To the Department of Justice, et al:

During the past few days you have shut down three prominent hip-hop sites: OnSmash.com, DaJaz1.com and RapGodfathers.com. I expect that by the time this letter is finished there will be more domains seized. Why are you shutting down our hip-hop sites? As a principle to an internationally distributed record label, I’m curious as to why we have been stripped of the power to enforce our own copyrights.

The users that frequent these sites are vital to the existence of hip-hop music. The communities that are formed within these sites listen to the music we distribute, leave feedback and debate with one another about the quality of our products. These sites effectively serve as the customer service department to the record industry. If I put out a bad record, I want to know how to improve the sound. If the reception is overwhelmingly positive, then I’m encouraged to put more money behind the record to increase its exposure.

With your efforts to curb piracy, you are costing us money by tampering with the ecosystem in which we aggregate our content to the masses. These sites do not operate under the radar. We are all aware of their existence and the placement of content on these sites is an integral part of our marketing campaigns. By cutting off our online communities you are not by any means heightening our expectations for sales. If we thought these sites were detrimental to our financial well being, we would have filed complaints against them a long time ago.

After reviewing the list of sites your organizations recently targeted, I noticed that these hip-hop sites were grouped in with sites that were selling counterfeit goods. I fail to see the correlation between a knock-off pair of Timberland boots and a sound recording that has been created and financed by an artist or label. A common phrase I hear in the music business is “Piracy equals theft.” Sure it does. But first you must truly define piracy. When the creators and owners of original content are encouraging these sites to post their media, who is guilty of piracy?

These moves are especially detrimental to independent musicians. With these actions you are cutting off the avenues to success for thousands of musicians in order for you to satisfy the wishes of four companies (Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner). The fact that these four companies have this much power over a government agency is the root of the problem in the first place. They limit competition by monopolizing radio airwaves and are now trying to do the same thing with the Internet. These hip-hop sites level the playing field for independent artists by giving them a high-traffic platform to gain exposure for their work.

Needless to say these four companies have tried to do this before and it didn’t work. To paraphrase a scene from the movie, The Social Network, the record labels may have succeeded in shutting down Napster, but after the smoke cleared nobody was itching to invest in a Tower Records franchise. The Napster shut down did not curtail file-sharing. It just made users scatter to other locations in order to discover and share new music. We will see the same effect if this current trend continues and this will be incredibly detrimental to the promotional efforts of artists in the hip-hop community.

Your recent actions do more harm than good. I am asking that you take a moment to listen to those of us who actually earn a living by working in the hip-hop industry before taking further drastic measures. As I wrote in an article nearly two years ago (see The Hip-Hop Stimulus Plan Part II), I believe the people operating these hip-hop sites are an invaluable resource to our industry and we should be paying them for their work rather than tyrannizing them.

We are in the process of rebuilding a struggling industry and the unwanted intrusion of the Justice Department into our online channels will only make our industry suffer longer. For the music industry to rebound we must embrace technology and learn how to remain profitable as innovation continues. Government intrusion creates a divide between providers of content and those who operate the sites distributing it, and it breeds distrust between the labels and site owners. This government action will inadvertently increase piracy as record labels become the enemy to site owners. The Department of Justice has crossed the line with this attack on the hip-hop community and this is unacceptable. It is not the job of a government agency to enforce copyrights owned by private entities and these actions interfere with the operation of our businesses. Do not strip us of our rights by bullying people that are vital to our prosperity. We are capable of handling copyright infringement claims through the proper legal channels and will certainly do so when we deem it necessary.

Sincerely,

Stu Pflaum
Element 9 Muzik LLC

Ed. Note: On behalf of myself and the entire Element 9 team, I would like to congratulate our friend, partner and mentor, Mr. Ron Spaulding, on his recent promotion to President of Fontana Distribution. During these tumultuous times in the music industry, it brings me a renewed sense of confidence to see Ron at the helm of one of music’s biggest and most valuable entities. We look forward to continuing to build on Ron’s unrivaled history of success through Element 9′s partnership with Fontana and are honored to be a part of his team.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD), the award-winning sales, marketing and distribution subsidiary of Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company, has promoted Ron Spaulding to President of Fontana, UMGD’s independent distribution arm. The announcement was made today by Jim Urie, President and Chief Executive Officer of UMGD, to whom Spaulding reports. Formerly, Mr. Spaulding served as Executive Vice President & General Manager of Fontana.

