Copyrights…. Whose rights are they anyways?

 Copyright infringement is one of the most talked about topics in the music industry today, besides the ultimate “scammers”. Many people do not know what copyrights are, and have no idea that even sampling a beat or similar song from an artist, is considered to be an infringement. We see a lot of this going on more and more because artist, especially in the hip-hop/rap genres are providing us with “mix-tapes”, which go viral and they want to use those songs as actual records for fans to hear. It happens everyday, and recently has happened to Birdman.

Brian Williams, aka Birdman, owes over a half-million dollars in royalties to several different artists for copyright infringements, according to billboard.com. How one owes many artists, and is careless in what goes on with their music, boggles many individuals, but also does not surprise people at all. “It’s stealing”, according to Bob Hadley, author of podcast “Why you should Respect Copyrights” on iTunes. He explains that when you are “caught” infringing on a copyright, you will be notified and asked to comply with the request made by the owner. It is if you do not comply with the request that you will be then be forced to comply with the results of legal actions.

According to rotholtz.com, the Big Picture Blog reports the “Top Ten Issues in the Music Industry”. The article does not mention copyright infringements, but it does mention greed, lack of knowledge, and money in their top ten, which can easily justify copyrights, and why people do it. There could be a lack of knowledge from many artists or their managers/producers with the avenue to being an “artist” is so broad. An artist may get a hit off of another artist’s song, but has no clue about copyrights, or how they work, and could be subjected to infringements. The greed comes into play when an artist knowingly does it, and does not pay for the rights, because they simply do not want to. The last one being money can play a huge factor because newer artist or independent artist may not have the income to pay for the rights, and so they go with the infringement, with hopes of not being caught.

No matter if you are new to the industry or not, there are laws to help protect an artist for their originality and quality of their work. It is seen as ethical to follow proper procedures when wanting to sample an artist work, and if followed correctly, there will not be any problems. However, if not following the proper way, legal action can be taken against you. Just take a look at some of the most famous cases in the music industry, Vanilla Ice infringed once also. 

Live Nation… Really, Lil Boosie?

Okay, so we definitely understand the publicity and media release in the hip hop/rap community with Lil Boosie, but I never imagined such a large promotion company, let any established company putting Lil Boosie, in a large venue. Call me a “hater” or whatever that you may say, but I refuse believe it! A plane went missing this week with over 200 people on it, and instead of receiving information with what is going on in an email, I am receiving promotions from Live Nation with ticketing information for the Birmingham, Alabama show to see, Lil Boosie.

Torrence Hatch, aka Lil Boosie, is an extremely popular young man in the rap community, especially when he went to prison, surrounding allegations of him issuing people to kill on his behalf. He has became a name in the rap community for fans that are in their teens, up until early thirties. I particularly do not listen to his music, but I understand that he has a fan base, especially after seeing his Instagram with over 340k followers (Offical Boosie Instagram). To me, Live nation is about major deals, and they sell tickets to concerts with millions of fans, so I pose the question, “Why him?”

Live Nation is known to hosting concerts and sold out arenas to artist like U2, Jay-Z, and Madonna, but chose to host this concert in one city for Lil Boosie. Why???? From the press release and fans that are screaming “free Boosie”, live nation sought a one time deal with him, and decided to allow him to host a one night only show in Birmingham, Al. For one night only, fans will be able to see their favorite rapper, free and out of jail, performing on stage, in front of an appeared to be sold out show. From following his Instagram, April 13^th, may be a night to remember. He’s a free man now, I just wonder what his musical career is going to be. Will he “Set it off?” (Click here to get tickets)

Management….. How do I even begin?

With graduation quickly approaching, I cannot help but to wonder, “What am I going to do?” I mean, I know exactly what I want to do, and the steps that I need to take, but I mean really, what am I going to do? I want to start off small with managing an artist, but I cannot help but to dream big and want to manage an artist that is already successful. It is a stressful time, and I feel like a high school student who is caught in between the mixed feelings of going off to college, and venturing into the new world.

While thinking about all of this, I couldn’t help but to resort back to my undergraduate degree in education, and think about the first thoughts about being a classroom teacher; Audrey, You do not and will not know everything! I found some very helpful tools in teaching inside of a classroom, and I believe that they will help myself and others, who potentially want to be managers in some sort of way. (Management 101)

All management starts with good planning. You cannot possibly manager yourself or another individual without having good planning skills. Being organized, and able to piece things together is what managers do, and you need to be able to do this for yourself, before you do it for another individual. Being able to direct is the next important step. Direction is always needed when planning any event or activity, and if you do not have any direction, you will never get anywhere. Finally being able to monitor a situation and not becoming overaggressive or overbearing in the situation is key. Monitor, never be bossy (only if needed). I believe also that you must have the personality to “click” with the client. Nobody wants to deal with a manager who they cannot get along with.

So in saying all of this, truly what am I going to do? I am going to be available and aggressive when it comes to seeking clients, and win them over with my knowledge, personality, and ability to work. I mean, Mariah Carey may be needing someone soon.

