Hip-Hop Timeline: 1925 - Present

1925: Earl Tucker (aka Snake Hips), a performer at the Cotton Club invents a dance style similar to today’s hip-hop moves. He incorporates floats and slides into his dance style. Similar moves would later inspire an element of hip-hop culture known as breakdancing.

1940: Tom the Great (a.k.a. Thomas Wong) uses a booming sound system to please his audience. Wong also utilizes hip American records to steal music-lovers from local bands.

1950: The Soundclash contest between Coxsone Dodd’s “Downbeat” and Duke Reid’s “Trojan” gives birth to DJ Battling.

1956: Clive Campbell is born in Kingston, Jamaica. Campbell would later become the father of hip-hop.

1959: Parks Commissioner Robert Moses starts building an expressway in the Bronx. Consequently, middle class Germans, Irish, Italians, and Jewish, neighborhoods disappear in no time. Businesses relocate away from the borough only to be replaced by impoverished black and Hispanic families. Along with these poor people came addiction, crime, and unemployment.

1962:James Brown records Live At The Apollo. Brown’s drummer Clayton Fillyau influences a sound that is now known as the break beat. The break beat would later inspire the b-boy movement, as breakers danced to these beats at block parties.

1965: In a historic boxing bout, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay) defeats Sonny Liston in the 6th round. Before the bout, however, Ali recited one of the earliest known rhymes:


Clay comes out to meet Liston
And Liston starts to retreat
If Liston goes back any further
He'll end up in a ringside seat.
Clay swings with a left,
Clay swings with a right,
Look at young Cassius
Carry the fight.
Liston keeps backing
But there's not enough room
It's a matter of time...


1967: Clive Campbell migrates to the United States at the age of 11. Because of his size, kids at Alfred E. Smith High School nickname him Hercules. He would later become a writer and change his name to Kool Herc.

1968: A gang named Savage Seven would hit the streets of the East Bronx. Savage Seven later transforms into Black Spades, before eventually becoming an organization known as Zulu Nation.

1969: James Brown records two songs that would further influence the drum programming in today’s rap – “Sex Machines” with John Starks playing the drums and “Funky Drummer” with Clyde Stubblefield on the drums.

1970: DJ U-Roy invades Jamaican pop charts with three top ten songs using a style known as toasting. The Last Poets release their self-titled debut album on Douglas Records combining jazz instrumentations with heartfelt spoken word. (The Last Poets would later appear on Common’s 2005 rap anthem, “The Corner.")

1971: Aretha Franklin records a well-known b-boy song “Rock Steady." The Rock Steady crew would go on to rule in the world of break-dancing, with members all across the globe.

1972: The Black Messengers (a group that staged performances for The Black Panthers and rallies relating to black power movement) feature on The Gong Show.
However, they are only allowed to perform under the alias "Mechanical Devices," because of their controversial name.

1973: DJ Kool Herc deejays his first block party (his sister's birthday) at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, NY. Herc would often buy two copies of a record and stretch the break parts by using two turntables and mixing in both records before the break ends. The Zulu Nation is officially formed by a student of Stevenson High school named Kevin Donovan. Donovan later changed his name to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim in honor of an ancient Zulu chief.


1974: After seeing DJ Kool Herc perform at block parties, Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa start playing at parties all over the Bronx neighborhoods. Around this time, DJ/MC/Crowd Pleaser Lovebug Starski starts referring to this culture as "hip-hop."

1975:

•Herc is hired as a DJ at the Hevalo Club.
•He later gets Coke La Rock to utter crowd-pleasing rhymes at parties (e.g."DJ Riz is in the house and he'll turn it out without a doubt"). Coke La Rock and Clark Kent form the first emcee team known as Kool Herc & The Herculoids.
•DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invents 'the scratch.' While trying to hold a spinning record in place in order to listen to his mom, who was yelling at him, Grand Wizard accidentally caused the record to produce the “shigi-shigi” sound that is now known as the scratch. Scratch is the crux of modern deejaying.

1976: DJ Afrika Bambaataa performs at the Bronx River Center. Bambaataa’s first battle against Disco King Mario sparks off the DJ battling that is now embedded in the culture.

1977:

•The Rock Steady Crew (the most respected b-boy crew in history) is formed by the original four members: JoJo, Jimmy Dee, Easy Mike, and P-Body.
•DJ Kool Herc is nearly stabbed to death at one of his parties. Although the assault placed a permanent dent on Herc's career, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Disco Wiz (the first Latino DJ), and Disco King Mario kept performing around town.

1978:
•Kurtis Blow, who was being managed by Russell Simmons, decides to hire Simmons’ brother, Run, as his DJ.
•Run was so-called because he could cut so fast between two turntables.
•Kurtis would later become the first rapper to be signed to a major record deal.
•Music industry coins the term "rap music," and shifts its focus toward emcees.
•Grandmaster Caz (aka Cassanova Fly) and Bambaataa engage in a battle at the Police Athletic League.

1979:
•Grandmaster Flash forms one of the most influential rap groups ever, The Furious 5: Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), Raheim (Guy Williams), and Mr. Ness (Eddie Morris).
•Around the same time, another great rap crew – The Cold Crush Four – was formed, comprising of Charlie Chase, Tony Tone, Grand Master Caz, Easy Ad, JDL, and Almighty KG.
•The first rap record by a non-rap group “King Tim III” is recorded by the Fatback Band.
•Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper's Delight” would go on to become the first known rap hit, reaching #36 on Billboard.
•Various obscure rap singles were also released: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5’s “Super-rappin” and Spoonie Gee’s “Spoonin’ Rap” both on Enjoy Records, Kurtis Blow’s “Christmas Rappin” on Mercury Records, and Jimmy Spicer’s 13-minute long storytelling track “Adventures of Super Rhymes” on Dazz Records.
•Mr. Magic’s ‘Rap Attack’ becomes the first hip-hop radio show on WHBI.
1980:
•Afrika Bambaata and the Zulu Nation release their first 12" called Zulu Nation Throwdown Pt. 1 on Paul Winley Records.
•Kurtis Blow, the first rapper to appear on national television (Soul Train), releases "The Breaks" on Mercury Records. The record goes on to sell more than a million copies. Hip-hop gradually evolves into big business.
•After meeting Fab 5 Freddy and others, Blonde releases "Rapture" featuring rap vocals by lead singer Debbie Harry.
1981:
•Grandmaster Flash releases “The Adventures of Grand Master Flash on the Wheels of Steel," the first record to ultimately capture the sounds of live DJ scratching on wax.
•On February 14th, The Funky 4 plus One More perform their classic hit, “That's The Joint” on NBC's Saturday Night Live becoming the first hip hop group to appear on national television.
•The Beastie Boys are formed. The group consists of Adam Horovitz (King Ad-Rock), Adam Yauch (MCA), Michael Diamon (Mike D).
1982:
•Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force release the techno-heavy “Planet Rock” on Tommy Boy Records. The record samples portions of Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express."
•Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5 release “The Message” on Sugarhill Records.
•Kool Moe Dee humiliates Busy Bee in a spontaneous rap battle. Since then, emcee battling has become an inseparable part of hip-hop.
•Fab 5 Freddy and Charlie Ahearn co-produce Wild Style, a hip-hop film featuring Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Flash, Grandwizard Theodore, DJ AJ, Grandmixer D.S.T, graf writers Lee, Zephyr, Fab 5 Freddy, Lady Pink, Crash, Daze, Dondi, and members of the Rock Steady Crew. Wild Style has since inspired several other hip-hop-themed movies.
1983:
•Ice T helps pioneer gangsta rap in the west coast with his rapcore singles “Body Rock" and "Killers."
•Grand Master Flash and Melle Mel (Furious 5) record the anti-cocaine single “White Lines (Don't Do It)," which becomes a rap hit.
•Grandmaster Flash later sues Sugarhill Records for $5 million in royalties. The dispute causes the group to break up, signaling the looming danger of corporate control in hip-hop.
•Run DMC releases “It's Like That" b/w "Sucker MC's."
1984
•Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin team up to launch one of the most important record labels ever, Def Jam Records. Def Jam releases its first record, “It’s Yours” by T La Rock, followed by LL Cool J’s “I Need A Beat."
•Hip-hop discovers that touring is a great way to generate income, as the Fresh Fest concert featuring Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Fat Boys, and Run DMC, reels in $3.5 million for 27 dates.
•Battle rap assumes the spotlight in hip-hop, as UTFO’s “Roxanne Roxanne” diss song attracts over 100 responses.
•The most popular response came from a 14-year old female named Roxanne Shante. Shante’s “Roxanne’s Revenge” allegedly recorded in Marley Marl’s living room sold more than 250,000 copies.
•Dougie Fresh (aka The Entertainer) releases The Original Human Beat Box (Vindertainment Records).
•Michael Jackson does 'the moonwalk' at the Grammys, borrowing b-boy dance elements from LA breakers.
1985
•Sugarhill Records goes into bankruptcy and is forced out of business.
•Salt ‘n’ Pepa make their first appearance on Super Nature’s “The Show Stopper."
1986
•
•The Beastie Boys release Licensed To Ill on Def Jam (executive-produced by Rick Rubin).
•James Smith, a native of Houston, Texas, assembles The Geto Boys. The original lineup consisted of MCs Raheim, Jukebox, DJ Ready Red, and Sir Rap-A-Lot.
•The group also featured Little Billy, a dancing dwarf who later picked up the microphone as Bushwick Bill.
•Following a short break-up in 1988, Smith invited local emcee Willie D and multi-instrumentalist Akshun (later known as Scarface) to complete the lineup.
•The Geto Boys (now made up of Scarface, Willie D, and Bushwick Bill) was a driving force in the evolution of southern rap.
1987
•Following the release of Boogie Down Productions’ Criminal Minded LP, Scott LaRock is shot and killed in the South Bronx while attempting to settle a dispute.
•Public Enemy stuns the world with their introductory album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, signaling the genesis of politically-charged hip-hop.
•The original members of the group include Chuck D (Carlton Ridenhour), Flavor Flav (William Drayton), Professor Griff (Richard Griffin), and DJ Terminator X (Norman Rogers).
1988
•After years of being neglected by the mainstream media, hip-hop gets its own show on MTV, "Yo! MTV Raps."
•N.W.A pioneers the gangsta rap movement with their gold album, Straight Outta Compton.
•Def Jam founders Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin part ways; Simmons opts for distribution through CBS/Columbia Records, while Rubin goes on to found Def American.
•Landmark album releases: Ultramagnetic MC’s – Critical Breakdown, and Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane.

