Albums/Singles: Charts, Akon, Jay-Z, Luke Campbell, ODB, Busta Rhymes, Trent Reznor, Zack de la Rocha, DMX, R. Kelly

Billboard reports on the singles charts and the album charts, cause that's what they do best. In related news on which I've slept, Akon's kicking ass in the UK.

Jay-Z's Just Summer track, that started life over a Green Lantern beat for a tennis shoe commercial, is getting widespread attention. In addition to a live radio debut and a mixtape release, the track will be the intro for Memphis Bleek's upcoming album 534.

Luke Campbell has signed a deal with Urban Box Office for its new hip hop label Insurgent Records. The first release planned, Luke Campbell’s Soup for the Freaky Soul: The Sexploits of Uncle Luke, is described as a "four-disc set consisting of a two-disc audio book of choice autobiographical moments, compilation soundtrack CD and a DVD featuring stimulating footage of his notorious Luke Girls."

Rhino Records is scheduled to release an ODB compilation, The Definitive Ol' Dirty Bastard Story, on June 21st. And, though Damon Dash is said to be leaving Universal, ODB's A Son Unique is still expected in July.

Busta Rhymes is currently working on The Big Bang with production by Dr. Dre and Timbaland. The album is schedule to drop July 19th. Busta Rhymes also recently provided descriptive narration on a Stevie Wonder video as a special audio feature for blind and visually impaired folks.

Approximately 19 tracks of collaborative material from Trent Reznor and Zack de la Rocha, former Rage Against The Machine frontman, look like they'll stay in the vault. Reznor feels that the work was "excellent" but that Zack just isn't sure of what he wants to release right now. Reznor also recently recruited Saul Williams to open for Nine Inch Nails on their European tour.

DMX's new album Here We Go Again is due out in June or July. I hope he's doing well but that title sounds phoned in when you consider a discography that includes It's Dark and Hell Is Hot.

R. Kelly has an album due in July that should include a track featuring The Game. I haven't heard the single Trapped in the Closet, which is doing ok on the charts, but ProHipHop wants Mr. Kelly to know that we support you coming out in all your freakishness, oh troubled one.

Inside Digital Media on Yahoo Music Unlimited

Phil Leigh at Inside Digital Media does some really nice work and offers a lot for free at his website, like a research report released in April on Future Developments in Podcasting.  He does regular interviews with digital media insiders including a recent discussion with the authors of The Future of Music or today's interview with Paul Greenberg of MusicNet, the company powering Yahoo Music Unlimited.

Leigh also puts out a newsletter with interesting perspectives that you don't get on his website, though I really think it's worth archiving at his site.  In any case, earlier this week he shared his analysis of Yahoo Music Unlimited and gave permission for me to rerun the piece here at ProHipHop.  What follows is all from Phil Leigh.  Thanks Phil!

Our Thoughts on Yahoo's New Music Service
from Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media

Yahoo's new unlimited digital music service may be the most significant development in the legitimate online music business since the launch of Apple's iTunes.

First, it could considerably stimulate demand for legitimate music subscription services because it is priced so aggressively. The annual rate of $60 even provides a potentially attractive alternative to the ad-ware intensive and virus prone Peer-to-Peer networks where free unauthorized file swapping of copyrighted material has been common.

Even college students and teenagers can afford the $60-per-year alternative. In short, cost will no longer be a significant deterrent to the adoption of a legitimate subscription service. Instead, the two most important factors that could result in poor adoption rates for Yahoo will likely be: (1) significant holes in the catalog of legitimately available tracks and (2) the performance of the new Yahoo software, particularly as it relates to the interoperability with the Janus enabled portable devices.

Although the one million track Yahoo catalog is impressive, no doubt there are still popular artists who are missing, such as the Beatles. It remains to be seen how music lovers will respond to the gaps. Additionally, one of the reasons that Apple's Music Store is currently achieving impressive sales rates at about $500 annually is because the iTunes software works reliably with the iPod.

Simply put, consumers in large numbers will not pay anyone to further complicate their lives. In this context, it is important to bear in mind that Yahoo notes that the new music software is being offered in a Beta version only. The Devil may be in the details. If so, the consumers and Yahoo will end-up taking the hindmost.

