Thursday, August 22, 2013








 Why you should Never Stop Learning More, if You want to Be in The World of Electronic Dance Music and Culture.



It is quite interesting motivating all the while at times being disheartening, to be up on the cultural and business sides of Electronic Dance Music(EDM) and Electronic Dance Culture(EDC). I read a lot of articles and subscribe to newsletters like Paper.Li Edm clothes and News. Some articles paint such a beautiful picture for aspiring artists, others tell tales of EDM horror stories, and some just don’t know how to feel based on the insecurities that “Baby boomers” feel about investing in what many of them feel may be a fad. I will discuss some recent goings on in EDM but first, listen to me. In the music business if you don’t know what you are doing ,what to ask for when collaborating and how to structure your agreements in general, you will get hosed. In the words of the Legendary Immortal KRS-ONE, you must Learn!

This past year all in all, electronic music’s 12 top earners pulled in $268 million over the past year—more than the combined gross domestic product of island nations Kiribati and Tuvalu(Forbes,2013). Yet, some Electronic dance music singers artist and producers who have experienced world wide smash hits ,regional hits and club hits have not been paid for writing lead melody and chorus’ for hit songs. Really? I mean really? How can that be if Tiesto earned $32 million over the past 12 months, second place on this year’s Electronic Cash Kings list ON FORBES.com—the top spot goes to Calvin Harris who pulled in $46 million. Like Tiësto, he played well over 100 shows and picked up nightly fees in excess of $200,000, but ranks No. 1 thanks to hits penned for the likes of Rihanna and LMFAO, as well as a hefty publishing advance. Harris and Tiësto have plenty of company. David Guetta ranks third at $30 million, boosted both by live shows and collaborations with the likes of The Black-Eyed Peas and Usher. Even at age 45, he shows little signs of slowing, playing more than 120 shows over the past year(Forbes, 2013). These are the big guys but so many of the DJ’s traveling and making crazy bucks don’t have to be that big to make great money.

An example of singers who have suffered this fate is Antonia Lucas after decades of feeling devalued and disrespected by club music producers and labels, decided to set up the Vocalist Songwriters Alliance (VSA). This group now has over 300 members who have all suffered similar fates. CoCo Star (real name Susan Brice). Released I Need a Miracle with Greenlight Recordings in the US and became a club hit. It was then re-recorded and released on EMI's Positiva imprint in the UK a year later. In 1999, a British DJ mashed up her vocals from the song with German act Fragma's track Toca Me. The mash-up was released without Brice's permission on a bootleg white label for which she was never paid. This started a buzz in the clubs, and Fragma released their own version of the bootleg, Toca's Miracle, on Tiger Records in Germany and Positiva in the UK in 2000. It went to No 1 in 14 countries worldwide. She has never made a dime from any of this! Other singers have collected her royalties for her vocals when lip-synching or just playing imposters on live performances or radio play. Wow. Some say that "The producers are not all necessarily choosing to be rogues, unfair and dishonest, Some are just ignorant regarding how the industry works.(Lindvall,The Guardian.com,2013) I don’t agree because a record producers job is to know this, otherwise your are a novice and not a producer and you become a liability to anyone who engages in business with you. You see, these collaborators engaging in business with you will not just vicariously infringe on others rights, but literally be named in the lawsuits. Unless of course, you have no money to hire a lawyer to protect your rights, which is generally what happens to these singers and project contributors at the bottom of the barrel contributing to EDM’s history and success. Lucas has commented on the present day situation by saying that "Some of the biggest DJs out there are doing it [to their featured vocalist/co-writers]," she says. "They're making the most money, yet they expect to pay the least. They believe they're superior to us – but without us, what would the fans be singing?" (Lindvall,The Guardian.com,2013).


As dance music makes a comeback as EDM and EDC, huge businesses are gearing up to make IPO’s (Initial public Offerings of their companies ,stock on the stock markets) on companies rooted in, geared towards and concentrating in Electronic music. Robert F.X. Sillerman's newly re-formed SFX Entertainment  is weeks away from taking the EDM incarnation of SFX to the public markets in a $175 million initial public offering, Wall Street is about to provide some tough answers. In a few weeks the industry will know how investors really feel about the burgeoning EDM movement, and more specifically their opinion of Sillerman's latest roll-up of companies under his umbrella. This 65 year old has recently SFX picked up several additional companies in the intervening year, including significant gets like digital download site Beatport and Dutch event producer ID&T. SFX expects to raise 175 Million from the offering, but with so much controversy over people being paid their share of the pot when creating hits, it seems like no one is paying attention until they get hit with a lawsuit. 