1989
•After a life-long battle with crack addiction, Cowboy, a member of Grandmaster Flash’s Furious 5 dies at the age of 28.
•A group of high school friends join the Native Tongues as promoters of the Afrocentricity Movement to make African-Americans aware of their heritage.
•These Manhattan-based friends would later form A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg, and Jarobi).

•A Dallas-based protégé of Dr. Dre known as D.O.C releases No One Can Do It Better. While the album was making rounds on the charts, D.O.C. found himself in a severe car crash.
•While D.O.C. survived the accident, his rap career didn't.
1990
•2 Pac joins Digital Underground as a dancer and a roadie.
•The "Stretch & Bobbito Show" is launched.
•Both a Florida record store owner and Luther Campbell are arrested over 2 Live Crew’s controversial album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be.
1991
•N.W.A’s sophomore album N****z For Life sells over 954,000 copies in its first week of release, reaching #1 on the pop charts. The album paves way for many more hardcore rap albums that would follow.
•Busta Rhymes appears on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario.”
•Cypress Hill (B-Real, DJ Muggs, and Sen Dog) release their self-titled debut, and initiate a campaign to legalize hemp.
•The Notorious B.I.G. is featured in the “Unsigned Hype” column of The Source magazine.
1993
•A Tribe Called Quest release their third album, Midnight Marauders, featuring a who-is-who-in-hip-hop album cover.
•Dr. Dre’s The Chronic attains multi-platinum status.
•Wu-Tang Clan release 36 Chambers. The line-up consists of Prince Rakeem (The RZA), Raekwon, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Genius (GZA), U-God, Master Killa and Inspectah Deck.
•Mobb Deep (Prodigy and Havoc) release their debut LP, Juvenile Hell.
1994
•Nas’ first entry, Illmatic goes gold and is widely received as one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.
•Common releases Resurrection and is lauded as an intelligent lyricist.
•Warren G’s Regulate: The G-Funk Era is certified 4x platinum.
•2 Pac is robbed and shot 5 times in a New York recording studio. He recovers from the shooting. Pac is later sentenced to 8 months in prison.
1995
•Queen Latifah wins a Grammy award in the "Best Rap Solo Performance" category for her hit “Unity.”
•2 Pac signs a deal with Death Row Records after Suge Knight posts a $1.4 million bail.
•Eric Wright (Eazy-E of N.W.A) dies of AIDS on March 20th at the age of 31.
1996
•The Score, a fusion of conscious lyrics with reggae-tinged soulsonics, becomes The Fugees' biggest album. The album debuts at No.1 and grabs two Grammys, thus, breathing a new life into socially aware hip-hop.
•The Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards are launched in the U.K. The Fugees walk away with two trophies.
•Jay-Z drops his highly-lauded debut, Reasonable Doubt. His "charismatic rapper" approach would later spawn throngs of emulators.
•24-year old Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard McKinley Lee are acquitted of the murder of Philip Woldemariam, a 20-year-old Ethiopian immigrant gunned down in August 1993.
•On September 7th, Tupac Shakur is fatally wounded after sustaining multiple gunshots as he rode in a car driven by Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight near the Las Vegas strip. Tupac died 5 days later. His death rekindled the debate on whether rap promotes violence or just reflects the ugly side of the streets.
1997
•The Notorious B.I.G. (born Christopher Wallace), is shot and killed March 9, after a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Like Pac's murder, Biggie's death is still an unsolved mystery.
•Missy Misdemeanor Elliott redefines hip-hop and R & B with her first album, Supa Dupa Fly. Having broken barriers as a successful female producer, Missy would go on to become the highest selling female rapper of all time.
•Parent company Interscope Records sells its interest in Death Row Records and severes ties with the label.
•Chicago MC Juice defeats Eminem on his way to winning the year's Scribble Jam competition. (Scribble Jam is the largest showcase of underground hip-hop in the United States.)
•Roc-A-Fella sells a 50 percent stake to Island Def Jam for $1.5 million.
1998
•Dr. Dre inks Eminem to his Aftermath imprint.
•Lauryn Hill's solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, scores her 11 Grammy nominations and 5 wins, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
•"Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" marks the beginning of Jay-Z's mainstream breakthrough and helps move 5 million units of Vol 2: Hardknock Life. The chorus is sampled from the Broadway play "Annie."
•Shyne (born Jamal Barrow) signs a lucrative record deal with Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment.