Second, we speculate that the initiative is being vigorously applauded by the recorded music industry in the background. After five years of declining sales, the industry recognizes that it is not merely piracy per se that is adversely affecting demand; it is the disintermediation of the youthful consumer away from traditional media and into the new media of the Internet. One consequence is that commercial broadcast radio is losing its influence with the youth market thereby making it harder for the labels to popularize new releases and fresh artists. It is becoming ever more obvious that the Internet must increasingly fulfill the traditional role of radio in popularizing new releases.

Yahoo's new music initiative places considerable emphasis on ways of sharing music with affinity groups. Theoretically, it does so even better than the Apple iTunes store. Thats why the labels may be applauding along the sidelines.

For example, the integration of the service into Yahoo Instant Messaging is designed to encourage friends to share music ideas and tastes with one another. The personalization capabilities and the Instant Playlist generation features linked to artists and genres are additional examples of how new releases and new artists can be popularized.

Third, there can be little doubt that Yahoo's announcement will put significant pricing pressure on the other online incumbents. The most likely point that might prevent such pressure would be potential bugs associated with new Yahoo music software. If consumers encounter numerous glitches, system crashes, and arcane error messages when trying to use the new service, then competitors may elect to avoid matching the Yahoo pricing. For now, I'm not switching from Rhapsody, because I know that it works and it works well.

However, assuming that the Yahoo service provides satisfactory technical performance, then Napster and Rhapsody will be under pressure to adjust their prices as well. More significantly, we think that even Apple will feel the competitive impact. While the popularity of the iPod will insulate them initially, the value proposition of a $60 per year subscription service will be hard for the consumer to ignore, assuming, the technical performance of the Yahoo service and the Janus enabled devices proves to be satisfactory. Despite disparaging the concept repeatedly in the past, it may even lead Apple, meaning Steve Jobs, to reconsider the merits of offering its own subscription service.

It's as certain as fleas on a yard dog that Microsoft will put enormous resources behind the effort to make Janus interoperability a pragmatic reality. It is far from certain that they will get the results they want anytime soon. Given all of the different device manufactures (Yahoo claims 10 already), there are a lot of moving parts to manage. Also, as noted, Yahoo characterizes its own release as a Beta version.

Fourth, we are admittedly surprised by the pricing. We have no reason to doubt the validity of the quote in the Wall Street Journal from Yahoo's Dave Goldberg that the service will be profitable at the rates specified. However, the financial releases to shareholders from Napter and the public comments by management at RealNetworks, and even MusicMatch prior to its acquisition by Yahoo, would imply that the profit ratio is not very high unless special circumstances apply.

Perhaps Yahoo has economies of scale that the others cannot achieve. Maybe they have unique terms with the labels and publishers. Again, we don't doubt the profitability claims. Confessedly, it does leave us scratching our heads, but that probably is precisely the state where Yahoo wants outside observers and competitors to find themselves.

Phil Leigh
President
Inside Digital Media, Inc.

Interviewing Balance, The Bay Area Mixtape King

I just had an amazing interview with New Bay artist Balance on everything from strategies for titling albums to word of mouth marketing to what motivates him to keep going. I'm embarassed to say that some of the interview was lost when my tape ran out and the new recorder didn't shut down like my previous one would have. I almost didn't tell him because we talked for over an hour and he was incredibly generous with his time and with his insightful take on building one's career.

I'm especially disappointed because he really does have a clear take on the rap game that's informed by what he's learned from things like talking to Bay Area artists who got signed and dropped in the 90s, working in record stores where he's seen what works at the consumer level and, yes, even reading about the music industry. On that note, Balance recommends the classic All You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald Passman, which I actually need to read myself.

One of the interesting bits was his take on controversial titles such as the New Bay and the Bay Area Mixtape King. In both cases, these were terms that djs came up with in response to what he and fellow artists were doing. Sway actually referred to him and an associate as the New Bay. They thought about it and decided to start referring to themselves that way, not to diss artists that preceded them, but to establish an identity that went beyond just being new artists. And people have latched on to that as a successful maneuver. It's interesting because so many artists avoid labels and finally give in but it's those categories that allow folks to get an initial handle on what you're doing. Ultimately it's your music that's going to make the difference so taking control of that labeling process is a really smart move.