“Since joining us, Ron has brought extensive retail contacts and a wealth of credibility within the artistic community which the Fontana Team has translated into a great success story,” stated Mr. Urie. “In the past year alone, Fontana has had enormous accomplishments on both the indie and the Top 200 charts and has up-streamed numerous artists to our labels. Moreover, over the last year, Ron has overseen the restructuring of Fontana into a digital player second to none in the world of music distribution. His sense of humor and infectious enthusiasm has energized all of us that have the pleasure to work with him every day. We are delighted to expand the playing field even more with this well-deserved promotion.”

“Being a part of Fontana has been one of the most personally rewarding and professionally fulfilling experiences of my career,” added Mr. Spaulding. “I cannot thank Jim enough for his generous support and confidence; and working closely with the entire Fontana team continues to be a constant source of inspiration since they are second to none. We have built a vibrant and musically diverse company, with a spirited and competitive staff. I am looking forward to building further upon that winning energy; we are only just beginning to realize the possibilities of what we can accomplish.”

Prior to joining Fontana, Mr. Spaulding served as Executive Vice President/General Manager of Asylum and EastWest Records, overseeing the day-to-day operations of both labels. He also served as the Senior Vice President of Sales at WEA, Warner Music Group’s distribution arm. His background also includes serving as Senior Vice President of Sales at Elektra Entertainment Group and in a number of senior positions at Priority Records.

About Fontana

Fontana Distribution, the independent arm of Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD), provides unparalleled sales and marketing support, as well as back office and label services, for a diverse roster of labels and their artists. Fontana distributes more than 100 labels including Downtown Music, Savoy, Vagrant Records, Eagle Rock, VP Records, American Gramaphone, Six Degrees, Last Gang Records, SMC, Delicious Vinyl, ESL, Kedar Entertainment, Ministry of Sound, Ipecac, Strange Music, Music World, VH1 Classic Records, MySpace Records and many others. In addition, Fontana distributes select projects from Universal Music Group labels worldwide.

SOURCE Universal Music Group

LOS ANGELES and CLEVELAND, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Fontana Distribution, the independent distribution arm of Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company has partnered with Cleveland-based Element 9 Muzik LLC to release upcoming titles from the label. The announcement was made today by Ron Spaulding, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Fontana, and Element 9 President Tony “X” Franklin. The label’s release schedule is currently being finalized with plans to make the label’s first release through the new partnership available during the second quarter of 2010.

Franklin brings close to 20 years of experience working in the music industry. He previously served as the President of NuBlud Management, a Cleveland based Management Company specializing in the promotion and marketing of various urban acts. Franklin also served as the Head of Street and Lifestyle/ Midwest Radio Promotion for Asylum Records/ Warner Bros. Records and previously helped broker the Swisha House major distribution deal with Asylum Records

Joining Franklin will be Stu “DJ Xplosive” Pflaum, who founded the Element 9 Company in 2005 and has partnered with Franklin in the past on various music ventures. Pflaum will act as the label’s Vice President, bringing his expertise in internet marketing and new media strategies and will manage the label’s digital presence.

Also joining the team will be Douglas “Fresh” Jones, who previously worked with Franklin’s NuBlud Management team and will oversee Lifestyle Promotion of the label’s acts. Marlowe “Mauly T” Taylor will serve as the studio engineer for all the label’s projects, including the mixing and mastering of all recordings. Mauly T has mastered several Fontana projects (Capone & Noreage, Killer Mike, Beeda Weeda etc). Doc Taylor looks to continue in this capacity. Studio 76, is a renowned studio that has hosted the likes of Bone Thugs N Harmony, Snoop Dogg, Young Joc, Killer Mike, Ice Cube, Trae & Public Enemy to name a few.

“We are excited to welcome Element 9 Muzik to the Fontana family of labels,” stated Spaulding. “Tony and his team are true entrepreneurs and innovators, and we look forward to working with them to maximize opportunities on all fronts for their artists.”

Franklin commented that he was “proud to bring together a group of talented individuals from the Cleveland area to form a team capable of delivering professional results for our artists” and looks forward to using the Element 9 label to demonstrate the ability of a record label to prosper during this new era in the music industry without having to be based in big cities like New York or Los Angeles.

