"Deep in the Heart of Texas."

As I surfed the waves of the Internet searching for plausible outlets for my artist Chris DeVille to perform, I stumbled across a true treasure. What I found was a website called sxsw.com, formally known as, South by Southwest.  South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas.  This is an event that started in 1987 and it has grown in size every year since.  The SXSW Music Festival is the largest musical festival of its kind in the world.  The event is the ideal platform for any musical artist.  It has the perfect audience and the best crowds for networking with over 25,000 industry representatives and fellow musicians combined, plus over 3,000 media members and thousands of fans in attendance.  The music festival has grown from approximately 700 registrants in 1987 to nearly 12,000 registrants.  This event has hosted many acts during different stages of their career, including acts such as Prince, Bruce Springsteen, LL Cool J, Stevie Nicks, and Kendrick Lamar.  Aside from the music festival, SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events have grown every year as well, most recently bringing around 15,000 to 20,000 registrants to Austin every March.  

“The ever-expanding South by Southwest festival might cover film, tech and comedy, but to most people, after 27 years it’s the music that matters. Every March people travel from across the world to Austin, Texas to see bona-fide legends as well as the next big thing.”

TheGuardian (UK), March 23, 2013

SXSW has become the industry’s premiere event.  It is a huge opportunity for any aspiring artist or anyone looking to break into the music industry.  The deadline to apply for next year’s event is quickly approaching.  For those interested in applying for next year’s event scheduled for March 7 – 16, 2014, you must submit your application by October 11, 2013.  

“TED Talks and why I listened.”

I was introduced to TED Talks when I sat down with the principal of my hometown high school just a few months ago.  My high school, Johnstown High, is one out of a hundred high schools across the globe to have a TED ED club and I was asked to be on a committee to help organize their TEDx event.  When the principal first explained to me the concept of TED, he presented me with a short video by a guy by the name of Derek Sivers.  I found the concept of TED Talks very intriguing and Sivers’ presentation even more fascinating.  Sivers’ TED Talk was titled “How to start a movement.” I felt that this talk was very interesting because it not only explained how to start a movement, but it also showed the importance of the first follower.  In life we are told to be a leader and not a follower.  In school we learn about leadership skills.  As children we are asked by our parents “If your friends jumped off of a bridge, would you do that too?”  We are programmed to almost believe that leaders are winners and followers are losers.  However, after watching Sivers' video I realized the significant importance of the first follower. 

It is the first follower who actually makes a leader the leader.  Wow!  This now makes the first follower as powerful as the leader.  As I watched this video the principal was using to explain the concept of  TED, I kept thinking to myself how this was such a valuable lesson in leadership.  As a leader you need to be aware of the importance of your followers and more importantly your first follower.  Leaders must embrace their first follower as an equal.  “The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself,” Sivers said.  The idea of equal importance between the leader and first follower is so powerful.  With gaining the first followers the leader has now gained credibility and as Sivers’ says, “it becomes less risky for others to join.” 

Let’s face it.  We all cannot be leaders.  We need followers.  Sometimes the person with the must guts is not the leader at all, but instead the person who decided to follow that lone person and make them a leader.

"Ask and you shall receive."

“Excuse me.  Can you spare a dollar?”  “Would you happen to have any loose change?”  For those ambitious enough to turn their dreams into a reality, have you ever felt like that when asking others to support your dream?  It almost feels like you’re missing everything but the sharpie and the cardboard cutout.  Thanks to the new phenomenon called crowdfunding those days are now over. 

So right about now you’re probably asking what am I talking about, because if you’re that aspiring artist who is seeking skies limit, but can’t afford the fuel to get off the ground; this is the perfect read for you.

Crowdfunding is the collective effort of people who network and pool their money, via the internet, to support efforts started by other people or organizations.  This concept enables anyone to be able to generate funds for any particular project by asking for donations.  Crowdfunding has given the entrepreneur a chance to earn funds without feeling like you are a panhandler and instead make you feel like the CEO you are.

Brad Damphouse, CEO of GoFundMe, views equity crowdfunding from the standpoint of the project creator. 

Do I really want to give away parts of my company to other people? Reward-based crowdfunding has proven that project creators can successfully fund their businesses without parting with any equity at all. That said, some businesses don’t have rewards to offer — they just need capital. In these cases, supporters should absolutely be allowed equity in return for their investment. — Brad Damphouse, CEO of GoFundMe.

With websites like Damphouse’s gofundme.com and other sites like kickstarter.com and indiegogo.com the entrepreneur now has the opportunity for financial backing at his or her fingertips.  Kickstarter.com alone has had 4.6 million people back a project.  There are many success stories as well.  Filmmaker Spike Lee raised $1.4 million on Kickstarter for a film that he gave little detail about; there were more than 91,000 backers for the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, and the world’s tallest man, Igor Vovkovinskiy, was able to raise over $46k for shoes. 

