Its Been Almost a Year

Been almost a year since I have blogged ( got pulled in by the crazy buzz of twitter) and I sure wish I could catch everything up in a whole year but I'm going to run through somethings as time permits. First and foremost I wanna say that this past year has been interesting! Clients are doing well and learning more about music than i ever have on this indie level of things. I don't like for my blogs to be long so I'm going to make this short as possible.

2009 was the year of branding for all my clients..I have always had the theory of how branding works but when its tried and you see and understand what branding can actually do for you as an artist, manager or anybody that is about putting themselves out on this market as a business. B R A N D I N G. For example of branding, Say If you a artist and you brand your name in your market real heavy it makes it easier for people to wanna know who you are because they are hearing and seeing your name ALL over the place. My person favorite example ; If you are an artist and after your career has kinda declined and you have a strong brand you can actually use the brand to do other things with because you have a following of supporters and anywhere they see your name they are going to be more than willing to show because they have seen or experienced your brand.

Making a Song....

Last nite I was in the studio from 5:30p to 11:00p.. Working with new Client of Mine.. But Sitting back while observing an thinking you actually have artist that really think its impressive to write and record a song as fast as they can..and I'm thinking what is the purpose????... you got guys that say " Man i one take'd that verse/ song right there "....Now is that really impressive?? What happen to the days where we worked on a record til it was " perfected" when we worked on getting the right singer rather than just someone we know or someone that just happen to be in the studio???? It takes a lot work to actually make a record happen.. Me personally I don't believe "one taking" a song is the best thing...not saying it cant be done but its rare and few artist out there that can really pull that off. Sometimes it takes songs weeks and maybe months to come together and not saying the longer it takes makes them better either but u cant put a label on music because its timeless.

On the flip side of things on making a song is that you have a lot of guys that are lyrical but cant write a complete song but are too afraid to have someone that's proven or someone that knows how to write a song help them with as far as hip hop / rap goes. I just cant stress enough when i talk to artist how important a song is these days but they wanna have the coldest lyrics but have no song content. Lyrics are good but me personally i have a short attention span when it comes to those type records unless they are catchy and that's what is paying the bills for a lot of artist these days.

TWITTER.....

Well I decided to go ahead and hop on the twitter train. I really dont see the point but anything to reach and give info for artist and jus people who love music as well! If if its good enough for diddy, souljaboy and all these other hustlers in this crazy entertainment world hey is good enough for JAY LAWRENCE! So all of those who would like to follow me mine is : twitter.com/jaylawrence615 .

I would like to keep all the info I can out there and not leaving anyone hanging cause this music business is not real hard to get a grasp of the concepts but you have to have your eyes and ears open to see and listen to whats going on in this game. Also another site that i am very proud to be working with on my entertainment side of things is http://www.socashville.com/ Its a networking site for Nashville and to show the world how we gets down and also a way for us to give artist , models and other people out grinding to gets sum much needed exposure!

TWEET ME!..

TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR CAREER...

Being an indie artist you control a lot in your career! Even though you have a "camp" or support team they work for YOU!... you are the talent and your the one that is most likely to generate the income for the team. I meet a lot of artist that are in sum nice budgets but the person that funding the projects is just running the show wit no guidance and the artist is just sitting there and letting them do what they want to do cause this person is investing in them. Does that sound right??.... I'm glad you answered NO.... NO artist is suppose to let anyone run the show just because someone is making an investment in them. Now if u have signed sum kinda deal more than likely the artist wont have much say so in a lot of the things. But Just know that your support staff works for YOU and not the other way around even thought it is a hand in hand situation but the final word goes to you.

About a month ago I was at a club watching sum artist perform when one of the artist support team gets mad cause the DJ wouldn't let his artist perform more than the allotted amount of songs. The guy walks up to the DJ booth and pushes over ALL and i do mean ALL of the DJ equipment and it was 2 DJs on duty that nite and it was the CRAZIEST thing I have ever seen since i have been in the independent music scene. SO as far as the artist goes now he will have a HARD time getting any Djs to support him in anything he does! So artist just remember that you will need to be agressive in making your decisions about your support team when you are picking them because they are an extension of you and if they do something all the blame will fall back on you!

The Music scene is VERY different now...

Well I haven't written in a minute.Been working on new ventures and I just added sum entertainment companies to my clientele so now I'm doing more than just music. Be on the look out for the website coming very soon..I'm trying to shoot for January so looking forward to that. The name of my new company is called:

Jay Lawrence Management
"Music & Entertainment"


The Music has taken a big turn in our society these days and its catching a lot of artist off guard if they haven't paid any attention to the weather of this biz. These days its taking singles a month longer to even get off the ground ..... It only use to take a month or so to get a single placed now its taking another month or 2...so what does that mean for a artist on the independent level?



