My consulting career & Learning how to build it

I know that most of my readers are here to learn about the business that is very saturated and you are looking to be guided to success. This month in my class Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution I learned how to prepare a true blue print of avenues to gain the most out of making money with the Intellectual property that artists and companies make after their copyrights are summited and also published through publishing houses. Wouldn’t you wonder how it works and works the right way so you can save money and also make your path to success a stable one? It is about the numbers and we need to understand that without the numbers to the industry you are just the next person working and hoping to make it to the point that your work pays off.

The cycle that has been showed to artist is making the music copyright the music and join ASCAP, BMI, or SEASAC Publishing houses. This is true but how do you get your music out there? Did someone say get it on the radio air waves, post it on Sound Cloud, burn mix CD’s and give them away or even put the music on ITunes? Well, all these can be done but do you know the mathematics to how doing all this is missing two things in order to make you more money than just being famous? To answer these questions you can stop making more mix tape music that can land you in court and start making more original music that brings me to the point to tell you that no matter where you put your music if no one knows you and no one is moving your project as a solicited work the big entertainment companies are not interested in you or your music. Most companies do not deal with unsolicited music, which means you just are just sending in work for nothing. Joining or finding the right type of agent is needed for the roles you need done. As an artist you need to know that marketing and representation is needed and the way to get paid from more than putting music in the internet base stores or shelves of the brick and mortar stores like mom and pop stores or wholesalers to get your project on the market.

With the next blogs that will becoming out the treatment for any obstacle that you may encounter the company that we can send you to can be found at www.aicidrecords.com and the consulting email address is info@aicidrecords.com for all your questions and answers to how you can get more out of your Intellectual products like licensing for movies, games, and commercials. You can also find consulting for the main companies to deal with for major distribution aggregators and companies that can solicit your music to major labels and all you need to know is the industry standard for music and video work, and percentages that are paid for their services. With this knowledge you can plan and succeed in this business but with no plan you will be eaten alive and the sharks will not have mercy to help you gain if it doesn’t make a gain for them as well.

This blog should of helped you readers to understand that the internet isn’t anything but a tool and if you depend on it instead of gaining the knowledge you need to make it to the level you want to be at then save your time and money and get a career in anything else but music. Build relationships, teams, and a plan with a budget.

Mastery Journal for Negotiation and deal making

My original goal in this class was to gain more knowledge and skill in getting to a yes answer for negotiations that I will be encountering in my business as an entertainment business owner and manager of artists and bands for contracts. This month, I feel that I have met my goal of learning how to research and find the industry standards that will allow me to be educated for questions that most artists don’t even know, or need to know in order to get the services they are looking for so to be well taken care of and not be taken advantage of. I learned the process of how to start a negotiation by how to map out my interests from least to most and keep my negotiation smooth running and well polished for executions. The aim is to get to an agreement that can be mutually beneficial for both sides. All of this knowledge will help me in my professional endeavors.

I also learned the reasons for having a BATNA, which allows me to have a main objective to what I will take from an offer or what the other person’s BATNA can be to an offer that I would make to an artist or other company that I will be doing negotiations with as well. The process of learning, listening and reframing what was said was also an addition to my skills that I am so proud of getting a chance to learn and put into practice. This was one of my main goals that I wanted to achieve in this class. Finding a person’s underlying interest is much more simple to me now since I did had a problem of going into deep conversations to find out what points they were trying to make. This was also my secondary goal and I will keep up the practice so I do not resort back to this habit.

I appreciate the patience and dedication of my instructor this month for the in-depth knowledge and experience she was able to share with me during and after class. It allowed me to become well educated in being a better negotiator than I was when I came into her class.

Preparing for Your Negotiation

I had the opportunity to sit down with Willie Covington, CEO of Inferno Music Group and EGI Records this past week to gain knowledge of what I should know about negotiations as an up and coming owner of an entertainment company. I was able to gain wisdom on how to prepare for a successful negotiation and was given tips on various topics in the music industry.

