John Clayton Mayer

John Clayton Mayer was born on October 16, 1977 at Bridgeport, Connecticut to Margaret and Richard Mayer. The middle child of three siblings, his two brothers are named Ben and Carl. He attended Fairfield Warde High School and Brien McMahon High school in Norwalk, Connecticut. For his junior year, he wanted something more in his life. Thus enrolling in the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High school where he was sent to Japan as an exchange student. There he learned about their culture and language.

As a child, Mayer wasn’t into music. He can play the clarinet but making a career was far from his mind. But watching Michael J. Fox perform “Johnny Be Goode” in the movie “Back to the Future”, he soon began to appreciate music. His next door neighbour lends him various jazz and blues tapes and one from Stevie Ray Vaughn which he began listening over and over. Soon enough, he was able to learn and play the guitar at the tender age of 13. By 16, John Mayer was performing at clubs. In his senior year, he joined a band called Villanova Junction. But he did not stay for long.

Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston after High school but dropped out after a year feeling that his classes no longer challenged him. He’d rather play and write music, not study them. He chose to cut his studies short and move to Atlanta, Georgia where he started playing at local clubs and started making demos and sending out copies. He was starting to build a fan base in Atlanta in clubs such as Eddie’s Attic.

John Mayer released his first EP in 1999 entitled, “Inside Wants Out”. A year later his breakthrough CD was released. “Room for Squares” featured smash hits including “No Such Thing” (which spawned from a conversation he had with his mom!). By 2000, John was signed with Columbia Records, which re-released “Room for Squares” and made him a multi-platinum artist.

In 2003, he won his first ever Grammy for “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance” for his ever popular “Your Body is a Wonderland”. He also released his first concert DVD “Any Given Thursday” that same year. The concert was recorded at the Oak Amphitheatre in Birmingham, Alabama.

On September 9th 2003, he released his second much anticipated album called “Heavier Things” and on 2005, bagged him the “Song of the Year” Grammy for his song “Daughters” beating contenders such as Kanye West and Alicia Keys. He also won “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance” for the second time.

John Mayer has done a number of collaborations. Rubbing elbows with music big hits such as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, BB King, and John Scofield. He was even lucky enough to tour with Herbie Hancock for a show at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. To date, John Mayer is on of the most respected guitarists of our time and many musicians look up to him, old and young alike. He even gained respect from hip-hop artists like Kayne West. Everyone wants a piece of this incredible talent.

In the spring of 2004, he formed the John Mayer Trio with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, two of the most respected musicians in the industry, Jordan being a legendary producer and Palladino as one of the band members of The Who. The trio plays a combination of Rock and Blues music. They released their live album called TRY! in November 2005 and began touring in sold out concert venues around the country. The album includes songs such as “Vultures” and “Who Did You Think I Was?” which made a statement that this band is serious in their blues and rock roots. Though the trio is now defunct after announcing the end of their performance in the Tempe Music Festival in March 2006, their music will still be remembered as one of the best.

For his new album “Continuum”, Mayer promises a different approach to his music, and producer Steve Jordan adds it will still be in the lines of their trio style which combines signature pop, with the feel, sound and groove of blues music. Mayer’s album release is set on September 12th. His first single, “Waiting on the World to Change” debuted on his website on MySpace last July 11th. The song was the most downloadable single on iTunes that week and ranked number 25 in the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, proving that he still has it after a long hiatus from recording this album.”Continuum” was released in September 12, 2017.

John Mayer also enjoys blogging. A hobby he picked up after creating a profile page in MySpace. He updates this regularly and shares his thoughts to all his fans and enjoys promoting other artists he likes listening to. He also revamped his website and now it’s the flagship version.  You can also see his latest posts in the blog section.

As of press time, John Mayer is touring the US and across the globe to promote his latest album and spreading the good music of Blues in his own point of view. The tour kicks off this year in January 25th in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Secret to Using Social Media to Build a Massive Fan Base

Technology has had a huge impact on the music industry. According to a 2017 Music Think Tank survey, over 40% of people consume music via social media. A&R’s start their workday by checking the most popular social media websites. Justin Bieber, Soulja Boy, Avery and Alyssa Bernal were all discovered on the internet. In fact, Russell Simmons, Brian Robbins (Film Director) and Steve Rifkind (Founder of Loud Records) just announced the launch of All Def Music, a joint venture solely dedicated to developing talent discovered online.

