LIVE with Wendy Day #024 | Answering Your Questions Live

Hi guys, this is Wendy Day from Wrap Kolish and thanks for tuning in to my livestream. I'm so happy that you're here. Okay guys, I'm almost there. I'm coming, I promise I'm coming. Hey, I've got a lot of great information for you today. I'm so glad you're here. Okay guys, there's a counter there. I'm trying to beat that counter. As soon as it gets down to zero, I'll be there. Right now I'm filling up my cup with unsweet tea and extra lemon. Guys, thanks for tuning in to my livestream. We're almost ready to go. I'm so glad you're here. I've got such amazing information to share with you tonight. I'm so excited. I'm so happy. Hi guys, how are you tonight? I love how that little timer, um, clicks down to zero and then flashes the zero, um, because when I'm typing hellos to you guys, um, I don't always pay attention to the timer, but the flashing always catches my eye. So who is in the room tonight? Hi guys, let's see. Bubble on Deck, how are you? Too slick for lames. GG, that's a beautiful thing. Dark Brothers Entertainment, Censore Jackson, Emily, how are you? I'm good, guys, thank you for asking. It is my favorite time of the week too. Hey Richie, how are you? Charles Galvin, how are you? Julio Entertainment, I'm awesome. I'm just back from New York. Albertson Joseph, how are you? Richie's from Jamaica, yay! You have better weather than I have, that's a beautiful thing. So I'm going to start with Tamara Bubble. Bubble on deck, how are you? Um, and, and Bubble, I'll just have you know that, um, I did an entire video on this topic. I can't remember if it's gonna post Friday or Monday. I think it's going to post Friday, um, but it's such an important— she asked such an important question, so let's get right to it. Okay, so, hi Wendy Day Day, I was hoping you could discuss the importance of the live show for signed and unsigned artists. You guys can hear me, right? Yes, I can see it. Thank you, thank you, Bubble. Um, I'm not sure if you've seen Lil Yachty's South by Southwest performance, and then she sent me a link. To XXL Magazine, and those of you that haven't seen it should go, um, search it at XXLMag.com. But he almost gets into a fight with a fan over a bad performance when he's the entertainer. The crowd is actually reciting his lyrics to Broccoli, and he says the crowd is dead. One fan tells him he has no energy performing. He says, what do you want me to do? Then he gets mad and the entourage starts throwing water into the audience, which is super petty. Hashtag super petty. Then he starts performing his next track, which sounds dry too. I have so many questions about this, but here's a few. If you already have a hit record, like the broccoli song has hundreds of millions of streams, does it matter if the live show sucks, or will that hurt future bookings? What can rappers do to be more entertaining if they don't dance, the hype man is not working, and the crowd already knows the music and the lyric, but the show is still boring? What is a rapper to do? Um, let me start by saying that the show is how you're going to make the bulk of your money. It's also where the bulk of the income comes in first. So it's really important that you have a good stage show, because when you don't, word spreads. Just like when you do, word spreads. So a very smart boo would put together a really great stage show. So that's the advice that I'm going to give to you. I'm not going to dwell on Yachty because I don't want to, um, I don't want to attack him anymore. Than I just did. Um, so I'm going to focus on the positive and tell you that if this is how you're going to make the bulk of your income and this is the money that comes in first, why wouldn't you want to be sure that your price keeps going up and that the fans are so satisfied with your show that they leave happy and that they talk to each other? Because everybody talks, right? You want them to go on social media and talk about what a great show you had. You know, when I was coming up, Nas had a really terrible show. And I think we can all agree that Nas is an incredible talent, but his show was just really boring. So those of us in the industry and a lot of fans just didn't go to Nas shows. And then on the flip side, there was Busta Rhymes, and Busta had an amazing show. He was full of energy, he jumped all over the place. David Banner was another one that had a great show in the early 2000s. Like, he breathed fire when he was on stage. I mean, really breathed fire. And he would engage the audience. He would jump into the crowd. It was just always fun to see him perform, no matter when you went to see him perform. And that's what you want to do. You want to have a show that is spectacular, like outstanding. To the point where people who weren't there actually feel like they missed something and regret not going, so that when you come back to that area to perform the next time, they're sure to see it. There are fans who are going to love you no matter what. Yachty has fans that are going to love him whether he has a great show or a shitty show or a mediocre show or an energetic show. They're going to come and support him. But then there's all of these other fans that surround you that kind of sort of like you but aren't yet 100% sold on you. Wouldn't it be awesome if you had a stage show that sucked them in so that they became rabid fans too and really began to enjoy your music and support your merchandise and support your movement? Like That just kind of makes sense to me. So if you don't have a good show, I suggest you attend a whole lot of shows, see what other people are doing, incorporate what you feel works for you. If you have no ideas and you're not a creative person— although you're artists, so you're all pretty creative for the most part— find somebody that does have a great show and seek their counsel. Find out what you can do to have a better show. Go to as many open mics as you can, and not just in rap. You know, go see country artists, go see, um, Latin artists, go see rock groups perform. Take elements of their show that work and that the fans react to and incorporate it into your show. And at the very, very, very least, have some damn energy. People are paying you. They're paying you tens of thousands of