For most of us with a dream we wake up to realize that we don’t have the money to make our dreams a reality.  However, with the opportunity that crowdfunding now gives aspiring artists; dreams don't have to end when you wake up.

Don't be good, be great!

Promotion is key when advertising and branding an artist, but what happens when there is next to nothing in the budget.  Today’s technologies give individuals access to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  With artists having these tools at their fingertips it has been easier for those aspiring artists with low cash flows to promote himself or herself.  However, we all know that when anything is free it usually does not have much value, but when faced with a skimpy budget, most artists are willing to make the best of the situation.  The problem with this is that now the artists are now satisfied with these sites as their major source for branding.    These same artists have become reliant on someone else’s site, ultimately leaving control up to someone else.  I recently read an article about this same issue.  In this article they called this marketing mistake, digital sharecropping, defined as relying on a service you have no control over and then being the victim of their whims. 

With free being the problem, the underlying symptoms I found were that creativity and concepts become absent.  I have the perfect example for you.  I am currently working on an event for my artist Chris DeVille.  With this event we are partnering with another local artist.  We were invited to take part in a show that this artist had put together.  In my opinion this partnership is kind of a step back for us as far as where my artist and I are in his progression as a hip-hop artist, but as an artist you have to stay in front of an audience.  While planning for this event we were told “not to worry, everything is covered”.  Knowing that our stamp was now on this event we of course could not accept that.  That same day this artist released a flyer.  

This flyer, as you can see, is so elementary.  Once I saw the flyer I immediately turned to Chris DeVille and said “maybe he hasn’t updated his software since ’85.”  This just goes to show that once an artist becomes complacent with the word “free” they develop a lack of creativity and concept and feel that what they put out for free is okay.  This is a problem folks!  Your brand and reputation is all you have in this industry, especially as an aspiring artist.   It takes money to make money. If you want more out of this industry, you are going to have to put more into it.  Here is the flyer we had created. 

Yes, we spent a few dollars to have this flyer produced, but it was well worth it.  Audiences are going to associate your brand with anything you do.  If an artist goes into something with nothing, nothing is what he or she will get in return.  Own your brand and remember that your reputation always precedes you.

Why doesn’t Wiz Khalifa sell-out in his hometown?

In the last year I have been to three concerts in Pittsburgh, all at the First Niagara Pavilion.  The three major headliners I saw at these concerts were Drake, Lil Wayne, and Wiz Khalifa, Wiz being the most recent.  All of the concerts appeared to be sold-out, with the exception being the concert I just saw yesterday, Wiz Khalifa, but how could this be?  Wiz Khalifa is a Pittsburgh product, receiving his greatest fame from the song titled “Black & Yellow”; which is the colors for all three major sports teams in Pittsburgh.  “Black & Yellow” became the anthem for the Steel City and even a bigger hit with the Pittsburgh Steelers who featured Khalifa in a performance after an AFC Championship game victory.   So again, as I looked around at the sea of empty seats that surrounded myself and a guest, I asked myself, “Why doesn’t Wiz Khalifa sell-out in his hometown?”  Spending a good bit of time in the Pittsburgh area I started thinking back to some events and conversations that may be what led to the significant number of people not in attendance.  Now don’t get me wrong, I know Wiz Khalifa is no Lil Wayne, and his tour did not have the same star power as Drake’s did, but Wiz’s concert just noticeably lacked the number of people in attendance. 

At a music combine held in the city of Pittsburgh that I and a few of my associates participated in, many aspiring artists spoke about their discontent with Wiz Kahlifa, because they felt that he never looked back.  Many of the artists mentioned how he never gave back to the area or helped to get other hip-hop artists in the Pittsburgh area some exposure.  With Wiz Khalifa using Pittsburgh as his launchpad into fame and stardom, it seemed to me that he left some very disgruntled people in his rearview.  As a person gains fame and wealth they are almost obligated to give back to their community, however, it is not their responsibility and for most; not even a priority.   Trust me, I understand that most people don’t get rich to make others wealthy, but just don’t forget about us little guys.  If it weren’t for us little guys, most artists would not be the big guys they are.  As I watched Trinidad James and then B.O.B. run to the lawn section of the First Niagara Pavilion to interact with fans during their performances, I realized then that as an artist who is still aspiring to gain that ultimate success they have not lost touch with being grounded and are more likely to be the one’s who give back.  56 & Runnin’ Entertainment, the local label I co-manage, has given back to the community numerous times.  Whether it was a neighborhood cleanup or an event to help raise money for the American Cancer Society, we felt that is was necessary to give when we have nothing, hoping to inspire others to get out and get proactive in our city.  At the end of the day, we do our part because we want to, not because we have to. 

Is Wiz Khalifa the victim of his own success in his hometown of Pittsburgh?  No, the mass majority of people in the area still love Wiz Khalifa as he becomes an even larger star in the beautiful Pittsburgh skyline.  However, as he used the city to gain his fame, many in the city feel that they deserve more than just their city shouted out in his songs.