Young independent musicians are told to use the internet to “create a buzz” and to “build a following.” This advice has led to a oversaturated market, with most unsigned musicians marketing their music the exact same way! Technology has made it so easy for anyone to record and upload their music. An artist can even create a music video with their cellular phone. Many of these hopeful superstars have not devoted much time to perfecting their craft. So how do you market your music in a way that stands out? Here are my 5 TIPS on Using Social Media to Build a Massive Fan Base.

(Tip #5) Create a Unique Name (Moniker or Pseudonym)

How important is a name? Vince McMahon built a billion dollar empire by effectively using great names. He developed a great name for his company and developed great monikers for his wrestlers. Now take a look at the music industry. Observe each genre’s greatest period of growth, from jazz to rock to hip hop. You will notice that their musicians had great pseudonyms. When you first heard the names Aerosmith, Sid Vicious, 2pac or Herbie Hancock, was there ever a chance you would forget them? They were so unique yet simple that they are instantly branded in a person’s mind.

Hip Hop artists in the ’80’s and ’90’s had creative, simple and brilliant stage names; Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, N.W.A, Wu Tang Clan, OutKast, LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James), Snoop Doggy Dog, and Nasty Nas. Russell Simmons was a marketing genius and he made sure his artists had great names before he would market them. In the early 1980’s, Russell Simmons agreed to manage Easy D and his friend. He thought the group needed a simple, memorable and totally unique stage name. The group absolutely hated the name Russell proposed and thought their careers would be destroyed. Mr. Simmons convinced them to give the new name a chance. He understood marketing from his experience as a party and concert promoter. In 1983, he rebranded and marketed the group. Twenty six years later, Easy D and his partner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the pseudonym… RUN DMC. If this concept (creating a great moniker that is sticks in people’s minds) was important before the internet age, how much more important is it today (with the market being overstated)?

Here is a personal story that illustrates the impact of a great name. Two years ago I started a page to help artists, musicians and poets the New England states. In the beginning, things were slow. Some people did not accept my friend’s requests and my privileges were suspended. I thought about the basic rules of marketing and decided to change the name. I wanted a name that would grab a people’s ATTENTION; create INTEREST, DESIRE and ACTION. I decided to change the name to New England’s Best Artists. Hours after the name change, I was flooded with friend’s requests. I have not sent a friends request since the name change and went from 200 friends to 5,000 in about two months. The buzz generated from the new name reached people all across the world. The page has even received friend’s request from some of the richest music moguls in the industry.

Many independent musicians completely underestimate the value of creating a great moniker. If a person attended a concert and several independent artists performed, would your band’s name be hard to forget? A memorable, unique and simple pseudonym can be the different between your band’s music being discovered or lost amongst the millions of other bands who have also uploaded their music. Your name should be simple so your youngest fans can spell it without confusing you with another band or musician. If you market your music like every other artist, your album cover is like every other artist and your name is similar to every other artist, why would fans assume your music sounds different?

(Tip #4) Understand the power of pictures and colors.

Have you even been to the mixtape website, datpiff, what caught your eye? What grabs your attention when you are overwhelmed with choices? ANSWER… great artwork with vibrant colors! Colors convoy certain messages. There is a reason why companies invest so much time and money in developing colorful logos to attract people’s attention. Look at Run DMC’s logo, thirty years later; it still grabs people’s attention. Research the words: colors and marketing. You will discover why black is used to market luxury items (e.g. Jaguar’s marketing campaign, AMEX’s Black Card).The color black usually represents authority, boldness, power, strength and elegance. Black “attract a specific target market of individuals who… earn a higher income, and have a higher level of education”-Alden Morris. The color also attracts the attention of intelligent people who enjoy Classical music, Jazz, R&B and Indie music.