About Fontana

Fontana Distribution, the independent arm of Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD), provides unparalleled sales and marketing support, as well as back office services, for a diverse roster of labels and their artists. Fontana distributes more than 100 labels including Vagrant Records, Telarc, Eagle Rock, VP Records, American Gramaphone, Downtown, Six Degrees, Nitro, SMC, Trustkill, Delicious Vinyl, ESL, Modular, Ministry of Sound, Ipecac, Strange Music, Music World, VH1 Classic Records, MySpace Records and many others. In addition, Fontana distributes select projects from Universal Music Group labels worldwide.

SOURCE Universal Music Group

I guess someone wasn’t happy about my post the other day (see Julia Beverly and the Art of Scamming Rappers). Click on the image below to see the letter that I found in my inbox or check below for the text transcribed.

As you can see, the post isn’t going anywhere, which should indicate how serious I take these threats. Stay tuned. This might get interesting.

Dear Mr.Pflaum:

Our company represents Ms. Julia Beverly of Ozone Magazine, Inc. We are writing regarding your November 9, 2009 blog post on www.xplosiveworld.com under the subject title “Julia Beverly and the Art of Scamming Rappers.”

As you should be aware, the statements about Ms.Beverly contained in your blog are both defamatory and false and are causing harm to Ms.Beverly’s business reputation. Moreover, you are improperly using Ms.Beverly’s name and image as depicted in a photograph on your blog site without any consent or proper authorization.

In view of the above, we are respectfully demanding that you cease-and-desist from any further use of Ms.Beverly’s name and/or image on any blog post owned or operated by you. Additionally, we are requesting that you immediately retract the statements of your November 9, 2009 blog and any other materials or references that may pertain to Ms.Beverly or Ozone Magazine.

If you do not promptly comply with our demands, we will explore any and all legal remedies that are available to Ms.Beverly, including the potential filing a defamation law suit to stop your improper actions and defamatory statements against Ms.Beverly.

We would expect to hear back from you or your legal representative by November 16, 2009 to confirm your compliance with our demands.

All right and remedies are expressly reserved.

Very truly yours,

RGL CONSULTING GROUP

Robert G. Lopez

The music industry is known to be a cutthroat business where shady characters are always attempting to cash in on the dreams of aspiring artists. There have been stories of artist exploitation that date back almost as far as the business itself. From bad contracts to fake show promoters, the industry is full of scams. Given the current climate of the business, it is no surprise that maintaining integrity is low on the priority list for some in the music industry and many are resorting to some pretty deceitful tactics in order to make a buck.

My colleague George forwarded me a copy of an email exchange that took place between him and Julia Beverly, who heads Ozone Magazine, a popular hip-hop publication that primarily focuses on artists from the South and West Coast. George was responding to a Twitter post Beverly had made stating that she was acting as the middle-man for any artist looking to feature a verse from Louisiana rapper Lil Boosie on one of their records.

This news struck me as odd because I know Lil Boosie to be an artist on the roster of Asylum Records, as I worked promotion for one of his albums a few years back when I interned at the label. The rapper was recently sentenced to a 2 year prison term for a drug possession charge, so I figured the label may be liquidating his material in order to cash in before he begins his term.

As I read the initial email exchange, I was astounded by the scandalous nature of the transaction Beverly was attempting to broker.

From: George

Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 19:18:19 -0500

To: <jb@agencytwelve.com>

Subject: Boosie verse

Hello,

I saw on Julia Beverley’s twitter that Boosie has verses for sale. I’d like to know what the prices are.

Thank you
George

This was her response:

On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 9:28 PM, <jb@agencytwelve.com> wrote:

He’s looking for around $7k+ cash. This week only. He has several prerecorded verses already done. Price does not include label clearance.

This would actually appear to be a pretty good deal for an upcoming artist, given that Lil Boosie has a pretty descent sales record and a loyal following throughout Louisiana and some other Southern markets. The real problem is that she overtly revealed that this price does not include label clearance, meaning she was attempting to sell verses that could be used on a track, but ran the risk of being shut down at any time by the label if they were to catch wind of the existence of these records.

The exchange continued:

From: George

Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 3:08 PM

To: Julia Beverly

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

I have the cash ready to go. What’s going to be involved in getting label clearance? I plan on pushing the track to radio.

