Business Plan Help from an Expert?

Hello Everyone!

Today here on Real Talk we will be taking a look at “experts” in the field of writing and or reviewing business plans. This is good information, for those of us thinking about starting a business and want to do a good job at running it. In order to stay organized and to keep good records of your own business, then a good business plan is essential to your success.

The first business plan expert I want to talk about today is Dr. Steven Gedeon. Dr Steven Gedeon has a PHD, MBA and is a professor in Entrepreneur & Strategy at the Ted Rogers School of Management. According to www.ryerson.ca/tedrogersschool/bm/faculty_staff/bios/gedeon.html, Dr. Steven Gedeon has led over a dozen private, public, ventur

e capital and non-profit organizations; published over 100 articles, reports and patents; and delivered over 40 public speaking engagements and has done on-line videos on personal leadership, motivation, entrepreneurship and teaching (Ryerson.ca, 2013).

On his Linkedin.com page it states that Dr. Gedeon is currently the Director of the Ryerson Entrepreneur Institute, Director of the Ryerson Angel Network, Director of the Dobson Micro-Financing Seed Venture Fund, Chairman of CEO Fusion, Chairman of the Research Committee of the National Angel Capital Organization, Faculty Advisor to Students in Free Enterprise Ryerson and the Digital Media Zone, and Advisor to the Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercialization (Linkedin, 2013).

The next expert business planner I want to discuss is Chuck Blakeman. Chuck Blakeman has a slight different approach to business that has been adopted by thousands of business owners. He has bootstrapped five wildly different businesses and two non-profits from the ground up, making every mistake possible along the way to some big wins. As an internationally acclaimed business speaker averaging more than 100+ speaking engagements and workshops per year, he has been quoted and featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, CNNMoney.com, NYTimes.com, other online magazines and small business blogs throughout the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand (Blakeman, 2013).

His company, the Crankset Group, based in Colorado, works with business owners to help them make more money in less time and get back to the passion that brought them into business in the first place, so they can build a mature business in support of their lifetime goals (Blakeman, 2013).

Blakeman feels that preparing a business plan wastes time that could be spent actually doing the business. He states that real life gets in the way of plans. A business plan helps an entrepreneur plan for the future. But the flaw with that is the future cannot be foretold. Since the future is unknown, Blakeman says, “Implement now, perfect as you go” (Blakeman, 2011).

The most important components that investors are looking for is what kind of business is it and to whom are we selling to? What is the price of your product, who are your competitors and how is your business different from them? Does the plan have credibility and is there a plan to action? All of these are key components that investors look for and all good business plans should have. Thanks for your time. Real Talk!

"bios - Business Management - Ryerson University." Ryerson University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 June 2013. <http://www.ryerson.ca/tedrogersschool/bm/faculty_staff/bios/gedeon.html>.

Blakeman, C. (2012). How: the worst, most asked planning question. Retrieved from http://chuckblakeman.com/2012/8/texts/how-the-worst-most-asked-planning-question

"Chuck Blakeman / How: the worst, most asked planning question." Chuck Blakeman / Live well by doing good.. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 June 2013. <http://chuckblakeman.com/2012/8/texts/how-the-worst-most-asked-planning-question>.

www.ca.linkedin.com/in/stevegedeon

The Impact Of The Digital Landscape In The Music Business Today

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The Impact Of The Digital Landscape In The Music Business Today

The digital landscape has made a significant impact on the music business over the past 15 years. Technology has made it easier than ever before for an artist to share and sell their works to the masses via online. Let’s take a look at how the digital landscape has changed in the music industry.

CD’s Then Downloads Now

To some, the days of buying CD’s from a record store is a mere memory and to others, they have never bought a CD from a record store in their life. That’s the biggest difference in the music industry in the last 15 years if you ask me. Technology and the rise of the Internet have changed everything that we do today. Instead of going to Blockbusters to rent a movie, now we just download our favorite movie from Netflix. Instead of buying your favorite hip-hop artist’s new album from the local music store, now we download it from iTunes directly to our iPhones.

This rise of technology has been good for us artists to publish our music to the masses for a bigger cut and it has been bad for the record companies of old that has had a strangle hold on the music business for years to adjust to this new age. On Vertygoteam.com, they state that record companies have been in trouble for the past 25 years. They say there have been a lot of mistakes made by the record companies in the music industry and it has only gotten worst over the years.

