“It’s been a long time—and I’m glad that I left you
I’ve been snacking on fresh fruit and practicing chess moves”
It’s been a couple months but I’m back. I appreciate the concerned emails, and the project is starting again. I stopped writing Audible Hype because I was bored with the topic—I moved on to more interesting things, like studying 5th generation warfare over at Skilluminati Research.
Why did I get bored? Why am I re-starting the project now? I have three basic reasons.
The New England based d_Cyphernauts embody everything I’m advocating here at Audible Hype: they’re dedicated, positive and intelligent—and they’re running an increasingly successful career entirely by themselves. Even more impressive, they recognize the importance of building a community and put in endless hours to develop their local scene and help everyone around them progress. Needless to say, I dig what they do.
So I was honored that d_Cyphernauts member Othello agreed to do this interview—a very detailed, practical and inspirational look at his daily routine, his past achievements and his plans for the future. He’s politically outspoken, business-minded and holy shit does he ever work hard. In addition to running his own business and maintaining a prolific musical output, he’s also a full-time teacher.
The music blog echo chamber was full of Big Announcements this week: all the heavy hitters in the biz got together in New York City for the Digital Music Forum East. Is there anything more exciting than a bunch of rich white guys repeating common sense like it’s amazing news? I guess not.
Now, I might be a cynic, but I’m too young to be jaded, and too laid to be grumpy. A lot of really interesting insights got lost in the mix, and I want to focus on that material for this installation of Weekend Brainfood. The dinosaurs are finally catching on, but the really valuable stuff came from the upstarts, tech-heads and outsiders.
I’ve been reading a lot of misconceptions lately, but that’s nothing new. Most of what passes for “music journalism” is just re-phrasing press releases, after all. So the recent trend of articles about the environmental impact of the music business is something I feel obligated to speak on. Honestly, I think it’s just fluff—an easy story to write about that contributes nothing worthwhile. Worst of all, it’s a distraction from ongoing sources of real pollution, poison and devastation.
Today I’m going to use a recent column from Exclaim! to examine the reality behind the rhetoric about “greening” the industry. We’ll be covering everything from China to London to Los Angeles, and back to your local landfill.
“Twice as arrogant as Kanye West.” That’s not my diagnosis, that’s a direct quote from iCON the Mic King’s own PDF press kit. There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding him over the years, but the real point to take home is that iCON the Mic King has been a topic of constant conversation for years now. He’s also been a constant inspiration for anyone doing DIY hip hop—from his “Rent Money Music” mixtape series to his infamous Greyhound Bus tours, iCON embodies the work ethic and determination that it takes to get your name out in the most over-saturated music market on the planet.
After all, that same press kit also contains this gem: “At the end of the day the real issue is the quality of the music and the struggle to get it heard by the masses.” That’s the sole focus of Audible Hype, so I’m honored that iCON the Mic King agreed to do an interview about exactly that: managing your own career in an industry that gets more insane every day.
For this weekend’s batch of brainfood, I’m collecting the highlights of three outstanding interviews. Two of them are very recent, one of them is pretty old—but the common thread here thinking bigger than your competition. This is not a comparison of dick size.
What I mean is looking further ahead and anticipating how logical future trends will affect your business. Being on top breeds arrogance, which leads to collapse. This has been true for every human civilization in history, true for every record label known to mankind, and it probably applies to whoever you’re dating now. Wait, this is a music blog.
The key to making effective moves is seeing openings that most other folks haven’t read about yet. I’m not arrogant enough to think any strategy I’ve come up with is “new”—that’s why I decided to run this whole operation open source. I’m just sharing stolen goods, and here’s the cream of the crop. I hope you’re enjoying a stoned Sunday, like civilized people.
Last week I posed a provocative question and spent some time arguing against common sense. This article is going to be coming full-circle: advocating a more informed and precise version of common sense. First and foremost, Yes, touring really is nescessary in 2008. A number of readers have wondered: why did I phrase the question so vaguely?
I’m glad people caught that—it was deliberate, and central to the point of this series. Most people I talk to, from new artists to established pros, operate on the assumption that touring is nescessary, period. I would like people to seriously re-evaluate this embrace of tradition: screwdrivers are nescessary, too, but they’re not always the right tool for the job. In part two of this series, I established the fact that touring is not nescessary to “break” your act. In fact, it’s the least effective, most expensive method of introducing a new artist to a large audience.
In this final installment, I am going to examine what touring is nescessary for: generating media attention, connecting with your existing fanbase, and most importantly, making some damn money.
Although I’m writing focused articles and working in series format now, I have a lot of business weirdness going on in my life. I’m still researching the music industry in all directions at once, so this is the first in a regular series of Weekend Brainfood. These are useful and interesting scraps that don’t belong in any articles (for now) but I still want to share with you.
I hope this all connects dots, inspires ideas and helps you get work done in 2008. As always, I appreciate feedback, suggestions, and requests for specific articles.
I was reading over an excellent interview with a band I never heard of—Me Talk Pretty—about DIY music marketing and managing your own career, and I came across a line I spent the next 5 minutes re-reading and meditating on. It goes a little something like this:
Touring is too expensive to do on a consistent basis, but it’s necessary.
Is it, though? As the Martin Atkins bible Tour:Smart
Audible Hype is all about questioning common sense and giving the Status Quo a good swift boot to the nuts. As many readers know, I’ve been on the road more or less constantly since last October, so live shows and touring have been at the forefront of my mind. I’ve got about 30 pages in my journal about how to tighten my operation—and yours—but before I get to that, I’d like to burn everything down first.
Is touring even nescessary? With the prices of fuel and food increasing every day, and the US dollar being constantly devalued, it’s going become increasingly expensive to get On The Road Again. So this week, I’d like to spark a discussion on the future of live music. Are there less expensive, more profitable alternatives to driving all over the country? Are there strategies for reaching new listeners that don’t involve calling up grumpy strangers for hours on end?
I think there’s quite a few, actually.
My name is Justin Boland and I'm a rapper, writer and hippie entrepreneur. I work for Back Brain Media and I run Brainsturbator, Hump Jones, Audible Hype and Skilluminati Research.