLights Mixtape Stream.
Because by the time your download completes, you would’ve finished the tape already.
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J. Cole's Friday Night Lights Mixtape is M-I-A
The clock struck midnight and J. Cole’s blog, Dream Villain, went down. The influx of Cole fans has the website bandwidth acting up so there is no download in sight for Friday Night Lights. It is now 12:30 a.m., still no tape. Sound familiar?
For my birthday, Kanye West leaked his LP, how... →
6 tags
Jay-Z's Shiny New Website. A Review.
Jay-Z’s new website. Shiny? Yes. Social media masterpiece? Not quite.
To commemorate the release of Jay-Z’s The Hits Collection, volume one of the greatest hits collection drops Nov 22., the Island Def Jam camp has released a shiny new website. It’s sleek, clean, and flashy—literally, it requires Adobe Flash 10. Sorry mobile users, this site is not for you.
The...
HOW TO: Become a YouTube Sensation →
October 2010
5 posts
1 tag
An Open Letter to Support Ninjas, Web Rock Stars,...
To Whom It May Concern
You are not a ninja. Each time you use the word ‘ninja’ in vain, another one moves into your attic. Ninjas train. Ninjas battle. Ninjas don’t check email.
You are not a rock star. Rock stars paint on silence. Rock stars trash hotels. Rock stars use Internet Explorer 6. Rock stars just don’t give a shit.
An artist? Please. Artists see. Artists reflect. Artists bleed...
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New WP Feature Allows Artists to Shift Blog to...
At this point of the blogging wave, it’s (almost) safe to assume that artists and management understand the benefits of developing a self-hosted website or blog instead of the free mainstream option—artistname.wordpress.com. It is the shift itself from the basic free blog to a premium website that intimidates an artists’ camp.
As they weigh their options for maximizing their web...
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The Importance of Managing Your Brand. The Dom...
Meet Dom Kennedy, a west coast rapper gigging nationally with considerable buzz. Although unsigned, his recent mixtape, From the Westside With Love, received favorable reviews, including some press from XXL, and just about anything with his name on it makes it’s way into the new music cartel’s RSS feeds. A video for “The 4 Heartbeats” Ft. Overdoz off of FWWL was...
1 tag
September 2010
4 posts
1 tag
Vevo Plans to Challenge MTV on TV, Too →
Vevo, the popular website that streams music videos from major labels, would like to transcend the world wide web and launch its own TV channel, according to a New York Postinterview with CEO Rio Caraeff.
Vevo argues that it is the top destination for music video programming on the web, though MTV Networks gets more traffic when you include all kinds of content, and much of Vevo’s traffic runs...
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Alas, an iTunes Ping Update.
Social media geeks weren’t incredibly impressed with iTunes’ lackluster social network launch of Ping. There were few artists to follow and even fewer friends (find me, I’m Kendra D!); Only a few of your recent purchases appeared in your profile and users never seemed to get that darn photo uploader to work. Most notably, there was no integration of Ping and iTunes. The 14,000+...
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What New Wordpress iOS Means for Artists (and the...
While in a perfect world, every artist totes around a 5lb laptop with unbeatable wifi while they’re on the road and performing at shows, multimedia isn’t always feasible due to portability for the every day artist. Most have a smart phone or one of the I’s (phone, pod, etc) and are able to capture video, photo and audio footage backstage or during performances— enter new...
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The Creation and Promotion of Social Content
Content marketing is one of the best strategies when it comes to garnishing interest, traffic, and credibility in your company’s chosen industry. Combining social media with content as a means of promotion, generation, and feedback is the best way to utilize all the web has to offer, both as a marketing tool and as a reputation tool.
There are several opportunities to make a name for yourself...
August 2010
16 posts
3 tags
So You Want to be a Musician?
Hilarious video from Hypebot. Musician: So how much are you paying me? Manager: You worry too much, I told you I take care of my guys.
#otherpeoplesproduct
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The Age of Engage: An Urban Guide to the Social...
The Age of Engage: An Urban Guide to the Social Music Evolution
#otherpeoplesproduct
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