dollars to stand on stage for 30 to 45 minutes, why would you not want to give it 100%? Leave them wanting more. Leave them excited. Leave them wanting to tell their friends about the great show they just saw. Be great on stage. Stand out. Thank you, Bubble. That was an awesome question, and, um, I devoted an entire, um, video episode to this, so you guys are going to get to see it again. Um, with me having more energy. Coop to Trill, how are you? Emily, Emily's asking that everyone in the chat room put their social following comments so that she can follow them. Too Slick for Lames was invited to that event. Julio Entertainment is asking if I ever predicted Cash Money Records falling apart. Um, everybody falls apart. You got to realize that in rap there is a shelf life, and they've had a really good run. You know, most artists last about 5 years, give or take. As tastes change, so does the music, and very few artists can keep up with musical taste changing. And I think it's awesome that Cash Money has signed current artists and been as successful as long as they have. I think it's great. Um, and we don't know that they're falling apart. We just know that Baby has been attacked lately for, um, not having great business practices. Matthew Floleon is asking, if we aren't known, should we put out content even if it doesn't sound professional? Just to get exposure, or should we only put out our best sounding music? You should only be making your best sounding music. Um, you want to put out content, but you don't want to put out bad content, right? Um, the problem with the internet is it lasts forever. So if you put out a song and you get clowned for that song, you're going to get reminded of it forever. So my best suggestion would be to make it sound as professional as you possibly can. Um, the way that we do it over here is that we have our artists record as many songs as possible, um, even into the hundreds, and then we choose the best ones to put out. I, I don't suggest that you record 10 songs and put 10 songs out. I suggest you record 30 songs and put 10 songs out, and that way you're gonna have a better choice to choose from. And don't just pick yourself, um, have people around you help you choose, have your fans help you choose, have DJs help you choose. The great thing about DJs is they're on the front lines, so they know pretty much what's gonna fly and what's not. But I would absolutely suggest that you put out your best music and definitely have it mixed, a tight mix at the very least. Um, if you have a budget, you're going to want to mix and master. Charles Galvin, how are you? CJ the Orator. Raymond DeWear, how are you? From Fort Pierce, yay! Eddie Brock, um, attempting to submit a song to various blogs for placement. Should I focus on one song at a time or more than one. You should focus on one song at a time, and you should make sure that that song is new, that it's not posted anywhere else including SoundCloud or your website or YouTube, because blogs do not post songs that are old. Even a song that's a few days old can be rejected by a blog because they'll say it's old and it's already out there. Hector R, how are you? Polly Foster, how are you? Julio Entertainment saying, if you're from the struggle, then you'll know how to hustle. I write lyrics a lot and would rather start off alone with my own money, also called independent. You just made me very happy, Julio Entertainment. Charles Galvin is saying, if you rap, look outside of rap. Absolutely. And he's saying also that plenty of old school groups had amazing performances. Yes. Um, and you know, you know, Charles, it's, it's also that, um, they've performed a lot too. So like Public Enemy has been performing since the '80s, the mid-'80s, so they've really gotten it down to a science. Um, I spend a lot of time with Slick Rick and his show is amazing. And it's amazing because he's been performing for so many years and he's really learned what the crowd likes and what the crowd doesn't like, and he's able to focus on what they like. So a lot of that is, um, time in, you know. But as a new artist, you've got to get time in fast. Like, you've really got to run to catch up so that your show is tight, and you've got to practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. A lot of you guys don't practice your show and you need to. Julio saying, picture the crowd naked. Okay, let me go to another question. J Styles is asking, can you recommend any good music video promoters to get a video on BET Jams, Revolt, MTVU, etc.? Do I need a video promoter? Yes, I'm from the school of thought that you do need a video promoter. If you're trying to get on the bigger channels. Um, I use a guy named Noah Joles. He's out of Brooklyn in New York. Um, he's somebody that I've been utilizing for years and years and years and years. Um, the reason that you need a promoter is you need somebody that's got the relationships with Revolt and Fuse and, um, and BET Jams in order to get you placed. But here's the thing, It's very difficult as an artist with a song that has no traction to get placed. You've really got to build a movement and get some traction in the marketplace before you start spending money on radio and video promoters. And I kind of put them in the same category because you've got to be at that same level in order to get onto BET Jams and Revolt. There has to be enough of a following of people that know who you are. So as the fan sits home and watches a video on BET, even though it may be new to them, there's enough of a fan base watching that knows who that new independent artist is or that new signed artist is. You know, I just had this conversation with somebody earlier today You know, they told me that Russ came out of nowhere, and Russ did not come out of nowhere. Just because you don't know who somebody is does not mean they are brand new. Cintere is saying, put out your best sounding music. Absolutely. Remember that when people listen to your music, they're going to be listening to maybe Kanye at— in front of it and maybe Future behind it. So your song has to have the same quality as superstars because it's going to be mixed in and played in the same places and in the same context as those songs— on a playlist, on the radio, in the club, you know, wherever. Sister