FOOD FOR THOUGHT: INSIDE THE GRIND W/ TONE P

Checkout This Inside The Grind Interview With Chicago Artist "Tone P".

1. What is your name? Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

My artist name is Tone P, I was born in Chicago and grew up between there and Aurora, IL, writing music has always been therapy for me becoming an artist seemed natural.

2. How did you come up with your Stage name?

My real name is Anthony but I go also go by Tony the letter P is for passion. Ant P didn't click to me but Tone P did.

3. Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration?

From personal perspective and experiences.

4. Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

The studio that I do the most work in is currently updated and is using logic.

5. Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Yea I'm currently working on a group project called Loyalty Is Rare and working on another project called Top Knotch Boys.

6. What should fans look forward to in 2017?

Look forward to a lot of new music, visuals and shows.

See If The Grind Is Real Via

Facebook.com/tonepmusik

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WHAT IS SXSW MUSIC FESTIVAL

Few events in the business world manage to combine tech, start-up launches, a world-class film festival, and one of the world's largest concert series -- but that's exactly what South by Southwest (written simply SXSW) promises. An event that originally started in the late 1980's to host a local music festival in Austin, Texas, has today become a cornerstone of the music, film, and digital media industries. Running just over a week every March, SXSW has long been known as a launching point for the careers of independent musicians and filmmakers, but increasingly it has become the hotbed to launch hot digital products as well. Especially since the mobile app revolution.

The SXSW website has described the 5-day Interactive Festival as "an incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity", consisting of presentations and panels from leaders in emerging technology, as well as hosted networking events, and a lineup of special programs that will showcase new sites, video games, startup ideas, and more.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WHAT IS "A3C" MUSIC FESTIVAL

Over the past 10 years, A3C Festival has grown from a local Atlanta showcase to a large-scale cultural experience. It’s quickly becoming the most distinguished hip-hop festival in the world, celebrating not only rap music, but also arts, education, film, fashion and other aspects of hip-hop’s multifaceted landscape. Standing for “All 3 Coasts”—East, West and Gulf—A3C joins together the many different faces of hip-hop and aims to connect like-minded individuals for a five-day, one-of-a-kind gathering. Usually the 1st week of October.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: HOW TO BOOK YOUR OWN TOUR

One of the biggest challenges musicians face is booking tours. Many bands don’t have a booking agent, so booking a tour can seem like a daunting task the first time out.

Here are some key things to keep in mind to help you book a tour without a booking agent.

Don't Be Overwhelmed

The first thing to remember is that you are only one person. If you're trying to book a one month tour, break it off into pieces and do little sections at a time. Booking a long tour takes months of emailing and waiting, and emailing and waiting. You couldn't do it in one sitting even if you tried.

Write a Good Pitch

The average venue doesn't need to hear from an actual booking agent, manager, or someone representing you. They just want to open their inbox and not be overwhelmed with your 2-page life story. Learn how to write a to-the-point, concise email that pitches your talent and worth to that venue.

Use Who You Know

Have friends in a specific city? Ask them where they go to listen to live music. Ask them where their friends go. Half the battle of booking shows is knowing the venues that are right for you. Why spend hours online if you've got a shortcut.

Use the Back Door

Sometimes you get into a venue because you know the owner or the booker. But there are other ways. Back doors. Connect with friends who are in bands and can have you co-bill with them. Know a promoter? Ask them to put you on a show. Reach out to the manager of an artist touring through town and ask if you can open the show for them. Use the back door. Back doors count. They also open future front doors.

...this is not a one-off. You are trying to develop a relationship with a venue so that you can keep coming back.

BE a Booking Agent

This doesn't mean you begrudgingly take on the job. It means you actually need to embody the role of a booking agent. Be professional. Be clear. List dates. List links of your music. Be Specific: know that a song or video that might appeal to a club is not necessarily the same video that will appeal to an arts center. Also remember: this is not a one-off. You are trying to develop a relationship with a venue so that you can keep coming back. That is what a booking agent does.