1999
•Backed by producer Dr. Dre, Eminem zooms past racial hurdles and sells 4 million copies of his debut, The Slim Shady LP.
•Production duo The Neptunes (Chad Hugo & Pharrell Williams) dominate the airwave with a string of radio hits, including Kelis' "Caught Out There," ODB's "Got Your Money," Noreaga's "Oh No," and Mase's "One Big Fiesta." Their infectious, bling-tinged sound would later become an unofficial requisite on hip-hop albums.
•Dr. Dre puts the west coast back on the spotlight with his comeback LP 2001.
2000
•Dr. Dre files a lawsuit against MP3-swapping firm Napster.
•Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney holds the first Hip-Hop Powershop summit to address the various political, economic, and social issues affecting the youth.
•DJ Craze wins the Technics DMC World DJ Championship 3 consecutive times.
•Eminem, through the release of his well received second album Marshall Mathers LP, solidifies his place as rap's future great. The title sells 1.76 million copies in its first week and later scores two Grammys for the rapper.
2001
•Puff Daddy reveals in an MTV interview that he will now be known as P. Diddy.
•Eminem pleads guilty to one of two felony charges from an incident in 2000 when he pistol-whipped a man caught kissing wife Kim Mathers.
•Prosecutors drop the felony assault charge in exchange for Eminem's guilty plea on carrying a concealed weapon.
•On the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, two of the city's most revered rappers Jay-Z and Nas are in a different New York state of mind. After years of subliminal sniping, they finally take the gloves off and engage in a highly controversial lyrical face-off.
•After Nas dropped "Ether," an earth-shattering response to Jay's equally venemous "Takeover," Jay re-emerges with "Super Ugly," (rhymed over Nas' "Got Yourself a Gun") in which Hov spilled his sexual relationship with Nas' baby-mama to disgusting effect. New York's Hot 97 FM asks call-in voters to decide a winner.
•As votes are being tallied, Jay rushes to Hot 97 and offers an apology for the kiss-and-tell lyrics. His apology fails to deny Nas an outstanding victory. Regardless, fans would forever debate the battle.
2002
•DJ Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is shot and killed in a Queens studio on October 30. No one has been convicted of his murder.
•Hip-hop feuds: Nelly vs. KRS-One, Eminem vs. The Source magazine, Jermaine Dupri vs. Dr. Dre, etc
•The rapping member of TLC, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes, dies in a car crash while traveling with seven other people.
•Malik B is booted from The Roots following a drug use problem.
2003
•Eminem becomes the new focus of a debate on hip-hop and racism after some unidentified friends of the rapper submitted a tape of him using the N-word and making several derogatory remarks about the African-American community.
•Sample lyrics from the Eminem tape: "Black girls are b****es/ That's why I'ma tell ya you better pull up your britches/'Cause all that cash is making your a** drag. On another song, he rhymes: "Black girls and white girls just don't mix/Because Black girls are dumb and white girls are good chicks."
•The Source uses the tape to renew their anti-Eminem campaign, even releasing a CD version of the "racist tape." In response, Eminem apologizes publicly and claims the rap was done out of teen angst following a break-up with a black girlfriend.
"I did and said a lot of stupid s**t when I was a kid, but that's part of growing up," said Eminem in a statement. "The tape of me rapping 15 years ago as a teenager that was recently put out by The Source in no way represents who I was then or who I am today."
•Federal investigators raid the New York offices of Murder Inc., the record label home of Ja Rule and Ashanti, as part of an ongoing investigation into label head Irv Gotti. Authorities were looking into allegations of money laundering and an alleged financial link between Gotti and a New York drug gang called the "Supreme Team."
•ODB, fresh out of jail, signs to Roc-A-Fella Records and changes his name to Dirt McGirt.
2004
•In the middle of the 2004 Vibe Awards ceremony, a man named Jimmy James Johnson approaches rap legend Dr. Dre, who was preparing to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and punches him in the face. A full-on brawl ensues during which Johnson gets stabbed.
•After reviewing tape of the melee, authorities identify the stabber as G-Unit rapper Young Buck, a member of Dr. Dre's entourage. Suge Knight, who also crashed the event, later denies allegations that he had promised Johnson $5000 to assault Dr. Dre.
•P.Diddy's "Citizen Change" campaign adopts the slogan 'Vote or Die' in a bid to convince young people to vote in November's U.S. Presidential elections.
•Wu-Tang member ODB dies inside a recording studio two days before his 36th birthday.
2005
•The "Miss Jones Morning Show" crew on Hot 97 FM sparks outrage by playing the "Tsunami Song," a racist parody of "We Are the World" that ridicules victims of the South Asian tidal wave that killed almost 300,000 people. The "Miss Jones" is temporarily yanked off the air.
•Jay-Z and Nas end their long-running feud at the former's Power 105.1 concert in New York.
•A 24-year-old Compton, CA native identified as Kevin Reed is hospitalized after a shooting outside the Hot 97 offices, as 50 Cent was making an appearance at the radio station to announce that The Game had been booted from G-Unit. The Game, who had appeared on Hot 97 earlier that evening, reportedly returned to the station with an undisclosed number of men and was denied entrance into the building.
•Jay-Z Dame Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke sell off the remaining 50% stake of Roc-A-Fella Records to Universal's Island Def Jam for less than $10 million and go their separate ways.

2006
•Nas inks a joint-label deal with Def Jam and Columbia.
•Detroit producer/MC Jay Dee (James Yancey) dies of complications from lupus (the autoimmune disease) on February 10, 2006.
•D-12's Proof (Deshaun Holton) is shot and killed at CCC Club on East 8 Mile Road on April 10.
•Jay-Z ends his three-year break from active recording and bounces back with Kingdom Come. The album includes a diss track to Cam'ron and Jim Jones.
•Nas' Def Jam debut, Hip-Hop Is Dead, dusts up controversy and debate over its title.
2007
•Inspired by the movie 'American Gangster,' Jay-Z records a concept album by the same name. American Gangster
•On November 12, Donda West, mother of Kanye West, dies from the complications of surgery.
•KRS-One and Marley Marl put two decades of rivalry behind them and collaborate on an album titled Hip-Hop Lives
•Dipset/Byrd Gang rapper Stack Bundles (born Rayquon Elliott) is shot and killed outside his home in Queens, New York.
2008
•In the months leading up to the 2008 presidential election, Democratic nominee Barack Obama galvanizes hip-hop artists into action, leading to a slew of Obama rap tributes.
•Jay-Z becomes the first rapper to headline Glastonbury, the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world.
•Brooklyn MC Jamal "Gravy" Woolard is recruited to play the Biggie Smalls in the biopic Notorious.
2009
•Eminem ends his four-year sabbatical with the release of Relapse. The album debuts at No. 1 and scores a Grammy win for Best Rap Album.
•T.I. is sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for illegal weapons possession.
•DJ AM is found dead in his New York apartment, following a series of ominous tweets.
•Four revered MCs Detroit's Royce da 5'9", California's Crooked I, New Jersey's Joe Budden, and Brooklyn's Joel Ortiz join forces to form a supergroup named Slaughterhouse. Their self-titled debut re-energizes the lyricism movement in hip-hop.
2010
•Gang Starr co-founder and hip-hop icon Guru dies on April 19 after a grueling battle with cancer.
•Bun B's third solo album, Trill OG, becomes the first album in five years to receive The Source magazine's 5-mic award.
•Wyclef Jean declares for presidency of his native country Haiti. Jean's candidacy is eventually rejected by the electoral council.

Viral Marketing......What's Really "REAL"

There has never been a better time to spread the word about yourself and music. The Internet, with its downloadable digital music files, social networking sites and countless other advances that we can’t even begin to imagine yet, has leveled the playing field in a way that will make the “work” you have to do infinitely more effective.


In my 15 years of making a full-time living in the music world, one thing has become increasingly clear to me: It’s work. The romantic image of the starving artist being so incredibly talented that one day he or she gets “discovered” and becomes rich and famous is a dangerous myth. I say “dangerous” because the more you as an artist believe it, the less inclined you’ll be to do any work on your own behalf. The gritty reality is that if you don’t do the necessary (and daily) work promoting yourself and your music, it’s highly unlikely anything will ever happen.

There has never been a better time to spread the word about yourself and music. The Internet, with its downloadable digital music files, social networking sites and countless other advances that we can’t even begin to imagine yet, has leveled the playing field in a way that will make the “work” you have to do infinitely more effective.