Social Media

It’s no denying that social media has a very strong presence in the music industry today. Now more than ever, artist can communicate directly to their fan base via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and a variety of other social media type sites. Artists today are taking control of their careers and are promoting and selling through social media sites. Being able to join conversation with fans for potential sales instead of a sales pitch is key to monetizing the social sphere is what Kyle Fisher wrote in his blog on Famehouse.net called “As It Stands: Digital Marketing In The Music Industry”. Kyle speaks about keys to be successful with digital marketing in the music industry with very helpful advice.

Analytics

Now since everyone has a Twitter account and a Facebook page, artist are taking advantage of the free promotions they offer. In my opinion, it’s being over saturated with too many novice artists trying to get in the music industry door. My notifications are overloaded with everyone’s party and up coming album releases. I feel that maybe if they did their homework they could get more accomplished in their marketing scheme. It’s called analytics and it’s the study of statistics and making good decisions on who’s buying what and where. This vital information can catapult an artist career if done correctly. Kyle Fisher said that aggressive and evaluated analytics is the most effective aspect in digital marketing. 

If you are not familiar with analytics or digital marketing then read more about it or hire you someone that is familiar with it so you can upgrade your Internet presence and build your brand up for success, Real Talk!

Posted by C.D Wright

References:

"Marketing Strategy in the Music Industry || Record Companies || Vertygo Team ||." || Vertygo Team || Strategy Advisors || Marketing & Communications || . N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.vertygoteam.com/music_marketing.php>.

Team, Kyle Fisher for the Fame House. "As It Stands: Digital Marketing in the Music Industry / Fame House / (R)evolutionary Digital for the Music & Entertainment Industries - Digital Strategy | Marketing | Social Media | Web Design & Development | Merchandising." Fame House / (R)evolutionary Digital for the Music & Entertainment Industries - Digital Strategy | Marketing | Social Media | Web Design & Development | Merchandising. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://famehouse.net/as-it-stands-digital-marketing-in-the-music-industry/>. 

Image Reference

http://www.dataxu.com/innovation-center/dataxu-marketing-digital-age-whitepaper-2/

Need Distribution? Let's Talk about it. 2

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Hello Everyone!

Ok, I know earlier we were talking about publishing and distributing music through POD’s like Tunecore.com and CDBaby.com. Both companies offer similar options to publish and distribute your music but very different options in fees. Tunecore.com’s ability to claim and collect all of your royalties worldwide without a percentage of your sales is a plus.

I really didn’t see any ways to promote on Tunecore.com.  It’s going to be very difficult to sell anything if you don’t promote it. I like what Reverbnation.com has to offer. They help independent artist in so many ways. Not only do they help you distribute and sell your music, they offer promotional services, show bookings, app building, etc. Reverbnation helps artist keep in contact with their fans and all around digital presence all on one platform.

The whole site is a great tool for independent artist, promoters, labels, and managers. Reverbnation connects the artist’s with their social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and their Youtube accounts so you can update your digital presence all from one site. Everything is kept track of with statistic and demographic reports, a manager’s dream. They have so much to offer, you have to go and visit their site to get all the valuable information.

Reverbnation’s prices are reasonable for independent artist on a small budget. They have plans that for emerging artist starting at $19.95 per month and even for rock star level artist at $41.67 per month.  They even got basic free accounts for artist just getting started. Check them out when you get a chance.

Oh yea, for all of you film producers, I have a classmate named Kevin Petterson who did a great research on a POD site called Distribber.com. Distribber is a site that works similar to Reverbnation but for films only. When you get time check them out also. Thanks for your time again,

C.D.Wright

Need Distribution? Let's talk about it.

 

Hello Everyone! 

Thanks for checking out my blog today. It’s been a busy month since spring break and I’m happy to be back with you striving towards our careers to be successful in the entertainment business.  

In my Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution class in the Entertainment Business Master's program at Full Sail University, we are discussing a great topic on how to publish and distribute our own media, like music, books, films, and even video games. I love talking about self-distribution and publishing because I started out as an artist in this business as well. Back in those old prehistoric days were awful for independent artist, you would have to record a demo and try to get someone at a record company to sign you. Living in Oklahoma made that somewhat impossible for us in the early 90's. Then some of us were able to raise enough money to promote and sell our own music but most of us just fell to the wayside due to the lack of knowledge on what to do next or the funds to do it.