Whirlwind is asking, is there a template for a timeline you recommend for marketing? No, the reason that there is no template is because you can't predict how fans are going to embrace a song. So there are songs that I'll start working like on April 1st, and by May 1st it's gaining traction. And then there are songs where I'll start working them on April 1st, and I don't have traction yet on September 1st. So it's impossible, it's impossible to put together a timeline because every song is different, every, every artist is different, the reaction to every song is different, every budget is different. Um, there, there's no way to do a template for that. I wish there was, it would make my job easier. Hector is asking, do you need to hire a lawyer to copyright your music? No, you can do it yourself. Or is it something you can do yourself? I'm sorry, yes. It's something you can do yourself. What about a trademark? Yes, you do need to have an attorney do the trademark. The only reason I don't recommend that you do a trademark yourself, because you can, you can do it all yourself, but it's the research that is the tricky part when you're applying for a trademark, and attorneys have access to the proper research. So you want to research and make sure that there's nobody else out there already using that name. Because remember, you're going to spend money on your brand. So if you trademark it and somebody contests it down the road and you lose, it, it can get really expensive, right? But you can definitely copyright on your own. I have a video on here, um, about how to copyright. And if you go to wrapjewels.com um, it's there and it's called copywriting or copyrights. Anyway, it's there and it's not too far back. Rapjewels.com. Okay, J Styles asked, what areas of a city would you suggest a street team go to? The local college, the downtown area, shopping centers, clubs when they let out. Um, J Styles, that's going to depend on the type of music that you have. The whole point of marketing is to reach potential fans, people that potentially will like your music. So you're gonna market wherever they hang out. So if you have music that fits the clubs, then you're gonna hit the clubs. If there's a live show of an artist whose music is similar to yours you're gonna wanna be there when the club lets out or when that show lets out to share your music with that fan base. If your music reaches a younger market, it's more pop, then you're gonna wanna hit high schools. If your music hits a little bit of an older audience, then you're gonna wanna hit colleges. It really depends on where your fan base hangs out. For younger pop fans, um, we hit the malls. For art— for artists that have a fan base that's more like college age, we hit the hip-hop gear shops, the vape stores, the pool halls, the flea markets, places where people that are a little bit older frequent. So marketing is about going where your fan base is. Ditto online. You want to go wherever your fan base hangs out online and reach them there, right? So, um, it's a little bit difficult for me to tell you where to market in your city because I don't quite know what your fan base is. But you're going to go wherever your fan base is. If you're super pop, hit the movie theaters because that means, you know, a broad cross-section of the market is your audience, right? If you're super, super pop. Like The Weeknd or Drake. It's just more mainstream, so you can hit, you know, movie theaters, you can hit the Walmart. But if you're making street rap, for you to market at a Walmart, it's such a niche market that it's going to be hard for you to single out just your audience. It's better to go to the hood, and it's better to go to a pool hall or a barbershop, places where your market is hanging out. Okay, Charles Galvin is asking, do you have any marketing advice for artists who make good music but not trendy music that will get spins through the traditional mediums of music like radio or clubs? Got it. So you're asking where can you market if your music isn't mainstream, and I kind of touched a little bit on that in the last question. I would hit college campuses. Um, if you're not making pop music, you're reaching more of a niche. It's a little bit more of an intelligent audience. Not to say that intelligent people don't like pop. Um, I like pop. I'd like to consider myself intelligent. But if you hit college campuses, it's a little bit more of an open-minded audience, and that's a great place for you to market and promote. You can hit clubs. That are playing the type of music, the type of DJ who spins your type of music. So if you're more of a backpack artist, then you're going to want to hit backpack events, you're going to want to hit rap battles. Go wherever your market is and promote. Julio is saying, how do you post videos on YouTube so that people can view it? You record the video and then you upload it to your account on YouTube. There is a line with an arrow, and when you press on that, it brings up a screen and you choose whether to make it unlisted, which means no one can see it, public, which means everyone can see it, or you can schedule, which means if you want it to drop on Tuesday at 10 PM, you can schedule it to drop Tuesday at 10 PM. There are a ton of videos on YouTube that show you how to utilize YouTube. Um, I probably watched 50 to 100 videos before I started, um, posting my videos, and they're really helpful. Not only should you watch videos on how to do it, but watch videos on how to market your YouTube videos. They're awesome. Tamaris says Russ has been grinding for 10 years developing his fan base. She has watched his interviews. What a good idea to watch the interviews of people that are successful, whether you like them or not, because they may drop a jewel that could help you. I think that's— I think that's awesome. Yeah, he's a 10-year overnight success. X Dax is saying, as far as a trademark, you aren't selling goods as an artist, you're looking for a service mark. Um, I'm sorry, I disagree. I think you are looking for a trademark. You're selling your brand, you're selling music. My clients, I always trademark them in fashion because I want to be able to sell t-shirts. Um, in music, and then I also do, um entertainment in general, um, especially videos and