Gather Your Fans
The more you can identify and reach out to your fans the better off you’ll be. Whether it’s your friends on MySpace or Facebook or the email addresses you’ve been collecting at gigs or online, it’s these people who you need to be able to reach effectively to spread the word about what you’re doing. Treat your list of email addresses like the gold that it is. It’s these people who will not only consider buying your music when it comes out, but more importantly, will also help spread (“viral” get it?) the word about you and your music. Once you’ve got a network of fans that you can reach out to, you’ve dramatically increased your potential to spread the word about what you’re doing.

Be Creative
The fact that the playing field has been leveled and almost anyone can get their music out worldwide is both a blessing and a true challenge. Instead of fans knowing that the local Tower Records is where they should go to find new music, the Internet, with its infinite musical venues, has become the new (and overwhelming) place to find what’s new and great. The more creative you are in your presentation, the more likely a fan of yours will be to forward a YouTube link with your video or any one of a thousand other ways you can create to present yourself and your music. Again, the plan is that by putting something out there that’s unique enough to rise above the typical internet fare, it will take on a life of its own and appeal not only your current fans but also to new fans in ways you’ve never imagined.

Stay Current
The outlets for music and ways of marketing online change and advance almost hourly. Taking time out of your day to be aware of the next MySpace, Facebook or Twitter will pay huge dividends going forward. It’s not enough to find one way of reaching people and stubbornly stick to it. If that were the case, bands would still be mailing postcards to let people know about their gigs.

Give It Away
Don’t be afraid to give something to get something. A free download of a song in exchange for an email address is the best deal out there these days. Make it worth someone’s while to give you his or her email address and you’ll be amazed at what happens. Let your music speak for itself. If fans like their free download, there’s a much higher likelihood they’ll come back and buy the rest. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do this either. Take a peek at a simple and effective example by going to http://www.charliedegenhart.com.

Make Sure Your Music Is Available
I can’t think of anything more depressing than the artist who comes up with an amazing vehicle to promote his or her music, watches it go “viral” and generate huge web traffic to their site only to have nothing readily available for sale. Don’t expect most people to wait around or check back with iTunes every few days until your music is up. Make sure that before you go about promoting your music, you’ve taken the necessary steps to insure that if and when people want to buy your music, they can do it easily. Companies like Tunecore make this essential step both simple and cost effective. Don’t wait around for people to start asking how they can get your music. By then, it’s too late. Do it first.

Trust Me, It’s Real
Be patient. Not every online marketing attempt you make will result in thousands of downloads and new fans. However, every effort you make to get the word out about your music (even if it’s 15 minutes a day) becomes part of the bigger picture of reaching new fans. The more fans you have, the greater the potential for any one thing you do going viral and bringing in not only more fans but income. All of a sudden your “friends” on MySpace and Facebook just became a whole lot friendlier. Think of your work as a series of base hits that will get you ready for your shot at a home run.

What To Do Before You Go into The Studio To Record Your Indie Album

Making a CD is like taking an audio snapshot of where you are as an artist at a given moment in your career. Since it’s expensive to make a quality recording, it’s very likely that you’ll be using this CD to represent yourself for a long time. The better prepared you are, the more fun you’ll have making your recording and the better your CD will sound.


When it comes to recording a CD project where you’re the artist, you’ve got a lot of big decisions to make that will ultimately influence the way your project sounds. In other words, the more you do to prepare yourself before the record light comes on, the more enjoyable the process and the product will be.

Pre-Production
Pre-production is everything that you should be taking care of prior to the first time you actually record something in the studio. This includes song selection, arrangement ideas, voice lessons, scheduling session musicians, finding a recording studio/engineer and even starting the process of finding a graphic artist for the CD artwork as well as a duplication house to mass produce your finished master. This can be a daunting amount of work, especially if you’re new to the game. However, there is someone you can turn to who can help make this process much more effective and significantly simpler.

The Producer
If you’re wondering whether or not a producer is a good idea for your project, then it’s important to understand what a producer brings to the table. In a word, it’s experience. Let’s assume the upcoming project is your first, second or even third independently released CD. This means that your studio experience is comparatively limited next to a producer who has done dozens of projects. In other words, a producer has spent significant time becoming an expert at something that’s still relatively new to you. With this production experience comes a variety of skills that the producer will use to help you end up with a polished, professional-sounding project. This skill set typically includes everything from knowledge of the craft of songwriting (useful in song selection and improvement), relationships with session musicians (which often includes the ability to play instruments at a very high level themselves), the communication skills to explain to the musicians what the overall “vision” of the project is, knowledge (or ownership) of a good recording studio and, last but not least, the ability to work with you as a vocalist/instrumentalist to help you bring out your best performances in the studio. Finally, the perspective that a producer brings to a project can be extremely useful as it’s often difficult to make clear judgments about your own vocal/instrumental tracks.

A question that I get asked often in my workshops is where artists should look to find producers for their indie projects. There are a variety of sources. The first is usually word of mouth. Ask other artists in your music community who produced their CDs and what their experience was. Also, if you have a CD of an independent artist and you really like the way it sounds, look and see who’s listed as the producer, then contact that artist to get the producer’s information. If you’re new to a community, you can always ask your performing rights organization. They usually have a list of producers that they recommend. Finally, although always a bit of a reach if you’re new to the game, you can look at some of your favorite major label CDs and see who’s listed as the producer and then contact those producers as well. Although it’s unlikely that successful producers will have time in their schedule to work with an indie artist, you never know and the worst they can say is “no.”


The Recording Studio
With the advent of improved recording technology and affordable, high-quality equipment, great recordings can be made almost anywhere. Recording is no longer the exclusive domain of the big, multi-room complex. That being said, there are a few things you should consider before choosing a studio for your project. First and foremost is sound quality. Ask the studio owner/engineer for a demo of something that’s been recorded in their studio. But you should be more specific still. Ask that the music on the demo be in the style of the project you’re planning to record. In other words, if you’re making a country CD, it doesn’t matter if the studio has a great-sounding r&b demo because that doesn’t necessarily translate into a great-sounding country recording. Secondly, make sure you’re comfortable in the space where you’ll be working. Although working in a big, beautiful studio can be inspiring for some, it can be intimidating for others. You’re going to be spending a lot of time in this place, make sure you feel at ease there so that you can relax and deliver great performances. And, lastly, don’t forget to ask about any and all fees. The obvious one would be the hourly rate but it’s important to ask the owner/engineer what other charges you’ll be incurring. This can be everything from a separate engineer charge, cost for burning CDs and even separate charges for certain pieces of studio equipment. A studio ought to be able to give you a decent estimate for what your overall project should cost. Some studios simplify the process even further by giving you an all-in project fee that is decided up front. It’s always better to know all of this at the beginning of a project so that there are no unpleasant surprises when it comes time to pay.

Vocals
Your career as a recording artist hinges on many things, from the songs you choose to the musicianship on your records, but the single most important thing for your artist identity is your voice. That being said, your ultimate goal as a vocalist is to sound exactly like yourself. In other words, the more relaxed and confident you are as a singer, the more people will know who you are and what you’re about. Other musicians care about musicianship, but the people who will ultimately buy your CD will connect with your voice first and everything else much later. There are a lot of things you can do before you start the recording process to improve your chances of getting great vocal performances. First and foremost is practice. The voice is a muscle and the more you work with it the stronger it gets. No matter how good a singer you are, I’d recommend working with a vocal teacher or coach on the songs you’ve chosen to record. This way you’ll be working with an expert to help you get the most out of your voice on the songs you’ve chosen. This is not something that is limited to beginners. Multi-platinum selling artists use vocal coaches as often as, if not more often than, beginners.