Some colors attract the attention of one gender and turn off the other gender. Some colors (green and blue) attract the attention of both genders. Some colors (red and blue) work well on the “click” button online and can increase the conversion rate as much as 40%. Understand your target audience and use colors to gain their attention. An independent hip hop performer should consider using great artwork with vibrant colors and incorporate the color black as well. There are millions of other musicians trying to get people to notice them, there are advertisements on the left side of the screen and there are popups vying for an individual’s attention. Using colors effectively is an advantage that will help your music stand out. If the internet is saturated with artists, shouldn’t you do something that helps you stand out? Why invest so much time into making a great product (your music, art or poetry) if it’s not going to get noticed?

(Tip #3) Look at the NUMBERS and market to the right people.

If you were a country artist, which option would you choose? (A) Sale or pass out your cd at a country music club with 3,000 people attending (B) Sale or pass your music at a hip hop open mic with 50 people attending. The choice is clear-cut. On social media a lot of artists commonly make this mistake. Do you know the fourteen different ways people discover new music? Does your marketing plan address the various ways people discover new music? Are you aware that “people 21-34 are the core digital music audience” -Neilson Music. Running an online marketing campaign and targeting the “core audience” will yield greater results than just marketing to everyone. Narrow your audience to music lovers of your particular genre. This will be more cost-effective and allow you to spend that money in other areas.

Do you know which social networking websites are the busiest? Do you know the busiest days and time of day? Why spend 90% of your time on new site if less than 1% of social networking is done there? Some people love certain new websites and devote a lot of attention to them. If 80% of social networking is done on website X, where should you have a detailed, focused marketing campaign? ANSWER… website X. Every artist should have an account on the five busiest social networking websites. “If you use YouTube a lot along with other social networks, then, you could easily connect it to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts to automatically share your YouTube videos and activities on them.”-Guidingtech.com. I’ve discovered the best days to post on social networking sites is Monday through Thursday. Wednesday is the busiest. The best time to post on free classifieds is Saturday through Monday. Monday is the busiest. You will discover which day is best based on trial and error. You can find an updated list at Alexa. You can find data on music trends at Nielsen-Music and Midem. Understand the demographics, market and interact with your fans.

(Tip #2) Understand the value of music blogs.

How did you discover new music as a teenager? My parents had their favorite DJ who broke new hits. Corporations discovered this was a great way advertise products and the role of a commercial DJ changed. A commercial radio campaign for an independent artist today is extremely difficult and expensive. During my teenage years, I looked to Kennedy on MTV’s, Alternative Nation and Fab Five Feddy on Yo MTV Raps, to discover new music. This is still a popular way to discover new music but it’s not through television anymore. Teenagers today discover new music on the internet; they visit their favorite blogs and websites like FameTube because the administrators have already sorted through the clutter.

I am amazed at how many independent artists overlook music blogs. A few years ago, I posted a number of videos on my personal account. A few friends, who operate blogs, saw the artist’s videos and featured the artist on their blog. When the independent artist released his album on iTunes, it quickly rose to #1. I believe blogs had a lot to do this occurring. Blogs are a tool that can significantly increase your fan base and help you gain exposure.

Music blogs provide you with the opportunity to reach a lot of potential fans. Being featured on a blog is easier than you think! Take some time and learn how HYPEM.com works. Start with newer or least popular blogs first and work your way up the more popular blogs. I know A&R’s that start their day by searching their favorite blog. Independent artists that are creating a buzz (e.g. Mac Miller, Chris Webby and Moufy) use blogs as part of their marketing campaign. Chris Webby has over 45 million video views and over 315,000 followers and fans on social media. Boston MC, Moufy has over 34,000 fans the most popular social media networking website. His single, Boston Lights has over 462,000 views on YouTube. During an interview with Indie Ambassador, Moufy credits blogs for the increase in his fan base and exposure.

The key to gaining more fans through a blog marketing campaign is to have great music with great video content. Only send your very best work to a blog. Your music is your resume and the album artwork is your cover letter. You would not send in a resume that is not typed, written in crayon and contains a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. Don’t submit music that reflects badly on you and shows the blog administrator you don’t value his or her time. Building relationships in this business depends on always putting your best work out. Have your music reviewed on reverbnation, soundout or blaktrak FIRST! Some blogs receive over two thousand submissions a week. Do not waste a blogger’s time with music that has not be reviewed by an outside (not friends or family members) source. Blogs can either help your career or hurt it. Always submit great quality music!