–

From: “Julia Beverly” <jb@agencytwelve.com>

Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:41:11 -0500

To: George

Subject: RE: Boosie verse

You would probably have to pay the label another $5-7k to get it cleared. Honestly, the clearance isn’t generally a major issue unless the song blows up and/or you get a deal with a major label.. so if that happens, it’ll be a good problem to have.

At this point, I became curious as to what exactly was going on here. I could not believe that someone of Beverly’s standing in the industry was attempting to dupe someone with such little remorse. I began to throw some suggestions to my colleague and attempt to clarify the clearance issue, as I thought this was being treated somewhat lightly.

From: George

Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 22:10:27 -0500

To: Julia Beverly<jb@agencytwelve.com>

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

Cool i’m worried about the label clearance and i’m going to try and find a link to [Asylum Records Executive] to see what he says it’s gonna cost me.

–

On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:11 PM, <jb@agencytwelve.com> wrote:

It would go thru trill not [Asylum Records Executive]. With label clearance its gonna be like $15k.

–

From: George

Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:24 PM

To: jb@agencytwelve.com

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

Would i need to wire you the 15K and you will handle the clearance and can i expect some love from Ozone when the record drops?

–

From: Julia Beverly <jb@agencytwelve.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Subject: RE: Boosie verse
To: George

Yes, we would send you an invoice and take care of getting the paperwork signed. It can sometimes take several weeks to get the paperwork but we can get the verse done right away. This is going through my booking agency, Agency Twelve, so technically it doesn’t have anything to do with Ozone, but we could probably at least post the record on the Ozonemag.com site when it’s done.

This was definitely an interesting turn of events. What started off as a $7K deal with no label clearance involved had become an easy deal to broker for $15K that would include the proper paperwork to make the record legal. How did that happen so quickly? I told him to get some clarification.

From: George

Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:43 PM

To: Julia Beverly
Subject: Re: Boosie verse

I’m a little confused. Do i pay you once the paperwork is completed? Otherwise how can I be certain I have a legal clearance?

–

From: Julia Beverly <jb@agencytwelve.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 11:21 PM
Subject: RE: Boosie verse
To: George

We will have a contract/invoice in place to make sure that your funds are safe. I am waiting for the label to confirm the price with clearance.

Wait a minute. An hour ago she was ready to take $15K and was assuring a full clearance. Now she was waiting for the label to confirm the price? I would hope most would walk away from the deal long before this, but clearly this was too interesting to not continue pushing. I actually believed she had to know that George was not serious at this point, as it took almost an entire day before she responded with the “confirmation” he was waiting for.

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 7:38 PM, Julia Beverly <jb@agencytwelve.com> wrote:

Please do NOT forward this link, here are the verses that are available for $7-8k. Just spoke to the label and they said that clearance would NOT be an option at this point.

The message included a link with the 8 verses she was trying to sell available to download. All were tagged with a voiceover shouting “Bad Ass Entertainment” over top, which is a common precaution used mostly for records delivered to DJs that labels do not want leaked.

What confused me about this message was the fact that she was boldly stating that the label would not clear the record under any circumstances. Knowing this information and having addressed George’s previous concerns, you would think the deal would be dead at this point. My guess is that she believed by dangling the verses in front of George, he would forget his previous inhibitions about making this deal and decide to move forward under her original guidance by not worrying about clearing the record with the label.

George continued to play ball with her, but made sure to reiterate his concerns about making this a legal record. I told him to express his desire to make this happen and to even give some information on his own budget, as I knew this would give her an idea of what he was working with.

From: George

Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 8:50 PM

To: Julia Beverly

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

I really love two of the verses actually love them but i’m putting 30K into radio promotion but i’m worried that my record will get shut down. So if the label can’t clear it i’m going to have to find another artist.

–

From: Julia Beverly <jb@agencytwelve.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 12:27 AM
Subject: RE: Boosie verse
To: George

They’re going to get me a definite price on the clearance tomorrow. What’s the most you’re willing to pay total, including label clearance? And which two verses did you like..

In case you’re having trouble following this. We started with a verse that was going to cost $7K with no label clearance. Then she was able to provide a full clearance for $15K. But then after speaking with the label, no clearance was going to be available under any circumstances. Now, after mentioning that he had $30K for radio promotion, the option to get this record cleared was back on the table, but Beverly was intent on finding out how much she could shake him down for.