As the Electronic music’s many incarnations, abbreviations and buzzwords become more and more aligned with profitable brands and viable merchandising, tours, films and IPO’s, knowing contracts, law, standard entertainment business practices and how to protect yourself from swindlers, greedy musical collaborators and unscrupulous “Janky” promoters becomes more and more important to the so called beat makers, producers, DJs performers and songwriters fueling this brightly burning EDM fire. My take on this and advice to aspiring singers songwriters et cetera, is to educate yourself. Chamillionaire, the platinum selling rapper stated he reads all he can about the music business whenever he can, he recommended a book that I keep in my arsenal, at least start with this book it’s easy to read and in-depth classic about the industry you may want to make your living from. The Author is Donald S. Passman, and The book is titled, “All You Need To Know About The Music Business” this is just a start but it is a step in the right direction for any one who is contemplating or already involved in this business.



Images:


http://e3fabhckvfadprm2.zippykid.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/confused.jpg


Sources:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/08/14/electronic-cash-kings-2013-the-worlds-highest-paid-djs/


http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/06/edm-electronic-dance-music-singers


http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/branding/5657763/edms-dead-long-live-emc-sfxs-ipo-looms-large-while-the-industry?page=0%2C1


http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/playlist/333726/Steve-Angello-eyes-big-future-for-new-dance-generation


http://paper.li/EDM_Clothes/1342036853?edition_id=b2fb81d0-0a9c-11e3-b45b-00259071bfec&utm_campaign=paper_sub&utm_medium=email&utm_source=subscription

Tuesday, August 13, 2013



Chopping it up with Dempsey Jones, the Host of SXSWfm's EDJ show Highlighting Electronic Dance Music!


 Buy The Escape Velocity Electro Hip-Hop EDM album  here http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tapia


I recently had the opportunity to be invited to a Full Sail Green Room session as a distinguished member of the Full Sail Student Body.This exclusive opportunity was with two of SXSW's(South by South west Conferences and Festivals) very own distinguished panelists and Directors, Dempsey Jones and Gene Butler The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW is the premier destination for discovery.


                                              EDJ SPOTLIGHT HOST DEMPSEY JONES
Dempsey is an experienced event production and management professional in the Austin, Texas area. She recently received her Bachelors degree in Communication Studies from Southwestern University. As an undergrad, she worked as a University Entertainment Event Programmer and began venturing into the field of broadcasting. Dempsey has worked with various radio stations across the United States and in London, England. After two years of interning with SXSW, she began working on staff as a senior in college, and she spent her final semester coordinating Clusterfest, a music and arts festival in Georgetown, Texas. She is currently employed as the Platinum Conference Crews Volunteer Coordinator and the SXSWfm Music Coordinator at South by Southwest, LLC. 
Dempsey is also the host for SXSWfm's EDJ show.EDJ, hosted by Dempsey Jones, continues with its show on SXSWfmElectronic Dance Music has been growing exponentially over the past several years and continues to encompass more and more sub-genres with each month.She is in charge of finding new EDM acts to feature on the show after they have performed at SXSW. Thankfully, EDJ will have your garage and jungle, grime and drum 'n' bass, dubstep and trap, and everything in between along with what lies ahead. Tune in for artists such as Rusko, Caspa, A Tribe Called Red, TNGHT, Baauer, Skream, and Calvin Harris.

