Power 105.1 Concert Featuring J. Holiday

Last night's concert hosted by Power 105.1 was eventful! Artists such as J. Holiday, & Trey Songz we the headliners along with Bobby V. and others performed. There were several surprise guests in the building including Ray J - who I must say really impressed me when under pressure to keep the crowd from throwing tomatoes on the stage because they were running behind schedule, grabbed the mike and started singing Acapella! He actually sounded really good too. Then Akon came out - yes Akon for all those who like him.. (no point intended but he's not me favorite). Then others like DJ clue showed up, Beenie Man (who has a hot single coming out soon)and even Jermain Duprie was in the building.

There were several up and coming artists that performed as openers. One in particular, who sounded like D' Angelo, was really good, but he never said his name!!!

Lesson of the Blog: Granted we came in a little late, so he probably said it when he came out, but when you are a new artist and get the opportunity to take the stage, you better be saying your name every five seconds! That is so important. I actually liked him and probably would have looked him up, but now he has made it to much work to find out who he is and has lost my interest. Artists out there - remember to state your name several times when performing and to also plug where people can find out more about you and your music. If not people will forget about you the moment you walk off that stage and you will be left with giving a free show and wasting your marketing dollars.

So all in all the show was good, J. Holiday did his thing - J. you are the best! He sang his whole set. Bobby was ok - a little to much fluff for me and not enough singing, but that's just my thought. Finally Trey Songz performed. He has a great energy to him and boy has he grown up...

New Search Tool for Artists

Hi everyone,

Here is a great new tool out in the marketplace. Check it out. For all you artists out there this may be a great way to show your performance pictures and bump your rankings in search. As you know the more search engines you are on, the more presence you have online..

Enjoy!

"Creating The Successful Artist"...Volume 1

Creating the Successful Artist
Volume 1
Finding Out Who You Are

Today’s entertainment culture is flooded with a variety of artist genres extending from one spectrum to another. There’s Pop, R&B, Jazz, Alternative, Neo Soul, Hard Rock, Soft Rock, Tribal and the list goes on. Due to this vast denomination of musical styles it is important for an artist to know themselves creatively to therefore understand the avenue in which to follow, which leads us to, Volume 1 of our Creating the Successful Artist series…”Finding Out Who You Are”.

It is easy, or presumptuous I should say, for many artists to place themselves in a category from which they feel will best fit what they are going for musically. What makes this so problematic sometimes is that Artists tend to hear what they want to hear, or make themselves sound a certain way to fit a certain genre. This may not be the case for every artist, but it certainly does happen a lot with new and upcoming artists.

Step 1: Find out who you are! What makes you different? How do you stand out from other artists or people in general? What do people like about you? What do you like about yourself? What types of food do you like? What are some of your favorite products? What are some of the things you feel passionate about supporting? What types of clothes make you feel good, or comfortable? How do you perceive yourself and how do others perceive you? This information is most imperative because it will dictate the direction of your career based on a marketing and economical standpoint. By knowing who you are, you are more able to express your likes and dislikes for any and all business decisions you are placed with, i.e. production, promotional material, endorsements, etc. By making these sound decisions and continually expressing your uniqueness with your public, it will in turn create the ground works the resurrection of the image you are looking to portray in the entertainment community, and keeps your consumers familiar.

Knowing yourself is extremely important because like they say, “First impressions are always lasting impressions,” and it certainly holds true in this case. The way you step out from day one is the way your audience will perceive you for the duration of your career, regardless of any changes made thereafter. Take your time and make the right decisions early, instead of playing catch up later on down the line. It is also vital that you communicate your ideas to you marketing team and publicity manager so they know how to better partner you and get you placements that fit you as an artist and a brand.

So now you have your image, you know your sound and how you stand amongst the masses. You are now ready for Volume 2…”Knowing your Target Market”.

Is HipHop Dead?

There is currently a lot of talk about if Hip-Hop is dead. From NAS singing about it, to legends speaking on how hip-hop has changed drastically over the past 10 years, is this really true? Is the music out there now superficial and lyrically hollow? Or is it what we want to hear? Is the music today, speaking about primarily hip-hop, music that we have accepted because marketing departments of fortune 500 companies, and the media have forced us to accept it as "good" entertaining music?

Some may argue that mainstream hip-hop is causing the real hi-hop to decay. With songs like "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims, some may argue that artists today don't have much to offer through their lyrical content. Some may say that because radio doesn't push underground hip-hop and they force us to hear only mainstream hip-hop, we have been trained to accept non lyrically challenging music.

Also one may argue that underground lyricists that want to have a voice in the music industry can't because they are the one's that never get marketed properly because it's not mainstream enough, or what it boils down to is it doesn't sell records. Today we hear very catchy, trend setting music, that is here today and most of the time gone tomorrow. Hip-hop artists with positive messages and something to really say continue to strive to get a place in the industry and up the standards of what real hip-hop is.

Marketing of the right artist can help in changing the mentality of how people perceive underground hip-hop that is not music that you can only play in the club. By Marketing an artist with an edge, that stands out from the rest and letting people know that music that is thoughtful, mind stimulating, and fun to listen to works too..

For more information on how we can help you market yourself as an artist and your music, please visit us at http://www.swan-marketing.com/

Women Who Jam Music Showcase

Bringing Music and Marketing Together in one Night!

Yesterday on April 19, 2007 I attended Women Who Jam, a monthly music showcase hosted by NABFEME, which brings talented artists and music industry legends to one place, the Sugar Bar, to enjoy an evening of great music, great food, and critiques to each individual artist's performance.

The night was filled with live performances which included a line up of New York's own Abby Dobson along with the soulful singer Omar. This event is great if you are an artist looking to perform in front of people who love "good" music and want to be heard by music legends like Donald Harper, and some of 105.1's music personalities and Djs.

For more information about attending or performing, visit http://www.nabfeme.org/

Swan Marketing is a proud member of NABFEME. Artists looking to advance in their career and get in the forefront with their music, visit Swan Marketing http://wwww.swan-marketing.com/, the premier Marketing and PR company for entertainers in the music industry.

Paid Content

So what is this whispering going on, or should I say yelling, about paying people to post blogs on topics they enjoy talking about?

Well it's a conversation about taking away how traditional blogging was started, which basically allows someone t0 write about something they like, for example their favorite dish or their major issue on a political topic and get paid for it. So the questions that have raised in my mind are, because someone now gets paid to post their comments, does it make the content less valuable or objective? Or will people begin to write non important topics because they are now getting paid and it doesn't come as second nature?

I believe that it depends on the topic you are writing about. Meaning if it's music, someone can still write an objective opinion about it, because music is apart of almost everyone's life and each person has their own personal view. Where as on the other hand if someone is getting paid to write about a biochemical nuclear chip that is being studied, but has no interest or knowledge on that topic, you can guess, that the blog won't be that compelling or objective. I think paid content, is definitely a direction that we are moving into, we just have to see how it plays out, and if it grows to a new level, as some are already doing it.

Stay Tuned...

Dream Girls - New York, NY

On Feb. 17, 2007 NABFEME hosted an edition of DREAM GIRLS, a panel seminar where women in their dream jobs speak out to other women, about their jobs, how they got there, and what obstacles they have faced and overcome in the music industry.

To view the video go to: http://www.swan-marketing.com/NewsandEvents.html