Most people discover music by video (17%) so have a YouTube account with good video content! If a potential fan discovers your music on a blog (6%) and likes your music, he wants to share it on Facebook (12%) and twitter (4%) with his friends and family (12%). Putting together a blog campaign and having a YouTube account, with good content, will address how 51% of people discover new music. In a recent international poll conducted by Music Think Tank, people who discover music via blogs (6%) was only one percentage point behind people who discover new via commercial radio (7%). Having your music featured on a blog can lead to your music being shared by others on social media and discovered on video websites. Don’t overlook this valuable tool!

(Tip #1) Make your music easy for fans to find.

How many musicians have a different name on each of the top five social networking website? Have you thought about how that effects building your band. Imagine potential fans, an A&R and a blogger attending a concert and hearing a hot independent. They wake up the next day and Google your name. They find hundreds of thousands of artists with a similar name. They narrow it down and find a website. There are no links to any music on YouTube or Vimeo (one of the most popular ways people discover new music). You have music there but another artist already registered under that name. You decided to use a different variation of your name.

Do you really think a potential fan is going to go through so much research? What happens when a potential fan types in your and a thousand other artists pop up with the same name? If your music isn’t easy to find than a potential fan will just move on to something else. You have just eliminated any chance of that person becoming a fan and SHARING your music with their family and friends! Have your music listed on all major sites under one name and provide links. When you visit a corporation’s website you see a link to their page on other websites. Follow their lead and do the same. It’s hard for artists to separate the art of making music and the business aspect of music industry. This is a business so promote and market your music like a business!

How to Market and Sell Your Beats

Selling beats and licensing music can be a very lucrative business for someone with a significant amount a tracks. The problem that many composer and producers face is that not enough of the right people are hearing your music. Most beat selling website of are mainly used by other producers trying to sell their beats. Stock music and production sites have thousands of composers and producers that you have to compete with to be heard. Even if you get heard you have to give up half of your earning if you sell anything. These sites will present you with different promotion techniques that are designed to make them money not you. All of the promotion you have to do on beat selling and stock music sites you can do it yourself from your own website. This does not mean that you should not use beat selling sites. The more places you have your beats the more likely you are to sell them.

You have to look at your beats as a product. Software companies have their own websites but they sell their software in as many places as they can. This the way you should sell your beats. Here are a few tips for marketing your beat site.

1. Make hot beats, this has to be said because some producers just don’t get it.

2. Post as many YouTube videos as you can, post your music on any website that allows individuals to view your music.

3. Blog, blogging with leave backlinks to your site and will establish you as an expert.

4. Release instrumental albums, many producers do not understand that there is a huge market for instrumental music. Particularly new age and jazz. But many electronic musicians and some hip hop artist can release instrumental albums because DJs love them. Just go through a digital distributor and you can have your music on iTunes in no time.

5. Participate in forums, please do not try to sell your beats on the forums it will be considered spam. Stay on the topic and leave a link to your website. If you appear knowledgeable people will click on your link. Forums will also leave backlinks to your website.

6. Use social networking sites such as face book, my space and tweeter. These sites have hundreds of millions of users and will in able to you to develop a following.

7. Use site like Yahoo groups, participate in groups and start your own. This will allow to you communicate with artist, leave backlinks to your site and show your level of knowledge.

There are many ways to market you beats and your website, these are just a few to tips to get you

Advertainment is Sneaking Into Music, Movies, TV and More

The very name “advertainment” sends thrilling vibrations up the spine of anyone with marketing in their blood or communication in their genes. And it produces a strong shiver of disgust from many of my colleagues in the music industry.

“I don’t want my songs to be involved in advertising,” they say, forgetting entirely that by wearing branded running shoes, a t-shirt hawking Fender guitars and a baseball cap emblazoned with the Peavey logo, their very lives are involved in advertising. Plus, if they attend an awards show, they happily state the brand and designer names of everything they’re wearing.

They further ignore the fact that radio itself is a form of advertainment. What gets played has little to do with musical accomplishment or artistic merit, but is directly related to the backing of large corporate distributors. I have been told to budget anywhere from a quarter of a million dollars to $350,000 in promotional costs to obtain national radio play on (the appropriately-named) commercial radio stations. Is it any wonder that corporations are seeking ways to build a little brand awareness into the songs?

