Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 12:00noon - the streets of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto are lined with eager, fresh-faced young adults parked on their cotton blankets and equipped with rations of food, sleeping bags, and pitched tents.
"Protesters?", you ask, in light of the G20 Summit, and the billion dollar price tag, that has citizens of Toronto and beyond in an uproar?
Not quite.... these dedicated souls are parked outside of the HMV Superstore at 333 Yonge Street waiting for the release of Toronto's own, Drizzy Drake's debut album, 'Thank me Later', due to come out the following day - Tuesday June 15th.
Let me expand - the first 550 people who bought a copy of Drake's album at this specific location received a pass to come back the following week - Monday, June 21st - to MEET DRAKE and get their copy signed by the Young Money bags, Drizzy, himself. No pass? No Drake.
By 9:30am, June 15th (release day) - the line is now wrapped around the entire AMC building on Dundas, and to the Tim Hortons the next street over. For those not familiar with Tdot's streets, this line of people who have camped out on the streets all night, is approximately 300 meters long .
By 12:30 in the afternoon that day, all 550 passes to meet Drake were gone. By the end of the week, that location of HMV alone sold over 1,000 copies of 'Thank Me Later', a number UNHEARD of in today's volatile industry. Surrounding record stores quickly sold out, and now the album has hit Billboard at #1, with the first-week sales of 447,000 copies.
Now - To all the Debbie Downers out there, convinced that the music industry is DEAD, this proves otherwise, to some degree. How else are Katy Perry, Sarah McLachlan, Lady Antebellum, etc still raking in sales by the thousands? To all of the soldiers out there with a dream, and heavy persistence, this is confirmation that success in the music industry is still attainable - for the chosen few. It may not be by the millions - but after years of the industry gouging, and years and years now of access to downloading for free, there are still a substantial number of people who are willing to spend their money on music that they enjoy.
People are still out buying records, if you can give them a reason to give a fu*k!
Some may criticize Drake, and some may love him for reppin' Toronto and Canada abroad, but either way you look at it - the guy's no slacker. He's worked hard independently (on his music) to get major money and he’s still working hard and making his money, and he's proving that record sales haven't completely fallen by the wayside.
Don't agree with me? Let me know!!! Let the debate begin.
Does this mean the record industry will never die? Well, I certainly hope the way it’s been run, changes, and that the independent artist can once again control their own destiny. It could all be a ticking time bomb... but let us thank Drake for now for keeping the dream alive.
Now, here’s an interesting link to the power of independents about Nine Inch Nail’s, Trent Reznor. Check it out to learn about the Business Model, which is:
Connect With Fans + Reason To Buy = $$$$$ (and more importantly, FREEDOM)
Don't stop believing, and keep Learning To Fight!!!
Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages – welcome to another edition of my “Learning to Fight” Blog as the ‘First Lady of NuFunk’ representing NuFunktonia, the Tdot Odot, Arktik Afriqua, and beyond!
First of all I'm very excited to announce that I've been nominated in the 'Best Urban' Category for the 2010 Toronto Independent Music Awards!!! And Congratulations to God Made ME Funky for being nominated in the same category as well! I'm very honoured to be among ALL of the many talented Toronto musicians nominated for the TIMA's.
Here's a link to see a list of the nominees, and get your read on about what TIMA is all about and how to get tix to the event ceremony(if ya didn't know before;)
Speaking of Independent Artists , we are in the best position now more than ever before in today's crazy music market. Gone are the days when you'd be spotted on the street or in the club and a record label would just give you a thousands and thousands of dollars in an advance, and invest even more thousands upon thousands of dollars in your career (image, videos, recordings, album costs, marketing, etc.) There's no magical bean, break, or lucky chance anymore to do it all the work for you.
Now more than ever, your path is entirely in your hands - and more and more artists are embracing the DIY model. Ie. The more you can do for yourself, the more control YOU have of your career. If you are willing to put the work in, there should be no whining about why your lucky break hasn't come for you yet. Your lucky break is the fact that you have so many resources available to you on a daily basis to just DO IT YOURSELF!!!