In my opinion the thing now for artist to do is to put out as much music as possible while recording their projects cause to me its a way to fish out for a single for a possibly distributed project. I know a lot of artist are living and dying by the mixtape and to be honest Im not a fan of the mixtapes in no way shape or form on the indie level but as far as majors that's a way to keep your name out there in between projects. To me mixtapes are a waste of time because distributors wont deal them and the beat jacking thing has gotten old to me. I mean who really wants to hear someone i may not heard of rap over a beat that i am really sick of?



As from the jump its ALWAYS have been about that " hot " song that can put a artist in place for all kinda deals that are out there. I was reading the other day in one of the urban music outlets of a guy that did a song called " girls gone wild" and they ended up working out a deal with the girls gone wild producers and now he is actually fixing to go out on tour with them. So to me if Im an indie artist im looking at that like a deer in head lights and saying " I need to go in the studio and work on me a hot single and promote it to the best of my abilities ". There isn't a point in doing a WHOLE album unless you have some kind of deal on the table or someone interested and thats making artwork, packing etc etc..It is always good to have a lot of material ready but not fully packaging a project and standing out at the gas station selling it. Put all of that energy into promoting a song that you feel like is hot and catchy an that is on time or a head of the times.



I have been in arguments in barbershops , studios and other place about the mixtape game but it seems dead to me unless you are a major artist and a lot of these guys are switching it up and putting all original tracks on a project and calling it a mixtape. I am just not as confident any more in them but they are still popular and people are buying them. Music has changed in a lot of ways and the economy has to in which it puts a strain on how much music gets and how much music is actually selling. But just be smart and make sure your spending your money wisely and form great relationships with people you are doing business with. Here is my new sayign for 09'

" IF YOU CANT SELL YOURSELF...YOU CANT SALE NOTHING"

Music and Business......

ITS FUNNY HOW THINGS WORK HAND IN HAND ESPECIALLY IN MUSIC....WHO WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGH THAT MUSIC AND BUSINESS WOULD GO WITH EACH OTHER....NOW DAYS WHICH WORD IS STRONGER MUSIC ? OR BUSINESS??IN ALL HONESTY MUSIC WISE I WAS RAISED ON 2 PEOPLE: CHAKA KAHN AND MIKE JACKSON. IM NOT THE MUSIC HEAD LIKE I SHOULD OR SUPPOSE TO BE LIKE MOST OF THESE GUYS HERE AT THE LABLE BUT I WASNT RAISED ON THE AL GREENS, TEDDY P. ETC ETC LIKE MOST BUT I DO KNOW GOOD MUSIC. SO LETS LOOK AT MUSIC....MUSIC IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF WHAT WE HEAR ALL THE TIME...REGARDLESS OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT WHAT YOU HEARING IS MUSIC OF SOME KIND. A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD SAY THAT MUSIC ISNT WHAT IT USE TO BE AND THAT IT HAS FELL OFF. SO MUSIC HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS AND CONTINUALLY CHANGING ON A DAILY BASIS....MUSIC CAN LAST FOR A PERIOD OF TIME...NOW DAYS THE RAP/HIP HOP /R & B MUSIC DOESNT LAST LONG AS FAR AS THE "HIT" SONGS THAT ARE PROMOTED HEAVILY AND SONGS COME IN AND OUT REAL FAST BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE COUNTRY "HIT" RECORDS STAY IN PROMOTION A LONG TIME AND CREATES A DIFFERENT AVENUE THAN A LOT OF OTHER GENRES...SO WHY IS THIS? ARE WE AS THE "URBAN" CULTURE NOT SUPPORTING ALL THE MUSIC AS A WHOLE?...NOW TO BUSINESS- NOW DAYS A LOT OF THE MUSIC YOU HEARING IS PUT IN PLACE BY A LOT OF BUSINESS AND MONEY THAS BEING PUT OUT BY RECORD LABELS...WITH SOME ARTIST HAVING MORE OF A BUDGET THAT OTHERS BUT REGARDLESS A LOT OF IT IS BUSINESS AND POLITICS. THE THING IS... ITS 2008 AND IN ALL HONESTY TALENT HASNT ALWAYS SHOWN ITS HEAD TOO MUCH NOW A DAYS ESPECIALLY THE NEWER TALENT THAT IS OUT AND GETTING HEAVILY FUNDED. SO WHAT IS MAKING THE NEW TALENTS POPULAR?..ITS THE BUSINESS THAT FOLLOWS IT STRONG BECAUSE YOU HAVE MORE ARTIST THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE GAME FOR YEARS AND THEY JUS NOW GETTING TV SHOWS ..INTO MAJOR FILMS..CLOTHING LINES ETC ETC BUT NOW YOU HAVE NEW ARTIST THAT ARE COMING IN AND GETTING FUNDED FOR THINGS LIKE THAT BECAUSE ITS WRAPPED UP IN THERE DEAL AND THEY HAD THAT BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE TO KNOW THAT MUSIC WILL BE A SPRING BOARD TO DO OTHER THINGS THAT THEY BEEN WANTING TO DO.SO MUSIC AND BUSINESS WORKS HAND IN HAND BUT AS WE SEEING NOW IN THE INDUSTRY THE BSUINESS IS TAKING OVER THE TALENT SCENE FOR THE NEW GENERATION AND I JUS ENCOURAGE ALL ARTIST AND IF YOU KNW ANY ARTIST TELL THEM AND LET THEM BE KNOWLEDGABLE TO THIS.90% BUSINESS AND 10% TALENT......THINGS HAVE CHANGED