Turn on any rap, urban or hip hop station and you can start counting the product mentions in the lyrics, some paid-for, some just happenstance. In the electronic-pop field, I have done it myself. On my “Electro Bop” album are songs such as “Paranormal Radio” (which begins as a documentary about American Technology Corporation’s HyperSonic Sound system), “Sheena Sez” (about talk radio host Sheena Metal), and “Check the Tech” (about the joys of watching the TechTV channel).

Has this advertisement hurt acceptance of the album? Not that I’ve noticed. Many e-mails from around the world cite “Paranormal Radio” as their favorite track. Not one person has complained about the ad messages, I assume because the audience for my dance-oriented music is pleased to receive information about technology and a far-out rock-talk jock such as Ms. Metal.

Ads and entertainment go hand-in-wallet in many other ways, some pretty strange. In music alone, we have all wondered about Bob Dylan’s “Love Sick” in Victoria’s Secret commercials (not to mention Mr. D himself smirking between shots of the lovely bodies wearing the lingerie). But don’t overlook Keith Richards in the “Cover Girl” ad while “Honky Tonk Women” plays, or Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger” in the Herbal Essence spot, or Iggy Pop’s liquor/drug/sex-soaked “Lust for Life” blasting throughout the Royal Caribbean commercials. (Love to work with the Account Executive who was able to sell that concept!) By contrast, Sting crooning from the back seat of a Jaguar seems a very model of demographic compatibility.

And that’s the point: ads and public relations are routinely dismissed as silly, annoying, intrusive or a waste of time right up to the moment when they are delivering facts the reader or listener wants. Then, suddenly, the sponsored message is viewed as helpful and instructive. Therefore, the trick is to achieve the right match between audience and message.

One problem is choosing your media. Just listing advertising outlets can be daunting: TV, radio, outdoor, newspapers, magazines, transit, direct mail, Internet banner. Many of these have subsets: paid inserts (advertorial) in newspapers and magazines, sponsored “newsbreaks” and infomercials on broadcast media, static or animated announcements at stadia, those dreaded ‘Net pop-ups, brand names on sports uniforms and equipment (can you say NASCAR?), etc.

One of the most enjoyable categories for producers of both music and advertising is viral ‘Net marketing, which has had some notable success stories such as BMW Films, the Seinfeld AmEx campaign, and of course, Burger King’s Subservient Chicken.

We haven’t even considered cooperative advertising, which can be anything from myriad logos at the bottom of an event poster to the branded music tones and flashing-light Intel trademark that ends every other commercial for someone else’s computer products.

But it extends further. Consider: Magazines that sell cover stories; product placement in movies and TV (and yes, live theater); branded clothing; bumper stickers; even fliers stuck on parked cars. There are ad messages on private automobiles (and those anti-humanistic trucks that some insist are called SUVs). Pull up behind a vehicle in traffic and you can read an ad for the car dealership on the license plate frame, plus another piece of public relations for the state on the plate itself. (Come on, you don’t think it’s hype to put “Land of enchantment” on every vehicle licensed in the state of New Mexico?)

You might think that this plethora of options makes it easier for firms to get their messages across to their targeted demographics, but a good case can be made for the opposite view. TV audiences are turning to Tivo and pay-per-view. Radio audiences are discovering XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. Newspaper readership is becoming an oxymoron. Motion picture audiences can be heard groaning, mocking or booing the pre-feature commercials.

This means there are a lot of people working on new ways to get the product benefits into the brains of the consumers. I do it with humorous radio scripts and subliminally seductive music, but there are going to be some innovations in our industry, and at the risk of appearing foolish, I’m going to make a few predictions. Within the next few years, we’ll see:

* Debit card scanners in TV sets, so you can order during a commercial with the flick of your remote.

* Barcodes in songs, so you can download from iTunes by swiping your XM or Sirius player with your Visa or MasterCard.

* Credit cards built into wristwatches, so your “plastic money” is always close at hand.

* Links to product sites in every scene of DVD movies or computer games. Do you want the shoes in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater game? Click-click-click and they’re on their way to you via FedEx (note product placement for the big competitor to United Parcel Service).

