The Heretic’s Comment: We ran across a great Forbes article by columnist  Zack O’Malley Greenburg discussing Mac Miller’s independent march to fame and fortune. If you want some motivation to keep you going in this brutal game called the Music Industry, take time out to read this excellent article. The article will take you about 10 minutes to complete. The link appears directly below.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/12/19/mac-miller-indie-music-savior-30-under-30/

Closing Comments:

Read this article!!! It will motivate you!!!

The thing I love about Mac is that he gets it. He understands that it is better to get a bigger slice of a smaller pie, than almost no slice at all from a huge pie. When you do the numbers, dollars wins over pennies. But what artists/musical groups/bands get caught up into thinking is that having the major label machine behind them will translate into them making more money. It sounds good, but in most cases it is not true. Now I grant you, if you are signed to a major label you may be able to charge a higher fee for your shows, but those days are rapidly coming to an end. Nowadays, you can’t draw people to a show just because you are an artist signed to a major label, instead people attending live shows are there because somehow they feel connected with that particular artist whether or not that artist is signed to a major label.

It boils down to your efforts to consistently connect your music to a fanbase that is loyal to you as opposed to being loyal to the record label you may happened to be signed to. We have a post called Rent-A-Fanbase versus Own-A-Fanbase that goes into this topic much deeper and we highly recommend you to read.

Find a way to get your music and products into your fans’ hearts and that will get you to the money. It is not easy….but it can happen…just read Mac Miller’s story!!!

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

The Heretic’s Comment: Those of you who read this blog regularly know how strongly we emphasize the importance of owning and controlling your creative content, but with that being said, there is something fundamentally wrong with the way the U.S. Congress is attempting to enforce the rights of content owners through the proposed controversial legislation known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).

The major entertainment conglomerates from the music, books and film industries among others are all lining up to put pressure on Congress to pass this legislation which would effectively criminalize the act of posting up content which you can’t prove that you have ownership in or  license to use.

One version of the act, has as part of its punishment, a 5 year prison sentence for a first time offender. Additionally, websites such as YouTube or Facebook which allows users to place content on their sites could be shut down (yanked from the internet) if the offending content is not removed within 5 days of posting.

The Entertainment Conglomerates are using SOPA as another way to control and police content. Either you play their game or they shut you down and possibly have prosecutors attempt to throw you in jail. These companies have not learned one damn thing. They tried this same tactic when the RIAA (Record Label Police) went after highschoolers and college kids among others for file sharing. These efforts had a negative impact on the public’s view of the major labels which still lingers to this very day.

We have told you several times in this blog that censorship of the internet is the fight taking place as we speak, but sadly most of the public is not even aware that a war is being waged.

One of my favorite bloggers Seth Godin shared a list of the companies/organizations who support SOPA. As Seth stated, we are providing the list so now you know who to complain to:

ABC
AFTRA – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
AFM – American Federation of Musicians
AAP – Association of American Publishers
ASCAP
BMG Chrysalis
BMI
CBS Corporation
Cengage Learning
DGA – Directors Guild of America
Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.
EMI Music Publishing
ESPN
Graphic Artists Guild
Hachette Book Group
HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C.
Hyperion
IATSE – International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Kaufman Astoria Studios
Macmillan
Major League Baseball
Marvel Entertainment, LLC
McGraw-Hill Education
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
NFL – National Football League
National Music Publishers’ Association
NBCUniversal
News Corporation
New York Production Alliance
New York State AFL-CIO
Pearson Education
Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
The Perseus Books Group
Producers Guild of America East
Random House
Reed Elsevier
SAG – Screen Actors Guild
Scholastic, Inc.
Silvercup Studios
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Time Warner Inc.
United States Tennis Association
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Publishing Group
Viacom
Warner Music Group
W.W. Norton & Company
Wolters Kluwer

Closing Comments:

In the case of Conglomerates who are in the business of  buying content, stop giving up your ownership to these companies. Once they own your content and a law like SOPA is passed, you could possibly be thrown in jail for posting up your own music to YouTube!!! Stop this madness!!!

Are we a Police State or a Democracy??????