film, because most of the artists I work with go on to do movies. But I also want to make sure that they're trademarked in the video, um, so we do not use a service mark, we use a trademark. I'm sorry to disagree with you. Knight Rider Films, how are you? Owner beats super producer. You're so welcome. Charles is asking, do I think the old way of marketing by passing out CDs or flyers is outdated? In some areas, yes. Um, what are some new innovative ways to market your music? Um, Charles, yes, um, we still pass out CDs in the South. For me, I don't care if something is old or new as long as it works. And, um, download cards and CDs actually work here in the South. In the Northeast, we give out download cards. Um, we market a lot online in major metropolitan cities because it's just a more affordable way to market. Um, I guess handing music to DJs is also considered an old way, but DJs still break music. The blogs break music, and playlists break music. Playlists are a new way of, um, of marketing. So, um, we market to playlists, we do Google Ads, we do Facebook Ads, um, we perform as much as possible to market music. Anywhere where somebody can hear your music is obviously the best way to market because you're sharing the sound of the music as well as your image. Um, and, um, I did a video that's going to post either Friday or Monday Um, I had dinner with some friends and we all started talking about different ways that we market that stands out. So I shared, um, 3 different ways that we market, and that's going to drop. I think that's going to drop on Monday at 11. It's either Friday at 11 or Monday at 11, but I've got something coming that you'll like because it's, um, it's new school. Um, also, um, one of the old ways of marketing that still works very well for my clients is promo tours. So don't— just because something's old, don't think it doesn't work. Just take what works for you and utilize it and leave behind the stuff that doesn't work for you. Owner Beats is hawking some beats. You should check out his, um, his comment here. X Stacks. If a record label, A&R/management— I believe they also do management— is looking to hire managers, how can I go in prepared to possibly get hired? Um, I'm assuming that if they're looking to fill a management position, that they probably want somebody who has some experience. So focus on your experience as a manager, focus on your communication skills. Um, I have a video that I posted Sometime since the new year, it would be at rapjewels.com, um, that talks about, um, so you want to be a manager, like how you as somebody that wants to become a manager take a look at that and see, um, the suggestions I have in there, and then focus on the things in there that are your strengths, because that's what they're going to be looking for in a manager. And if you don't have experience, I would suggest that you intern with a very experienced manager, um, and get the connections and the experience that you need in order to get a job like that. Tamara is saying, a lady just hit me up and was like, hey, I still have your CD from when you opened up for Lyfe Jennings. She passed out CDs at that show. She didn't open for him, but it means that consumers pay no attention to openers. Not only do they pay no attention to openers, but they pay no attention to where they got your CD either. Um, and guys, when you're giving out music at a club, it's easier for you to be accepted giving out music if you do it when people are leaving the club instead of when they're in the club or coming into the club, because nobody wants to carry around a CD all night or a memory stick or a download card. It's much better if you hit people on the way out. Just a thought. Tamara saying it's a waste to open for major acts. It absolutely is. I agree. Raymond Dewar saying TubeBuddy is a great tool for YouTube. I'm not familiar with TubeBuddy, um, but I'm grabbing a pen so I can write that down. Thank you very much. I will be checking it out as soon as we're done tonight. TubeBuddy, thank you. Tamara watches Tech N9ne, Russ, Chance the Rapper, and all of the successful indies. Yeah, I do too, in terms of interviews. Absolutely. I've got an interview coming with Travis from Strange Music. He is Tech N9ne's partner. He's the business mind. Um, Tony and I went out there last summer, and he recorded like a 2-hour interview of me and Travis, and then like another 30-minute interview with me with Tech. I just have to learn how to edit. And I'm sure you all thought that when you saw my interview with Ray Daniels and said, why didn't she edit this? Charles, a download card— Charles is asking, what is a download card? A download card is a— it looks like a business card but it lists all of your links and your SoundCloud, your iTunes link, your Spotify playlist link. It lists all of your links so that when somebody is intrigued by you, they can go check out your information. Oscar, how are you? Welcome. Okay, let me ask, um, Hector has asked a question here. Hector Romero, thank you for sending this in. And Hector has two questions. If a brand new artist is just starting out with a little budget, is it a good idea to become a sole proprietor first? Then as the artist starts getting a buzz and getting paid, meaning getting a bigger budget, he or she can then convert from a sole proprietor to an LLC. Um, I always suggest instead of becoming a sole proprietor, because it doesn't really protect you as well as an LLC or a Subchapter S corporation that you start as an LLC or a Subchapter S, because a lot of this is to protect you in case something goes horribly wrong and you get sued. But it's also for tax reasons. So you would want to have a conversation with your accountant to find out whether it's better to be a sole proprietor or an LLC so that the income passes through to your personal income, or a C-corp or an S-corp. And do I have a video on that? I don't yet. I don't have a video on that yet. Making a note to do a video on that. Okay, number 2: I know you mentioned Facebook ads, Google ads, Twitter ads, etc., to promote your music online. Twitter ads can be a little expensive. And we use Instagram ads too. As a brand new artist, where should the ads lead potential fans to once they click on it? In your experience, what received a better