Be a Creative Being - Part 2

Now here's a video of Queen Latifah and Eve, two female hip hop lyricists and artists who, despite a male dominated industry, understand their creativity, their ability to expand boundaries, and their ability to be inspired by a problem, and by each other! They discuss what it was like doing a collaboration together for the first time. They collaborate with none other than the production team, Cool & Dre!


cool & dre queen latifah and eve in the studio

You are a creative being - Part 1

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Here's yet another inspirational post!

Do you know who you are? I mean really! Are you seeing yourself for the person that you really are? Are you seeing your full potential? Or have you closed your mind? Titles can limit the mind, creativity, and potential ... or extend those things. It's all in the person holding the title. In other words, are you seeing yourself as a creative person or just as a creative musician?

Do you see obstacles as impossible? Or do you see them as stepping stones? Do you, as a creative person, open your creative mind to see what else you can do to solve the problem? Then after you solve the problem, do you then see an opportunity to help someone else? Then do you see the opportunity to make money helping others solve the very same problems you have? do you even see all the potential that comes from a problem? or do you just see yourself as a ant trying to move a mountain?

Do you challenge yourself all the time to be as creative as possible? Are you a trendsetter? Or do you follow trends?

do you challenge your mind to think bigger? Or are you stuck in average? Do you realize that average is the enemy to greatness?

If you saw that you really need help in thinking bigger, being more creative, changing your perspective, and being more positive, here's some things I recommend:

1. read my other inspirational blogs on creativity!

2. read my other blogs on the music business because they will help you find solutions to some of the problems you may be facing.

3. spend time meditating on the these facts and truths: You are a CREATIVE BEING! The CREATOR of the UNIVERSE made you (created you) just like him! You CAN do anything! If it doesn't exist, you can CREATE IT! (and emphasize and meditate the words in caps especially). You CREATE SOLUTIONS. My CREATIVE MUSCLES are strong enough to move any situation out of my way!

4. listen to inspirational messages

5. read inspirational books

6. watch inspirational videos

Create Your Own Genre of Music!

In my prior blog called Create Your Own Style, Your Own Sound, I suggested that you stay creative and consistent and essentially "brand" your music. Well, I want to continue encouraging you to think outside the box!


Because the music industry is changing and there are more indie artists and indie labels than ever, you as an indie artist/songwriter can now find recording artists who will record your genre of music. Yes, your genre! Did you know that besides the main genres of music (country, pop, rock 'n roll, R & B, Hip Hop, jazz, Punk, Hardcore/Heavy Metal), that there are HUNDREDS of different genres of music! New genres are being created all the time! Genres are also being fused together all the time: Wikipedia has a long list of music genres that is listed from A to Z. Every letter of the alphabet on that list has more than one genre, even Q! There's even a genre called Mushroom Jazz!

So songwriters, you can find a genre that fits your style of music, or you can be like Ray Charles and make your own sound! In fact, Ray Charles was the pioneer of soul music because he was the first to secularize gospel music and add blues lyrics to it. Thus, he created his own sound and we are still singing his songs today! Ray Charles defied genre labels by being popular with pop, R & B, country, and jazz fans alike. He had hits in all four genres. So again just be creative, and create your own sound, or your own genre, whichever you like!

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
http://myspace.com/hitsamillionllc

Create Your Own Style, Your Own Sound!

During dinner, I was recounting to a multi-Grammy-award winning producer the other day that another engineer/singer/friend was advising me not to use a lot of harmonies in the R & B songs that I write for other artists. This singer-friend was telling me the R & B song I wrote was "wrong" because I was using a lot of harmonies and according to this singer-friend, R & B doesn't use a lot of harmonies, only gospel. According to this singer-friend, R & B uses mostly octaves. And while some of what the singer-friend was saying had some truth in it, my multi-Grammy-Award winning producer friend disagreed. The producer then started naming off groups such as Boys II Men as an example of an R & B group who are known for their rich harmonies. So he said that what the singer-friend was saying wasn't true for all R & B.

And then this multi-Grammy award winning producer (I like saying that and I'm sure this producer liked getting them) said, "Thedy, find your own sound and stick to it! It's YOUR sound. It makes you, you. It makes people recognize YOUR songs and YOUR style from others. So if the songs you write have lots of harmonies, do you!" And when I thought about it, he's so right!

Think about it: Any fan of a particular person's music can almost immediately recognize their favorite producer or songwriter's style. For example, fans of Quincy Jones, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis can recognize them as producers of a song. A fan of Timbaland's music will know when the beat or music they hear is a Timbaland beat, a Swizz Beat beat, a Dark Child track, or a Jazzy Pha track. Same is true for Bryan-Michael Cox, the Clutch, and many other producers/songwriters. Why? Because not only have those producers/songwriters built their brand using their name, but they've built their brand using their sound! Sometimes even during the intro or the outro of the track, some producers will even put their "name imprint" into the track so that listeners will know this is their track. And because these producers have built their sound and name up and been successful hitmakers, recording artists who like that producer's particular sound will call these producers when they are ready to record their next project. It's that simple: the artist like the sound and style, and they used that producer or production team.

So regardless of the advice that I or any other "professional" give you, do you! Be you! Create your own style of music! Create your own sound! And stick to the sound that you love and that hits home with YOUR fans! While there are some fundamentals to making a hit song, some rules, and even some do's, (and that's what I am attempting to help songwriters see in this blog), there are also a lot of creative things you can do with your music and still be "right."


Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
http://myspace.com/hitsamillionllc

Creative Uses with Your Music Money - Part 2

As I mentioned in my prior blog, be creative with your money. Invest in the right things to build your music business and those right investments will reward you!