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY FROM YOUR PROJECT Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

Christian Rockers Casting Crowns Cruising To Possible No. 1 Album

The Heretic’s Comment: Watch for Christian rockers Casting Crowns‘ “Come to the Well” to possibly debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart next week, with perhaps 95,000-110,000 sold by week’s end on Sunday, Oct. 23, according to industry prognosticators.

The set could mark both the act’s first No. 1 on the big chart and the first since 1997 to crown both the Billboard 200 and the Christian Albums chart. LeAnn Rimes‘ “You Light Up My Life – Inspirational Songs” topped both tallies in September of that year.

Standing in Casting Crowns way is Adele‘s sturdy “21″ album, which has already notched a dozen weeks at No. 1. It hasn’t sold less than 110,000 copies in a week since late August, according to Nielsen SoundScan, so it poses a real threat to Casting Crowns.

Casting Crowns has visited the Billboard 200′s top 10 three times previously — most recently with the No. 4-debuting album “Until the Whole World Hears” in 2009. That set launched with 167,000 sold. The closest Casting Crowns has come to No. 1 was the week of Sept. 15, 2007, when “The Altar and the Door” bowed at No. 2 with 129,000. (At No. 1 that week? The “High School Musical 2” soundtrack, which moved 210,000 in its third frame at the top.)

In addition to Casting Crowns, look for R&B singer Joe and reunited rock band Jane’s Addiction to both start in the top 10 with their latest albums. Joe’s “The Good, the Bad, the Sexy” would mark his fifth top 10, and Jane’s new “The Great Escape Artist” could be its first top 10 since “Strays” hit No. 4 in 2003.

http://www.billboard.com/#/news/christian-rockers-casting-crowns-cruising-1005425522.story

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Gaga Producer Fusari Clashes With Songwriters Over Studio Work, Legal Action Coming

The Heretic’s Comment: Lady Goo Goo won’t be the last of Lady Gaga‘s legal adversaries.

According to LA Weekly, the Los Angeles-based pop duo Purple Crush are suing Gaga producer Rob Fusari, claiming he owes them money for production work towards the album “Born This Way.”

Although none of their work made it to the final record, Isla Cheadle and Jared Selter reportedly claim they labored through hundreds of studio hours for Fusari and his clients without compensation. According to Purple Crush, their role involved expanding upon song snippets Fusari sent them, before forwarding their work along to artists, such as Gaga, who would add lyrics and melody. Work was done in their L.A. and Brooklyn studios.

Purple Crush claim songwriting work for other Fusari clients such as Macy Gray, Little Boots and Greyson Chance.

Additionally, the songwriters claim Fusari had promised to obtain a record deal for them, which he never did.

“It became this struggle between us as artists and us as employees,” Cheadle told LA Weekly. “Getting us a record deal became this carrot he dangled in front of us.”

Last April, Purple Crush offered Fusari a $10,000 settlement, which he refused. When Fusari countered with a $15,500 lawsuit, the duo announced plans to countersue. So far, no official court dates have been announced, as Purple Crush has been unable to find a lawyer.

Aside from dating Stefani Germanotta and coming up with her now-famous stage name, Fusari co-wrote some of her biggest hits, such as “Paparazzi.” Last September, the two settled their own legal disagreements by mutually dropping conflicting lawsuits over, once again, song credits and royalties.

http://www.billboard.com/#/news/gaga-producer-fusari-clashes-with-songwriters-1005427022.story

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

‘X Factor‘: 17 Contestants Move to Live Round & Simon Gets Soft

The Heretic’s Comment: s “X Factor” eliminations rolled around again last night (Oct. 18), only 17 of the 32 contestants left the judges’ homes as competitors in the live round. Nearly every contestant was in tears, whether celebrating or mourning shattered dreams, yet one contestant convinced Simon to — gasp — change his stubborn mind.

The first pair facing Simon was Tora Wolloshin and Simone Battle. Tora’s performances have only gone downhill since her first audition, while Simone has been steadily maturing. Although Tora had the pop star charisma and personality, plus one of the best auditions, Simon saw more potential in Simone and eliminated accordingly.

