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Blueprint Talks Shop on the DIY Music Business
Posted by Justin Boland on Aug 26, 2010 | 0 Comments
Blueprint is a dope human being and I’m honored he took the time to do this interview. That’s not just blogger ass-kissing, though: I’ve been thinking about the business behind hip hop for years now and Blueprint (along with El-P and Heiroglyphics) was an early inspiration for going the DIY route. So, as Blueprint preps for his upcoming tour with Atmosphere, I got a chance to talk shop about the business of hip hop.
This interview is powerful science. Take notes and shit.
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The Top 5 Social Media Lies
Posted by Justin Boland on Aug 03, 2010 | 0 Comments
When television was first being marketed, everyone was buzzing about the incredible potential of new technology to improve our lives. Citizens could stay informed and children of all ages could educate themselves at home. Fast forward a couple decades and you’ve got Fox News, Wife Swap and some guy named Steve-O stapling his nuts to his own leg.
That’s exactly the same transition that Social Media has experienced, only instead of taking decades, it happened pretty much immediately. In a time when marketers, journalists and politicians all agree that Social Media has changed everything, I’d like to crash the party, rush the stage, and grab the mic, because you need to stop lying to independent artists. Stop repeating empty slogans and start being honest about the ugly stuff.
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World Around Records | Behind the Scenes
Posted by Justin Boland on Aug 02, 2010 | 0 Comments
So far on Audible Hype, I haven’t been talking very much about my work with World Around Records. My friend Garrett Heaney from Wishtank did an interview a few months back about exactly that, though, so I’m archiving it here today. (Garrett has also interviewed Dr. Quandary about the making of his Quanny Sitar EP.)
Needless to say, our activity levels have seriously been picking up since this interview was first published…and in the weeks to come, I’ll be explaining it all right here on Audible Hype.
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(Re)Start 2010
Posted by Justin Boland on Jul 20, 2010 | 0 Comments
As you’ve already noticed, Audible Hype is under construction. It’s an ongoing re-design from the same team that did the World Around Records site. This might be a spare time kinda project, but we are on some Big Vision shit in 2010…
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Shameless Self-Promotion
Posted by Justin Boland on Jun 17, 2010 | 0 Comments
I pride myself on the content here on Audible Hype and I put a lot of work into what I do. Just the same, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity for shameless self-promotion. Today, I got an interview published in Boing Boing, one of the oldest and hugest and best blogs on the Internets. As IB from Higher Concept said in a recent interview: “Every big break we’ve gotten so far has been through forming personal connections and long term relationships with the right people who were in the right places.” That’s exactly the case here, and I’m grateful to Chris Arkenberg for this opportunity.
The only reason this post exists is to put this link in front of you: My Interview with Boing Boing about Indie Hip Hop, World Around Records, and Saving the Human Race from Itself.
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The Higher Concept: "Life's Good" Part One
Posted by Justin Boland on Jun 10, 2010 | 0 Comments
When I first met The Higher Concept, the entire state of New York was under three feet of snow…and rising. I was taking a Greyhound to a gig in Buffalo in late 2007. It had been snowing for a day already, and when I got off at the Syracuse station, a fat elderly cop cheerfully told us that all busses were cancelled for the day. I called the promoter to let him know, and he was curiously not all that concerned. “Oh, that’s probably no biggie. Let me call you right back.” I couldn’t tell if he was going to help me, or just casually stomping on my ego’s nuts, but then he did in fact call back. It turned out The Higher Concept were still driving from Albany and they were willing to swing through and give me a ride.
Today, that gig in Buffalo stands as one of my all-time favorite onstage experiences. It was a formative night in terms of letting me know I was not insane to think about rapping for a living. It was also a great night because hot damn, The Higher Concept put on a crazy live show. It was immediately obvious they’d been paying dues for many years and honing every single aspect of what they presented. With an approach like that, it’s no surprise that they’ve gotten even better in the years since then, evolving into a full live band and releasing their latest album, “Life’s Good.” (Which happens to be full of awesome summer jam party people positive hip hop tracks-check it out.)
In first part of this interview, we’re talking about building a better live show, their creative process/lifestyle, and the business of hip hop…
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DJ Trackstar: A VERY GOOD YEAR
Posted by Justin Boland on Jun 08, 2010 | 0 Comments
I’ve interviewed DJ Trackstar once before, and as of the last Audible Hype survey we did, most folks think it’s the best interview I’ve done. So when I got a chance to catch back up with him, I had to ask a couple dozen questions on the record. As it turns out, he’s had an amazingly good year…so here he’s talking about the business of mixtapes, advice for new artists, starting over in a new city, what What Works in 2010. Dig it.
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Blog Science: WE NEED TO TALK
Posted by Justin Boland on Jun 04, 2010 | 0 Comments
This is probably one of the most important topics I’m going to cover this summer. For independent artists, blogs are one of the only promotional platforms we have access to. Radio doesn’t give a fuck about you, magazines won’t even cover you if you could afford ad space, and music television doesn’t even play music videos anymore. More importantly, the past decade of sales numbers clearly shown that all three of those channels are losing their power to convert attention into album units sold. That’s actually the good news…
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Love Thy Hater: How to Learn and Profit from "Bad" Feedback
Posted by Justin Boland on May 27, 2010 | 0 Comments
This is about how to take criticism and profit from it. When I think about what separates successful music entrepreneurs from the rest of us, this is one of the most important differences. They don’t catch feelings, they just listen and learn. Pretty much once a week, I deal with artists who cannot take criticism without being insulted. It’s a widespread and common problem that’s way bigger than hip hop. This is about making the change to an open, successful mindset and turning your haters into a business asset. This is about becoming a better person and acting professional, and if you’re not into that then fuck you.
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Zilla Rocca on DIY Hip Hop Everything
Posted by Justin Boland on May 24, 2010 | 0 Comments
I first heard of Zilla Rocca through his recent work with the 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers, but I’m an ignorant hick: he’s been paying dues in Philly for many years now. He’s been in and out of dozens of projects and groups, done hundreds of shows and even founded a label, Beat Garden Entertainment. In short, he’s exactly the kind of business-minded hip hop head Audible Hype exists to spotlight and/or shoot the shit with. Zilla Rocca is an experienced entrepreneur with an interesting perspective on the game-this is definitely a dope read. Enjoy.