Balance also got the Bay Area Mixtape King title from a dj and decided to go ahead and use it, partly because of what he'd learned from controversies around such labels. He finds that people pay attention and talk about it whether they think it's cool or dismiss the idea, either way it gets his name in their head. While I'm impressed by his clear marketing strategy, I'm also impressed by the fact that he doesn't take himself too seriously. In many ways, he's earned the title of King because of his own trailblazing activities with mixtapes in the Bay Area and the fact that he's on some ungodly number of tapes. But, at the recent Bay Area Rap Summit where he appeared on a mixtape panel, when introduced with that grand title he kind of laughed it off and really didn't seem to be on an ego trip at all like so many rappers who claim to be the king of this or that.

You know, it's really nice to interview someone who's serious about what they're doing, smart about their business, who cares about their art and isn't an egomaniac at the same time. I'll have to say he's definitely setting an example that even I could follow in that regard. Look for my interview with Balance as the next Talking Hip Hop Business feature as soon as I can transcribe what I have and possibly subject him to another round of interrogation.

Until then, you can check out recent interviews conducted with Balance by Sam Chennault at the SF Weekly and by Adisa Banjoko for AllHipHop.com.

Chuck D at the Digital Roundtable

Chuck D recently participated in a roundtable discussion on the future of entertainment and media. Nothing that exceptional if you've been keeping up with this stuff but it's nice to see Chuck D being recognized as someone who's been an innovator in digital media for quite some time. I found the article via B or not 2B - A Business Media Blog.

Industry: Warner Music Group, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Yahoo Music Unlimited, eMusic

Enlisting more star power, Warner Music Group began its debut on the New York Stock Exchange with Robert Plant performing the Led Zeppelin classic Whole Lotta Love.  However, neither P. Diddy's earlier appearances nor Plant's efforts could keep the stock from slipping 60 cents to close at $16.40, a 3.5% drop.

Kelefa Sanneh takes Linkin Park's recent battles with WMG as a jumping off point for a discussion of Limp Bizkit vs. System of a Down.  He points to Linkin Park's concerns over adequate marketing from Warner Music to segue into a discussion of Limp Bizkit's recent album release that Sanneh characterizes as "secret."  However, as recently noted here at ProHipHop, Billboard reported that Fred Durst did not want a traditional marketing campaign and used Limp Bizkit's blog to promote viral distribution of an MP3 single.

The introduction of Yahoo Music Unlimited, a digital music subscription service, not only affected the stocks of competitors but raised questions about Yahoo's willingness to lose money on the deal since the service is priced below a profitable level.  Yahoo is expected to rollout the service internationally in "all countries with a Yahoo music site" but no dates have been announced.

eMusic, billing itself as the "world's No. 2 digital download service", recently announced the addition of tracks from labels in multiple genres.  Newly added hip hop labels and artists include:
" - Babygrande Records - Featuring Jean Grae, GZA/Genius, Jedi Mind Tricks.
- Anticon Records - With Sage Francis, Themselves, Buck 65 and more.
- Shamanwork - Brings MF Doom.
- Quannum - Brings Blackalicious members Latyf, Lyrics Born."

Blog Alert: Pacific Standard, Don't Get Fooled Again, Freakonomics

Pacific Standard is a new blog devoted to Bay Area hip hop that will focus not only on artists, djs and labels but on journalists as well. Hey, maybe I can get featured in there!

I'm long overdue on thanking folks for linking to me and the list of those I've yet to thank is growing ever longer. However, I want to single out the blog, Don't Get Fooled Again, as one of the most unique concept blogs I've encountered of late. Author Spacey is a fan of CSI who's sharing his thoughts on the technoscience of the various permutations of the show. He's also known as J Space, a producer based in LA. Good looking out!

On the money tip, Freakonomics is a blog by Steven D. Levitt, the "rogue economist [who] explores the hidden side of everything", best known for being principal author of the book Freakonomics.