Artwork/Graphic Design
Putting out your own CD is a big job. Not only are you the artist but you’re playing the role of record label, too. That being said, it’s worth considering starting the process of finding a graphic artist to work with and getting the artwork together even before the CD project has begun. This means collecting the necessary information for the CD insert like pictures and computer files of your lyrics. I mention this because if you don’t start this process early then you’ll be adding months of additional work after you’ve finished the actual recording of your project.

Making A Cd

Making a CD is like taking an audio snapshot of where you are as an artist at a given moment in your career. Since it’s expensive to make a quality recording, it’s very likely that you’ll be using this CD to represent yourself for a long time. The better prepared you are, the more fun you’ll have making your recording and the better your CD will sound.


By Cliff Goldmacher

When it comes to recording a CD project where you’re the artist, you’ve got a lot of big decisions to make that will ultimately influence the way your project sounds. In other words, the more you do to prepare yourself before the record light comes on, the more enjoyable the process and the product will be.

Pre-Production
Pre-production is everything that you should be taking care of prior to the first time you actually record something in the studio. This includes song selection, arrangement ideas, voice lessons, scheduling session musicians, finding a recording studio/engineer and even starting the process of finding a graphic artist for the CD artwork as well as a duplication house to mass produce your finished master. This can be a daunting amount of work, especially if you’re new to the game. However, there is someone you can turn to who can help make this process much more effective and significantly simpler.

The Producer
If you’re wondering whether or not a producer is a good idea for your project, then it’s important to understand what a producer brings to the table. In a word, it’s experience. Let’s assume the upcoming project is your first, second or even third independently released CD. This means that your studio experience is comparatively limited next to a producer who has done dozens of projects. In other words, a producer has spent significant time becoming an expert at something that’s still relatively new to you. With this production experience comes a variety of skills that the producer will use to help you end up with a polished, professional-sounding project. This skill set typically includes everything from knowledge of the craft of songwriting (useful in song selection and improvement), relationships with session musicians (which often includes the ability to play instruments at a very high level themselves), the communication skills to explain to the musicians what the overall “vision” of the project is, knowledge (or ownership) of a good recording studio and, last but not least, the ability to work with you as a vocalist/instrumentalist to help you bring out your best performances in the studio. Finally, the perspective that a producer brings to a project can be extremely useful as it’s often difficult to make clear judgments about your own vocal/instrumental tracks.

A question that I get asked often in my workshops is where artists should look to find producers for their indie projects. There are a variety of sources. The first is usually word of mouth. Ask other artists in your music community who produced their CDs and what their experience was. Also, if you have a CD of an independent artist and you really like the way it sounds, look and see who’s listed as the producer, then contact that artist to get the producer’s information. If you’re new to a community, you can always ask your performing rights organization. They usually have a list of producers that they recommend. Finally, although always a bit of a reach if you’re new to the game, you can look at some of your favorite major label CDs and see who’s listed as the producer and then contact those producers as well. Although it’s unlikely that successful producers will have time in their schedule to work with an indie artist, you never know and the worst they can say is “no.”


The Recording Studio
With the advent of improved recording technology and affordable, high-quality equipment, great recordings can be made almost anywhere. Recording is no longer the exclusive domain of the big, multi-room complex. That being said, there are a few things you should consider before choosing a studio for your project. First and foremost is sound quality. Ask the studio owner/engineer for a demo of something that’s been recorded in their studio. But you should be more specific still. Ask that the music on the demo be in the style of the project you’re planning to record. In other words, if you’re making a country CD, it doesn’t matter if the studio has a great-sounding r&b demo because that doesn’t necessarily translate into a great-sounding country recording. Secondly, make sure you’re comfortable in the space where you’ll be working. Although working in a big, beautiful studio can be inspiring for some, it can be intimidating for others. You’re going to be spending a lot of time in this place, make sure you feel at ease there so that you can relax and deliver great performances. And, lastly, don’t forget to ask about any and all fees. The obvious one would be the hourly rate but it’s important to ask the owner/engineer what other charges you’ll be incurring. This can be everything from a separate engineer charge, cost for burning CDs and even separate charges for certain pieces of studio equipment. A studio ought to be able to give you a decent estimate for what your overall project should cost. Some studios simplify the process even further by giving you an all-in project fee that is decided up front. It’s always better to know all of this at the beginning of a project so that there are no unpleasant surprises when it comes time to pay.

Vocals
Your career as a recording artist hinges on many things, from the songs you choose to the musicianship on your records, but the single most important thing for your artist identity is your voice. That being said, your ultimate goal as a vocalist is to sound exactly like yourself. In other words, the more relaxed and confident you are as a singer, the more people will know who you are and what you’re about. Other musicians care about musicianship, but the people who will ultimately buy your CD will connect with your voice first and everything else much later. There are a lot of things you can do before you start the recording process to improve your chances of getting great vocal performances. First and foremost is practice. The voice is a muscle and the more you work with it the stronger it gets. No matter how good a singer you are, I’d recommend working with a vocal teacher or coach on the songs you’ve chosen to record. This way you’ll be working with an expert to help you get the most out of your voice on the songs you’ve chosen. This is not something that is limited to beginners. Multi-platinum selling artists use vocal coaches as often as, if not more often than, beginners.

Artwork/Graphic Design
Putting out your own CD is a big job. Not only are you the artist but you’re playing the role of record label, too. That being said, it’s worth considering starting the process of finding a graphic artist to work with and getting the artwork together even before the CD project has begun. This means collecting the necessary information for the CD insert like pictures and computer files of your lyrics. I mention this because if you don’t start this process early then you’ll be adding months of additional work after you’ve finished the actual recording of your project.

Five Mistakes Songwriters Make Before Demoing Their Songs (and how to avoid them)

It’s always a little stressful getting ready to put your money where your mouth is and the better the decisions you make in advance, the more able you’ll be to enjoy the recording process as you’re going through it.


The professional demo-recording process is a necessary part of the equation for songwriters aspiring to get their material heard by music industry decision-makers and, hopefully, cut by successful recording artists. Despite the fact that hundreds of demos are recorded every week in places like Nashville, New York and Los Angeles, new songwriters often find themselves overwhelmed and a bit intimidated by the prospect of getting their songs demoed and ready for primetime. By highlighting some of the mistakes I’ve encountered in my years of recording songwriter demos, I can hopefully help new songwriters avoid some of the pitfalls that result in either overly expensive or ineffective recordings.

Mistake #1: The song isn’t finished. It would seem obvious but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been paid (on the studio clock) for the privilege of watching a client’s creative process. I do understand why this happens. It’s incredibly exciting to feel like you’ve got a great song on your hands and the temptation is to get it recorded right away even if there’s a small tweak or two left to finish. I mean, how long can it take to re-write the second line of the bridge, right? Well, the reality is that when you’re in the studio and the clock is ticking, the environment is a lot more stressful than it is creative — not the ideal place to make sure your lyric is perfect. Unless you’re planning on only being a songwriter for another week or so, be patient, take your time and know that waiting another week (or even another month) to make sure your song is done before you book the studio time is always a good policy. Remember, you’re going to be spending real money on this recording, so be as certain as you can that your song is ready before you begin the process of recording.

Mistake #2: You haven’t made a rough recording. Everyone’s writing process is different and vive la difference but the one essential part of making sure your song is finished is making a simple rough recording. When I say “simple” and “rough,” I mean one instrument (usually guitar or piano) and a vocal into anything from a hand-held recorder to your smartphone. Here’s why: Without listening back to your song from the perspective of an audience member, you’ll miss a critical part of the writing/editing process. It doesn’t matter if you’ve played the song live a hundred times; by sitting back with a lyric sheet and just listening to the song, you’ll notice little flaws and missteps that you might never have heard if you’d just played and sung the song to yourself. The rough recording gives you the necessary perspective for those last few adjustments. I’d recommend re-recording your rough every time you think you’ve got the song totally finished. There’s an added benefit as well: Once you’re absolutely satisfied with your final rough recording, you’ll then have something to provide the demo vocalist so they can learn your song and you’ll have a reference for the session musicians when they get to the studio.

