A sit down interview with Hasan Salaam on his 2013 Northwest Tour. Hasan Salaam is a rapper born in New York City and raised in New Jersey. His lyrics touch on such subjects as “post-colonial exploitation of African (hip-hop) culture”, “the African diaspora”, and “the true Islamic jihad”. Salaam organizes food and clothing drives in Jersey City on the third Sunday of each month. He has performed all over the world including nationally aired performances on NBC’s “Showtime at the Apollo”, FUSE TV’s “Digital Downloads”, MUN2 TV’s “The Roof”, Music Plus TV, and at the Anti-War Rally March on C-SPAN.

Directed & Edited By: Juan Manuel Reyes Hernández (of Quauhtli Productions)

‘Call It A Comeback’ - feature article in the Charlotte Viewpoint by Bryan Reed.

“Coming back to music without the pressures of “making it,” seems to have been a liberation for Supastition. The driving energy of tracks like “Yada Yada” and “The Blackboard” posit Supastition as a wise elder with energy to rival the youngest buck; the direct approach of the EP’s lyrics illustrate an exciting new lack of inhibition.  

But don’t call it a throwback. While Supastition readily acknowledges his influences, and he retains the boom-bap cadences of his beloved “Golden Age,” The Blackboard feels both reverent and relevant. “Perfect World,” a scathing indictment of fair-weather friends, rides a spare drumbeat and classic-sounding synth-sweeps that lends a complementary sense of bittersweetness. But, only a few tracks away, Charlotte duo Dirty Art Club grants a misty sampledelic backing to the Shyamalan-twist of “Best Worst Day”’s horror story.” - read the full article here. Photo by Jasiatic.

On January 15th, 2013, Supastition released a free EP called ‘The Blackboard EP’. Fans were given the option to download for free or name their own price if they wanted to show extra support. The fans showed so much love that the free EP was placed in Bandcamp’s Top 5 best sellers for the day! Made me real proud to be a fan & to be involved in the project. If you haven’t listened already, it’s good hip-hop! Listen here.

Beats Electronics LLC (Beats), the leading audio brand co-founded by legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine, today announced a new music service, project “Daisy” and the appointment of Ian Rogers as CEO. Rogers will oversee the direction, vision and strategy for project “Daisy” and the talented team developing the service.

Simultaneously, Rogers will step into the leadership position at MOG, the streaming music service Beats acquired in 2012.

Most recently the CEO of Topspin and formerly the GM of Yahoo! Music, Rogers brings to Beats both technology and music industry savvy, along with a unique understanding of the music business from the artist’s point of view. His track record for successfully joining product, promotion, and direct-to-consumer marketing sets a compelling stage for both MOG and “Daisy” within the burgeoning and competitive digital music space.

“After years of fighting and uncertainty, it’s now undeniable all the world’s music will be available on every device by just clicking play. However, the current streaming experiences aren’t good enough. They aren’t good enough for fans, whoneed it to be easier to find music they love. And they aren’t good enough for artists, who want to grow their audiences and make money.” said Rogers. “This is the opportunity I’ve been working toward my entire career. ” (full press release here).

Supastition returns to his former self with the release of The Blackboard EP. The Blackboard EP, a FREE 8-track project, serves as a “thank you” to the listeners who continued to support his music after his sudden departure from the music business in 2010. The adrenaline-charged lead single, Yada Yada, produced by longtime collaborator, Marco Polo, will also be accompanied by a music video directed by Shamus Coneys (Spacecraft Films). Production on the EP will be handled by Marco Polo, M-phazes, Veterano, the Mighty DR, and Dirty Art Club. Stay tuned for the release date to be announced shortly. For interviews and inquiries (bookings / features), please contact me (Sav) at DJ.Sav.One@Gmail.com for more information. Thanks for your support.

01. Get Your Group To Places On Time. This means if the wake-up time is 7am, you have to be up at 5am. You’ll quickly learn it takes at least an hour-and-a-half to two hours to get any group moving.

02. Find Out Who In The Group is The Traveling Leader. Remember, whoever is the leader on record may not be the traveling leader. Notice who’s waking up quicker and use him to help keep the others in line.

03. You Have To Watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi and Learn Jedi Mind Tricks. Nine out of ten artists don’t wanna go to radio or retail, but you gotta get them there anyway. If you trick them right, the groups will eventually come to you and be like, “What are we doing tomorrow?” If you do your job well, then they’ll begin to rely on you to make all their moves for them. They won’t move unless you move.

04. Be Careful About What You Eat On The Road. When outside of America, learn to read and find the basics. When I was in Europe, I survived on bread and water. Fast food’s too dangerous. The only mainstay that’s probably a safe bet is Mickey D’s.

05. Don’t Drink or Get High with the Group.

06. Develop An Immunity To Lack of Sleep. 

07. When Staying At Hotels, Don’t Forget The Concierges. It’s their job to help you. They can help you find a restaurant and get your laundry clean.

08. When Doing a Show, Don’t Bring Your Group To The Venue Until You Have Your Money. I wouldn’t come down to the venue unless I got half upfront and half before I brought the group in the building.

09. You Gotta Have a Psychiatry Major.

10. You Must Lie. Sometimes it’s your only option.

11. Get The Group To Focus on Money & Not Girls. Every now and then you gotta say shit like, “Yeah, remember those rape charges L and them n*ggas caught?” and “This guy got arrested and they locked him up.” You gotta bring up the foul shit every now and then. Be prepared to be the bad guy.