Husb(Manager) – Beyoncé Fires her Manager of Five Years

This past week, as we have seen all the headlines surrounding the Super Bowl performance from Bruno Mars (Bruno Performance tops Beyoncé and Madonna) and his incredible performance, we also saw the announcement of Beyoncé firing her manager of five years, not a shocker since she even fired her own father, and replacing him with her husband, Mr. Sean Carter. Sound surprising, not really. This does not come to a major surprise to many due to the fact that Jay-Z is so hands on in B’s career, and they do ultimately everything together.

The move had nothing to do with financial aspects or 12% commission based salary he was making, or bad chemistry between her manager and herself, but instead she saw it as a major move for her family. (Check out full story)It is reported that Jay-Z and Beyoncé have been working together in the studio, surrounding performances for her tour, performing together, and Jay also had his hands in helping to manage and produce Beyoncé’s latest self-titled album “Beyoncé”. The carters know exactly what they are doing, and why not put “family first”, when everything they both do surrounds their family. Plus, there are rumors surrounding adding more to their family.

It was a complete power move that has been made, and I’m sure many great things are to follow for the couple. Jay-Z does not lack intelligence when it comes to music, or being a businessman, just look at the deal he did with Live Nation, and how they practically gave him Roc Nation. He is known to see avenues that will bring success, and I believe that the best is yet to come for Beyoncé’s career. Maybe now Jay-z can officially retire and focus on her, and making her into the legend that we all know she will go down in history for.

All Negotiations are Wins!

When working with negotiations, you have to realize whom you are working for. Now, I know this sounds weird, but there has to be a clear and communicable strategy when dealing with negotiations, between yourself, and any colleagues that you are working with while trying to make a deal. Negotiations may seam hard to many individuals due to the lack of self-confidence, or not simply believing in the product or good that they are rallying for. According to the “SalesCrunch” Video, directed by Jonathan Farrington, there are steps to negotiations, and the most important one is remaining in control. “When you are structured, you remain in control” (Farrington, 2011). One has to be in control of not only their actions in the negotiation process, but also being in control over their reactions. The reactions that one may display during the process can be negative or either positive, but regardless you have to be prepared and enter into the process as if it is a battle, and the war is yours to win.

Negative reactions are most common when in a negotiation process, because most people are not acceptable to change. According to the Andy Gilbert and Kathryn Roberts of Go MAD Thinking podcast entitled, “How to Understand the Thinking of managing of change”, you must be able to understand the change. Change is one thing that we as humans always react negatively to at first are change. It is considered one of the most difficult challenges that we encounter, and when dealing with negotiations this especially catch a person off guard. In the podcast, they are dealing with a management situation, and the most natural reaction from everyone is that something is not “fair”. What is fair in negotiations however? When adapting to change, there is nothing that will be considered fair by any person, hence why there is a negotiation that is taking place.

We as people come across negotiations all the time when in the entertainment industry, but to be effective in negotiating, you have to realize where you stand as the negotiator. Are you rallying for or against something can alter the negotiation, and you have to learn how to play both sides of the field. To help better understand negotiations, I chose to also listen to Margret Neale’s YouTube video, “Getting What You Want”. She says the first thing we need to know when getting a “good deal” is, what are our alternatives, what is the point when we are saying yes or going with the alternative, and what are you actually trying to achieve in the negotiation?

The most common goal in negotiations is to realize what you want out of the deal. How will this deal benefit you in the long run, and how will it benefit those who are around you. By learning about the positives and negatives in a negotiation process from all three videos and podcast, it has taught me that not all negotiations can be bad. We as people tend to look into a negotiation as being a shark eat little fish world, instead of working it together to benefit everyone involved. There are plenty of negotiations that will take place in my future, but the most that I want to accomplish is how to continue to look at how both sides can win, and make it plain as day to the other parties involved. In the entertainment industry we cannot get hung up on a negotiation that has gone wrong, instead you have to learn how to make it fit your situation, and be beneficial to yourself and those around you.

Queen B! No Promotion!

Call her a queen!!!!!! The Queen has arrived, and that an amazing weekend it was for Beyoncé! Surprising her fans with a new album, self entitled, Beyoncé, and also announcing more tour dates in the UK and Ireland! Beyoncé is on the rise, and much hate has also come her way. Being compared to Rhianna, and other Pop/R&B stars, Beyoncé has crushed the scene in my opinion, and many critics before me. Releasing an album at the stroke of midnight, and not promoting it at all, shook everyone up, and made one of the biggest frenzies that social media has seen in a while! The 14 track visual album, is exclusively available on iTunes, has sold a record of 430,000 albums the first day! If meeting the 600,000 albums in its first week, Beyoncé will definitely hold the best week ever in sales, with the record at that standing or above. (SeeTimes Entertainment Article Here).

What made Beyoncé make an album, and not let fans know anything about it? If many remember watching the remarkable HBO special from Beyoncé, “Life is but a Dream”, Beyoncé dove into many things that she believed music was about. She even at one point said that many artists are not making music anymore, that they are simply putting singles out, and not caring about their fans, and what the music may mean to them. Very powerful words were spoken in the documentary that she had done, and she gave us insight to the beginning to what she was working on. We had no idea what she was doing at that time, but judging from the numbers and the haters, she definitely will go down in history as the “Best Singer Alive”, just as her husband Jay-Z.

Although the album has not been released to stores yet, the numbers speak volumes, I guess we will have to wait until we see what Billboard has in store for us after the first week!.....Stay Tuned!

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