Mistake #3: You think the demo will fix what isn’t quite working in your song. Every once in a while you’ll finish a song and feel like it’s missing a certain something but it’s easy to convince yourself the song is fine and just needs the full demo treatment to give it what it lacks. My experience is that if you have reservations before you demo, the demo won’t solve that problem. Of course, all songs sound better with a full band of great players on them but don’t invest that money to fix a problem that most likely needs to be addressed in the melody and lyric of the song itself. If you find yourself feeling like your song is missing something and you’re not sure what it is, play it for a trusted friend or put it away for a while and come back to it. Demoing to fix the problem is an expensive way to get unsatisfactory results.

Mistake #4: You think you’ll save money by recording/playing on the demo yourself. I completely understand the mindset. I did it myself for years. The difference is that I was as passionate about becoming a recording engineer and session musician as I was about writing songs. If you’re only looking at recording and playing on your demos as a way to save money and not to become a professional engineer and session musician, then you’re better off hiring experts to do what you don’t do well. The key is to end up with a recording that marks you as a professional, not one that saves you money but isn’t up to par. There’s no point in saving money on a demo that isn’t pitchable. Take your own ego out of the equation. No one else can write your song for you. That’s where you’re the expert, but unless you’re also an expert at recording, playing and singing in the studio, it doesn’t make sense to do it yourself. When it comes to making a good impression with your demo, your recording has to measure up to the highest quality standards and that’s worth paying for. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to make money with your songs then remember it’s a business and you have to invest money in order to make it.

Mistake #5: You decide to record a full-band demo without having a very good reason. It’s understood that professionally recorded, full-band demos sound amazing, but it’s also understood that they’re expensive — sometimes, very expensive. Depending on why you’re demoing your song, a simple, professionally performed and recorded guitar/vocal or piano/vocal may very well be all you need. In my opinion, there are just a few reasons to record a full-band demo. First, you’ve got a film/tv pitch opportunity and they’re looking for a full-band sound for a particular scene. A second reason would be that you’re planning on using your demo as an artist project for the singer doing the vocal. For example, you may be working with a great young singer and you’re planning on killing two birds with one stone by demoing the song you wrote and also putting together a series of recordings that showcase that singer as an artist. In that case, do it up. You’ll be well served by going all the way with these recordings. That being said, I would strongly suggest not recording a full-band demo of your song just because you want to. Professionally performed and recorded demos are never inexpensive and you can get more bang for your buck doing simple, clean guitar/vocal demos of several songs in the place of a fully blown-out demo of one song. Remember, you can always go back and add more instruments to a professionally recorded, stripped-down demo later if the situation warrants.

By avoiding these mistakes, you will be removing a good deal of angst from the demo process. It’s always a little stressful getting ready to put your money where your mouth is and the better the decisions you make in advance, the more able you’ll be to enjoy the recording process as you’re going through it.

The Dos and Dont's of Co-Writing

The following guidelines are designed to help those new to the art of collaborative songwriting understand it a bit better. The best kinds of co-writes are the ones where both collaborators feel like they¹ve written something better than either could have written alone.


By Cliff Goldmacher

Looking back over 20 years to my first songwriting efforts, I remember my creative process as so personal and fragile that I was dead certain I would never open it up to another songwriter. This would have seemed like co-painting or more like co-dating — just not going to happen. However, two things did happen. One, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee, the co-writing capital of the world, and, two, I wrote a lot more songs, which stopped me from thinking of each of my song children as untouchable and precious. Ultimately, I simply wanted to create more and better songs, and co-writing became a big part of the process. Over the years, I’ve experienced (sometimes the hard way) a few of the big “dos” and “don’ts” of co-writing.

Dos
Discuss percentages in advance. After writing close to a thousand songs, my assumption is that all my “from-scratch” collaborations are even splits. This means 50/50 if there are two of us, 33/33/33 if there are three of us, etc. I consider it bad karma (and, frankly, exhausting) to count words or try and figure out who created what when the song is done and then try to adjust percentages. Just know that some days you’ll contribute more and some days your co-writer(s) will and that it all evens out in the end. If the song is brought to you mostly (or even partially) finished, then be clear on what the split will be in advance so there isn’t a misunderstanding later on. It’s simply better to deal with this stuff up front and then get on to the process of making music. Also, it’s considered bad form when discussing your collaborations later to state that you “really wrote most of it” or any variation thereof. The bottom line is that without your collaborator the song wouldn’t be the song that it is, no matter what was directly or indirectly contributed.

Decide in advance if you’re going to bring ideas or start “cold.” There are advantages to both approaches. If you’re new to the co-writing process or possibly a little nervous about how your upcoming session will go, preparing in advance with anything from a list of song titles to lyrical and/or musical hooks can go a long way towards a smooth-running session. However, as a more experienced writer, I go into sessions with younger artists without preparing ideas because I anticipate that our initial discussions and time spent getting to know each other will provide the material for our collaboration. All this is to say, there is no “right” way to do this.

Show up on time and ready to work. I know we’re all artists and we’re all supposed to be flaky, creative types but you’re now writing in the hopes of generating income from your music, so it’s also a business. Treat it that way. You wouldn’t show up late for work or cancel because you didn’t feel like going, so don’t do it with your co-writing sessions, either. Showing respect for the process and your collaborator goes a long way towards setting the tone for a productive co-write.

Make a plan on how you’ll both promote the song. The reality of the music business is that collaboration doesn’t end with the finished song. There will be subsequent discussions about demo costs, pitch opportunities and any one of a number of other details. What this really means is that in order to make yourself an “attractive” co-writer, you should remember to bring as much to the table as possible. This could mean bringing an industry connection or pitch opportunity or even having a recording studio where you and your co-writer can do the demo for free. It’s helpful to remember that the actual co-write is easy/fun part and it’s all the other parts of the process that ultimately make for a successful collaboration. Truly successful collaborations often extend beyond just writing the song.


Don’ts
Putting the business aside for a moment, the collaborative process, at its root, is about trust and chemistry. The following “don’ts” are suggestions about how to avoid damaging or compromising that trust.

Don’t criticize a co-writer’s suggestion. This is the ultimate vibe killer. There is vulnerability in trusting someone with your ideas and it only takes one “that sounds stupid” or “that’s a bad idea” to kill the goodwill that should be part of the process. This is not to say that you won’t hear (and suggest) dumb things in the process of a co-write. It happens all the time, but it’s enough for you to simply say you’d rather keep looking for another idea or try something else at that point in the song. There’s no percentage in saying someone’s idea is “bad” or “wrong.” First of all, this is art and it’s subjective, but more importantly (and I’ve seen this more times than I can count), you could crush an admittedly weak idea that was only going to be a stepping stone towards a truly great one. Be patient with your collaborator and yourself and you’ll be amazed at the results.

Don’t insist on one of your ideas if your co-writer doesn’t seem interested in it. You may be in the middle of a co-write and come up with a snippet of lyric or melody that you absolutely love but for some reason your co-writer just doesn’t get it. My suggestion is to make your best case for it and if your co-writer doesn’t like it, let it go. It’s that simple. There are too many ways to write a song to derail the process over a simple disagreement. The key to collaboration is making sure you’re both on board with an idea before moving forward. That being said, if you feel your collaborator consistently doesn’t like ideas that you feel are strong, there’s no rule that says you have to keep writing with this person.