 Thank God for technology because now days with the Internet and social media, you can promote, distribute and publish your own music, books and films with POD (print on demand) sites. Companies like CDBaby.com, Tunecore.com, and Reverbnation.com are publishing and distribution companies that can help independent artist us take our careers to the next level of the game.

Since I came from the music side business of entertainment, I want to start out talking about the sites that can help us promote and sell our music to our fans. First let’s look at CDBaby.com. CDBaby.com is a great site to sell albums or singles. There are no any annual fees and they only charge $49 per album for worldwide digital and physical distribution. If you want global royalty collections then it’s $99 per album. You can sell singles for $12.95 for a sign up fee or $39 per singles if you want global royalty collections. CDBaby.com also offers disc manufacturing and you can also sell mp3’s, vinyl and physical CD’s.

            You can get a UPC code for only $20 an album or $5 per single and you can get web hosting for only $199 per year. You pay only $4 per album and artists keeps the rest of their own set price. That means we receive 91% of all digital downloads! That’s cheaper than iTunes and Amazon. You can also license your music for films, T.V., movies and even for YouTube. You can even set the amount you want to be paid out and once that amount is reached, you will be paid. Payouts are every Monday.

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Now you have other sites like Tunecore.com that offer similar ways to distribute  your music as well. TuneCore.com charges a set up fee of $29.99 and an annual fee of $49.99, but

you get to keep 100% of your sales and rights. There are no physical CD’s or vinyl to distribute, but Tunecore claims and collects all of your publishing royalties across the world. There is a $75 fee for the publishing administration.

Both of these sites are great for independent artist to sell our music to our fans and keep a good track record of it as well. Even though these sites make things easier for the artist to sell their music to their fans, you still need to promote, promote, promote. You have to build up your fan base so they will even want to pull out their credit cards and purchase your music. Let’s talk about that in my next blog.

PS: We will also talk about publishing and distributing films and books in my next post. Thanks for your time, 

C.D. Wright.

References: 

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https://members.cdbaby.com/what-we-do.aspx

http://www.tunecore.com/index/how_it_works

Intellectual Property and It's Importance.

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Today let’s talk about intellectual property (IP) and why it’s important to your business. Wipo.int describes intellectual property as creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories:  Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs (Wipo.int, 2013).

For those who are thinking about starting a business may want to consider your intellectual properties and how you may want to protect them from being infringed upon. In order for someone to protect his or her IP’s for business use will have to register for a trademark through The United States Patent & Trademark office.

When dealing with copyrights, Trout wrote in Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal For Online Business, “once an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium, copyright protection attaches. Although federal registration is not mandatory, federal registration is required to file suit in the United States and may entitle the author to recover attorney fees and statutory damages from an infringer”. (Trout 62)

So when you come up with a brand of some sort and you want to make sure no one tries to make a profit or receive credit for your work, it’s best you send it off for registration for protection. Here are a few examples of some lawsuits on intellectual properties and their outcomes.

EASTLAND MUSIC GROUP LLC v. LIONSGATE ENTERTAINMENT INC LLC

Lexisnexis.com states that The Eastland Music Group is the owner’s of rap duo Phifty-50 and has registered “PHIFTY-50” as a trademark. It also claims “50/50” as a trademark and contends that Lionsgate Entertainment infringed its rights by using “50/50 in the title of one its motion pictures in 2011(lexisnexis.com, 2013).

Findlaw.com states that it was determined that The Eastland Music Group could not sue for infringement because the title of the movie doesn’t refer to the producers of a rap album or group. This complaint fails at the threshold: it does not allege that the use of “50/50” as a title has caused any confusion about the film's source. According to law, titles to songs and movies cannot be copyrighted. Only confusion about origin supports a trademark claim (Findlaw.com, 2013)

I have to agree with this judgment because it makes sense. It’s so many songs and movies that utilize words for titles but have different meanings in creation. I feel that you have to be more original in your idea to have trademark protection.

ALREADY LLC V. NIKE INC.