Check out EDJ, I had the chance to chop it up with her about how to submit to be showcased at SXSW March 7-16 2014 in Austin Texas. she told me right now is the perfect time to submit on SXSW.com  under the music tab,and apply to showcase section. There is a thirty dollar application fee and the earlier you submit the better. She is also looking for volunteers for the Platinum conference Crews to work the event they took on close to 4000 volunteers last year alone one of the perks is you get a pass to the conference (platinum passes run up to 1500 dollars if you just walk up to by them!) You will have to arrange your own accommodations but they do feed you as long as you are volunteering. You can apply at volunteer.sxsw.com  beginning the first week in November.
                                  Dempsey kicking it with some Full Sailors in the Green Room!
Dempsey made it clear that SXSW is growing exponentially and looking for EDM artists to fill the over one hundred stages they will have to showcase acts next year! So much of the entertainment business is becoming familiar with people and networking, Dempsey was so cool and open to new artists and the process for selection I decided to share her insights with you all so we can push the genre. Now apply even earlier for consideration to play our 28th annual SXSW Music Festival! Showcasing at SXSW means performing in one of Austin, TX's famous live music venues, for over 25,000 industry representatives and fellow musicians combined, plus over 3,000 media members and thousands of fans in attendance. Apply for the opportunity to play with acts from all over world. Of the 2,200 plus showcasing artists in 2013, nearly 600 international acts performed, representing 55 different countries. By opening the submission process earlier, it is our their to give even more attention to each applicant and also notify bands sooner of their status.

                                               TAPIA 7AP!A and DEMPSEY JONES
SXSW hosts acts in every stage of their development, including music legends such as Dave Grohl, Stevie Nicks, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, LL Cool Jay, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Depeche Mode. Join the ranks of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mumford and Sons, Florence and The Machine, Alabama Shakes, Kendrick Lamar, The Strokes and so many more, by benefiting from career changing exposure and publicity provided by the amazing mix of influential participants who attend SXSW every year. If your act is selected for a SXSW 2014 showcase, domestic acts may opt to receive either cash compensation OR a SXSW Music Artist Package. International acts receive a SXSW Music Artist Package. (An Artist Package consists of ARTIST wristbands for band members ONLY with the option to purchase two discounted SXSW MUSIC FESTIVAL wristbands for managers, label representatives, crew, etc.) Artist wristbands allow admission to the SXSW Music Panels, SXSW Trade Show, Music Gear Expo, official SXSW showcases, artist lounges and more. If accepted, you will receive more details about both options in your notification email. I hope This information helps any aspiring EDM DJs or Artists and anyone interested in Volunteering for this Industry Wide event. Peace.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Role of Electronic Dance Music Blogs and musical forums who showcase Talent

                                        

                                           Buy  Escape Velocity The Electro Hip Hop album

What is the role of Electronic Dance Music Blogs and any musical forums who showcase talent?

It's all about the  new blood. Bloggers can choose to write about anything and anyone they would like to write about. It behooves  writers who concentrate on music, and especially Electronic Music to keep their nose to the grindstone and dig through the underground to find the untapped talent who everybody doesn't know about yet. Those artists, DJs, Composers, Producers, Talent Scouts and  Managers who are emerging and competing harder then they ever have. Many posts on many EDM, blogs talk about the same old, same old.Yeah, in this day and age there is still  subject matter that I consider the same old same old. For example,though Zedd's career is not even a half a decade old yet, the news that he will produce songs for and work with Lady GaGa to me is same old same old. C'mon every major music publication is going to have someone write the same article about it, why do you, mister blogger have to do it too? Thats why I like EDM SAUCE because as far as Electronic Dance music Blogs and websites they do just that, they stay up on whats new hot and who is coming up next.

Well I am not going to be like you bloggers who promote the same people over and over again. Here on Synkrow! We dig through the dirt and keep finding new folks to talk about. Many EDM fans already know about Bass Jackers, but they still haven't hit critical mass yet. So lets talk about their movement. Marlon Flohr and Ralph Van Hilst began making their house dance style mixes together in 2007. When Fedde Le Grand Picked up on their set "Beat Cut" and started playing it in his sets, it kick started an explosion in their career.

 When another one of their tracks called “Mush Mush” was picked up by Tiesto it was soon released on Tiesto’s imprint”Musical Freedom”. That song dominated Beatport’s Top Ten for 2 months and became one of 2011 biggest hits in the clubs and festivals. They have enjoyed support from and are regularly played by Tiesto, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Afrojack, Benny Benassi, Calvin Harris and pretty much everyone else.



Bass Jackers just hit a milestone  and decided to give the fans something for free in celebration. When they hit 100,000 likes from fans on FaceBook they decided to release the Track “Crackin” for free to the world. I like that Bass Jackers took that role and decided to give back to the fans! While I know they aren’t exactly “New Jacks” I like what they are doing and would like to inform anyone who doesn’t know through Synkrow!