Drew Ryniewicz, a 14-year-old Justin Bieber superfan, was the next to face Simon, who told her that he “saw an improvement” and she “could not have done more.” Although he continued, “I’m not going to lie. You weren’t the best teenager.”

As the young star looked down and began to accept her fate, Simon finished: “You weren’t the best teenager, you were the best contestant of the whole day.” After squeals of disbelief, followed by Simon’s reassurances of “Yes, I’m legit. I’m for real,” Drew rushed offstage to celebrate.

During his “Judges’ Houses” audition, Dexter Haygood bombed. He was assigned Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love,” and it was so far out of his comfort zone that he awkwardly forgot many of the words. “As we speak, I am homeless,” Dexter told the cameras before facing Nicole. “I don’t have no money, I don’t have nothing but a car and a jacket. I don’t think no one in this competition… they may want it as much as I want it, but they don’t need it as much as I need it.” But Nicole saw his spark and his potential, recalling his first audition, and she chose to take him forward to the next round.

http://www.billboard.com/#/news/x-factor-17-contestants-move-to-live-round-1005421352.story

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

The Heretic’s Comments: Earlier this week YouTube announced two new arrangements that will prayerfully position indie artists/bands/musical groups/songwriters with better opportunities to generate money through the YouTube platform.

1. The Merch Store

The First arrangement is the creation of a  service known as the Merch Store. The Merch Store will allow viewers of your videos to purchase fan merchandise directly from your YouTube channel.

If you don’t have a YouTube channel, what are you waiting on…get it setup immediately.

If you have merchandise, you need to immediately get on top of this. On the other hand, if you don’t have merchandise, why don’t you…in this blog we have told you repeatedly that the music business is not just about music anymore.

2. Merlin global rights deal

The Second arrangement is the completion of the long negotiated global rights deal with the agency known as Merlin which represents roughly 14,000 independent labels. Why is this such a good deal for indie labels, because major labels have turned their music catalogs into hundreds of millions of dollars per year through the YouTube platform. Now, with the Merlin/YouTube deal in place, indie labels will have an opportunity to get a piece of that YouTube revenue pie.

If you are unfamiliar with Merlin, it is an organization that is setup to protect the commercial interest (right to make money) of independent record labels.

More specifically, if you are recording and releasing your own musical projects, then you are operating as an independent record label and should seriously consider joining Merlin.

For those of you familiar with Attorney Cross, this is something that he has been pushing independents to do for sometime now.

Joining Merlin allows Indie Record Labels to move as a collective group which will provide better leverage to get deals done like the one completed with YouTube which will prayerfully create an additional way for indie music to generate cashflow.

You can get more information on Merlin @

http://www.merlinnetwork.org/home/

Closing Comments:

There is sooo much clutter on YouTube and I know it can be extremely difficult to get your music noticed above the noise, but if you are successful in getting people to come to your YouTube page, then you owe it to yourself  to position your channel to generate money in as many different ways as it can.

Take advantage of the information we are providing in this post so that money can have an opportunity to find you.

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.
The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

‘The X Factor‘ Gives Singers Second Chances

The Heretic’s Comment: As evidenced by the recent season of “The Voice,” which featured multiple contestants with professional pasts (including winner Javier Colon, a former Capitol Records artist), many singers who audition for TV talent competitions are not total newbies to the showbiz game. Many of them have tried other, more traditional avenues, with some degree of success, before going the reality route. They’re all great talents who somehow slipped through the cracks; all of them had potential, but for sundry sad reasons, their careers were bungled by various powers-that-be or poor life decisions. Now they see shows like “The Voice,” “American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent,” and “The X Factor” as their one last hope.

Yes, “The X Factor” is no different: Several of the remaining 32 “X Factor” contestants have serious music business experience. Granted, it’s always a problem when shows like these aren’t upfront about their contestants’ pasts, leaving some viewers feeling disgruntled and duped when they do quick Wikipedia or YouTube searches and discover that these singers are not straight-off-the-turnip-truck unknowns. (You may recall the scandals surrounding outed “Idol” contestants Carly Smithson and Joanna Pacitti, both former major-label artists.) This used to bother me too…but frankly, knowing how hard it is to get a break in this business, I no longer begrudge anyone trying to pursue, or re-pursue, their dreams any which way they can.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/422768/the-x-factor-gives-singers-second-chances/

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

The Heretic’s Comment: Earlier today Universal Music Publishing announced its new president as Evan Lamberg who replaces David Renzer who left the company in April.