I figured there was no need to take this any further and advised George to shut it down. Needless to say, Beverly was not happy about the idea that he did not believe this to be a smart business move.

From: George

Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 09:49:54 -0500

To: Julia Beverly<jb@agencytwelve.com>

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

You already told me that the label wasn’t going to clear it and this seems to be an illegitimate transaction. Now you’re asking me how much i’m willing to pay. I’m going to step away from this and go with another artist. Thank you

She quickly followed up. Twice.

From: jb@agencytwelve.com

Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:19:15 +0000

To: George

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

Lol.. I do this all the time and even sent you the audio. I asked you to call me if it makes you more comfortable and I never heard from you. You don’t seem to understand how clearances work, but okay.

–

From: jb@agencytwelve.com

Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:29:56 +0000

To: George

Subject: Re: Boosie verse

As far as the label, I’m only relaying what they’re telling me. You should research who you’re speaking to before you start throwing around words like “illegitimate” and basically accusing me of trying to scam you. Kind of disrespectful.

This is where the conversation ended. It’s funny that Beverly took offense to the idea that this transaction appeared to be a little fishy after flip-flopping on the clearance issue numerous times during the exchange. Additionally, she never asked him to call to discuss the deal and even if she had; how would that make this deal any more legitimate? The scary part is she claims to “do this all the time.”

Most people in the hip-hop industry who have ever worked with an independent artist know that promoting that artist properly is a high-stakes business. In order to gain radio airplay without major label backing requires independent artists to seek out and pay people that specialize in getting records on the radio. This will generally require an initial investment of at least $20K in order to see results. In this case, George has indicated he may be willing to drop $37K on a single record and with no remorse Beverly claims he won’t face any problems unless the song “blows up.”

Even more troublesome is the fact that she has no certainty of the actual cost to clear the record with the label and danced around the issue of clearance in an attempt to milk as much money from George as he was able to spend. The truth of the matter is she can’t quote a price because she’s setting up a deal with no boundaries. If George were to attempt to clear the record with the label prior to pushing it to radio, he’s at the mercy of the label and the chance would exist that they could flat out deny the clearance altogether causing him to waste $7K for the verse. His other option would be to take Beverly’s advice and go ahead with radio promotion without a clearance, at which point the label is free to step in at any time and demand an exorbitant fee for a clearance or threaten to send cease & desist letters to any radio station playing the record. Either way, George loses a lot more money than he intended to spend.

This is what has become of a once prosperous industry. Beverly has used her magazine to establish trust with aspiring artists only to turn around and abuse her position of power for her own personal gain. By offering these fly-by-night verses without clearances, she is selling false hope to the aspiring artists that loyally support her magazine each month. Rather than focusing on ways to improve the editorial content of her magazine, Beverly has decided to sink to the level of a two-bit scam artist under the impression that any allegations of shady business practices one could make will quickly be squashed through her control of her publication.

In this case, Beverly is not the only one to blame, as she is clearly in collusion with Lil Boosie in this endeavor. It’s impossible to tell who all stands to benefit from these crooked deals, but it is certainly not the aspiring artist who is just looking for an opportunity to further their career.

When discussing what transpired with Beverly with another colleague who works in the music industry he brought up the point; what if Boosie really needs that money? My response to him was that Boosie needs to have a bake sale. There is no excuse that makes it acceptable to prey off of the innocent people that support you and are just looking for the same opportunity you were given. Once you sign a record deal, you are bound by the clauses of that deal, and if you’re not confident you’re going to be able to support yourself through the earnings you make by signing that contract, then don’t sign it.

This is just one example of the many pitfalls an independent artist may encounter when trying to improve their career. It should serve as a warning that artists must be careful who they are doing business with, especially during these turbulent times in the industry, as it is clear that even those with established reputations in the industry are not above pouncing on an opportunity to take an artist’s hard-earned cash. It is always a wise decision to align yourself with knowledgeable people who can instruct you on the best moves to improve your career. A good manager or entertainment attorney will help protect you from falling victim to these types of scams and are definitely worth the cost especially when they can help you avoid wasting money by engaging in illegitimate business deals.

It is sad to see someone like Beverly, who I once respected for her ability to keep Ozone Magazine thriving during turbulent times for both the music industry and print publications, engaging in this sort of unscrupulous behavior. I still remain confident that better days are ahead for the music industry, but tough times is no excuse for abandoning integrity.