Willie Covington has over thirty years of experience in the music industry. His career has spanned from being an artist and songwriter to a manager and founder of his own music companies and publishing houses. His diverse background allowed us to discuss the negotiation process from various different perspectives. Our conversation led to a discussion on deal making. He shared with me how to set my interest or position for a yes in any negotiation.

Mr. Covington spoke a lot on being well prepared for negotiations. He emphasized knowing what problems you might run into with some negotiations. He said, “knowing the value of your product and knowing what you are worth is really your main point of getting to an negotiation.” In negotiations knowing the analysis process is part of the steps of getting to yes.

The process consist of determining the interest or position that you are there for in the negotiation, preparing an effective way to present them, brainstorming your options, knowing your strengths and weakness of what you are offering and having your BATNA ready and in hand for the negotiation. These are some of the analysis processes for you to get to an answer of yes in a good negotiation.

As we continued our conversation we discussed positional bargaining tactics and how it is important to know them. With this knowledge the negotiation could possibly be a win/win situation. This would consist of the use of objective criteria; which would service both sides of the negotiation table. The criteria for this is to know the precedents and traditions, have expert evaluation of the people you want to do business with, and also know your statistics. With these being most of your objective criteria options knowing these steps can also maintain a good chance of a mutual gain in the negotiation procedure.

Now this bought me to ask about how did he ever work toward a deal that gave you and the person you were negotiating with a mutual benefit? This allowed us to go back to a word that I used earlier that was brought up in the analysis process, which is called your BATNA. His response was easy and simple, “leave your options open and don’t take losses.”

With more conversation, I learned that you must realize that you should think percentages not whole numbers.

You must understand that in negotiations having a BATNA, which means that you must have the best alternative to gain a mutual benefit of the negotiation just in case you do not get exactly what you were asking for from the beginning of the negotiation, this is critical in the process. This will allow you to have confidence in what you are there for. It also gives you options and allows you to deal against a very powerful negotiator. Now the name of the game with this is to have more than one way to get to an agreement without taking a loss and hoping to gain a mutual benefit from the negotiation.

I would like for you my readers to know that as you read this and take notes of how to get the answer you would like to hear from any negotiation. You must take strategic measures to get to the answer you would like to hear and the answer you would love to hear is yes. Thank you to Mr. Covington for his time and knowledge that allowed me to write and gain more understanding to how the music industry works. I appreciate what I have learned about the boardroom demeanor to gain what artist, managers, and other up and coming CEO’s of music builders need to know to get where they would love to be in their careers.

Product and Artist Management

This month I really got closer with my understanding of my position as a manager in two different ways. With the lessons that were taught to me and also recalibrated in my functions of life I realized that stepping over my boundary has been done over the years; therefore I took this month to step back and see what all my people I have been keeping my eyes on have been doing. I felt this had to be done to check myself and all the services I have been providing over the years has not been so successful for me or my team for a long time. We have refocused on what type of music we are making to the new designs for the clothing line. This is not to slow up any production of any or both in our time frame of getting to our goal but to reevaluate our path we have been walking. This has only been able to be done by me giving thanks to my instructor Mrs. Jill Craddock, and my mentor Mr. Xavier Scott. These two people have really taken me to another atmosphere this month from learning, to thinking, to making a new plan for things to come and putting together another event soon after I graduate and hopefully also putting together a major function before I graduate as well.

 I want to make sure that my readers understand me. Research, research, research, this action or may I say this word is your friend in this business. Whether in product branding or building your career the need to know and find avenues to be different, find funding, and even find something or someone to stand in front of the product or indorse the product that you want to hit the market these are ingredients for success.

With me learning the artist management side this month tells me one thing to my entire artist group that are reading this. Find an event, make an event, or even partner with other artist in your area and start thinking homemade tour action from county to county, or state to state. Shows, concerts, open mic parties these are your focuses next month. With these steps and my learning of this month you make your on worth and no one will give you what you want if you don’t step out and just do it. So stop waiting and go do because with or without a manager you really can be the manager and artist you always wanted to be. It is that simple only if you choose the path you really want to be on you must know the functions that go with what you are choosing to do.