* Broadcasts of infotainment and advertisement will pop up everywhere: in public restrooms, at the Starbucks, at traffic signals, at the gas pump, on your mailbox, in the packages you purchase, in the parcels that arrive at your door, etc.

* Captive broadcasts. Just as you can preview the music on packaged CDs (available in EU now, but coming soon to the USA), the product benefits, price points and warranty information will play as soon as you lift up a product in the store.

* Digitized logo placement in the rebroadcasts of syndicated TV shows (“Hey, we can sell the product placement another three times!”)

* Branded ingredient lists on menus.

* Corporate artwork that takes you on a virtual tour of the company.

* Interactive ads, where you get to play Jerry Seinfeld and/or Superman (or the driver of the BMW) in a five-minute escape from reality (and from reality TV).

* Holographic projections of commercials from postage stamps, car and house keys, magazine covers and ad pages, etc.

And these are just the changes we’ll be seeing in the next few years. We’re not even discussing the opportunities for advertisement once we move beyond traditional broadcast methodology; when microchips are embedded under your skin, YOU will be the receiver for TV, radio, satellite, telephone, and global positioning system signals. And at that point, the possibilities for marketing communication via advertisement are going to become truly mind-boggling.

Are these prospects exciting, frightening, or both? My view is positive. After all, a lot of these new forms of communication are going to need my scripts and my music.

Rocking Out With Your Wireless Phone

If you’re like many people, your cell phone doesn’t just ring, it sings. In fact, thousands of people download musical ringtones to their cell phones each day-but what many of them don’t know is that they can listen to actual tunes right on their handsets.

Sound like music to your ears? You’re not alone. In fact, recent RadioShack survey found that nearly 60 percent of young adults said they want their wireless phones to have the ability to play music. Try these tips for getting music on your cell phone from the wireless experts at RadioShack.

The Satellite Radio Connection

The latest multimedia wireless phones from Sprint let you listen to SIRIUS satellite radio from your handset. For instance, RadioShack carries number of satellite radio-enabled phones, including the A900 by Samsung and the 8300 by Sanyo. The phones have stereo-quality speakers and come with headphones. Available satellite channels include:

o Sirius Hits 1: Today’s Top 40 Hits

o The Pulse: Pop and rock from the ’90s until now

o ’60s Vibrations: The musical revolution of the ’60s and early ’70s

o Totally ’70s: The most popular music from the ’70s

o Big ’80s: The hit music of the ’80s

o Classic Vinyl: Classic rock of the ’60s and ’70s

o Alt Nation: The best alt-rock of the ’90s and today

o Hot Jamz: Today’s hip-hop and R&B hits.

Tuning In

iTunes users can check out the Motorola ROKR from Cingular Wireless. The phone lets you listen to your favorite songs while text messaging, taking pictures or checking e-mail. If an incoming call comes while the music’s on, you can just hit “pause” and talk away. Here’s how to use the phone:

o Install the included iTunes desktop software.

o Connect the phone to your PC or MAC.

o Drag and drop up to 100 songs-pick the songs you want or let iTunes do it for you.

o Use the iTunes key on your phone to access your music.

o Shuffle songs or select song, artist or playlist-just like iTunes.

Album art accompanies the menu interface, allowing users to scroll through playlists and shuffle songs from the main menu.

Hip Hop Music Sales Slump in Digital Age What Does This Mean For the Industry?

Hip hop music was huge in the United States just a few years ago. At one point in 2000, sales even hit a record high of over 1.8 billion USD. That was when Hip Hop R&B had over taken all other genres of music in terms of record sales. To find out why Hip Hop music sales are slumping currently, one has to rewind a little and understand how Hip Hop all started out.

Before Hip Hop got accepted into the mainstream, many Hip Hop artists pretty much stayed underground to practice their art form. No one knew Hip Hop was going to become the titan that it would develop into. When Hip Hop first began, it started out in the streets. It was a movement by people who were disadvantaged, or were ostracized by the community – they were looking for a way to express themselves and their plight. And express themselves they did.