STEP BY STEP........

LIFE IS WHAT WE LIVE EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE RATHER SAY MUSIC IS LIFE BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT ISNT THE TRUTH ..MUSIC IS A PART OF LIFE...I RUN INTO INDIE ARTIST ALL THE TIME THAT HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS BUT WANT TO RECORD AND PURSUE A CAREER IN MUSIC. YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR LIFE IN ORDER TO MAKE A DREAM HAPPEN OR IT WONT HAPPEN RIGHT. I HAVE BEEN IN THE SAME BOAT TO WHERE I HAVE HAD MANY PROBLEMS IN MY LIFE PERSONALLY AND I WASNT ABLE TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN BUSINESS WISE BUT I MADE DECISION TO CLEAN UP MY LIFESTYLE SO I CAN MAKE BUSIENSS HAPPEN CAUSE I KNEW I HAD SOMETHING INSIDE ME THAT WAS THE "REAL DEAL" AND THAT I COULD HELP CHANGE A PERSONS LIFE IF THEY ALLOW ME TO.

2 WEEKS AGO I GOT A RANDOM CALL FROM A FEMALE RAPPER AND SHE SAYED SHE ENJOYED ONE OF MY CLIENTS MUSIC AND WAS WANTING ME TO MEET HER SO SHE CAN GIVE ME A HER DEMO....SO I MET UP WIT HER WITHIN THE HOUR AND GOTG IT AND LISTENDE AND I DID HEAR A LIL TALENT THERE BUT I ALSO HEAR A PAIN IN HER VOICE THAT CASUE MY ATTENTION AND I KNEW IT JUS WASNT THE MUSIC..SO I CALLED HERE AFTER I LISTENED TO HER MUSIC AND ASKED HER " WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO WITH YOUR MUSIC ?" AND SHE SAYED SHE DIDNT KNW... AND IT SHOCKED ME WHEN I HEAR THAT AND MADE ME THINK " HAVE ANY ARTIST EVER TOLD ME THAT BEFORE?" AND I DID ANSWER MYSELF..LOL..AND SAYED NOPE!.SO I ASKED HER WHAT WAS HER SITUATION AND SHE TOLD ME THIS LONG DRAWN OUT STORY ABOUT THIS INDIE LABEL SHE WAS AFFILIATED WITH AND TO FIND OUT THAT SHE HAD JUS GOT OUT OF JAIL AN CURRENTLY ON PROBATION. SHE WANTED TO DO THE TYPICAL MIXTAPE BUT SHE SAYED SHE HAD NO MONEY TO PUT INTO A PROJECT BECAUSE OF HER PROBATION FEES...AND THEN SHE ADMITED THAT SHE WANTED TO SKIP OUT ON PROBATION SO SHE COULD DO HER PROJECT ( AND SHE WAS ON 11 MO 29 DAYS PROBATION) I WAS SHOCKED THAT SHE SAYED THAT...BUT SHE WAS DEAD SERIOUS BUT I HAD TO BE REAL WITH HERE AND WE TALKED............NOW SHE IS OUT GRINDING WITH MY ONE OF MY CLIENTS AND LEARNING THE GAME FOR WHEN HER PROJECT IS OUT SHE WILL HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW TO GRIND HER MUSIC.

SEE SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO PUT YOUR GOALS ON HOLD AND WATCH AND LEARN AN AVENUE THAT CAN GET YOU THERE FASTER THAN THE WAY YOU WERE MOVING AT FIRST. WE ALL LEARN ON DIFFERENT LEVEL AND IN MUSIC THERE ARE SO MANY AVENUES TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN OTHER THAN BEING AN ARTIST...AND I THINK THEY MAY BE THE NEXT TOPIC. " GOOD MUSIC NEVER HAS A TIMESTAMP" - J.LAWRENCE HILL