Be Consistent, Not Creepy

Good booking agents are consistent but not creepy. Don't email the venue every 3 days to check on the status of your potential show. Give your pitch the space it needs. Follow up after a few weeks. When you follow up, include a line that fishes for a response, such as, ''If those original dates (13/14) don't work, another good date would be the 28th as I make my way back up north.''

Check the Calendar First!

DO NOT email a venue about a date that is already booked on their calendar. Do your research. Visit their calendar, see which dates are still open, determine if any of those work. Then reach out to the venue about one of those.

Sell Yourself

As a ''booking agent'' your job is to sell the product - YOU. When you read your pitch, do people wanna ''buy'' you? Are you appealing? You don't need to embellish or lie. Just package yourself well.

Sell an Idea

Sometimes you're not just selling you. You are selling an idea. Maybe you're actually selling a Women's themed event b/c it's Women's History Month. Maybe you're selling a Veterans Day event with performers who are all veterans. Maybe you're putting together a piano-themed showcase or a tribute show. Sometimes the idea is much bigger than you. Venues like that stuff.

Sell your data

Is your website getting a lot of traffic from the city you’re trying to book a show in? Mention that when pitching the venue. Also, be sure to take a look at your mailing list to see how many subscribers are from that city. That is tangible / actionable data that can be used to promote your show, and venue bookers will look kindly on it.

Be Thorough

Sounds like a no brainer. But if it takes you 1 week to get back to the venue, they're going to give that Hold to someone else. If it takes you forever to communicate your ideas to the show contact and get your act together, your show quickly becomes less important. Just be on top of it. The average music venue has 15-25 shows a month. If you don't care, they won’t.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 10 SAFE WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR FANBASE

Here are 10 fail-safe ways to increase / engage with your fanbase. Many of these tips help you take full advantage of the crowds of people who already know and like you!

1. Get serious about your newsletter.

Use Fanbridge.com, ReverbNation.com, or Mail Chimp to send your newsletter at least once per month. Track the effectiveness of your emails by monitoring open and click rates.

2. Mine your inbox and outbox for names and addresses to add.

Ask all of your friends if it’s OK to add them to your list, otherwise your account may be labeled as spam.

3. Bring a clipboard to each and every live appearance.

Invite people onto your mailing list with a raffle or giveaway from stage, and collect e-mail addresses. During your performance, hold the CD up on stage and then give it away: you’ve just inserted a full commercial into your set without feeling “salesy” and you’ve excited one of your fans by giving them a gift.

4. Include a special offer on your website’s home page with a free exclusive MP3 or video.

Use one of Noisetrade’s free download widgets, or the Reverbnation Fan Collector.

TIP: Make sure this download is not available anywhere. Not streaming on your Facebook page. Only on your website.

And of course it can also be available for purchase on your CD, but make sure that no one can get it anywhere else online. This will motivate people to sign up to your mailing list!

5. Follow 25 new people a week on Twitter. Engage with them!

6. Send out e-mails to your most engaged fans on Facebook and ask if you can have their e-mail addresses for your newsletter. This is a bit arduous but the results will pay off.

7. Do the same with Twitter.

8. Start a blog and start sharing photos and stories and thoughts. Take full advantage of Instagram!

9. Start a podcast or a vodcast and interview other artists with big followings. Ask them to share your podcast with their fans and followers. It doesn’t have to be a big production. It can be a small, informal video at YouTube.

10. Ask your fans to review your music at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon.

The number of things you can do to promote your music online is practically infinite. But these 10 tips will get you well on your way to a successful internet marketing strategy.

