whats a good percentage amount for royalties n stuff

[Relic]

Static is now rich, but not famous.

 

[Sanova]

haha awesome

 

[static]

ima just give yall nigs the run down about this situation

a friend gave me souljaboys number because he sold souljaboy his jewelry


now i called him up and we had been talking about beats for months prior to his album being released

he liked two tracks and wanted to look into them

he verbally described a type of contract he could do after offering an undisclosed amount for ghost production and he would take credit and throw his tag on there.

so after it was a no go with that he was tlkin contracts

that's when i asked yall this question

now he kept being all talk and this was his direct personal cell phone so i was hitting this nigg up because i wanted the dough fuck if he is killing hip hop right now.

but basically the nigga got out of line on some shit which i aint breaking down in the entire and
i left him alone(this was before the robbing and bow wow beef)

i gave him one more chance to grab at least one of the two beats and he passed again i then left it on a friendly level because i dont burn bridges and when he just basically told me "im not fins to fuck with you i got zaytoven and polo" i left his ass alone like "iight nigga spend stacks on a beat just because its name brand bro" so after he got robbed and bow wow shut him down its officially "fuck souljaboy" until he comes at me with more money chances


but yeah. i aint tripping over this as much because big fruit gave me a few connects and direct emails.

so souljaboy isint even a priority period.

 

[Sanova]

word thats wussup stay positive

 

[Relic]

I feel ya! Work that ish!

 

[God]

ima just give yall nigs the run down about this situation

a friend gave me souljaboys number because he sold souljaboy his jewelry


now i called him up and we had been talking about beats for months prior to his album being released

he liked two tracks and wanted to look into them

he verbally described a type of contract he could do after offering an undisclosed amount for ghost production and he would take credit and throw his tag on there.

so after it was a no go with that he was tlkin contracts

that's when i asked yall this question

now he kept being all talk and this was his direct personal cell phone so i was hitting this nigg up because i wanted the dough fuck if he is killing hip hop right now.

but basically the nigga got out of line on some shit which i aint breaking down in the entire and
i left him alone(this was before the robbing and bow wow beef)

i gave him one more chance to grab at least one of the two beats and he passed again i then left it on a friendly level because i dont burn bridges and when he just basically told me "im not fins to fuck with you i got zaytoven and polo" i left his ass alone like "iight nigga spend stacks on a beat just because its name brand bro" so after he got robbed and bow wow shut him down its officially "fuck souljaboy" until he comes at me with more money chances


but yeah. i aint tripping over this as much because big fruit gave me a few connects and direct emails.

so souljaboy isint even a priority period.

That's odd.

Usually it's the manager, exec producer, label exec or a "grown man" that handles any negotiations like this. The artist usually works the line "talk to my manager."

That's usually because the artist is too stupid/stoned/coked up to handle his/her own negotiations.

Just seems like a weird situation.

 

[static]

That's odd.

Usually it's the manager, exec producer, label exec or a "grown man" that handles any negotiations like this. The artist usually works the line "talk to my manager."

That's usually because the artist is too stupid/stoned/coked up to handle his/her own negotiations.

Just seems like a weird situation.

it never even got as far as that bro..
which prompted me to rethink things and red flag a jip.

the dj db that produced whip rico got jiipped soulja boy threw his tag at the begening of th ebeat ot have ppl think that he made it when he really didint. and same goes for the marco polo beat

 

[God]

it never even got as far as that bro..
which prompted me to rethink things and red flag a jip.

the dj db that produced whip rico got jiipped soulja boy threw his tag at the begening of th ebeat ot have ppl think that he made it when he really didint. and same goes for the marco polo beat

Welcome to the music industry.

Still odd... since you say he talked about a "ghost-production" offer. I don't think someone in his position would handle his own affairs like that and through out ideas like a "ghost-production" offer w/o talking to his representation first. What he's doing could incur a lot of liabilities.

I don't know what you say really happened, but things don't seem to add up. There's probably a lot more that went down, as you said, that you can't share with the boards.

Also, in my humble experience, a lot of up and coming producers use a story about how they got screwed by some huge artist as a way of showing others that their production is in demand. This in turn, supposedly gives the producer some form of "credibility."

If you have good stuff, seek an agent that can shop your productions for you. It would be better if you had complete songs with hooks as well - rather than just beats. There are agents for producers, mastering engineers, mixing engineers, songwriters, etc.

Keep grindin' and work hard.

 

[Sanova]

Welcome to the music industry.

Still odd... since you say he talked about a "ghost-production" offer. I don't think someone in his position would handle his own affairs like that and through out ideas like a "ghost-production" offer w/o talking to his representation first. What he's doing could incur a lot of liabilities.

I don't know what you say really happened, but things don't seem to add up. There's probably a lot more that went down, as you said, that you can't share with the boards.

