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February 17, 2006

Back to blog business.....The other shoe is about to drop.

I have been runnning crazy for the last couple of weeks due to different events in my management company, my record company duties,the grammys and after having a few insightful mtgs while in los angeles I found myself pondering what is the new face of the truly revolutionary record company going to look like?

I find myself in a place where I believe for the survival of our music and brands not only are the record companies going to have to change their thought process so are the management companies. We as black people and executives can't sit around and wait for the shoe to drop like our counter parts do because lets face it we are the minority. Whether its a hip hop world which it is how many of us truly have power?

That being said, I see everyone wondering why this one artist is successful or that one has a perfume or a sneaker deal. The reason being is those individuals arent waiting for the other shoe to drop they are grabbing it and putting it on.The record companies constantly complain that "hey I am the seed money". Clearly they are but then they dont invest into building the artist brand outside of an mtv/bet world.

What if the artist sells records only if he/she has a viable tour out there ? 99 percent of the time the record companies what for the manager to create that situation? What happens if the manager can't? What if their intentions as a new manager are great but their reach is too limited? Our industry is at a major crossroads where artist/manager/record company are going to have to work more as one because where is the next motown brand? def jam brand? uptown records? remember that? We have to build a better union between all the parts to succeed.

The "lil scrappy brand" is just as important as the "ludacris" brand but if we aren't smart as a management company in growing it and the record company doesnt chime in wewill never know!! Where is the next frank sinatri,elvis presley,marvin gaye,tupac shakur? I am not a fan of the first two brands i have mentioned but damn we just cant seem to shake them and they have stood the test of time.

The record company blueprint that is doing the robbie williams and korn deals are more to the future of our business than the lets wait and hope someone calls me and wants my artist in their commercial approach that we as a business have been taking. I know there are departments being formed but who has a marketing department that is strategic in all the aspects of touring, endorsements, merchandise, etc and has a great artist management relationship. Hmmm.

I could go on and on but the model of our business has to change or we will be put out of business and I am the first to say I love my job!!! My next blog will continue on this rant of changing the model but will address the manager's dream and nightmare: Touring!

Posted by chrislighty at February 17, 2006 02:43 PM

Comments

Wow!!! What an insightful piece. Such a breathe of Fresh air...It's like how can you be apart of any business or organizatoion and think that success is determined based off one person or group's work. There's no 'I' in Team...We must all work together accordingly to make it work....and be consistent w/ it...Remember: It takes a Village to raise a child so what in the heck do you think it's going to take to brand an artist?

Posted by: Jessica aka Gypsy Flesh at February 18, 2006 12:20 AM

Is this off topic? Kind of but not completely. My beef is that an artist/musician constantly wants to be in movies. You hand these folk a film script and they can't be bothered. Can't get a call back or get their people on the phone. The next thing you know you see Usher in a piece of garbage starring him and a white girl that only him and his mama went to see.

This is so irritating when you know you had a better vehicle for them than that. I'm not saying I'm mad with Usher personally. I'm just using him as an example since his film faux pas was so recent. Because of that studios will steer clear of Ursh unelss he serves up another huge album. Big projects like "Confessions" don't come around that often. So he wasted a good portion of his shine and that didn't have to be. I understood he was trying to have crossover appeal but boy was that film a steaming hot pile of fecal elimination.

People won't read a lyric sheet, let alone a film script. How do you get black folks to read??? All I keep thinking is Chris Rock saying "You wanna keep niggas from stealing your money? Put that ish in a book! Niggas don't read! Books are like kryptonite to a nigga!" Man, it sure seems like the truth. I will put myself out there and say my writing is better than 85% - 90% of what is seen on the screen because I know who these artists are. I'm not some suit who asks who's hot then says stick them in a film. I know the music and the the artists' bends, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. I don't like every artist and can't or won't write for each one. But I sure know most of them better than the studio suits.

If black folk, once they get a little shine and some cash, would put some of each into black films, our industry could thrive. Maybe we could have more than pimp, ho, mandigo minstrel films and depict black folk as the multi-faceted folk that we are. Shoot, I was raised in a middle class home with two parents and I know there are many like me. Where are the middle or upper class black people in films? Only we will depcit us because white people don't believe we exist or at the very least don't care that we do. They certianly don't think a film about black people who ain't hustlin' and flowin' will make any money. Will we ever prove them wrong?

Posted by: Sherryll at February 18, 2006 04:56 AM

I hear you Chris but the labels, as well as, the established management co.s have to be more open minded and willing to take the "calculated risk" to change the game. Who will have the balls to step outside the formulatic structure of supposedly maximum success for the artist and the label? When will companies start to advertise and truely start to develop again? It's gonna be a long hard road until someone steps up to the plate.

I'm all about artist development for my artists in the sense of both performing ability and marketability (especially being in artist development for labels for awhile and being a musician's daughter)but realistically some of labels' infrastructure has poor communication between departments..so I find myself struggling to keep it all together. Bottomline: They only know how to market your artist if you tell them..because instead of tweaking the template they use as a marketing plan to appeal a little bit more to the artist, they run with what they have..glitches and all. Once again the lack of communication as mentioned in your post.

Now on another note. I have been preaching this for awhile now.. mentorship and management consortiums..Can we build stronger relationships between existing and established managers (such as yourself) and upcoming management(such as myself)? The result is beneficial for both sides in the sense of fresh ideas, stronger structure and unlimited resources.