INTERVIEW: INSIDE THE GRIND W/ WES KARDIGAN

Checkout This Inside The Grind Interview With Chicago Artist & Producer "Wes Kardigan"

1. What is your name? Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

My name is Wes Kardigan. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. What really made want to become an artist was when I first saw Common's video, "Take It EZ", and the line where he said, " Off 87th----The South Side of Chicago". Right then and there, I was sold lolbs. #TheBeginning

2. How did you come up with your Stage name?

One day, I was just writing and it popped up out of nowhere, WES KARDIGAN. Then I started thinking about how I could make my "brand" standout even more. Currently, other than Kanye, there really isn't another act out with WES as part of their stage name. Since he spells his with a "T", I decided to drop the T for mines and keep it as such to help further create my own lane apart from him. Plus, from an acronym standpoint, it represents me being Witty, Entertaining & Skillful and (WES). Although I do love cardigan sweaters, my last name has nothing to do with clothing. I figured I would replace the "C" with a "K" to help make it sound and look more unique/appealing to the public eye. #TheMeaningOfMyMoniker

3. Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration?

As far as songwriting inspiration: Common, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Redman, Pharoahe Monch, Eminem, Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Andre 3000 & J. Cole off top. And with me being a producer as well I vibe out to: J-Dilla, Just Blaze, Ryan Leslie, Rich Harrison, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Pete Rock, Premier & No I.D. Every last one of the aforementioned keeps me going in some way, shape or form. #Salute

4. Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

The owners of the studios that I work out of continue to always upgrade so that part I never have to worry about. I'm currently promoting my single, "HUSTLE", which I produced. It can be purchased on iTunes, GooglePlay, Tidal & all other major digital music outlets. #SupportRealHipHop

5. Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Be on the lookout for my single, "HUSTLE", which available now on iTunes, GooglePlay, Tidal etc., etc., to be possibly made into an independent movie in the future. #PushForward

6. What should fans look forward to in 2016?

In 2016, besides working on the visual for 'HUSTLE", fans should look forward to seeing this humble hungry hip-hop artist continue to stay busy and build his brand in the form of numerous blog interviews, various sponsorships (including AND1), online/print magazine write-ups (for the 2nd straight year, I will be in the FRESHMAN CLASS ISSUE of the XXL) & more dope music and performances. Catch me live on the "Never Say Never" Tour headlined by OTF/DefJam recording artist, Hypno Carlito from now through the end of June. #ItsAllAboutProgression

See If The Grind Is Real Via

www.WesKardigan.com

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A LOOK INTO WARNER MUSIC GROUP

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A LOOK INTO SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A LOOK INTO UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WHY MIXTAPE/ARTWORK IS IMPORTANT

While the fact remains that when you are a musician your primary source of income will be directly related to how well and how much you sell your music. When it comes to this, the sad part is that most musicians think that making good music is the only path to success. The fact is that this isn’t true, you not only need good music to succeed, and you also need good promotion methods. If we exclude all the primary promotion methods like social networks that everybody uses, your primary method of promotion will be your mixtape cover which will be what everyone sees before they get a chance to hear your music so your mixtape artwork needs to be appealing. So needless to say that having a good mixtape cover can have a huge impact on your career. How much better are covers at promoting than anything else? Try to picture yourself as someone who is looking to find some good rap music, the online stores are filled with rap artists that range from good to people that don’t know what they are doing, you obviously need to find something that is worth your time and money. While most online music stores offer potential buyers the option to listen to samples of songs that are located on the album, the fact remains that people rarely do this due to large quantities of clutter music. Needless to say that you need to make people click on your album so they can listen to samples of your songs. This is where your mixtape cover comes in to play. As a musician, your music has its character, and your music has a number of people who like it, and listen to it. As such it’s needless to say that your mixtape cover should be aimed to attract more listeners to your mixtape and increase your fanbase and clientele. That’s why it’s important to have a mixtape cover that is solely aimed at promoting your music. This can be achieved by doing some of the following:

- Try to illustrate what your music is all about

- Make a mixtape cover that you would click on

- Always hire designers to design your mixtape cover

- Personalize your mixtape cover art to mirror an aspect of you

These are only some ideas that will help any musician on his way to success, needless to say that there are more ways to integrate your music and yourself into your mixtape cover, but that is something that individual artists need to find out how to do, not all methods are suited for everyone.