Also, in my humble experience, a lot of up and coming producers use a story about how they got screwed by some huge artist as a way of showing others that their production is in demand. This in turn, supposedly gives the producer some form of "credibility."

If you have good stuff, seek an agent that can shop your productions for you. It would be better if you had complete songs with hooks as well - rather than just beats. There are agents for producers, mastering engineers, mixing engineers, songwriters, etc.

Keep grindin' and work hard.

Hey man, quick question. How would I go about seeking representation as far as an agency goes? I'm currently registered with Ascap as a producer and songwriter and have enough local fans to make profit by selling albums independently. I have a lot of complete songs complete with hooks and vocals that can be called versatile in the sense that there are some songs on there for "real hip hop" heads and songs on there for the commercial heads.

I have no management or no agent. I have a small number of valuable networking contacts, and I know alot of the business is not what you know but who you know. But i've just been honing my craft so to speak and now the rest of my life is in perfect order to bring this to the next level. Thanks for your input.

-Sanova.

 

[static]

i didint talk to his manager directly because my homeboi in atlanta and him are close friends due to drew selling him all his jewelry which got stolen lol n it was more on a "lets talk then take our stuff to your management " type of thing

but yes i def got fucked over.

 

[God]

Hey man, quick question. How would I go about seeking representation as far as an agency goes? I'm currently registered with Ascap as a producer and songwriter and have enough local fans to make profit by selling albums independently. I have a lot of complete songs complete with hooks and vocals that can be called versatile in the sense that there are some songs on there for "real hip hop" heads and songs on there for the commercial heads.

I have no management or no agent. I have a small number of valuable networking contacts, and I know alot of the business is not what you know but who you know. But i've just been honing my craft so to speak and now the rest of my life is in perfect order to bring this to the next level. Thanks for your input.

-Sanova.

Spend eighty dollars on a book that has the contact info for agents and managers. Search Amazon.com for it.

Call them up and see if they accept unsolicited material.

Send a press kit and demo to the people that said they accept unsolicited material. If you have live footage you can send with the press kit - all the better.

Follow up politely to see if they received the demo.

I heard some people targeted up to a 100 agents and managers when sending a demo. That costs a lot of money in postage, cost of press kit, etc. If you aren't willing to pony up the money for this - then do you really want to give this a good shot?

If you're not an established act - I don't care what people say. You want a good press kit. Many cats fail in this area and then complain why they were never taken seriously.

As I told another person on this forum. You have to adopt a contrarian point of view from the herd that always sends in demos and DIFFERENTIATE yourself from the others.

You do this through a good press kit. You do this in actively seeking representation rather than sitting in front of a computer waiting for "the industry" to fall into your lap.

Doesn't work that way. It's a business. I laugh when I see cats talking about "their music" on interviews and "how much it means to them to play such-and-such venue."

It's about the money.

It ALWAYS boils down to a dude that:
- Listens to your demo and asks himself: "How can I make money off this act?"

THAT'S the bottom line. Always appeal to the agent's or manager's self-interest first. Don't go over the top and fuck it up, though, by giving him your "business suggestions" unless you know how to pitch a product correctly (read my post on the cat that properly pitched me his act like a real business). Agents and managers don't take artists seriously in the business side of things because most artists don't know shit about business. They just think they do.

I get people emailing me their dumbass business ideas for their acts. If you can't present your act properly, like a fucking businessman- then just shut the fuck up and make music.


WHY DO I SAY THIS?

My friend's daughter is a STUNNING woman. She has the looks to be in Vogue. She could be a high-fashion model. She is tall, very attractive and skinny as hell. Unfortunately, the girl has a really low self-esteem and always talks herself down. Her father brought up the suggestion she should send pics to a modeling agency and it was shot down by her negative attitude.

HER MOTHER got pissed off with her negative attitude and mailed her daughter's pictures to a very reputable modeling agency.

HER MOTHER forced her daughter to meet with the head of the agency after the agency head liked her daughter's "look."

HER MOTHER drove her to the agency when the daughter tried to self-sabotage the appointment.

The daughter is happy now, getting paid $1,000/hr to stand in front of a camera wearing haute-couture designer clothes.

Sometimes people are afraid of success and find reasons to NOT promote themselves. It's weird, they're SCARED of success.

PROMOTE yourself. SEND unsolicited material. SEE what happens.

 

[Sanova]

Thanks for the guidance. I'll just post a little bit about myself to give you a better understanding of me if that helps with any further questions I may have (thank you again for your making the time to answer).

Anyhow, I read the post about the guy that pitched himself to you, and this actually woke me up because throughout most of the post I thought you were talking about me for some reason. Obviously I hadn't gone down to meet with you so it couldn't have been me, but it really fucked me up. I run a graphic design business for print and web, been doing it for over 7 years now its my main money maker. I say this to say that I'm pretty efficient in the business world (not off this alone) I am 6 months away from my AA in business administration BA in 2 years after that.