Hip Hop music is spontaneous and witty. For example, when a battle takes place between two artists, the lyrics are never pre-written. Each competitor will be given the opportunity to rap for a certain period of time. The audience is the judge. The culture of rap is that the judging audience is never biased making it a truly democratic art form. Whoever comes up with the most original and creative lyrics will win the battle. Of course, there is an element of like and dislike. So the lyrics have to connect with the audiences as well. The final results of the battle is based on the cheers of the audience. Whoever receive the loudest cheer, wins the battle.

As you can see, Hip Hop arises out of a need for talented artists to be heard. And the artists became really good from years of practicing. As they practice, the world remains largely unaware of what is happening. It wasn’t until the artists become more entrepreneurial that Hip Hop starts to take off.

Unlike other type of music, the Hip Hop community accepts was far reaching in content and profanity in the lyrics. The market finds it refreshing to hear such profanity in the records. And soon, Hip Hop music took off like a bullet with as much variety in tone as there were people. From the angry rebellious rap, to the happy its a party time songs.

The market soaked it all in mainly because they believed that the artists were just doing their thing – they were voicing repressed feelings, from lack of opportunity or showing you how to enjoy yourself and life. So record sales continued to soar. Recording artists like Eminem, 50 Cent Lil Wayne, Jay Z, T.I and Gucci Mane all did very well in the industry.

Unfortunately, the success of the Hip Hop industry has hit a turning point. In a few short years, sales for Hip Hop music begin to decline, and it continued to decline year after year. Some recording labels, once worth millions of dollars, are now near bankruptcy.

It is clear that the market has taken the time to learn about Hip Hop music and culture and have fully embraced it. After earning billions of dollars in the industry, and being widely accepted in the mainstream, what is the source of the decline in sales?

Many will argue, its all due to the Internet. The new Internet age has brought about many new opportunities along with many new threats to the old industries. Now its easier then ever to commit piracy and unfortunately the record industry has been resistant to change. Too stuck in the old mind frame and old distribution channels to fully embrace what the Internet could really mean for them.

Hip Hop artists are now being heard all over the world. There is no longer the element of distribution channels or lag from the artist to the market. Why? Because the Internet makes it instantaneous. As such old walls have been broken down where people had to wait for months or search relentlessly to be able to acquire all of an artists past works.

As such artists must continue to evolve in order to continue thriving. Perhaps it’s still back to basics. No more focusing on big marketing budgets and record label driving initiatives. Maybe what the Internet has done is take Hip Hop out of the corporate boardrooms and back to the streets where all that counts is just great rap music lyrics from the heart.

Hip Hop Music Production – 3 Essentials For Producing Your Own Hip Hop Music

The Hip hop music production of today uses drum machines, samplers, online beat makers, live instrumentals, samplers, live vocals, sequences, and synthesizers. If you can imagine it, you can probably use it. This genre of music includes all the various processes that go into the production of the music. As a producer, your role is to assemble the instrumentals of each track.

Putting together a hip hop instrumental is an art form what the hip hop music producer is known for. This is typically called the beat, while in the role of producer you are known as the beat maker. The biggest change that is now happening in the industry is that advancing technology which is eliminating the job of producer in hip hop music production.

The good news for Rap and Hip Hop artists is that today artists themselves are now taking of the production of the entire hip hop beat. For new and emerging artists this is even more so. The new age of beat making applications can do three times more than anything a retired hip hop producer could do.

Young and happening artists are discovering they can create anything from laying down vocal tracks, to creating instrumentals, and finally mixing and mastering their complete track right from the comfort and convenience of their own home. Further, they can do it for only a fraction of the cost! A modern beat making application for hip hop production can be purchased on the web for less than $30 USD.

Amazingly, for this incredibly low price even the beginning producer can get their hands on the most prized functions and tricks. In addition, having access to comprehensive online tutorials and a support networks means you can instantly begin producing your own music today even if you do not have any knowledge of laying down hip hop beats.

Obviously, this is causing quite a power shift in the industry as artists gain more control. Still though, there are a few fundamentals to hip hop music production that every newbie hip hop self-producer needs to know.

1. The first thing you should know is that the drum beat is the most fundamental component of your track. The complexity and pace of the drum beat dictates what speed and impact the entire production will have. Everything is supported by the drums. It is recommended that you keep them as simple as possible when starting or you will likely run into problems!