Posted by: Lady Precise at February 19, 2006 01:02 AM

So much Lust, so much Greed and so much Vanity in the industry right now...... I'm waiting to see Bill Gates pop up with an Ice Grill in his mouth. Being a King Maker just ain't enough for People any more.... They wanna be the King. Wanna be seen themselves in a Vain way. NOT YOU CHRIS....you've done a Great Job at keeping your troops busy and staying out the spotlight. But the Lust for $$$$$ Money and Power and Fame, have the people in charge forgetting about Love. Nobody cares about the Artist anymore or branding them. If they did.... Arista records or Clive Davis would have never let Whitney Houston get on a show like "Being Bobby Brown" until her Act was together. It Destroyed her. And after making so many millions of Dollars$$$ for her Label.... you think they would have helped her get herself together....not help Destroy herself by giving her an avenue like Viacom to make a fool of herself. But nowadays.....they let self-destructive artist Destroy themselves in front of Millions of Fans........then there goes your Brand. Now they look for the next fool to step up. When I used to shop around demo tapes in the late 80's and early 90's.... they had a department in the labels called "Artist Development". What happened to that??? Just curious. Cause a Department like that can help keep the Artist Mind, Spirit and Soul in check of course with the Help of Jesus Christ. Because before you go branding them......make sure they don't turn out to be a Bad investment. Like a Casssidy, who's LP was supposed to drop then he goes to Jail 2 weeks prior to the release for Murder. Ooops. Bad investment. Now you got to start all over. Guess who's in the RED. Now the Artist owes money. A little rambling but just had to get that out. Peace!

Posted by: Sair at February 19, 2006 08:56 AM

They fired us all Sair..they didn't see the value in us. Also the definition of "Artist Development" now is different then it was back in the 80s to the mid 90s. There's still some of us that freelance for the labels but not really permanent staff..others moved on to other fields and started consultation co.s

there's alot more consolidation to come and the quality of artist, music and product will continue to diminish.

Posted by: Lady Precise at February 19, 2006 09:47 AM

ur absoulutely right chris.speaking of changing things up I sent u 3 songs .treat urself.1

Posted by: gabe pineiro at February 19, 2006 04:31 PM

United Coalition Association a 501(c)(3) charity organization is giving a college fair at JHS 131 Albert Einstein 885 Bolton Ave, Bronx, N.Y 10473 ON Sat May 6th, 2006 from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm. The theme of this college fair is ?The Importance Of Staying In School? therefore we will have guest speakers at this college fair (Bronx 18th district City Council Member Annabel Palma is one of our guest speakers). We are respectfully requesting guest speakers, each speaker has approx five minutes or less to talk about the importance of school. This outreach is very important to our youth. We would need your response no later then Monday, February 17th 2006 to confirm or deny our request.
We are asking our guest speakers to arrive at the school at 1:30pm. Speakers will speak in the auditorium 2:00pm SHARP.

Posted by: Ronald 'B.Stinger' Savage at February 20, 2006 06:39 PM

"Things Fall Apart"

The NEW Hierarchy of the Music Industry is:

Booking Agent
Publicist
Manager
Film-Agent
Label
Other

Majority of up-and-coming artist with real talent that I see are savy and want to do tours/festivals and could care less about airplay and videos. If they 'partner' with a label it will most likely be a small indie that 'kicks ass' - ie Rhymesayers or Def Jux.

Unfortunately this leaves only "Laffy-Taffy" clones for major labels to pick through...true story.

Posted by: D Dizzle at February 21, 2006 11:37 AM

I find your blog quite inspirational and read it often. Keep up the good work Chris.

Posted by: Block Star DVD Magazine at February 27, 2006 08:37 PM

Chris, that new way of thinking, that new managerial style and the new brand you are speaking of is on the "new" west coast... get familiar, keep your ear to the streets... Larceny Entertainment

Posted by: Young Breezy at March 1, 2006 11:41 PM

Great stuff Mr. Lighty

At the end of the day we are all on a playing field that we didn't design. Sometimes it amazes me how much we think we have when there is so much more for us to OWN and so many of our own agendas that we have yet to set forth, without compromising or having to conform to the walls placed around us.

In my opinion those walls are slowly breking down every day in part because of the progress of the internet and specifially high speed communications. Thnk about how many "video girls" that we see now that we shrug off, who could have been hollywood starlets 20 years ago, but are pigeonholed into shaking ass today, and how they got "discovered" via the internet. How many aspiring rappers now have dreams that they feel are realistic because they can find a record executive on myspace and show how they've built their buzz and show what kind of hits they are capable of delivering. There is some kid in kansas or idaho right now that has the killer combo of creatiivity and technical savvy to get himself heard, to brand himself, and to distribute, and he may or may not need the label infrastructure to get that out in a year or two. There's a glut but the cream always rises to the top...if we have our eyes open.


Think about how much has changed since pro tools became accessible..that's a whole nother rant and my apologies for ranting on your blog. YES WE MUST BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE NEW MODEL BECAUSE OUR MUSIC AND OUR ENERGY ARE THE ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC'S LIFE BLOOD RIGHT NOW.

Posted by: Broadway All Day at March 2, 2006 07:21 PM

fresh

Posted by: con?one at March 8, 2006 06:36 PM