Listen and download"Crackin"below


https://soundcloud.com/bassjackers/bassjackers-crackin-100k

                                                                               References for Images:
                                                                   
                                                                      https://www.facebook.com/bassjackers





Friday, June 7, 2013

                        WHAT IS HAPPENING TO EDM? 

Buy The Escape velocity Album!

            


I have already broken down why I believe the mix of genres we refer to as EDM are directly descended from Hip-Hop. While  you do not have to agree with me, you should look around and look at the past and use the model of Hip-Hop to let you know where EDM is headed. Today  the hype and hoopla associated with electronic music is overtaking everything and almost everyone in the business is jumping on the bandwagon. Many said it would be a fad just like they did with Hip-Hop, those that say that are completely ignorant about the origins of electronic music and how long it has been building in order to be at the forefront today. 


From  Barry Gray's 50-and 60's jazz and Electronica to George Clinton's experimentation with synths in Parliament Funkadelic, to The Velvet Revolver's use of distortion and effects and the ever influential and legendary Kraftwerk's innovation in the 70's and 80's leading to some of the  basis of Electro, Hip-Hop and  all popular dance music. It has been a very long time in the making. Now, everyone I mentioned is legendary and were innovators but fast forward to today where, everyone is trying to tap into the droves of EDM fans loving devotion by creating bastardized  commercial versions of EDM, Dance House,Grime Dubstep, and Trance inspired Pop songs. Do we consider that EDM.Well, It is. It's just  taboo, to be a bandwagon jumper.




Kind of like  being a fan of the New England Patriots(American Football) all those years before 2000. Back when they didn't win squat and then watching everyone catch the vapors jump on the bandwagon just to jump off the bandwagon a few years later and put the home team down again because they never were real fans of the movement in the first place.  This is what I see happening with EDM. Everyone will jump on the bandwagon and use and abuse it till there is a rejection of the derivative versions of the music and and  a move towards pure versions of the music or all these derivatives will be embraced and will completely change into something else like Hip-Hop has.


 When Hip-Hop began in the early seventies it was a mix of many different activities, dances, styles and derivations, one of the pieces of the puzzle was Rapping. As it evolved it merged with, DJing and Turntablism, Graffitti and B-boying (Breakdancing) merging R&B, Disco, Soul, Early Electronic Music and latin sounds to create Hip-Hop. It's lyrics were filled with  positivity, braggadocios rhymes about having fun and songs about social commentary. As it became more and more economically viable to sell Rap or Hip-Hop records, Hip-hop began to change.  It became negative, Misogynistic, filled with violence and aggression and materialism.What is considered Hip-Hop today is a far cry from what it originally was. I don't believe this metamorphosis is caused  by  the decline of the natural half life of  a musical genre or art form or culture, I believe it is caused by  commercial  exploitation and it's blatant use of the  lower impulses  of human beings through Sex and Violence. Because sex,violence and drugs sell! Lets keep it real, the majority of us as Human beings can relate to all of the above!



There has been much debate about what Hip-Hop is, and if the present manifestation of it in Popular culture is really Hip-Hop or Rap or Just Pop.  It is what the fans decide it is. The fans decide what is real Hip-Hop or Dance or Country music based on their money and who they choose to support, that is the only barometer we have in our Free Capitalist system and it's how we determine what flies and what doesn't. Some would question the commercialization of art in general but unless you have a solution or alternative it's pointless to do so.



There are so many Fake bandwagon jumpers trying to find a paycheck in EDM right now it's really wack and false hearted, from Paris Hilton trying to be a DJ to Waka Flocka Flame claiming he is  going to drop an EDM album  and that he is the king of "Rap EDM"(thats an ignorant excuse for defining a genre or sub genre) and if you support those people you will get the destruction of EDM, because they don't care about it, they are just  band wagon hoppers that will abandon it at the first sign that the ship is sinking and  the funny thing is that they don't even recognize that they are the sign that the ship is sinking! Last year, Deadmau5 declared that EDM was over . If EDM was over last year whatever this is, is still going strong and it will get a lot worse for any EDM "Purists" if  fans just keep consuming whatever is put out by the  label conglomerates  and no one speaks with their wallets.