This case with Already LLC versus Nike over the trademark infringement of Already’s brand “YUMS” for making a shoe that was similar to the Nike’s Air Force 1. Nike ended up dropping the suit because it’s trademark for the Air Force 1 was weak in my opinion and different from what Already had registered as their trademark. With Nike dropping the suit, Daniel Fisher wrote on Forbes.com that Nike provided a “ covenant not to sue” a promise to leave them alone in the future (Forbes.com, 2013)

I don’t know, maybe Nike dropped the suit because of fear they maybe exposed from infringement of trademarks to other brands. That Air Force 1 trademark registration drawing looks like other older brands of shoes if you ask me.

VIACOM V. YOUTUBE.COM

Rob Arcamona wrote on PBS.org that Viacom, the media conglomerate that owns a slew of television networks as well as Paramount Pictures, sued Google, the owners of YouTube, for direct and secondary copyright infringement (pbs.org, 2010).

The case centered on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and within the law, legislators created a way for website producers to escape copyright lawsuits, called a "Safe Harbor" provision. In order to invoke the Safe Harbor, the court ruled, YouTube must remove any material violating copyright laws once it has "specific knowledge" of particular copyrighted videos that the site is helping to distribute. Judge Stanton concluded that it was against the DMCA's purpose to hold YouTube legally liable for every video uploaded on the website -- some 20 hours of video every minute -- even if they might have had a general idea that the site was being used to violate copyright laws (pbs.org, 2010).

If you ask me, this one here is tricky. I can understand both sides of view. Viacom has a point and a right to protect their interest. Does YouTube have the right to distribute copyrighted property just because they are overwhelmed with activities? Is it fair that they can just say they didn’t know when really they did? We are going to have to figure something else out on that one. What do you think? Real Talk!

References:

Arcamona, Rob. "MediaShift . What the Viacom vs. YouTube Verdict Means for Copyright Law | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/07/what-the-viacom-vs-youtube-verdict-means-for-copyright-law183.html>.

"EASTLAND MUSIC GROUP LLC v. LIONSGATE ENTERTAINMENT INC LLC LLC, No. 12–2928., February 21, 2013 - US 7th Circuit | FindLaw." Caselaw: Cases and Codes - FindLaw Caselaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1623861.html>.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/hottopics/lnacademic/676 F.3d 19, *2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6909, **102 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1283Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) P30,231

http://www.lexisnexis.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?oc=00240&hl=t&hns=t&hnsd=f&perma=true&lni=57FY-V131-F04K-F4MF&hv=t&csi=6443&hgn=t&secondRedirectIndicator=true

133 S. Ct. 721, *184 L. Ed. 2d 553, **2013 U.S. LEXIS 602, ***105 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1169

http://www.lexisnexis.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/hottopics/lnacademic/ 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3621, *

"Supreme Court Rejects Lawsuit Over Nike Trademarks - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/01/09/supreme-court-rejects-lawsuit-over-nike-trademarks/>.

Trout, Brett J.. Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business. MBS Direct, 2007. <vbk:MBS983926#page(62)>.

"What is Intellectual Property?." WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization. N.p., n.d. Web.  8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/>.

Image References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nike_AF1.JPG

www.inoutfield.com

www.findlogo.net

Need Management?

Good question but not an easy answer. These days it’s so much easier for artists to manage their own careers. From utilizing social medias for marketing and promotions to selling albums and singles directly to their fans from their own websites through iTunes, artist are taking control of their own careers more than ever before. With this in mind, artist can take care of most of their business without a manager taking a cut out of their revenues. Well, that’s how we think when we are just getting started as an artist because we want to save as much money as we can, but this is not always the best answer.

For an artist to stay creative and give his all into his arts and craft, an artist has to be free from all of the stress of day-to-day business preoccupying the mind. This is not to say that an artist can’t manage their own Twitter account, but when an artist gets too busy to book their own shows and handle calls with distributors while writing a song, then it maybe time to look for some professional help.

First of all, I suggest that all artists manage their own careers or at least take part in it because it’s a learning experience that’s much needed. Once an artist has built a web presence and is performing live, then they may want to look at taking it up a notch and getting some professional help in handling their music career business to allow them to get more done creatively. Some of us artist try to handle too much at times and it will show with lack of energy somewhere down the line.

Once an artist gets the ball rolling with shows and building a web presence, they should look into seeking a manager to help build their brand up while the artist can be as creative. Now days, artist are faced with 360 Deals that label executives throw at them making them sound great. Having a manager telling you that you may want to keep on pushing before signing could be for your best interest. Check out what Kevin Liles says about 360 deals and how good they could be for you. This is where you could use a good manager.