In his new designation, Lamberg will jointly report to Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Lucian Grainge and UMG President and chief operating officer Zach Horowitz.

Closing Comments:

Let’s see how the continuing music chairs played by the music conglomerates play out.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/publishing/evan-lamberg-named-president-of-universal-1005407782.story

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That”  is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Music Licensing Service Rumblefish Adds Ex-Pandora Board Member

The Heretics Comment: Music licensing outfit Rumblefish has added a new board member to help drive its growth. Harry DeMott, a former board member at Pandora and long-time analyst and investor in media companies, has joined the Portland, Oregon-based company’s board of directors.

DeMott tells Billboard.biz he joined Rumblefish because the company targets a particular need in music licensing. His time with Pandora showed him that music licensing is a very difficult task for which few people have the patience. But music licensing is even more difficult for consumers, Rumblefish’s target market for licensed music in social media and user-generated content. “These guys seem to have done a pretty good job solving that problem,” he says.

Rumblefish provides solutions for both consumers and professionals to add licensed music to their projects. Its Friendlymusic, for example, lets individuals add music to their user-generated YouTube videos for $1.99. Then there’s Animoto, a web-based service that turns photos and videos into animated features. Rumbelfish’s pre-cleared catalog of music provides the soundtrack to the images. In both cases, the consumer – not industry professionals – are making use of licensed music.

User-generated content is a huge potential market, and Rumblefish is off to a good start. In July it surpassed 4 million licensed songs in user-generated videos, slideshows and presentations.

DeMott has a keen understanding of media in a changing digital landscape. In addition to being an angel investor and a venture capital partner at Raptor Capital Management, DeMott has been an equity research analyst at Credit Suisse, King Street Capital and Knighthead Capital Management. He and funds he has been associated with have invested in Pandora, Titan Outdoor, dMarc Broadcasting (acquired by Google in 2006), Zing (acquired by Dell in 2007), Armada Media, Kyazoonga, Broadcast Interactive Media (BIM), Whistlebox and Violet Crown Cinema.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/music-licensing-service-rumblefish-adds-1005399322.story

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Grooveshark: the other free music service

The Heretic’s Comment: The “freemium” business model may be taking off among online music services, but the conventional wisdom is that Spotify and other proponents will never make money off of their free, advertiser-supported tiers. Instead, the key will be hooking people with the free offering, then persuading them to pay for an upgraded tier.

Spotify’s newly released financial statements seem to back up that view. As the company grew in 2010, so did its losses.

Don’t tell Paul Geller that free music on demand is a money-loser, however. Geller is vice president of business development at Grooveshark, an advertiser-supported site based in Gainesville, Fla., that streams an unlimited amount of music on demand to users at no charge. Grooveshark has been rocking the freemium model for longer than Spotify — in addition to its free tier, it has a $6-a-month advertising-free plan and a $9-a-month service that works on modified smartphones (more on that later). But Geller is bullish about the site’s potential to generate enough ad dollars to be profitable, even after paying royalties (more on that later too).

That’s largely because of the data generated by Grooveshark users. By analyzing that data, Geller said, the company can target ads much better than other sites (as demonstrated by higher click-through rates), pair artists with brand advertisers in mutually advantageous ways, and help labels market artists far more effectively.

Some bands might balk at the idea of their songs promoting corporate America‘s products. But Geller said that in Grooveshark’s approach, “the brand is the one endorsing the artist. It’s almost exactly opposite of the artist selling out.” For example, MSN wanted to do some advertising tied to the South by Southwest music festival. It wound up paying for a space on the site that ran short videos of artists saying who they wanted to see perform at the show. Bands weren’t singing the praises of MSN; instead, MSN was associating itself with the bands’ praise of other artists.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/10/grooveshark-the-other-free-music-service.html

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The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

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Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!