 With every job title comes great responsibility know your roles, play them wisely, and be capable of holding your position for what ever slot you are choosing. 

Product and Artist Management It’s Time To Do Better

In today’s blog I want to talk to all artists. Regardless of your craft, whether you are a music artist of any genre, an actor or a manager of creative professionals I want to challenge you to consider this one thing. Ask yourself, “Can I be relevant without understanding my position in the industry?

The entertainment industry is the forerunning influence, next to media, for most of the growing adults in the 21^st Century. With the advancements of technology it has become easier to self-publish, independently release projects and to get an entertainment project to the masses through online media. The age of downloads and Internet sharing of media has changed the pay scale, royalty payments, and also popularity rating for up and coming artist and actors. These new developments have created a new breed of people dream bigger and no longer believe that it’s a long shot to break into music, film, or acting. As the opportunities expand, which is great, it has created a new mentality that hinders the productivity of a creative professional desiring to take their art mainstream. The industry has been invaded by artists who believe, “I can do this all by myself.” This is a dangerous road to walk as a creative professional and it’s important that you re-think how you are seeking to launch your career.

In 2010 I started my own record label where I signed three artists, launched two publishing houses, and began working as a major event planner in the east coast. Although I was attaining some success I realized that the main ingredient that I needed to succeed was not in place. To maximize my skills as a manager I recognized that there was a need for education and structure to reach my goal. I immaturely implemented my vision without the proper tools. I fell into the 21^st Century creative professional mentality that I could do it all on my own.

Let’s start with artists; the naked truth is that many creative professionals of the 21^st Century are lost in translation. As an artist within the industry, your primary goal is to be a great artist. Instead of trying to perfect your craft and handle your career, consider bringing on a manager to help elevate you to the next level. A manager is needed for an artist or actor to find work and opportunities advance in their career. A manager understands the business component that enhances your career and has the proper connections to help you reach you objectives as an artist. The goals for most artists are to make money, have their art recognized, seen or heard and to be famous. To achieve these goals, artists need to have the real knowledge of how the industry works from a business perspective as well as the inner workings of the organization they’re within. In short, artist if you’re going to have a strong career you need a stellar management team that can work with you to let your craft be heard and seen by the world.

Now to the managers, you too cannot do it alone. Just as an artist needs you, you need artists. Learning to work together interdependently is the key to your success. Build a solid integral working relationship with your artists. Understand their goals and be committed to bring your knowledge, skill and contacts to their artistry to see your team succeed. You success is predicated on the success of your artist.

I learned through the premature launch of my business, that as a manager and record label owner I had a responsibility to invest in my education of the entertainment industry. It’s not enough to wing it, you need to develop your skill and be what an artist needs. They entrust their careers to you, that’s a great responsibility and you should approach your role from that perspective. Like the artist that needs to be surrounded by management to succeed, you too need to surround yourself with professionals that sharpen you and make you a great asset to your team.

Investing in you as a manager adds value to your role and career. Creative artists need to know that they need us as we need them. The truth is that a career in the entertainment industry is hard one to establish and maintain. The success of both artists and managers hangs on understanding how the entertainment industry is ran and the best strategies to keep creative artists relevant.

I ask this of my readers, during the month of March evaluate you effectiveness as a creative professional. Artists its time to take a deep dive into your career and ask yourself these questions:

·      Can hiring a good manager in the field I am pursuing further my career?

·      What would good manager based on my career goals bring to the table?

To those managers that are reading today’s blogs ask yourselves I also want you to evaluate where you are in your career. Ask yourself these questions:

·      Have I been the best manager I can be for my existing clients?

·      How can I add value to my role as a manager for the advancement of the artists I represent?

As an industry, it’s time for creative professionals to challenge themselves. No more doing it all alone, acting independently like a lone ranger. Embrace the power of a team and recognize that to get where you want to go, you have to do better.