Mixtape cover as a tool of promotion

We previously stated that you should hire a professional designer to design your mixtape cover; however mixtape designers can cost a lot of money, which may or may not turn a lot of people away from that idea. We advise the following; under no circumstance should you save your money when it comes to making a mixtape cover, as sometimes it can be a better promoting tool than your music. How you may ask? One example is the idea that a lot of people listen to music on their headphones, while the name of the song and the mixtape cover is left on the iPhone or iPod display for the entire world to see, in cases like these, having a good mixtape cover can lead to direct sales of your album, in more than one music store.

How to make a good return on investment

To make money you need money to invest, and it’s no different with the music you make. You need to buy a good mixtape cover, a lot of equipment for recording, or studio time, so the next question would be how should a musician get the best possible return on investment in this business? First and foremost, you should utilize all of your available resources to their full extent. What we are trying to say is that you should, after you purchase your mixtape cover push the hell out of it. Post it on Facebook, use the cover on every single online store there is, print out the mixtape cover and hand it out to people, or simply mail them out to people of interest. The ideas when it comes to this are truly limitless. You can use this method of using something to its full extent only pretty much anything that is closely related to your music.

In conclusion

Now you probably realize the importance of having a good, and a professionally designed mixtape cover, it will not only be an image on iTunes, people we see it a lot, and by doing so they will spread your music. If you obtain a professionally designed mixtape cover and learn to utilize it to its fullest extent, you should see a marginal increase in your sales and in your income, ultimately this will lead to more money, which could later on be used to invest in your music career, allowing you to have an even better return on investment in due time. The path to success is not an easy one, and in the music business it’s no different, it takes a lot of time, money and effort to make it. Need to put a lot of time, money and effort into what you do, and you should always plan to succeed in life, if you don’t plan to succeed, you plan to fail!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WHAT IS A COPYRIGHT?

*Any recording artists who creates music which could be duplicated for the purpose of publication, performance, or display (Specifically if there are profits or revenue involved) should understand copyrights. Although your music is protected by United States copyright laws automatically, proving the date of creation is another story in the case of an infringement incident.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?

No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”

Why should I register my work if copyright protection is automatic?

Registration is recommended for a number of reasons. Many choose to register their works because they wish to have the facts of their copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney's fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration” and Circular 38b, Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), on non-U.S. works.

I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it?

The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright.” There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WHY HAVING A BRAND LOGO IS IMPORTANT

A picture paints a thousand words. This cliché will never lose its essence or its truth no matter how many times it is said or used. This is a principle that visual marketing is founded on. Visual marketing is considered to be one of the most effective strategies no matter what kind of message a business is trying to send across to its customers. Visual marketing includes different elements such as graphics, images, and design elements including the brand logo.

Brand Logo: The face of the company, you gotta be very careful in creating and choosing the brand logo. It is the representation of your brand’s identity. Therefore, it should have a unique design and colors used in it should give the customers a look and feel of the product or service that the brand offers. It is to be expected that this logo will be the basis of colors used for text, graphics, design, and decorative elements of future advertisements, campaigns, and possibly other marketing materials.

Brand Logo: The Look The brand logo is the most basic identity of a business. It is an image that creates an instant thought on people’s minds, associating the icon that they see to the company behind it. Some business owners choose an elaborate logo while others choose to go by the minimalist approach. It all depends upon the image that the business wants to project. Coming up with the perfect logo can help improve a brand’s integrity and build customers’ trust.

Brand Logo: The Design: Different brands, different logos. One logo design may be perfect for a business but is totally wrong for another. As each business, and it’s market is unique, each business’s logo should be unique too.