Find out more about Street Report Magazine at http://www.streetreportmagazine.net

Read the Hip-Hop Stimulus Plan Parts 1 & 2 at:

http://www.xplosiveworld.com/the-hip-hop-stimulus-plan/

I LOVE IT! Kind of catchy too…

Found on hypebot

Words cannot describe how much I love this blog (and all blogs for that matter). Besides serving as my soap box to stand on when I want to make a statement, the blog has been a great tool for constructing relationships with like-minded individuals who understand that much of what I write is more than bitching and moaning about a broken industry; it’s a call to action for those that believe we can change the industry.

This week I had the pleasure of being introduced to Julie C. and Shamako Noble of the Hip-Hop Congress who found their way to my Hip-Hop Stimulus Plan. We didn’t miss a beat in getting the ball rolling on bringing more heads to the table that I believe will help elaborate on the ideas I’ve outlined, while also bringing great ideas of their own to ultimately reform the hip-hop industry. I’ve even been appointed as the Media and Technology: Economic Policy Adviser for the organization– a title I absolutely love especially because of my future ambitions in politics.

Just to give my loyal reader(s) a little background; me and the Hip-Hop Congress go way back. In fact, it’s not much of an understatement to say that I owe my career to this organization.

When I started attending Ohio University back in 2003, I arrived to a campus with no hip-hop scene. Nothing. There were plenty of hip-hop fans on campus. There were also plenty of MCs, DJs, B-Boys and B-Girls and graffiti writers in the area as well. But aside from 2 bars on campus (out of about 30) that hosted live DJs, outlets for live hip-hop performances were scarce. I was a recent transplant to this rural campus, coming from a year spent in Los Angeles, and was not accustomed to a scene with so little to offer hip-hop fans.

Towards the end of my first year I ran into a couple of guys at a bar who caught my attention because one of them was drumming a beat on top of the bar while another was freestyling from a bar stool (why he had drum sticks at the bar is still a mystery). I introduced myself and let them know of my background as a DJ. They immediately put a flier in my hand letting me know about this organization called Hip-Hop Congress, which they were in the process of organizing a local chapter for on campus.

The following Sunday I attended one of the first organizational meetings for the chapter. I was amazed by the diversity of the people at this meeting. You had people that looked like hippies, skaters, nerds and pretty much any other label you can imagine, but these people were all there because of their love for hip-hop culture. These were the people I had been looking for.

Packed House at the MC Battle

It didn’t take long before this collective we formed became quite influential on campus. We started by hosting weekly MC battles (see Monday Night Sound Clash 10-20-03), but were soon hosting hip-hop events all over town that embraced the various elements of hip-hop culture and examined a lot of social issues that pertained to hip-hop. While we were diligently working on building outlets for live performances, we spent just as much time educating people about hip-hop culture. We definitely weren’t doing the type of work most people would expect from a bunch of hip-hop heads.

As the scene formed, I found myself taking on more roles within the local hip-hop circuit. I was no longer just a DJ, but an event promoter, record label liaison and the worst nightmare of anyone who wanted to oppose this movement we were creating. I also started working with a few artists to assist with their marketing, both on campus and on a national scale.  Soon, these things were consuming so much of my time I had to reduce my course load just to handle all the work I was doing on the side. It was at this point that I realized that this hip-hop stuff wasn’t just a hobby or interest of mine; it was my life.

We continued building that scene right up until the day I graduated and the Ohio University Hip-Hop Congress is continuing to build on that groundwork to this day. I still get excited every time I get an invite on Facebook to a hip-hop show on campus or read stories about the work that the organization is doing on campus.

Here are a couple of links to stories that were written about our work in forming the OU Hip-Hop Congress Chapter and below is a video I recently spotted on Fake Shore Drive from the Chi-Town Beatdown event hosted by the UIC Chapter of the Hip-Hop Congress.

Rhythm Battles Spice Up Casa Monday Nights

Hip-Hop Gets the Vote at OU

Panel Discusses Hip-Hop Culture

City and Residents Appear Ready for Monster Block Party

Hip-Hop Concert to Entertain at Palmerfest

UIC HHC Presents: Chi-Town Breakdown from Tori Boyd on Vimeo.