References for images and information read more:




Saturday, May 25, 2013

                                             Video Blog Mentions Featuring Tapia-7ap!A


 Wow! Hay EDM fans I am writing this update to let you know what has gone on since premiering my video for the song Bad Acid/Dancing on the stars. I already told you guys about how video aggregators have helped to spread the video all over the place.  My video has since become a topic  that bloggers have taken to discussing about on sites like hiphopfrathouse.com, thisis50.com, groundupradio.com, smoothbloggers.com( of smoothgirl magazine) and many,many more! 


The video is  talked about as innovative,outstanding,trippy and crazy! My inspiration for the  costumes has to do with  masks that are worn at festivals in Puerto Rico and The Dominican Republic called Vejigantes. These were originally made from blown up cow bladders after 1492 celebrating the defeat of the Moors by the Spanish. The masks were taken to the Caribbean where the Spanish would parade them around  to commemorate their defeat of the Moors .The indigenous inhabitants The Arawak speaking Taino indians and the African slave population saw these masks and many of these people knew the art of making masks as the African and Taino were excellent mask makers. The descendants of these groups took the masks of caricatures of Moors and made them more elaborate. They created the Vejigantes and used them as a symbol of anti Imperialism to represent these oppressed groups. It's kind of Ironic that  oppressed groups of people such as the Taino and the African slaves would identify with these masks because they were mocking the Moors which at the time these masks came about  in the 1400's the term Moor  pretty much meant anybody of dark complexion.



 I used these masks to represent My Indigenous Taino and African ancestors. In the video it is meant to reflect how we are modern day representatives and descendants of these cultures as  we in the Caribbean are a mix of all of them!

The Song is a mix of Hip-Hop and Dub-step produced and arranged by myself and the Boy Galactic! I wanted to give Electronic music and Hip hop a completely different look than it has seen before! The director of The video Albert Genao of Genao films helped me realize my vision with quality visuals camerawork and dedication. Many bloggers are appreciating the video and talking about it I would like to thank them and anyone who has supported this movement so far. Using Google alerts I have been notified about  all these features and below I have included a listing of all I could find check it out!







Thursday, May 23, 2013

               The Proliferation of BAD ACID!



After premiering my new music video for the song "Dancing on the Starz Bad Acid" I didn't quite know what to expect. So much had gone into its production that with no budget to promote the video, I kind of felt dead in the water. However, I knew that I could try to promote the video with an organic grass roots approach. I took to Facebook to create a video premiere event. I invited friends who I have actually had interactions with, or that I have known for a long time, I only invited about 600 people to the event and listed it as premiering on the event page itself. So it was a virtual video premiere party! I hyped this premiere with still images from the rough draft of the video for about two weeks. Once premiered I had as many invited folks confirm that they would repost the video to create momentum and they actually did! We premiered May 3rd since then so much has happened around this music video. It is May 23rd and the video has over 50,000 views on YouTube!



                                Video Aggregators


The video has been reposted on over 30 video aggregators all over the world! A video aggregator is a website that collects and organizes online videos from other sources. Video aggregation is done for different purposes, and websites take different approaches to achieve their purpose. Some sites try to collect videos of high quality or interest for visitors to view. The collection may be made by editors or may be based on community votes. Another method is to base the collection on those videos most viewed, either at the aggregator site or at various popular video hosting sites . Some of the reposting is  like bootlegging of my video, but it can do nothing but add to my momentum at this point. No one really knows who I am yet and this is helping to  get the word out about my album Escape Velocity. Soon we will be going to  digital distribution to the MTV networks and BET, Fuse and many others. The video is presently on sites like Flickr, Stumbleupon,Vimeo, Bebo, Metacafe,Screencast, Rediff, Viddler, Newsvine, Dekhona, Listal, Buzznet, Popscreen, Miloop,and Cardomain and many more sites that aren't even in English! I hope and expect that this will lead to more blog placements and general attention around the video and Project. A friend helped me set up my google alerts to notify me every time my name came up on a new listing on the search engine. Below is a listing of links to every video site I could find that had my video uploaded to it! Check The video out on youtube and comment repost and enjoy!