Don’t edit too harshly early on in the session. There’s real value in keeping a co-write moving along. Squeezing too hard on a single line or section of the song too early in the process can take all the creative energy out of a session. Better to either keep in a “good enough” line with the understanding you’ll come back to it when you begin to review what you’ve written or take a break if the line just isn’t coming. There will always be time for editing but I’d suggest not going too deep on that front at the expense of getting the shape and form of the song together first.

Don’t push too hard to collaborate with a more established/successful songwriter. As songwriters, we all know who the hot writers are. We hear their songs on the radio, meet them at music conferences and, in some cases, came up with them from when they were “nobody.” The unwritten rule I’ve observed is that it’s better to be asked to co-write by a more established/successful writer than it is to ask them to co-write yourself. If your personality is such that you just can’t wait for that to happen, my recommendation is that you should ask once, politely and don’t take it personally if the writer isn’t interested or doesn’t have time. It’s abundantly clear what you, as the less experienced/successful writer, stand to gain from the collaboration but it’s up to the more successful writer to decide if your talent, motivation and, yes, connections warrant them taking the time to collaborate with you. It’s simply the law of the jungle. Hopefully, you’ll be in a position to write with a less experienced/successful writer yourself one day and you’ll treat that writer exactly as you’d hope to be treated yourself.

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list of co-writing rules but simply a few guidelines to help those new to the game to understand it a bit better. The best kinds of co-writes are the ones where both collaborators feel like they’ve written something better than either could have written alone.

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter, and his company, http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

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Timbaland: The Origin of A Hit Machine

By Ben Westhoff


Timbaland
Timothy Mosley – Timbaland to you and me -- was born in 1972. His dad worked for Amtrak and his mom for a homeless shelter. They raised him in Norfolk, home to the world’s largest naval base, and he later built a mas­sive recording studio nearby, in a Virginia Beach industrial park. “Ain’t nothing spectacular about it,” Timbaland said of the racially mixed suburban area where he grew up. “Ain’t nothing going on out there, really.”

There certainly wasn’t a music industry. But Tim was undeterred, keeping himself busy as a kid by learning drum machines and sam­plers. He befriended an aspiring rapper named Melvin “Magoo” Barcliff, who became one of his main collaborators, and by his late teens was a popular club DJ. He made beats for an R&B group called Fayze, featuring his high school friend Missy Elliott, whom he’d met through Magoo after Surrounded By Idiots broke up.

“Tim had this little Casio keyboard, and he has big hands,” Missy told Roni Sarig. “So it was hilarious to see him play on that Casio. But he had a way of making a record sound like something I hadn’t heard before.”

Success was still many years away for Timbaland, however, and his high school years were fraught with roadblocks. After work one day at Red Lobster, he was accidentally shot in the lower part of his neck by a coworker, which left him paralyzed for much of a year. “I would work with him, give him the medicine and mas­sage his arm, and he’d still go in the room every single day, mess­ing with that turntable and writing down lyrics,” said his mother Leatrice Pierre. Then there was the time in 1991 that Tim crashed his Mazda, killing a friend riding along. “I been through some junk,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “It ain’t all been peaches and cream.”

But he received a break through Missy, whose group was invited by Jodeci member Devante Swing to his Warhol-style singer-songwriter compound in New Jersey. Later renamed Sista, Missy’s group promptly moved up to the New York suburbs, and later to Rochester, and Timbaland and Magoo joined them.

“Their stay in Rochester was simultaneously a scary and a magical time,” studio engineer Jimmy Douglass told journalist Michael A. Gonzales for the website Soul Summer. “DeVante had all of these talented kids living in this house: Timbaland, Ginu­wine, Missy, the group Sista, Magoo, Playa and Tweet. He had all this talent living under one roof and if he had treated them better, DeVante would have owned the world. . . . Although DeVante was supposed to be the mentor, there were times when he just wanted to control everybody.”

Though a Sista album saw a quiet release and Missy and Tim contributed to a Jodeci work, the pair felt stifled and decided to break away. They went back to Virginia for a time and, mining their newly developed contacts, came upon more opportunities. Timbaland landed a hit with Ginuwine’s “Pony,” and in 1996 he and Missy placed tracks on Detroit-bred R&B singer Aaliyah’s sec­ond album, One in a Million.

The teenage superstar had previously worked with R. Kelly and even married the Chicago singer/producer while still underage (it was quickly annulled). But Tim and Missy’s songs came to define her sound, and Million went double platinum. The title track, written by Missy and Tim and produced by the latter, is a fairly standard love song (“Your love is a one in a million”), but stands out for its rattlesnake shakes and tranced-out atmosphere.

Even better is their “Are You That Somebody,” off the Dr. Dolit­tle soundtrack, another sonic slice-and-dice masquerading as a traditional radio jam. Featuring a choppy beat that shows up when it’s good and ready, the song’s back-up singers include an infant and Timbaland himself.

Aaliyah’s next, eponymous, album had more Missy and Tim productions, and is my personal favorite. But the twenty-two-year-old singer was killed in a plane crash shortly after takeoff in the Bahamas, where she was filming a music video. An autopsy found traces of alcohol and cocaine in the pilot’s bloodstream. It was a ghastly end for an extremely likable talent, but Aaliyah’s songs would set the standard for a generation of cutting-edge radio pop.

**

Timbaland began working alone and with other collaborators besides Missy, creating and jump-starting numerous other careers. Perhaps his greatest challenge was making Justin Timberlake into a credible solo star. No one gave *NSYNC’s adorable powder puff much of a shot, considering that the escapist boy band era was thought to be over.

But, along with the Neptunes, Tim made a viable artist out of Timberlake on his 2002 debut Justified. Haunting album cen­terpiece “Cry Me a River”—reportedly about Timberlake’s failed romance with Britney Spears—features abrupt starts and stops and eerie snaps and pops. Though Miami producer Scott Storch claimed he deserved credit for the song, it established Timberlake as an artist with actual meat on his bones.

His evolution continued with 2006 follow-up FutureSex/Love­Sounds, on which he and Timbaland got even more creative. Bare bones hit “SexyBack” is an unusual, almost jarring piece of rave-pop that, along with other techno-influenced tracks like “My Love,” vaulted Timberlake to the top of the pops. The ever-modest Kanye West later asserted that only Timberlake could match him for fans and respect.

“Me and Justin is different: it’s not work, it’s magic,” Timbaland told the Guardian.

He was nearly as successful with a pair of female artists, Nelly Furtado and Keri Hilson. Under the auspices of his label, Mosley Music Group, he overhauled the image of the Canadian singer Furtado, best known for her earthy inspirational, “I’m Like a Bird.” Under his direction she veered into hip-hop, with urban turns like “Promiscuous” and “Maneater.”

Timbaland’s curiously named solo hit “The Way I Are” intro­duced an Atlanta songwriter turned R&B artist, Keri Hilson. Her 2009 debut In a Perfect World… shocked industry watchers with its strong chart performance. Considering it was shepherded by Timbaland, however, they oughtn’t have been surprised.

Bizness 101

So here’s a perspective on performing rights organizations I just got my head around and I wanted to share.

First, some quick background, and for those of you who already know what a public performance is, just skip down a few paragraphs.

For every recorded song there are two copyrights: one for the recording of the song (usually owned by the record label), and one for the song itself, the music and lyrics (owned by the songwriter/publisher).

To use the now beaten-to-death example, Dolly Parton wrote the song “I Will Always Love You.” Columbia Records hired Whitney Houston to sing a version of Dolly’s song. The version of this recording of the song is owned by Columbia Records, but the copyright to the song itself (the music and lyrics) is owned by Dolly Parton.

As Dolly owns the song (‘cause she wrote it) she gets six legal copyrights, and these six rights drive the entire music industry. You can download a free PDF booklet on them here.

