BING - light comes on

So I realized on the way to work today that it would be awesome to have BOTH Marley and Tyrone at the meeting, so they could bounce stories off each other and that sort of deal, so I sent Marley an email and text letting him know of the meeting.  

Just spent the good part of today typing up a little of what Tyrone gave me and finding videos on youtube to add to it.  I'm trying to go artist by artist, and pull in the influential songs that are still relevant today.

Success!

YES!  I finally got ahold of Tyrone and was able to talk with him a little about the early history of the label.  It was helpful to get an idea of how the label really came about and the early artists signed to it.  We decided it was easier to schedule a meeting in person where he could sit down and tell me stories of the time and I could ask whatever questions I wanted to - it is scheduled for the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and will be at our office. 

David also put in a call to his former intern at Sony Music Publishing, Kenny Ochoa, and sent me his contact information in order to set up a meeting with him.  I'll be talking with him about opportunities in the music industry and such, and hopefully some job leads might come of it.  He's also going to talk to his friends Joel Simon and Ali Dee - of the commercial and film music production people I spoke about before.  So, we'll see what happens! 

Changing Music Industry

I came in this morning and talked with David a little on the music industry.  I asked him where he thought the opportunities laid, given the way the industry is now, and he thinks it lies in finding a great musical act and owning the rights to their music - so essentially, in publishing.  One of the quotes he said was that "even turkeys fly in a strong wind," - so when the music industry was doing well, businesses that don't really do anything still make money.  However, today, the music business isn't doing the greatest, so a "turkey" won't "fly."  

I also asked him what he thought about entertainment law and Intellectual Property rights, as a friend of mine indicated that there is future growth in this area.  He predicts that it's about the same as the rest of the industry.  It will probably be another decade or so before the music industry picks up again, and that's if legislation is passed giving labels the right to crack down further on illegal downloads (by shutting down the cable's access to those sites, etc.).  We'll see.

As much as this was a difficult thing to hear, it was good because it's the reality of the business. 

David had presentations in the city today, so I worked from home on the youtube videos and tried calling Tyrone again.  I also did some research on networking in order to prepare myself for the speaker tomorrow night.

Youtube

David said we would start pulling in different sources, links, and data from different places for the blog, so I've started finding high-res videos for the Cold Chillin' blog.  Called Tyrone again today, but I caught him at a bad time.  He said he would return my call, but has not yet.  I'm going to attempt to call him again on Monday.

My landlady gave me an article about a music industry lecture that's coming up on Tuesday.  The guy speaking is Morton Dennis Wax, who is a noted NYC music marketer.  I'm going to go to it to ask questions, gain insight, and to network some.  Kind of nervous, but kind of excited!

Happy Friday!

Today was a bit of a bust at the office because we had kids running around all day for Myachi.  Since it was Veterans' Day, the schools had off, so we had an "event."  The location is open to kids at any time, but since there was no school, there were kids EVERYWHERE.  I tried to concentrate on my work, but it was hard to with kids running around.  Continued with the blog and waiting on Tyrone to return my call.  We got an email from Tunesat saying that the data was uploaded so they'll start monitoring the songs and we'll go from there!

I asked David how CAK got involved with Cold Chillin', and he said that one of Charles' people knew of Cold Chillin' and made the introduction, and here we are today.  I called Tyrone and left a message, so I'm just waiting to hear back from him.  Today I continued with my research and uploading to the blog - there's not much besides the bios on there yet, but I need to find a way to get more attention to the blog.

Ali Dee is another one of David's contacts - Ali Dee is the biggest producer for films.  He's done the Alvin & the Chipmunks movies as well as many other popular films.  Apparently he used to be a singer back in the day, and would help aspiring stars by producing their music.  He worked from there and caught his big break eventually and now here he is.  He specializes in custom music productions - so if a film needs a cross between songs or genres, he can create a unique sound for them. 

Michael Tolcher, one of the artists whose music we manage, is playing tonight at The Bitter End in Greenwich.  David will be going with his family to see him, as it's been a couple of years.  I have prior commitments so I can't make it but it's cool to hear of an artist coming to play.  His music is a cross between Jack Johnson & Jason Mraz - check him out!