Events: Power of the People, GEMS, Hip Hop Appreciation, MTV Movie Awards, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza

Tonight Shaun Cruz and Cruz One Records presents Power of the People, a live event at the Museum of the City of New York, that will focus on such topics as:
"How to access low interest federal loans for entertainment productions and Using the Hip Hop industry to create jobs and opportunities for the urban underserved."
For more info: Cruz One Records & Entertainment

The Global Entertainment Media Summit happens this weekend in New York City with a lot of interesting looking panels on indie media including music and filmmaking.

Next week is the 8th Annual Hip Hop Appreciation Week organized by the Temple of Hiphop with events in Atlanta, GA and Portland, OR. Jeff Chang points to additional events in other parts of the country. Official Site: Hip Hop Appreciation Week

Eminem will perform his inspiring single Ass Like That (are they serious?) at this year's MTV Movie Awards to be broadcast June 9th. Official site: 2005 MTV Movie Awards

The Perceptionists and De La Soul have been added to Tennessee's Bonnaroo Festival happening June 10-12. The multigenre 2005 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will also include such hip hop related acts as Jurassic 5, Ozomatli, Saul Williams, RJD2 and DJ Krush.

Perry Farrell's Lollapalooza Festival will take new form July 23rd and 24th in Chicago's Grant Park. The official lineup is mostly a rocker's kind of thing but will include Digable Planets and Z-Trip (I'm assuming that's DJ Z-Trip). On the rocker front, I can't decide which band has a cooler name, Brian Jonestown Massacre or And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. I wonder if they'll be packing heat?

On a related editorial note, Media Chin-Check and Davey D express their concerns over the lack of live hip hop shows and rap groups with decent performing skills. That's always puzzled me as well.

WMG Goes Live

Warner Music Group announced its pricing at $17 a share and stated that they will cover the shortfall of funds intended to pay off debt with cash. They begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange as WMG.

Blogs: DANTRIFICATION, Media Chin-Check, Hip Hop Blogger, Vibes and Stuff, Blogads, Deal Flow, unmediated

DANTRIFICATION has completed a three part consideration of hip hop media, Minding My Business:
Part One ~ Part Two ~ Part Three

Media Chin-Check introduces hip hop comic Felt: True Tales of Underground Hip Hop and expresses concern over a small ass in Apple Bottoms.

Hip Hop Blogger refers us to a Wall Street Journal article on hip hop demographics that reveals the source of stats indicating that rap music consumers are predominantly white, that crazy mashup of ethnicities and national backgrounds.

Vibes and Stuff responds to a Canadian radio content petition intended to support developing artists that nevertheless ignores hip hop and electronica.

Though not hip hop specific, the Blogads blog considers t-shirts and niche marketing, a useful topic for budding fashion entrepreneurs.

For those who are making serious decisions about hiring publicity firms, Deal Flow discusses the reasons why independent contractors may be your best bet, a good thing to hear considering so many hip hop publicists operate as one person shops.

unmediated mentions grassroots digital music service Music For Dozens.

Unpaid Writing Gigs, Nets Internship, Ultimate Hustler

If you're an up and coming writer who wants exposure and can accept unpaid work, there are lots of opportunities with online music mags, especially with indie rock oriented publications that include hip hop in their coverage. For example, Prefixmag.com recently ran an ad in Craigslist for new contributors. PopMatters also has openings. However, just because they're unpaid doesn't mean they don't expect professional quality.

In more unpaid action, you've got till May 15th to make your bid to be an S. Carter Academy intern with the New Jersey Nets. However, housing will be provided.

There's also still time to catch at least one of the Ultimate Hustler Casting Calls for Damon Dash's new surreality show and perhaps earn your opportunity to be verbally abused by the great Dame himself.

Industry: Warner IPO, Yahoo Music, Columbia House/BMG, Universal Music, MTV/VH1 Execs, IODA, TriMedia

Warner Music Group's IPO prices at $17 a share, the low end of their adjustment to reality. This pricing puts their initial capitalization at $2.4 billion, far below their lofty dreams based on a valuation of $3.43 billion and below the $2.6 billion paid for the company. This also means that they may have to use cash to pay off their debt and won't have much of anything to put back into the company.