response? Did you take them to iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube? And I drive fans wherever, wherever our goal is at that moment, because our goals change when we drop new music. My goal is to drive people to SoundCloud. If we're at a point where the artist is known and has a decent buzz, I want to drive them to iTunes or to Spotify or Apple Music. If I just dropped a video, I want to drive them to YouTube because I want to get the views up at YouTube. So it really depends on what the goal is. Um, when an artist is first starting out, I usually drive fans to the music because I'm looking to increase the listens, like on SoundCloud or wherever we have the music posted. And I embed the SoundCloud, um, players into the website. So sometimes I'll drive fans to the website because I want them to listen to the music, but then I also want them to see the pictures, read the bio, and have the whole website experience. Um, ditto for YouTube videos. We use YouTube as the embedded player on most websites. So that as somebody watches your video on your website, it counts as a view on YouTube, which you get paid for. Um, so the response is best based on what the goal is. The best response for, for me to measure is when I drive people to sign up to an email list. Maybe I'm giving away access to a video 2 weeks early, or maybe I'm giving a special song in exchange for somebody signing up to email. Or for me personally, maybe I'm giving away some sort of how-to or a list of business books or something that has value where somebody will give me their email address in exchange. Um, that for me is extremely easy to measure because I can see at the end of the campaign how many email addresses I have. Versus how many hits were on that, so I can, I can figure out my conversion rate. Um, with YouTube, it's not necessarily as easy because remember, when you're driving somebody to YouTube, if they really like your video, they may watch it a bunch of times. So it's a little harder for me to judge a conversion rate because I don't know if it's the same person watching it 1,000 times or whether it's 1,000 people watching at one time. So it just makes it a little harder. Ditto with SoundCloud, ditto with Apple Music, iTunes, whatever. Cool. So that is all the questions that you guys sent in ahead of time. Sir Big Head, you can call me Wendy Day. Sir Big Head's dad is rolling in his grave because he didn't call me Miss Wendy or Miss Day. You know, it's funny because whenever people call me Miss Wendy, um, it makes me feel a little old. Isn't that funny? But thank you, thank you for the respect. I appreciate that. Julio is asking, would I work with any new artists in the near future? I work with new artists all the time. Um, and again, I, I don't want to turn this into an advertisement for Wendy Day. So you can go to helpfulangel.com. That explains what I do and how I do it, but I'd rather not, um, turn this into a pitch for you to work with me, guys. The reason I do this is because 99% of you don't have the budget where I can be helpful to you. So I do this because I know that you can't hire me, and I want you to learn. I want you to be able to do this yourself. So this is my way of giving back. And if I sit here and talk about why you should hire me, first of all, then I'm an asshole. And second of all, I'm sort of defeating the purpose. You can do this without a big budget. I cannot do this without a big budget, but you can do this without a big budget. And Hector is leading right into this. Oh, Hector, I just answered that. I answered your email, and thank you. I'm sorry, I was a little slow on that one. Oh good, you guys are answering each other. I love it. Um, Yo123789 is saying, out of my years of working, what was the most outlandish way you've seen someone market their content that worked? Um, There's so many, like, great ways. Um, probably Master P wrapped buses in the hood and, um, some trash trucks. He wrapped garbage trucks in the hood, so that shocked people because nobody had seen that before. Um, Kim Kardashian, um, fucked a guy on video. And created an entire empire based on that. Um, that worked. I wouldn't have done it, um, but it worked. Um, I've seen artists give out different, um, gifts with music that have worked. Um, and of course I'm not going to be able to think of one offhand But artists who put together packages, like if you buy a CD and a t-shirt instead of— and this only works where people buy CDs, um, if you buy a CD normally for $10, but for $15 you get a t-shirt and a CD. I've seen that work really well, mostly in the Southeast. Um, God, I've seen so many different things. Lil Mama ran out on stage, um, while Jay-Z was performing. That worked for her. I didn't think that it would. I thought she would be ostracized, but somehow she still has a career. Denise, how are you? Denise gives out download cards for Briggs Crawford. And Facebook ads, and it's working. How about it? Don't you love when it works? Sir Paid A Lot is starting an independent digital label specializing in hip-hop, R&B, and pop. Any advice? Um, yes, get an investor, have a real budget. Um, it's going to cost you a minimum of $150,000 to start a real independent record label. So my best suggestion would be to have an investor put up money. Yo123 is asking me, digitally, what's the price range to get an effective campaign going? I can't answer that because every, every type of music is different. I don't know what time of year you're coming out. I don't know how great your music is. Is it weak? Is it strong. I can't give you a price range. Um, I can tell you that in terms of running an ad campaign, um, I've seen people start as low as a couple hundred dollars and go from there. Um, and I've seen people spend tens of thousands of dollars. So I can't give you other than that, and that's a really broad price range. I can't, I can't, I can't give you an effective answer because I don't know the music, the climate, who else is out there marketing, how crowded it is. Julio, I don't sign artists. I'm not a record label, guys. It would be really helpful if you did some research to find out what it is that I do before you come here so that you don't ask stuff that either I've already answered or ask me to do stuff that I don't do. Raymond