Encore Status Entertainment

by Tricia Status

Naked CD

Yesterday I attended the All Access Music Conference(Producer Edition). In attendance were A+Rs from Atlantic, BadBoy, Roc Nation, Hip Hop Since 1978 and more. There were many established producers there too… like Araab Muzik,  Amadeus, and Buda Da Future. All in all the event was spectacular. Its purpose was to be a knowledge share/networking event and contest for up and coming producers. The prize: A chance to record with Maino. Every panelist there was able to give a nugget of knowledge to help all these up and coming producers improve. I’m not a producer, but I certainly was moved and appreciated everything that was shared. I will be posting the panel discussion video shortly.

The only thing that I thought needed improvement was how some of the up and coming producers packaged themselves. Here are a few things that a should  have when you attend conferences with label executives – besides the music.

Business Cards - I feel like everyone should have a business card. Its the Music – Business. Have a business card that is not too cluttered, and has the following information:

-Name (of course)

-Email Address

-Phone contact (cell, Skype, Google Voice, or whatever it is you use)

-Some of the social networking sites where you can be found (Twitter, Facebook Fan page, Soundcloud, Soundclick, etc).

CD Cases or Covers - Its not quite summer, yet I saw many CDs without sleeves or jackets. You shouldn’t hand an A+R a CD with you finger in the spindle hole. What if they scratch it on the way home? Me being the technology lover that I am, I say skip the CD Cases and Covers – and use Drop Cards. Drop Cards are easy to distribute, customize, and carry.

Bio or Resume (optional) - I think the bio or resume can be a great idea in those situations where you are shopping your music to an A+R interested in one particular genre. The bio/resume can help to cross sell your ability to produce in other genres. If you are going this route, I believe 1 or 2 tracks on the CD or Drop Card should have genre you are cross selling. These should be near last in your track listing.

Folder (optional)- Everything could be packaged in a paper folder. Again, this is just to make everything easier for the A+R to carry.

You may have to make several of these “Kits” to bring along with you to the conference, but it will be worth it. I believe the saying is:

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pissed-off People (A+Rs)

…that’s not the real adage, but you get the point.

picture by: RambergMediaImages

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In honor of AIDS walk 2010, Encore Status interviewed an up coming artist with a special story. Artist Sagittarius Black participates in the AIDS walk every year with his mom who contracted the disease a year before he was born. Just in time for AIDS walk 2011, Sagittarius Black and his crew Brooklyn Collectiv have created a tee shirt that represents his message to all those who may have a disease:

Take Your Medicine Everyday

Taking Your Medicine Everyday gives you more TYME (time), time to spend with your friends and family. It’s not how long you live its how you live while you’re here.

Be a reminder to someone to take their meds or give this as a gift for someone you know. Order one today.

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Interested in hearing Sagittarius Black’s story? Listen to his Encore Status interview here!

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Amazon makes a power move in the realm of music streaming by launching its Music Cloud Storage product “Amazon Cloud Drive.”  It can be used to store anything (music, video, photos, documents) up to 5 gigabytes for FREE (yea, Free).

Here are some of the benefits that Amazon Cloud Drive gives:

-You never have to worry about getting your files back if you’re laptop, mp3 player, drive gets lost stole or damaged.

-You can access your files from any computer - retrieve everything via your amazon account.

-Any music you buy from the amazon store will be stored for free. Meaning it will not count towards your cloud storage file limit.

-If you buy an album from the amazon store you will receive an extra 20 gigs of storage for a year. (Not freaking bad at all)

Learn more about the benefits of this new offering on their website: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/learnmore

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East Coast West Coast love can’t get any better than this!
Brown Bag Allstars member, Koncept, has teamed up with a very talented producer on the West Coast named Tranzformer (we covered Tranzformer a while back, in a producer highlight – Click here for that post). They created the “More Than Meets the Eye” EP which was released in February. Here is the Official video for one of the tracks called “Change” off the album. Enjoy!

If you like Koncept’s music, he also released the Playing Life EP (released in August 2010).

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Hello,

Just thought I give some of you the heads up that Universal Pictures, Morgan Creek, and Skee TV are looking for a fresh face to play the role of Tupac in an upcoming film. Here is a video explaining  how you can tryout out for the role through online submission. Good luck to all of you who enter. Should be a fantastic film.
-@EncoreStatus

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Christian Bindah, Aka Soular235, has been in the game for over 20 years. He released mix tapes and albums such as  ”The highlands volume 1″, “25 Fatal”, “Soular energy”, “Tears Of Glory” and recent album released in Feb 2011 “Rock Bottom”. This outstanding artist, born in Queens Bridge and raised in Brooklyn, has sat down with Encore Status Entertainment and talked about his journey thus far in the hip hop industry.

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Has it been 14 years already? Today marks the 14th anniversary of Notorious BIG’s death.  Brooklyn hip hop artist Sag Black, along with music mixologist DJ H Blendz have created a tribute song for the late Notorious BIG.  One of the best ones created thus far for the day. Rest in Peace BIG. We miss you.  -@EncoreStatus

Notorious BIG – Moment of Victory RMX ft Sag Black by sagblack

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“The Encore Status Show” episode 2 hosted by Jamie Jackson had videos by Jesse Abraham, Homeboy Sandman, Epsilon Project …and more. Plus Comedy Skits “Dominican Spiderman” by Omar The Comedian. If you’re an artist and you think you should be considered for the countdown go to EncoreStatus.com or follow us @EncoreStatus and contact us.

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On Feb 11, 2011 a bold new urban clothing line officially opened for business. Despite the connotations the name might bring to mind, Sherifa Gayle founder of Black and Ugly (BU), decided to flip negativity into something positive.

“My aim is to spread positivism and make people more self-aware and prideful and most of all conscientious.“

In my opinion Gayle takes a new approach to the way we approach and execute branding. In marketing, many hours and dollars are spent on gaining learnings through market research to find out how to get consumers to identify with their brand. The question, “How can we get our target market to ‘connect’ with us?” is debated.  Slogans, Logos, and Mascots are created. Tiered approaches involving display, SEO, social networking, direct mail, etc are implemented. Choosing the name Black and Ugly is asking the consumers to transcend the brand. Gayle wants those who wear the apparel to collectively disagree with being labeled as Black and Ugly and see themselves in a positive light – Young Gifted and Black.

If you’re proud to BU, purchase a Black and Ugly item today!
Click here for their online store.

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Hello Friends and Family,

We are airing Episode 2 of The Encore Status Show will air today in Brooklyn. Th show will air on March 2nd at 7:30pm. The format equivalent to a 106 & Park for independent artists…with a little comedy mixed in. If you are in Brooklyn its on Time Warner (channel 35), Cablevision (channel 68), RCN (channel 83), Verizon (channel 43). We have a great line up…Videos from Jesse Abraham, Epsilon Project, Homeboy Sandman, and More!!!

If you’re not in Brooklyn you can tune into the show online here. Go to the following link and launch “Channel 2″:
http://www.bricartsmedia.org/community-media/bcat-tv-network

Here is the intro to the show. Please join us!

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