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CONTENTS 36

Informing Music People Since 1977 June 2019 • Vol. 43 • No. 6

Sean Paul In our exclusive interview, the international superstar—fresh off a sensational appearance at Coachella—speaks candidly about his career and how artists can be better prepared to handle both the ups and downs of fame.

By Brett Callwood Photos: Savannah Baker

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How to Create Your Personal Brand

MC Covers the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO

Departments 08. Close Up 09. Assignments 10. New Toys 14. Book Store 16. Up Close 18. Studio Mix 23. Business Affairs 24. The Legal Beat 26. Signing Stories 28. Song Biz 32. Film•TV•Theater 34. Mixed Notes

Four industry pros from the realms of artist management and public relations offer their timely insights about what artists must do to make an impact in today’s congested marketplace.

By Bernard Baur

52 Directory of Music Managers & Booking Agents

Reviews 45. Album Reviews 46. New Music Critiques 48. Live Reviews

Compiled By Denise Coso Be sure to follow Music Connection on Facebook and Twitter.

20. Producer Crosstalk: Luis Bacqué. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Rob Putnam 22. Exec Profile: Jeff Ponchick, Repost Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Andy Kaufmann 30. Songwriter Profile: Nick Furlong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Dan Kimpel 44. Industry Profile: Sound Royalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Andy Kaufmann 62. Tip Jar: Rapid Fanbase Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Dave Kusek

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The opinions expressed in Music Connection, as well as all Directory listings and contact information, are provided by various sources in the music industry. Music Connection is not responsible for any business transactions or misadventures that may result from your use of this information.

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E. Eric Bettelli PUBLISHER E. Eric Bettelli GENERAL MANAGER / ADVERTISING DIRECTOR ericb@musicconnection.com

Denise Coso OPERATIONS MANAGER / DIRECTORIES EDITOR denisec@musicconnection.com

Steve Sattler BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER steve@creativesalesresource.com

Hillorie McLarty

ADVERTISING / MARKETING

hillorier@musicconnection.com

Ray Holt DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING rayh@musicconnection.com

Jessica Pace FILM / TV / THEATER j.marie.pace@gmail.com

Mark Nardone ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER / SENIOR EDITOR

markn@musicconnection.com

John Curry ART DIRECTOR artdirector@musicconnection.com

Jacqueline Naranjo ASSOCIATE EDITOR / SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

jackien@musicconnection.com

Barry Rudolph NEW TOYS

barry@barryrudolph.com

Bernard Baur CONTRIBUTING EDITOR bbatmc@aol.com

Dan Kimpel SONG BIZ

dan@dankimpel.com

Glenn Litwak THE LEGAL BEAT gtllaw59@gmail.com

FEATURE WRITERS

Andy Kaufmann andy.kaufmann@verizon.net Rob Putnam toe2toe6@hotmail.com Daniel Siwek danielsiwek@roadrunner.com Editorial Interns

Noah Loveman • Michael Herrera • Isabelle Cruz intern@musicconnection.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Heather Allen, David Arnson, Bernard Baur, Andrea Beenham, Bobby Borg, Pierce Brochetti, Brett Bush, Alexx Calise, Brett Callwood, Miguel Costa, Elena Ender, Gary Graff, Eric A. Harabadian, Andy Kaufmann, Whitney Levine, Glenn Litwak, Andy Mesecher, Olivia Morreale, Patrick O’Heffernan, Kurt Orzeck, Jessica Pace, Rob Putnam, Adam Seyum, Daniel Siwek, Brian Stewart, Siri Svay, Carah Wes, Jonathan Widran, Ellen Woloshin PHOTOGRAPHERS Heather Allen, David Arnson, Bernard Baur, JB Brookman, Brett Callwood, Alexx Calise, Daren Cornell, Miguel Costa, Jody Domingue, Jim Donnelly, Kevin Estrada, Apple Kaufmann, David Klein, Alex Kluft, Heather Koepp, Tony Landa, Dave Long, Thomas Long, Charlie Meister, Scott Perham, Garrett Poulos, Alexander G. Seyum, Danny Seyum, Mark Shiwolich, Daniel Siwek, Brian Stewart, Joshua Weesner, Ellen Woloshin

MANUFACTURED AND PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Music Connection (ISSN# 1091-9791) is published monthly by Music Connection, Inc., 3441 Ocean View Blvd., Glendale, CA 91208. Single copy price is $3.95, Canada $4.95. Subscription rates: $35/one year, $59/two years. Outside the U.S., add $25 (U.S. currency) per year. We are not responsible for unsolicited material, which must be accompanied by return postage. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission of the publishers is prohibited. The opinions of contributing writers to this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Music Connection, Inc. Copyright © 2019 by E. Eric Bettelli. All rights reserved.