would gladly help me learn to edit or offer to help as you've suggested. Yes, yes, thank you, thank you. I need help. And, um, I believe you did offer before. I just haven't come up for air since you last offered. I've been traveling and I'm going to be traveling for the rest of this month. But, um, Raymond, I'm going to reach out to you in the beginning of April. Taking notes. And thank you, because I really do need help. Okay. Boy, my life will change when I can edit. Ha! Too Slick wants to network with everyone. Sir Big Head is saying that networking is key. Yes, people talk to each other in the, in the feed. Absolutely. Yes, Hector, I answered your question. I got to it a little bit late, but I answered it. Emily is asking, is there a number milestone on social media to move to the next level, such as 100,000 follows, 50,000 followers? Um, no, there isn't a milestone number, um, because then the actual number doesn't matter as much as the engagement. So one person could have 50,000 followers on Instagram but only get 149 likes every time they post, and another person could have 50,000 followers but get, you know, um, 5,000, um, comments when they post, or likes, or whatever. So what matters is the engagement. And, um, I don't want to— I don't want to dwell on the number, because what's going to happen is a bunch of you are going to go buy fake followers because you heard me say that a certain amount of followers matters. And what matters is that they're real, not that they're fake. So I'd rather you have 1,000 real followers than a million fake ones. DJ Sincere is saying, have you ever paid for video marketing, and if so, how useful was it? Um, not sure what you're asking by that. If you're asking, do I hire video promotion people, absolutely. Um, and I talked about it at the beginning of this live, so you should definitely— when this post, you should definitely go watch the beginning part that you may have missed, um, where I talk about hiring a video promoter. Um, and if that's not what you're talking about, I'm not sure what you mean by video marketing. So I guess I haven't paid for video marketing. X Dax is asking, how can an artist go on a college show run? You're probably going to have to set that up. There are companies out there that do set up college shows, but there's so many companies out there that are bullshit that set that up that I'm nervous to refer you to anyone. Um, you're probably going to need to attend NACA, N-A-C-A, and you can find them at naca.org. They do a convention once a year, and then they do regional conventions throughout the year. For people at colleges who book talent and entertainment. And then there's another one, um, they have, they have a competitor, um, AP— I can't remember what it is, um, and I have it posted under one of my old videos where somebody asked the same question. But NACA, I remember by heart, NACA.org. I love it. Stay Lame Radio on SoundCloud. That's great. What a great name. It's for underground music. So anybody that likes that should check out his podcast. People are looking for beats on here. This is great. Black Voice, I love you too. Too Slick says you get your jewels for me. Thank you, Black Voice. As soon as I stop traveling, um, I'm happy to, um, help you and, and come on your show. Um, I've just been on the road. Yo123 is asking, does it hurt when you hear an artist whose music sounds like every other song, or do you take a chance and say it fits with the current climate so it's all good? Um, it depends on— it depends on the artist. I mean, obviously you want to fit a format and you don't want to be so different that you can't fit in as a new artist, but the artists that have become superstars and really stood out are the ones who took a chance and had a different sound and kind of got on with that new sound. Too Slick is asking, have I ever heard of Moravi? I have not. Hebel Hartman is asking what happened to the magazine. I don't know what magazine you mean. I've never had a magazine. Oscar's asking, um, if I was able to find out how to get verified on Instagram. Yes, um, Instagram and Facebook have hired brand ambassadors, people that they trust to find out who needs to be verified on Instagram and Facebook. They've given them the power, um, to get verified, and those are the folks. Do I personally know who they are? No. Um, I know that the distributor that we use, One RPM, I know that they are one of those people. That are able to verify. So I'm guessing that for their clients, they verify. And you can get verified yourself now on Twitter, you know that, right? You can just Google, um, Twitter verification and the form will pop up and you can go in and fill it out, and then Twitter will decide whether or not you should be verified. Paulie Foster saying, speaking of followers, an artist that is not that into social media, would you recommend someone handle their social media? Absolutely fucking lutely. Social media is so crucial that if you're not good at it, you either need to get good at it really fast or you need to hire somebody that is good at it for you. Absolutely. Oh my gosh, absolutely. And you've got to engage. You can't just just like build your, your pages and then sit back and tweet whenever you feel like it, or put up pictures whenever you feel like it. You actually have to engage with people in order for it to become effective and for you to build enough of a following. Because you know, when you, when you tweet or when you post on Instagram, it doesn't go to all of your followers. It only goes to a small percentage. And then as they engage with you, or as they repost or retweet,, then you get to reach a larger segment of your followers. Raymond is saying, my message is not limited to just Wendy Day. I'd be glad to help anyone who is really out there putting in work, building their own knowledge, and not just looking for a handout. Your hustle will show itself. Yes. Censuré is saying USB flash drives for DJs. Absolutely. I love MP3 sticks. We use them for our artists, for DJs. We also— Tony carries around music in his phone so that he can either AirDrop it to a DJ, like right to their Mac, or email it. A lot of DJs don't have the ability to insert a CD into their computer or even places for memory sticks anymore, which is kind of crazy. So