In addition to the first 6 tips I gave you, here are 7 more tips on being creative with your music money:

7. Take advantage of FREE advertising. Network on all the free social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Youtube, ReverbNation, Ilike, TheSingersRoom, etc. Google social networking sites to find new ones, which are popping up every day.


8. Get your own website! Though you can advertise on the various social networking sites for free, I would highly recommend that you get your own websites. Getting your own website means you can design it however you like. You won't be restricted as you are on other sites. You can advertise your music to your heart's content. Fans of your music will know where to go to find you. You can post pictures, do blogs, put up videos, get email addresses, get detailed information about your sites' traffic so you can see who your music is appealing to, etc. Besides, you can always post links on your MySpace page and Facebook page, for example on your website. Plus, websites are only $7 a year!


9. Ways to get your music out: In my last blog, I mentioned burning CDs or using jump drives as 2 means to get your music out. You can also email your music. It is free and practical. Say an A & R person wants a sample of your music, you can simply send that person a email with your songs on it without waiting to send it through the mail. Plus you have proof you sent it. Most DJs will tell you that they prefer that you email them your music.



10. Buy business cards. Be smart with your money and buy them in bulk. But make sure that your business cards are quality! I can't tell you the number of business cards that I've seen that are in such poor quality. And whether you believe it or not, your business card is a representation of you. If your business card looks cheap, then people won't take you OR your music seriously! Plus you want your business card to be sturdy enough to withstand being in someone else's pocket or purse. Does it mean you have to spend a lot of money on cards? No, you can go to vistaprint.com to get some free business cards online.

11. Build a relationship with a graphic artist, refer business to that graphic artist, and negotiate your price to get a unique brand, logo, etc.

12. Invest in attending and/or participating in music conferences, seminars and showcases. But be smart with your money, first purchase the Truth Book about Record Pools & Music Conferences, Talent Shows, and Open Mics from JaWar and read JaWar's blogs at http://atlantashowcase.blogspot.com/ and http://mymusicconnection.blogspot.com/ on how to effectively attend a music conference so that you won't waste your money and time at one of those events. To get the book, click here to view more details

13. Invest in video equipment, which serves to visually promote your music. You can now buy a 30G hard drive camcorder for under $400! And in most cases that camera also comes with other functions such as an Mp3 player, a camera, a voice recorder, etc. Google camcorders to see which ones best fit your budget.

14. Invest in a team - an attorney, manager, and/or consultant who will all assist in you in not making costly mistakes related to trademarks, copyrights, establishing your business, negotiating your publishing contracts, signing contracts and deals (especially with the new "360 deal" being offered to artists). While hiring a family member or friend as a manager may be cheaper, make sure that person has the skills to go with you to EVERY level of your success. Monica, Usher, and some other famous people made the right decision in hiring a family member but that family member has shown demonstrated success in making that celebrity successful.

Creative Uses of Your Music Money

As I mentioned in my last blog, when I attended Patchwerk Studio's Music University IV, Coach K, Snake, and Melinda Dancil all stated that artists and artist managers need to be creative with their money. In other words, artists and we as songwriters must be smart with our money. You might not have agreed with me that paying $75 for people to attend Patchwerk's Music University IV was relatively expensive for a one-day conference. Some of you may not have even hesitated to spend the money. That's great. But I've decided to be more conservative, i.e. smart or creative, with my time and money. And I heard this said also from DJ Tony Neal at the Southeastern Music Awards in January 2008. At that event, he cautioned the indie artists about looking better than the major label artists who have deals, especially when the indie artists aren't working and do not have a deal but have wrapped vans, bling, designer clothes, and other expensive items to promote themselves. In other words, make sure you are getting your money legally, first! Then next stay within your budget and use your money for things that are really going to enhance and further your career. So some things just simply aren't worth my money.

Here's 6 tips on how to be creative with your music money (more will follow in future blogs):

1. Instead of continuously buying studio time, consider investing in a home recording studio. You can go to outlet stores, Guitar Center, and other music gear retail stores and buy music recording software (such as Pro Tools, Logic, Cake Walk, Fruity Loops, Nuendo, etc.) and equipment (mics, cords, headphones, speakers, mixer, and compressor) for approximately $2,500 - $3,500 depending upon the brand of the equipment.

2. Instead of buying cheap music equipment, be smart with your money: invest in quality equipment.

3. Want quality recordings? Invest in plug-ins. Invest in yourself to learn to use it or build a relationship with a studio engineer or a place that will mix and master your records.

4. If you a ghost songwriter and you have an okay voice and you pay to have other singers sing your songs for you, consider investing in a vocal coach instead. Yes, they can charge on average $25/hr to $100/hr. But again, you will recoup that money over time when you don't have to wait for an artist to fit your demo work into their time, when you don't have to pay anyone else to sing your songs, when you can sing the song exactly how you want it sung without having to spend time with vocal production having to teach the song to someone else, and when you save time.

5. If you press up a lot of CDs, it may be smart to purchase a CD/DVD burner instead of continuously using a CD duplication service.

6. Even smarter, purchase jump drives to store your music and to pass out to people. It holds more music than a CD/DVD. It won't skip and you won't have problems with scratches. However, because jump drives are so small, I do recommend buying something like a key chain or lanyard (if your jump drives doesn't come with one) to help you and whoever you give the jump drive to, to keep up with your jump drive.


Thedy B, Attoprney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
http://myspace.com/hitsamillionllc
http://hitsamillion.ning.com/