2. The second consideration is where to get your drum beats from. They can be downloaded, sampled from online sources, created by a drum beat maker, or you can create them yourself own your own beat making application. This can take some skill though so many musicians often begin with a download then move up to creating their own beats.

3. Finally, start with the basics then increase the complexity gradually. If you want to learn hip hop music production, this is the best way. Once you are happy with your drum beat, you need to develop the percussion and sampling elements of your song. You need both to add emphasis to your sound and create a great work of art.

Interested in producing your own tracks? Looking for a way into this amazing industry so you can do what you love? There are now lots of options for everyone. You have to start somewhere though. So get your hands on a great beat making application.

Instrumental Hip-Hop Music

Indian Hip-Hop is a wonderful mixture of conventional Indian musical rudiments with hip hop music. Hip-Hop changed all the dynamics of world music in 1990s. It’s a form of music which focuses more on message or lyrics of the song than the music. To understand Indian instrumental Hip-Hop music we will have to look at instrumental and Hip-Hop music separately. Indian instrumental music is a part of the great tradition of Indian classical music. Indian classical music is one of the prime constituent of wonderful Indian heritage. Whereas Hip-Hop originated from Afro-American culture and now it is more of a global phenomenon. The mixing of these two forms of music results in captivating instrumental Hip-Hop music.

Instrumental Hip-Hop music redefined the music scenario to the extent that it is considered as a genre of its own. It is one of the most experimental forms of music. Slowly India is also catching up with this new genre. Instrumental Hip-Hop uses one or more local music with other instruments. For example, Indian instrumental hip-hop music mixes few of the Indian languages with percussion or other Indian instruments like Veena or Sitar and thus comes out a completely new form of music which is soothing to the ears. Other experiment includes using Indian movies songs with numerous instruments.

Indian hip-hop musical segment is still in evolution stage. Though, few of the Indian artists have managed to make a name for themselves on international scale. One of the most popular Indian Hip Hop artists who is credited to carve a niche for himself is Asoka. Basically a solo performer, he has worked with famous rappers as well. Asoka has worked with one of the world’s most popular rappers, The Outlawz. Not only that, he has prominently featured in major mix tapes. Other prominent Indian hip-hop artists are Srik, OBB, Sagar, PRX etc.

Audio Production – How to Become a Hip-Hop Music Producer

There are many upcoming music producers interested in audio production in hip-hop. This urban genre of music appeals more to the youth which you must be aware of with your techniques. This means you have to be different and unique, and these qualities are what most of the hip-hop production houses and artists are looking for. With the right knowledge in music production, the next thing is to find your way into the list of notable hip-hop music producers in the industry.

Since your interests are in hip-hop music and audio production, you have to know how to make these kinds of beats. Make nice hip-hop beats because you will need them when you want to show artists looking for suitable beats to sing or rap over. The best way is to know places where you can find aspiring hip-hop artists so you can offer them your beats for “mix-tapes” or sell them for a small fee and if you have good beats, you can be sure your chances of them and the public liking them is a lot higher.

You should also make sure you attend all the events you can that will keep you in contact with hip-hop artists, other music producers and any interested parties so you can introduce yourself and what you do. Network is crucial in the music business and you have to learn how to sell yourself. You could also give samples of your work and remember to make follow ups since it is likely you are not the only one doing that and they may have received a lot of samples from other aspiring hip-hop music producers who also love audio production.

Make sure you network with people you share interests with and this means other people aspiring to be hip-hop music producers. Through discussions and forums, you can get to know what other people are doing to make it in the industry which could be very useful to you.

There is need to know all that is happening in the hip-hop industry including the changes that you need to adopt especially to do with technology. Since music technology is changing rapidly and people’s needs and tastes are also changing, the artists too will need to be into audio production that are up to date to give them an edge in the industry since they know their fans will also like it.

There are music producers equipment that you will use in your work which you must have. On top of being aware of the music technology in the industry, it is also important to be aware of the different hardware that are introduced so that you get some knowledge and understanding as to how they operate.

Perhaps the most important thing is to have a genuine interest in what you do and strive to make your skills better in audio production. Practice always makes perfect. Listen to a lot of hip-hop music and learn the tricks with the best productions. You can consider listening to your favorite producers to try to emulate their style and as you get better slowly evolve and develop your own.