you've got to carry everything with you so that when you bump into a DJ, you can easily get your music to him or her, and that's very important. But yeah, I'm a huge fan of, of flash drives. Um, for Trouble, we had little guns, um, we had little bullets, we had hand grenades, and it all ties into his image So, and, and it had the place for his name to be silk-screened on, and it was just awesome. Thank you, Dom Witters, that's awesome. Engagement organic is the favorite vocab for indie artists. I like guerrilla too for indie artists. Got it. DJ Sincere meant a video promoter. Absolutely, you definitely want to hire a video promoter if you're going to Revolt and Fuse and BET. Another thing that video promoters do, Sincere, is there is a company that puts out monthly videos and that are shown like in Hot Topic, Foot Locker— maybe it's Foot Action, I can't remember if it's Foot Action or Foot Locker, one of them— um, DTLR, um, LA Fitness. And you want to be able to get on that reel so that your video is sent out to all of those different places. Um, why not, right? Hey King Peavy! How many units should I sell through TuneCore before I pitch to a distributor that can take my song to another level? It's not really, it's not really an amount. It's more the buzz that you have. Like, it's not that you sell 30,000 digital downloads. Um, streaming is so much more important today than digital. It's all going towards streaming. So even though the sales right now. Actually, it's not even a third, a third. I was going to say it's a third, a third, and a third. It's not anymore. Um, but CDs are declining, um, digital downloads are declining, and streaming is increasing. Streaming is like 66% of the market for rap, and most of you guys are hip-hop, so it's 66% of the market for us. Too slick is saying I need to learn how to get my music on iTunes. You can go through tunecore.com, you can go through CD Baby, you can go through distrokid.com. Um, it's a distributor that gets your music on iTunes. And remember, you need to have original beats. And it can't feature other artists unless you've got the paperwork. Censura is saying, I would not use TuneCore because you have to pay for each distributor partner. Symphonic is a great distributor. I'm not familiar with Symphonic. I've never used them. I have used TuneCore. I've only ever paid, um, I think $39.99 or $49.99 for TuneCore. I use TuneCore more than anybody. I've just recently started with DistroKid. That's thanks to you guys. One of you guys had recommended them to me. I tested them out and, um, they're actually great. They're a little bit cheaper than TuneCore. But yeah, I don't know Symphonic, so I'm nervous to talk about a distributor that I haven't worked with. King Sesame is saying, does it make sense to clean up your Spotify of old songs and leave that one single that you want to push? No, you want all of your music on there because you just don't know what song somebody's going to react to. So you want all of your music on there. Um, the singles will get the most spins, hopefully the most play, hopefully. And, um, that will put them towards the top if somebody is looking, if somebody is ranking your music by, by spins. Yo123 is saying that artists who took a chance and got on with that new sound, even today. Absolutely. Um, my peers talk about mumble rap all the time. Whoever took a chance and started with mumble rap got on, right? Um, Future, his sound when he came out was very new and different. He took a chance and got on. Rae Sremmurd, they took a chance, you know, their music when they came out was very new and different. Russ, his sound is new and different. I know that you think that everybody sounds like each other in the mainstream but that's because they're in the mainstream. Remember, to get into the mainstream, you've got to come up through the underground. Um, Bubble just made a great point. She said Russ has been around for 10 years. Russ is just getting into the mainstream. So when you listen to him, you might think, wow, he sounds like everybody else. But 10 years ago, he did not sound like everybody else. Hector is saying, do publicists also play as your shield? A lot of artists use their publicists to make them block interviewers from asking questions you don't want to answer. Absolutely, that's part of what they do. Oh, since— sorry, this is beautiful. Download cards can also have a code on the back for the consumer to download your music from a customized site that you set up through a download manufacturer. Absolutely. Um, I, I love QR codes for that reason. Um, sometimes you can scan a card and it'll take you right to— it'll, it'll drive the consumer right to the place that you want them to, um, to pop up. Raymond is saying any person in today's world should consider themselves a social media company first and foremost, and then an artist or a label owner or an agency, whatever it is. Because understanding where attention is huge is a huge key. I consider my clients content companies. We really push content, whether it's video, music, whatever. Thank you, Tamara. I'm not going to read that out loud, but thank you. Yeah, Tamara's saying that, um, with TuneCore you pay a one-time fee and then you pay a one-time additional $10 and they'll distribute your music to any new partners. Yeah, I can't remember if it's, um, if it's $39 or $49, but yes, you pay that. I always pay that $10 because why not? Raymond is saying DistroKid. Sincere is saying that's not accurate, you have to pay additional one-time fee. To add additional new partners, and they did not work— they did not work with as many partners as Symphonic. Absolutely, it is a— it is a one-time additional $10 fee, which brings the cost either $39 or $49. I can't remember which, but I can't talk about Symphonic, and I'm not going to sit here and plug a company that I don't know. And I'm sorry about that. Actually, I'm not sorry about that. Xdax, if an artist is streaming music from their own app, they have people downloading and listening to it. How can they get paid since it wouldn't be placed by a distribution company store? Um, I'm not sure how that works. I've never, I've never had somebody stream from their own app. Um, the problem with streaming from your own app is that you now have to drive people