One of these copyrights is the exclusive right to “Publicly Perform” the song. Under this copyright law, a songwriter is granted the exclusive right to publicly perform his or her song. A public performance is when a song is played on the radio, in a bar, in a restaurant, live in a venue, on TV, in an elevator, in a retail store, streamed on the Net via YouTube, Pandora, any streaming music service, or anywhere else that falls under the legal definition of “public performance” (you can read the legal definition of Public Performance here ).

This means that no one else can “publicly” play your songs (either your own recording of it or someone else’s recording of it) without negotiating a license with the publisher or administrator (which, most likely, is you).

Sounds good to me, songwriters should be rewarded for their talent. After all, songwriters, like all artists, make culture. But let’s turn to the reality of this law. To assure that your song is not being publicly performed without your OK, you need to run around the world and listen to what is being played in restaurants, bars, elevators, hotels, TV shows, retail stores, venues, bookstores and more. In addition, you also have to watch every video on YouTube that has a song in it, get a list of every song that was played by every streaming music service, get every playlist of all the songs that were played on every radio station and the list goes on and on. And when you find a place that is playing your song without your OK (meaning no license was granted to them by you) you get to sue them or force them to pay you.

On the other side of the coin, if there is an entity that wants to comply with copyright law and get a license to publicly perform your song before they do it, they need a place to go to get the license. This means they would need to go to millions of songwriters around the world, and if they can find all of you, strike million of different deals.

In other words, it’s a great element of copyright, but one that is tough (impossible!) to enforce, license, track and police on your own. So what’s one to do?

This is where the three U.S. Performing Rights Organizations (called “PROs”), BMI, ASCAP and SESAC come in. These three organizations might not have been built to work for publishers, but these days they sure do. Writers and publishers enter into an agreement with a PRO that allows the PRO to act as the writer/publisher’s representative specifically and ONLY for public performances. The PRO performs all of the duties listed above. This grant of rights from the writer/publisher to the PRO allows the PRO to negotiate rates on their behalf with various entities that desire to publicly perform the works of the writer/publisher. In addition, this grant of rights allows the PRO to collect the fees on behalf of the writer/publisher.

In return for these services, the PROs take a percentage of the money they collect to offset their costs and pay for lots of other things like cars, salaries, office space, lunches, etc… (go to page 18 of the ASCAP 2010 year end report to see some of the line items ).

Case in point of the public performance police in action, check out ASCAP’s recent lawsuit against a bar in New York for having a Bruce Springsteen cover band night, but not paying Bruce, represented by ASCAP, for the right to publicly perform his songs (note, it was not Bruce who sued them, it was ASCAP on Bruce’s behalf. The article gets it wrong). And before you get angry with ASCAP, remember, this is their job! They should be doing this. They are protecting and enforcing the rights they represent. Perhaps they could have handled it a bit more diplomatically, but this is what they do.

Now this next point is key, this right to publicly perform is controlled by the publisher.

For example, if you write your own songs, you are, by default the music publisher. This means that, until you assign your publishing to a publishing company, you control both the “writer’s” share and the “publisher’s” share of the rights to the songs you write. If you enter into a music publishing deal, you then transfer your rights to this other entity and they then represent you for music publishing.

However, even major music publishing companies like Sony/ATV, Warner Chappell Music Publishing, Universal and EMI don’t have an infrastructure to track and police public performances. They too “hire” a PRO and rely on the them to police, license, collect and disburse public performance income.

For those of you out there who state:

“Waaaaait a second. How can you say that?! The PRO represents the songwriter, not the publisher! Of the money the PRO collects, they send half to the songwriter and the other half to the publisher to assure songwriters get paid. Their entire existence is to serve the songwriter”

True, they do, and I am glad they do it! But, as I understand it, the idea of paying the songwriter directly originated with the PROs, not with a law.

Remember, in the “old days” most signed artists and/or professional songwriters did deals with publishing companies. When they did, they transferred their right of public performance (along with others) to this other entity.

When the PROs were “hired” they simply refused to pay the publisher all of the money they collected for public performance. This assured that songwriters made some additional money. The PROs did not want songwriters that transferred their publishing rights to get screwed by wonky accounting or get nothing as they had not earned back “advances” from the publisher. Therefore, the PROs insisted that half of the money they collected (after they took a % off the top) get paid directly to the songwriter. The PRO was there to protect the songwriter and this model of direct payment to the songwriter for half the money became industry standard.

However, the publisher has the power to undermine the PRO. The music publisher has the public performance right to grant; therefore it has the control. In other words, if a songwriter does a deal with a publishing company, like Warner Chappell, and then signs up as a songwriter with a PRO, like BMI, the publisher can undercut the songwriters relationship with the PRO by not granting the PRO the right to represent the public performance of that songwriter. To this point in time publishers have not done this and also agreed to hire the PRO. In return, they give up some of the money collected.

Which then leaves the door open for changes to occur. What happens if a music publisher no longer needs a PRO to collect and monitor some of the public performances? For example, YouTube. YouTube has a sophisticated tracking system that can accurately track how many times a song was played in a video. It’s an automated system that can spit out reports and email them to publishers. Same with Spotify and the new Apple iMatch service and many others.

In these cases, why would a music publisher want to have its YouTube, iMatch, or Spotify public performance money go to a PRO who is going to take 12.5% of the money off the top (remember, all the overhead mentioned above) and then only pay the publisher 50% of what’s left (remember, the other 50% gets mailed directly to the songwriter)? They wouldn’t, which is why they have started “going direct” (see the ground-breaking EMI announcement). In this case, EMI is collecting all of the public performance income directly, and will only pay the writers if the writer is recouped.

So what will be the impact of this new trend?

First, My heart goes out to the “legacy” artists who did deals with the old school music publishers. Many of these songwriters received “advances” from the publishers that must be paid back before they get more money from the publisher. When the PRO was collecting the public performance royalties, it took a chunk off the top, but from what was left, 50% was mailed DIRECTLY to the songwriter and the other 50% went to the publisher; the songwriter was assured to get additional money from public performances regardless of whether or not they were recouped with the publisher. In this new “direct” model, the PRO is cut out. Therefore, if a songwriter is unrecouped with a publisher, they get no money from public performances. Frankly, this kind of sucks.

On the other hand, for the new music industry artists that control their publishing rights and do not have “unrecouped” balances, they could potentially hire an entity like a TuneCore to go “direct” with places like YouTube, Spotify and Apple, thereby getting more money into their pockets more quickly and with more transparency. This is a great thing for songwriters.

As for digital stores and services, they are going to have to deal with the new reality that they cannot just go to a PRO like BMI/ASCAP/SESAC to get public performance licenses for all the music in their stores. Despite this, many stores and services are stating they refuse to go “direct” as it’s a “headache,” but there is no way around it. The law requires them to get a public performance license in order to have the music in their store. For example, EMI “withdrew” its catalog from ASCAP. This means a digital store will now need to go to ASCAP for the songwriters/publishers it represents as well as go to EMI Publishing for the songwriters it represents. The stores and services cannot just say “we don’t want to deal with EMI because it’s a headache.”

The bottom line is that as technology makes it easier to track all public performances that occur online, the ”old school” methodologies and business models need updating as well. Artists and songwriters should be able to get as much of their money as quickly as possible with as much transparency as possible. They should not be told “that’s the way it was, so suck it up and shut up”. It’s beyond bizarre that this point has to even be argued.

More and more artists are now the record label, performer, publisher, songwriter, etc… They are able to control and exploit all of their rights associated with the copyrights to their work. Like all of the old entities, they must make certain that they are getting all of their money, and as much of it as possible, from all the available revenue streams. Public performance—once the bastard step-child of the six rights; frequently ignored, almost always misunderstood by all but the most successful artists (i.e. those with lots of radio play)—is increasingly becoming the most important right with respect to its relationship to revenue. Collection and tracking of this right must innovate at the same speed that usages do.

And we intend on helping that change occur….

Stay tuned.

CMG Yall!

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