Yesterday, Yahoo announced a digital music subscription service that will include portability and sharply underprices its competitors. I'd hate to be competing with Yahoo, their ability to run massive amounts of advertising within their network by itself is a huge competitive advantage. Billboard PostPlay and PaidContent have more on Yahoo's music service.

BMG's parent company Bertelsmann is buying Columbia House which will be combined with BMG Direct boosting their CD offerings and adding DVD sales.

Glenayre Technologies is buying Universal Music Group's CD and DVD manufacturing and distribution assets via Entertainment Distribution Co. which will become a division of Glenayre upon completion of the deal. EDC will then provide such services to Universal, gradually taking over the additional services that are currently outsourced to other companies.

MTV/VH1's exec shufflings will make VH1 President Christina Norman head of MTV, MTV2 et al and one of the top ranking black execs in television. MTV's Tom Calderone will become VH1's new prez.

Fortune Mag has named San Francisco's Independent Online Distribution Alliance one of 25 breakout companies to watch in 2005. Official site: IODA.

TriMedia Entertainment Group, whose RuffNation Films subsidiary produced Snipes, yesterday announced a multimillion dollar debt for stock swap. Official site: TriMedia.

Warner Music IPO Cut Back, Still a Bad Deal?

Today an institutional investor apparently revealed to CNBC that tonight's pricing of WMG IPO shares will be reduced in both cost and number of shares. The anonymous source revealed that shares held by current owners would be eliminated from the offering resulting in a drop from 32.6 million to 27.2 million shares to be offered tomorrow. The price range of the shares will be set at $19 to $20 a share rather than $22 to $24 a share.

This move reduces both the overall valuation of the company, which had been widely criticized as too high, and the already bloated payoff for the investors who had recouped most if not all of their investment and were using the IPO to pay off the debt incurred during that process while also cashing out.

Although some have dismissed Linkin Park's attacks on Warner Music Group's current state of affairs as a ploy for contract negotiation, whatever the band's reasoning, Linkin Park's widely covered statements were an extremely negative pr blow well-timed to f*ck the IPO.

Even without the Linkin Park fracas, publications like Forbes were telling folks to stay away from the IPO for a variety of well-considered reasons. Interestingly enough, folks at a recent IPO roadshow had no questions about Linkin Park's statements but were quite excited by the presence of P. Diddy who, from the NY Daily News photo, appears to be wearing quite a severe suit, looking somewhat like Malcolm X. However, analysts at the event were negative about both the pricing of the IPO and the future prospects of Warner Music Group.

I'm just looking forward to all those SEC filings and getting some visibility into what folks like P. Diddy are up to. Bring on the 10ks, baby!

Press Releases, Announcements for ProHipHop & Hip Hop Press

Here's the basic info on getting coverage at ProHipHop and your press release run at Hip Hop Press.

ProHipHop and Hip Hop Press cover hip hop business and relevant music industry and general business news. For the most part, we don't cover R&B or black business news per se, unless it's highly relevant to hip hop. My decisions may seem idiosyncratic at times but I do the best I can, so please don't take it personally.

Please send all news items and press releases to:
hiphoppress(at)netweed(dot)com

Please send personal correspondence, business schemes, links to online coverage, gossip and the like to:
clyde(at)prohiphop(dot)com

If you're not sure, choose one address and send your message there. I'll let you know if I prefer you use the other address.

Please don't send duplicates to both addresses. Seriously.

I have some other suggestions based on actual press releases I've received recently:

A press release has a title, a few paragraphs of text and contact information. It's a classic format that's quite distinct from a letter or a paragraph with some links. If you don't want contact information intended for the press published in an online venue, you should still include a website and email address at the very least.

A press release isn't an ad for your services, it's a timely announcement of a newsworthy event.

If you're doing a follow-up release for an event with some additional information, give it a new title and feature the new information. That's essential because, otherwise, it just looks like you're fishing for extra publicity.

I look forward to getting your press releases and watching you become the superstar that you know you are. Seriously, watching people blow up is a blast and I'm happy to be a part of that in my own small way.