to your app in order to listen to the music, whereas if you drive them to Spotify, they're probably already there listening to other music, and it's a little bit easier of a sell to get them to try out a song or two of yours rather than trying to get them to download your own app. Yes, Never Yield Biz is saying, um, speaking of taking a chance I want to release only Chopped and Screwed, but that would limit my fan base. Yes, your fan base would be fans of Chopped and Screwed. Thank you, Spade SOS. Sincere says, um, DistroKid does not cover enough partners. Raymond D'Wear, I believe DistroKid has revamped their whole platform. Not sure if it's prior to what you've attempted. Owner Beats, how do I work with your artists? I want to submit some tracks to you if possible. Oops. You're amazing and your resume is music history. You should be in the Music Hall of Fame. Thank you. Um, I actually don't like— submitting tracks to me wouldn't help you. Because I don't work on the creative side. When artists come to me, their music is already done. Like, they, they supply the music to me. They hand me the football and I run with it. So you would have to reach out to them directly. Um, almost everybody that I work with, they're in their bio on their Twitter is the email address where they, um, where you, uh, submit tracks. Killafuse is saying maybe you could have ads to get paid for your app. Doug Nice is saying Russell Simmons and Will.i.am said that artists need to find something other than just music to sell. What are your thoughts on that? Absolutely, um, I think that you should sell everything that you possibly can. And t-shirts, whatever, you know. Will.i.am has a great sunglass company and a hat company, you know. He's got some really great stuff. So I think that you need to use your fame to brand as much as you can. Sincere is saying, I did research on all the music distribution companies. Symphonic is the best one for independent artists. Each of you should do your own research, and I'm going to ask you very politely, sincerely, to stop promoting on my feed Symphonic. I love that you love them, but let's let everybody do their own research on all the distribution companies. You've never heard me say that somebody is the best for indie artists, and this is my fucking feed. CB Smooth, how are you? Charles Galvin is saying, when you are trying to start a movement or brand to go along with your music, what are some ways to get people engaged with not only the music but the overall message behind the brand? Um, marketing. You know, the way to get people into your brand is to market. So whatever you stand for is what your image is, right? So for example, if you're an artist who believes in social consciousness, you should be giving back to the community very publicly, right? So that if somebody wants to get involved in your movement, then they can feed the homeless in their own city, or they can come with you and feed the homeless in your city, or whatever your, you know, whatever your movement is, whatever you're doing to create engagement in your brand, in your opportunity, right? Marta Sheck, how are you? Owner Beats is asking for advice on producers getting placements. Um, I have a bunch of videos that I posted. If you go to rapjewels.com Um, they're the most recent ones on there, and I interviewed, um, Rico Brooks, who is a manager of producers, and he talks about it. Um, I interviewed Deborah Manus Gardner about getting placements. Um, so there's a bunch of stuff on there that you can, um, that you can check out. Doug Nice says Russell said that music is more like a business card these days. Would you agree? I would not. Um, I think that a book is like a business card these days, but I don't think that music is. I think that people still listen to music because they enjoy music. I don't think that they listen to music because they're looking to purchase another product. But I do think you can use your brand to sell other products and your fame to sell other products. But no, I don't agree that, um, music is like a business card, meaning it's an entry point. Thank you, Teddy Styles. Thank you, Owner Beats. London's Most Wanted TV is, what is your opinion on sync? I'm thinking of focusing on sync. I think you absolutely should. Um, I did an interview with a, with an artist called Mr. Robotic who makes an amazing living on, um, on sync fees. So I think that you should definitely, um, check out that interview. Um, also I've got a list of music supervisors at rap-resources.com. Um, It's a, it's a, uh, it's a list that you buy. It's for sale, but it has all of the music supervisors. I've got one for TV, film, um, and I have one for video games. And, um, for those of you that asked recently, um, putting together a list of entertainment attorneys and managers as well. But yeah, you can make, you can make a good living Um, Never Yield Biz, am I a fan of Empire? Um, wait, Empire Distribution or Empire the TV show? Empire Distribution, yes. Empire the TV show, no. Doug saying perhaps Russell has that view because he was never an artist himself. He actually was an artist, like way back when, way back When he started out as an artist, but, um, maybe he has that view because he's made so much money outside of music. There's more money outside of music, but if you're an artist and your goal is to make music, I would hate to see you making music because you're trying to get in somewhere else, right? Too slick says, do you know who K on the track is? He's been reaching out for a while now. Yes, he is a producer who has a very aggressive pimp game in reaching out to artists to sell tracks. Um, I don't know if that's good or bad. I have no opinion either way, but I do know that he has probably reached out to every single one of you that is watching this because he is extremely aggressive in selling his tracks. Guys, we're at the 1-hour point. Thank you for tuning in. I appreciate you so much. Make sure you do the research on everything that has been discussed tonight. Don't just take it as law. Do the research yourself and do what's best for you guys. Okay, thanks for tuning in. I will see you guys next Wednesday. Bye! Oh, and this will post in about an hour. I think it posts on YouTube so you can watch anything that you missed. Thank you guys.