I've read another post by you explaining the importance of a GOOD press kit, so I will definitely return to that post for reference. Continuing on, I have very good communication skills, I can pretty much talk any situation into existence, but to whom should I be talking?

... I've settled court cases of "allegedly" 6 grand and more with DA's and judges without the presence of a lawyer on my part, but when it comes down to the business world, its not just my life (or business) at stake. So at what point do I shut up, and at what point do I make noise (albeit intelligent and informative noise)?

 

[God]

Thanks for the guidance. I'll just post a little bit about myself to give you a better understanding of me if that helps with any further questions I may have (thank you again for your making the time to answer).

Anyhow, I read the post about the guy that pitched himself to you, and this actually woke me up because throughout most of the post I thought you were talking about me for some reason. Obviously I hadn't gone down to meet with you so it couldn't have been me, but it really fucked me up. I run a graphic design business for print and web, been doing it for over 7 years now its my main money maker. I say this to say that I'm pretty efficient in the business world (not off this alone) I am 6 months away from my AA in business administration BA in 2 years after that.

I've read another post by you explaining the importance of a GOOD press kit, so I will definitely return to that post for reference. Continuing on, I have very good communication skills, I can pretty much talk any situation into existence, but to whom should I be talking?

... I've settled court cases of "allegedly" 6 grand and more with DA's and judges without the presence of a lawyer on my part, but when it comes down to the business world, its not just my life (or business) at stake. So at what point do I shut up, and at what point do I make noise (albeit intelligent and informative noise)?

I don't give business advice.

If you have a business, then you obviously know what you're doing. I don't know you, so I can't possibly make an accurate judgment on your temperament, business acumen, etc., based on this forum.

Maybe this will illustrate where my reasoning is coming from:

Think of one of your dumb friends who "makes beats" or thinks he's a rapper. This guy makes a MySpace page and makes a low-budget demo. He puts together some shit and actually makes a press kit. The music sucks, he's an idiot and is utterly hopeless.

There are A LOT of these types of individuals who attempt to get a record deal or publishing deal every day.

That's why managers or record companies only say submit three or four of your best songs. Because most "artists" who submit work can't write a song worth shit. If the three songs suck, the rest of the artist's music probably sucks.

But professional songwriters have their body of work on a CD - way more than 4 songs. Why? Because the professional songwriters have a reputation and have a large body of GOOD work that is properly presented and professionally produced.

Why do I say this? Because most of the "rules" you read on the internet apply to the cats that WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET SIGNED and generally waste an agent's or exec's precious time.

For some reason, I've been researching Oasis' rise to fame - and found out their "demo" was an eight-song EP... whose songs were eventually good enough to make it on their first studio album.

That's because their main songwriter, Noel Gallagher, is exceptional.

I'm a proponent of people putting their "hooks" (30 seconds max per track) before the full song, so it doesn't waste the exec or manager's time when they're perusing through your work. They can immediately access the hook of the song, which is the selling point of the song. If they like it - then they can listen to the track with the full song.

Some people may disagree with this view. This is my opinion.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Sanova]

I don't give business advice.

If you have a business, then you obviously know what you're doing. I don't know you, so I can't possibly make an accurate judgment on your temperament, business acumen, etc., based on this forum.

Maybe this will illustrate where my reasoning is coming from:

Think of one of your dumb friends who "makes beats" or thinks he's a rapper. This guy makes a MySpace page and makes a low-budget demo. He puts together some shit and actually makes a press kit. The music sucks, he's an idiot and is utterly hopeless.

There are A LOT of these types of individuals who attempt to get a record deal or publishing deal every day.

That's why managers or record companies only say submit three or four of your best songs. Because most "artists" who submit work can't write a song worth shit. If the three songs suck, the rest of the artist's music probably sucks.

But professional songwriters have their body of work on a CD - way more than 4 songs. Why? Because the professional songwriters have a reputation and have a large body of GOOD work that is properly presented and professionally produced.

Why do I say this? Because most of the "rules" you read on the internet apply to the cats that WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET SIGNED and generally waste an agent's or exec's precious time.

For some reason, I've been researching Oasis' rise to fame - and found out their "demo" was an eight-song EP... whose songs were eventually good enough to make it on their first studio album.

That's because their main songwriter, Noel Gallagher, is exceptional.

I'm a proponent of people putting their "hooks" (30 seconds max per track) before the full song, so it doesn't waste the exec or manager's time when they're perusing through your work. They can immediately access the hook of the song, which is the selling point of the song. If they like it - then they can listen to the track with the full song.

Some people may disagree with this view. This is my opinion.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck.

I seek only educated information on a specified area of the music industry.

I agree with the points you touched on and your answers were more than sufficient to my questions, i learned a great deal.

Again, thanks for the help, I know taking the time out for this isn't something that you get paid to do =]