A manager’s job can be overwhelming at times. When an artist or group is as big as Outkast, there is no way they could manage themselves. Check out a day in the life of Blu Williams, Outkast’s manager. He has more than a busy day with a group at that level. That’s what it is all about. What level you're on? Are you at the level were you can still handle your business or have you reached a level were you may need more of a professional assistant helping you? That's a decision that needs to be decided soon if you're a new artist, Real Talk!

Thanks for reading my blog and please share with friends,

Corey

References:

     "Blu Williams on Artist Management Pt 1 - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXm_bJPt_M>.   

     "Kevin Liles on Def Jam, 360 Deals, Trey Songz and Mentoring Young America - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChXXrpUX6-E>.   

www.rottentomatoes.com 

www.pmpworldwide.com 

Sign Now Or Keep Pushing?

Stay Independent or…?

Would you stay an independent artist in the music industry today or would you, “hurry up and sell completely out for the quick buck”, by signing a 360 deal with a record label? These days, artists are left with the dilemma of staying independent and is it the best thing for them or should they leave it to the professionals to help them with their careers? If you ask me it’s all about your position in this negotiation.

There’s no doubt that the record industry has been in decline-mode for the past decade due to piracy and the Internet. According to "The State of the Music Industry 2012",  The Nielsen Soundscan Annual Report, 785.1 million records were sold in the U.S. in 2000, but in 2009 only 373.9 million records were sold, a 52% drop from 2000 (Nielsen, 2009). That’s to show you that in just a decade, technology has made it easier than ever before to file share music to the masses.

Traditional major record companies have been slowly fizzling out the picture when it comes to album sales so they had to figure out something. Here come the 360 deals. According to 360 DEALS AND WHAT THEY INDICATE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY STRUCTURE by Jonathan E. Basofin, “labels primary objective is to capture revenue streams beyond sales of recorded music” (Basofin, 2010). In other words, the labels do not want to just depend on the artist record sales as the only way of getting paid. They want a part of the artist merchandising, live shows, publishing, and other outside commercial endorsements as well. The record companies want in on just about every source of income possible that the artist would be able to make based off of their music career. Sounds pretty steep for some, but it can be very good for the right situation for others.

I feel like Kyle Rambeu’s “360 Deals In The Music Industry-Good VS Bad”, when he states that 360 deals can be a “win-win situation for artist”, especially the ones that have been successful in touring (Rambeu, 2011). Say for instance, Jay Z, he has recently signed a 360 deal in 2008 with Live Nation, the king of concerts for a whopping $150 million. This is great, I think, for Jay because he has an established career and now has partnership with the industry giant in live shows for all his other endeavors like Roc Nation (Rolling Stone, 2008).

I also feel that if you’re an artist with a strong independent push, you have a support system with a good team and you can promote and book your own shows then you may want to keep your leverage going for yourself until the offer from the label is too good to turn down. In these days more then ever before are an abundance amount of resources on the Internet for independent artist to be able to market and promote with best of them. If you asked me, I would advise all artists to take this approach first. So when the time does come for a sit down with the majors, you will have plenty of leverage to negotiate when it comes to the percentages in your 360 deals, Real Talk!  

References:

Basofin, J. (Director) (2010, March 30). 360 DEALS AND WHAT THEY INDICATE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY STRUCTURE. Entertainment Law Seminar. Lecture conducted from Professor Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Chicago.

Hiatt, B., & Knopper, S. (2008). Live Nation Strikes Deals With Jay-Z, U2; Shakes Biz. Rolling Stone, (1051), 11-12.

Rambeau, K. (n.d.). 360 Deals In the Music Industry - Good vs. Bad | Suite101. Suite101. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://suite101.com/article/360-deals-in-record-contracts---good-for-the-artist-a339869

The State of the Music Industry 2012 - | The Blend.ie - News That Matters Ireland. (n.d.). | The Blend.ie - News That Matters Ireland. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://www.theblend.ie/comment/the-state-of-the-music-industry-in-2012/

Nielsen SoundScan 2009 Annual Report, available at http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100106007077&newsLang=en [hereinafter “SoundScan 2009 Annual Report”].

Image reference:

www.qualitybath.com