I just read a great analysis of the current state of the music industry that John Mellencamp wrote for HuffPo. While it doesn’t surprise me that many of the problems affecting hip-hop are common across all genres, it really opens my eyes to how widespread the problems with this industry are when we’re all basically saying the same thing regardless of age, genre or years of tenure in the business.

Here’s a few excerpts that really stood out to me, but I suggest reading the entire article to get the full analysis.

On the corporate influence in the music business:

Reagan’s much-vaunted trickle-down theory said that wealth tricked down to the masses from the elite at the top. Now we’ve found out that this is patently untrue — the current economic collapse reflects this self-serving folly. The same holds for music. It doesn’t trickle down; it percolates up from the artists, from word of mouth, from the streets and rises up to the general populace. Constrained by the workings of SoundScan/BDS, music now came from the top and was rammed down people’s throats.

On the creation of the CD:

The CD, it should be noted, was born out of greed. It was devised to prop up record sales on the expectation of people replenishing their record collections with CDs of albums they had already purchased. They used to call this “planned obsolesce” in the car business. Sound quality was supposed to be one of the big selling points for CDs but, as we know, it wasn’t very good at all. It was just another con, a get-rich-quick scheme, a monumental hoax perpetrated on the music consuming public.

On success in the modern industry:

Sadly, these days, it’s really a matter of “every man for himself.” In terms of possibilities, we are but an echo of what we once were. Of course, the artist does not want to “sell out to The Man.” Left with no real choice except that business model of greed and the bean counting mentality that Reagan propagated and the country embraced, there is only “The Man” to deal with. There is no street for the music to rise up from. There is no time for the music to develop in a natural way that we can all embrace when it ripens and matures. That’s why the general public doesn’t really care. It’s not that the people don’t still love music; of course they do. It’s just the way it is presented to them that ignores their humanity.

Earlier this week I wrote another criticism of the plan set forth by Jim Griffin and the ISP based file-sharing service that is being developed by his company, Choruss (see Dear Jim Griffin (and the Scoundrels of Choruss)). If you followed the comments on the post or my twitter feed, you probably noticed that Mr.Griffin was very quick to respond to my criticism and extended an offer to meet to discuss Choruss. I was quick to accept this invitation and about 24 hours after my original post went up, we were sitting down at the lovely Mexico Lindo restaurant on Manhattan’s East Side discussing my concerns with the Choruss plan.

After a lengthy discussion with Mr.Griffin, I still believe that the ISP-based file-sharing system being developed by Choruss has some pretty big questions that need to be answered and I am still very skeptical about the chances for long-term success with Choruss.  Mr.Griffin is well-aware of the issues that exist with his plan and strongly believes the only way to get the answers that are needed is by experimenting with this service on the campuses of colleges and universities who wish to participate.

One principle of this plan, which was not made clear to me earlier, and certainly eases much of my concern is that it will be an opt-in service for students, rather than another charge automatically incurred in their tuition.  If this is truly the case, I will not stand in opposition to a voluntary research project, as I believe that even if it were to fail, the information gathered and conclusions that could be drawn from such information will be valuable as we move forward in restructuring this industry.

Ultimately, the students at the schools that implement the service will decide whether or not this is a system that is going to work.  I have a lot of faith in America’s college students and believe that if they feel what they’re paying for isn’t worth the money, they will be quick to make this clear. If this experiment leads to a break-through that will prove me wrong; I have no problem with that and will gladly insert my foot in my mouth as we all reap the benefits of a more prosperous industry.

Jim Griffin is definitely one of the good guys in this battle to bring the music industry into the 21st century. He’s got an impressive background in embracing new technology and is just as critical as the rest of us about the mistakes record labels have made in the digital age. I walked away from our meeting believing that he truly believes in what his company is developing and does not have any sort of evil agenda up his sleeve.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Choruss and what Mr.Griffin and his team are working on and will certainly take him up on his invitation to come check out their office and meet some of the other people who are working on this project.

This experience has been very inspiring to me, as I am beginning to gain hope that we can conquer the digital divide of the music industry as we continue to develop new ideas and share these innovations with our peers. I’m grateful that Mr.Griffin did not take my criticism personally and applaud his willingness to discuss my concerns.

This was also a great example of the power of citizen journalism and proves how influential these blogs can be in producing effective results.

All Photos Courtesy of George for GWIZY.COM