• Constantly compare yourself to other artists.
• Talk to your family about what you do & expect them to cheer you on.
• Base the success of your entire career on one project.
• Stick with what you know.
• Undervalue your expertise.
• Let money dictate what you do.
• Bow to societal pressures.
• Only do work that your family would love.
• Do whatever the client/customer/gallery owner/patron/investor asks.
• Set unachievable/overwhelming goals to be accomplished by tomorrow.

According to an article on Billboard, SoundExchange continues to set record highs in their royalty payouts, hitting $122.5 million to artists and labels in the 3rd quarter. That figure makes it the largest quarterly payout by the organization since its inception. For the year, the agency has paid out $326.9 million and an overall total of over $1B. Are you one of the 50,000 artists due royalties but still have not registered for Soundexchange? Here. 

“This distribution represents yet another record-setting quarter for SoundExchange, but means so much for the recording artists and record labels that rely upon this growing revenue stream,” SoundExchange president Michael Huppe said in a statement. “Musicians and rights owners — both superstars and rising stars — have come to depend on these royalty payments. We are proud to help facilitate this growth and are passionate about our work in protecting this revenue stream, and moving the music and creative community forward.”

“Eternia spits fire and speaks truth. Her work is always about pushing the art and the community to the next level. When people ask me who is repping the best of the global hip-hop movement, all I have to do is point to her.” - Jeff Chang (Photo by Ty Watkins) - Email me with all Eternia inquiries.

What can marketers do to ensure that fans engage with them instead of hiding their content?

1) Focus fan acquisition efforts on quality fans rather than quantity fans. 

Identify your ideal fans-–those are the folks who will truly engage with you because they love your product and your brand. Accept that a portion of your existing fans may no longer be interested in what you have to say, and don’t get frustrated if your unsubscribe rates are temporarily higher than this average of 2%. It may just mean that you need a different set of fans, not a new content strategy.

2) Stay on-topic with your content. 

Even the most loyal fan will leave after reading 10 off-topic posts in a row. Be humble enough to admit you don’t always know what your fans want to read—so ask what they want to see. Whether you run a poll or simply pose a question, it’s worth doing this at least once a quarter. Once you receive the feedback ensure you act on it, and adjust your content strategy according to those findings.

In addition, track your metrics very closely to see which posts not only are getting the most engagement, but the most organic virality. Those are the topics that resonate.

3) Match your fans’ expectations for posting frequency.

How to time your Facebook posts to reach the most fans is a perennially popular topic, but just like an email list, it’s easy to wear out your fans, even with good content. My recommendation is post once a day. If you have an event that offers a lot of good information, go for several times a day for several days of the event, but not more than that.

4) Tweak your copy so it’s recognizably your brand voice. 

Sometimes the problem isn’t that the content is off-topic, but that it’s off-voice. Your brand has a unique voice which your fans know and appreciate, so make sure your posts are phrased in a way your customers expect. And don’t forget that you are human, so write like a human, not like a PR professional.

5) Experiment. 

Finally, don’t be afraid to try new content, new format, and new approaches. You might be surprised what types of posts your fans might react to in the most positive way. The key with experimentation is not just trying new things, but measuring the results and adjusting in real time.

According to an article on Huffington Post, “a new survey has found that hiring managers and recruiters believe it is easier to place a candidate who has a job — but who also has a criminal record — than a person who has been unemployed for more than two years.” 

They suggest doing volunteer work, taking on part-time work - anything you can add to your work experience instead of leaving long gaps of unemployment. It’s definitely something to consider - especially for new artists who think it’s a great idea to give up their jobs and throw caution to the wind! - more via HP. 

1. Study Their Fans:

You as an artist should make it your mission to know where your fans are and how to market to them. Research where your fans find out about new music, where (and how) they buy merch, what blogs they read, what magazines to they look at and even down to how they wear their accessories. Now you can ask them what graphics they like before you print a shirt, ask them which song should you do a video for… these are the people that are spending their money on you in a tough economy, so give them what they want!

2. Be Versatile:

Create products that speak to your fan and your brand. Like any smart company, you need to constantly be reaffirming the quality and integrity of your product. Only put out your best and make your music available. If you are unsigned, then use digital outlets as well as the hand-to-hand sale of physical at shows. I know this sounds like common sense, but that’s because it is!

3. Create a Network:

Every time you play a show, talk to the venue owners, the booking agents, the promoters etc. and shake their hand. Whether you play for 5 or 500 people, creating a good relationship with these people will open the doors for future shows an opportunities. Know that if you want to make it, you are going to need a team of people working for your cause.  

4. Get Thicker Skin and Take Criticism Well:

If you get a bad review, look for things to improve on and work with them. If you have a bad show, find out what was bad about it and correct it. Your lyrics speak to people and your music/branding gives those people a way to relate to you. Everything is subjective and it is a great time for the artist to make money directly. But how can you do that if you get upset every time someone makes a critique? 

5. Be Patient:

Making it as a band takes time, trial and error, love and a whole bunch of failed attempts, but in the end, if you truly have something that should be shared and you believe in the product, then keep pushing and always find new ways to make friends with your fans! - More via Gregory Haberek

Supastition’s ‘The Blackboard EP’ is on the way! First single and music video already finished. Beats by Marco Polo, Veterano, M-Phazes, and more. FREE download, as well as song lyrics, for the entire EP! Let the crowd rejoice….

Detailed breakdown by Jakprints of average costs & retail prices for various merch options. Before assuming one option is better than the next, solely based on this chart, do consider your target audience and make sure their interests align.  The list is also in order of greatest profit margin, in terms of how much larger the retail price is than the cost - stickers being the greatest at over 700%. Read the full article for more information on those profit margins.