In my journey of Learning To Fight, I've been encountering all the work that is required to be an artist in today's industry. Absolutely NO sugar coating on this one folks--> it is A LOT of work. With this blog, I’ll you about my experiences in the hope that YOU can use it for your career, your art, your hobby or perhaps for your own general knowledge. If only there had been a 'HOW TO' guidebook when I first moved to Toronto to lay out all of the steps to become a 'successful singer in total control of your own career' . What I can do now is speak truthfully about my experiences, and hope that YOU, can apply it and learn from it, OR disagree, challenge, and offer your OWN experiences.
This blog is 'HOW TO PUT A LIVE VIDEO TOGETHER' (or, ‘HOW I PUT A LIVE VIDEO TOGETHER’).
Having a great live video of yourself is a great tool to have for your youtube channel, myspace, website, press kit, sonicbids, etc... It can showcase your true abilities, it can help to increase your online presence, and if intended as a corporate video, can be a tool for you to get corporate work (if that's a goal of yours.) Sometimes during one of your live performances, a family member or friend might be in the audience, and grab a quick clip from their cell phone or digital camera which they upload and tag you in on facebook, but the footage is shaky, the sound is completely awful, and it only catches one verse of a song. So, here's how to put together a solid live video together that you can be proud of!
1. Perform at a LIVE venue
First steps is obvious - have a live show that can be recorded. (Don't know how to get a live show together? No worries, I’ll talk about that in one of my upcoming blogs.) If you don't have a live show coming up, perhaps you could be singing at an Open mic night and record that live performance. (For a great Open Mic Night in the city, check Carolyn T's Monday Open Jam at Harlem Nightclub (67 Richmond St. E, Toronto)
Here's the FB: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=117316908629&ref=ts
2. Find a videographer.
There are ways you can go about this. You can look online for videographers / filmakers out there. What's worked for me, is to put up posters at Ryerson or George Brown (both have film programs) which are chalk full of film students eager to get out there and start shooting for practice, and to start building their own portfolio's as budding young professionals.
Here's a wicked video of my CD Release party last year, done by Adam Schoales, a good friend of mine and film student at Ryerson (also partially filmed by Nate Storring) BIG UPS TO ADAM AND NATE!!!
3.Know what kind of video you are going for / What's your plan with the video?
Is it a corporate video that you're going for, or a video to show off a new song that you're working on, or more of a music video style?
Depending on what you want the video for, you may or may not require your videographer to edit or do colour correction to the video. If it's a corporate video, editing is not really necessary (you could do it in iMovie or Windows Movie Maker). However, if it's more of a film-style, it will definitely need to be edited.
4. Know what kind of camera will be used to shoot.
Will it be a sony handycam (not really usable for television broadcast, but fine for the internet), or will it be a Canon 5D? (usable for television broadcast). If your plan is to have a corporate video, footage shot on a sony handycam is all you need. Very little editing is necessary for a corporate video. (Just make sure your videographer gets some good footage of a crowd dancing and having a good time to your music - this will always be impressive to a potential client wanting to book you for their event)
If you're planning to make more of a film-style video, a Canon 5D, 7D, or very affordable rebel T2i are great cameras to get more of that movie-esque look.
5. Talk to the soundman at the live performance to see if you can get a recording from the board mix.
A video could LOOK absolutely amazing, but if the audio is terrible, your video won't have the same impact and finesse. Arrange with your soundman at your show to get a good recording of the board mix. Communicate this with your videographer, and get the audio to them so he/she can synch the audio with the footage.
6. Ask for a rough draft of the video.
Ask your videographer to send you a rough draft of the video before it is posted, and communicate any changes you would like to see made to it.
7. Upload away for ALL TO SEE
If you are happy with your video - start your uploading! You now have a great tool for everyone to HEAR and SEE your talents.
The more videos that you have, the more tools you have to show off your versatility, your range, and build your online presence!
Stay tuned for more 'Learning To Fight' blogs. Please feel free to leave questions, comments, concerns, suggestions!
And now.. Let's Get Ready TO RUMMBBLEEEE!!!
xoxDJP
