Hubert Sawyers III - S.O.L.A.R.-Powered Content

When creating things, we are pressed to categorize and place names on them. Whether it be a new song or a painting, eventually the piece must be given a title, so that people can get a better understanding of what it is. Sure, you can listen or look at the thing and get a general idea, but the name usually helps drive the message home. Some might say you are branding your work. If you ask me, there is no question about it, YOU ARE.

When a group of musicians decide to give their collective self a name, that’s branding. Now you may not like this for whatever reason, but it is true. That is why it is good to assume responsibility for the brand that you have inserted into the public minutiae.

While it is hard to control how you are perceived, you can still be proactive in managing what is out there in relation to the brand that you are associated. Ultimately, your customers, fans or associates aid in defining your brand. You can help them by supplying them with the information you would like them to share.

On October 8th, in metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan, there will be an event that is set to help you manage your personal brand. Aptly called BrandCamp, it features internationally-known speakers that run the gamut of entrepreneurs, communication professionals and folks with significant celebrity. This event was founded by Hajj Flemings, author of The Brand YU Life (Amazon affiliate link).

I was recently interviewed by David Murray for BrandCamp on my thoughts on personal branding. The main takeaway that I iterated is good for artists that lead “double lives.” Hopefully, both of your personalities are on the up-and-up or you will find yourself in a lot of trouble in places you might not want.

I would prefer the artists I support be who they are at all times, but if you must distinguish your different personas, then realize that your fans may be different than your friends. With that comes more work, because life is hard like that. I plan to talk about this more in future blog posts, so stay tuned.

Check out my brief interview and let me know what your thoughts on personal branding in the comments.

To be continued.

Can you be married and successful in the music business?

Over Labor Day Weekend, the great Midwestern city of Chicago will host the North Coast Music Festival (NCMF). This particular festival will have performances by The Chemical Brothers, Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Boys Noize and De La Soul, as well as FryinginVein.com favorites Phantogram and Mayer Hawthorne & the County.

To promote the music festival, NCMF is hosting a contest for one (1) band and one (1) DJ to get the opportunity to play a 45-minute set at the festival. They are pushing for crowd participation to pick the best of the pack. The entries are in and the voting has commenced. Obviously, we like to share our taste and our pick is the hip hop group – CROWN NATION. Crown Nation is a duo from out of Detroit. The members are FryinginVein.com notable Quelle and Denmark Vessey; both of whom are vocalists and music producers.

Help us get Crown Nation to the top 10 to get a chance to advance. You can vote ONCE A DAY until August 15th. Here’s the details right from NCMF:

Voting
Between August 2nd and August 15th, vote once per day, every day, if you want to make a life-changing difference in the life of one band and one DJ. Each e-mail address will be allotted one vote per day, so encourage your supporters to vote early and often!

The Decision
On August 15th, the votes will be tallied and North Coast Music Festival organizers will choose 10 Finalists out of the Top 20 Vote-Getters. These finalists will play a private show for organizers and their guests at a yet-to-be-disclosed location. Wow us, and you’ll be one of two winners. We’ll pick 1 Band and 1 DJ to join the main stages for a 45-minute set. He, Her, or They will be showered with praise and good fortune.

via North Coast Music Festival

Check out our favorite song of their project – Slut Bag Edition – “Deal Wit It.” Then Vote for Crown Nation today!

Why do you use SoundCloud? Do you have any success stories from using the site so far?
I first decided to use SoundCloud because it was the only music site that allowed me to post streaming player links to Facebook. In the age of high-speed internet, the attention span of internet users is extremely short lived. If users are not able to quickly and easily access music and information within one or two clicks, they usually won’t bother checking it out, especially in the case of new music. SoundCloud has allowed me to connect directly with listeners, whether through embeddable players, direct links, or entire sets, unlike sites like Bandcamp and Myspace.
I’m not sure if this counts as a success story, but I was recently forced to remove a remix of Drake’s song “Over” from my SoundCloud account. According to SoundCloud, Drake’s management filed a complaint against my version, claiming copyright infringement. While it’s unfortunate that I can’t have that (hot) remix available through my SoundCloud account, it was somewhat reassuring to know that my music had reached the ears of some movers and shakers, meaning that people are in fact listening in.

Do you have any strategy with how you’re using SoundCloud?
I love that I can use SoundCloud not only as a catalyst to promote myself publicly as an artist and producer, but as a collaborative tool to be utilized “behind the scenes”. I’m a constant tweaker, often changing mixes on songs several times in a day until I find the sound I’m happy with. My premium account allows me to replace files, send private links to colleagues, and download the original files on the road, which has proven invaluable to my style of workflow, and I’ve always felt like my files were secure. I keep a lot of hidden material on my account so that I can access it from anywhere- you never know when you need play something special in that “right place, right time” situation.

Who are some of your favorite artists to check for on SoundCloud?
I love checking for new tracks from artists like 14KT, Body Rock, Illingsworth, Professor Purple, and Seek Selekta, and it’s great that my dashboard keeps me updated on which of my friends is uploading new material. I’ve recently been finding some cool new music by roaming through people’s followers and randomly clicking on songs. It can be hit or miss, but sometimes I find some gems.

If there was one feature that you would like added to SoundCloud what would it be?

We have talked about merchandise in our Masters of Content series. If you read the posts and felt defeated, then mope no more! We were on Hypebot the other day and learned about Merchluv, which is where “artists inspire artists.” Sounds like utopia, doesn’t it? This is an interesting model – crowd-sourced merchandise. Imagine the possibilities.

Here’s a summary of how the service works where band meets arts-and-crafts and then get married and/or do business (however you want to see it):

Musicians just upload their logos, photos, etc. Then designers buy a license for 99¢ to make an original merch sample and post their creation on Mechluv.  If it sells, the designer ships directly to the fan and band gets 20% of the sale. Bands can also negotiate to purchase higher quantities of an item to sell  directly to their fans.

Via Hypebot