Founded by: J. Michael Dolan / michael@jmichaeldolan.com

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

3441 Ocean View Blvd., Glendale, CA 91208 Office: 818-995-0101 Fax: 818-638-8015 Email Address: contactmc@musicconnection.com Website: musicconnection.com Legal Counsel: Christopher J. Olsen / chris@chrisolsenlaw.com

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– JONATHAN WIDRAN

BOBBY OWSINSKI bobbyowsinski.com

Multi-Faceted Industry Veteran: Bobby Owsinski’s website header bills him as Producer/Engineer, Author and Coach – but those designations tell only part of the industry veteran’s multi-faceted story. He started his career as a musician and songwriter and eventually segued into becoming an indemand producer/engineer working on music, commercials and in TV and film. He was one of the first engineers to delve into surround sound music mixing, co-founding the pioneering Surround Associates, which did projects for artists like The Who, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Chicago and many others. More recently, Owsinski mixed a #2 album on the Billboard Blues charts for AdriannaMarie and her Bluescutters, and produced and mixed a #6 on the iTunes rock charts for the band SNEW. A renowned music industry educator, he has guest lectured at universities and conferences throughout the world. He is also a bestselling author, with 24 books that are now staples in audio recording, music and business programs in colleges around the world—including Mixing Engineer Handbook, The Recording Engineer’s Handbook and Social Media Promotion For Musicians. His music production blog (bobbyowsinskiblog.com) is one of the most popular in the industry, with over 14 million views.

Online Mixing Courses: On his website bobbyowsinskicourses.com, Owsinski offers seven comprehensive online courses, including Vocal Mixing Techniques, Song and Mix Critiques, Music Producer Formula, Music Branding Crash Course and Music Prosperity Breakthrough. His Music Mixing Primer Course offers all the hitmaker techniques to build a great mix (that no one ever tells you). It’s a program for songwriters, musicians, producers, DJs and anyone who is struggling to make their mixes sound professional. The program is designed to help students build a powerful, punchy mix, easily find the perfect relationship between the bass, drums and vocals every time, learn the secret to dialing in the right EQ and compression for each track, and add major-label style effects that always make mixes sound bigger and better. Another popular

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program is 101 Mixing Tricks, which offers big studio mixing tricks that work in almost any home studio situation. “Instead of just telling people how to do something,” Owsinski says, “I explain why you’re doing it, so that as you develop, you can create your own trademark sound that sets you apart from other mixers and artists. It’s very fulfilling to know that I’m helping students go from struggling with their mixes to creating professional quality work.”

Inner Circle Podcast: Owsinski started his popular Inner Circle Podcast (bobbyoinnercircle.com) five years ago after participating in a panel on another music industry podcast called The AudioNowcast. Consistently in the Apple 200 podcast rankings, it features music industry analysis, interviews with a wide range of music industry insiders, plus tips and the latest relevant news that start each broadcast. Owsinski recently aired his 260th podcast.

Contact Bobby Owsinski, 818-588-6606

Deborah Dugan President/CEO The Recording Academy

Nick West

VP Operations Knitting Factory Entertainment & CMoore Concerts

The Recording Academy Board of Trustees has appointed Deborah Dugan as the next President/CEO of The Recording Academy. The appointment was announced by John Poppo, Chair of the Board. Dugan will formally assume the role of President/CEO on Aug. 1, replacing Neil Portnow, who held the position since 2002. Dugan will oversee all Recording Academy affairs in her new position, working closely with the Academy’s Board of Trustees and senior management team. That includes serving as president/CEO of charity organization MusiCares and on the boards of the GRAMMY Museum Foundation and The Latin Recording Academy. For more, contact andie.cox@recordingacademy.com.

Knitting Factory Entertainment (KFE) and CMoore Concerts (CMC) have promoted Nick West to Vice President of Operations. West will oversee both companies Operations Department including the Knitting Factory Club and Concert Houses in Brooklyn, NY; Boise, ID; and Spokane, WA, its summer concert series at Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden, Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater in Missoula, MO, as well as concerts outside of these exclusively booked venues. West has previously held roles for the compnay as Director of Production, Marketing Director, and Project Manager. For more on this appointment, contact heshelman@ platformgrp.com.

Philip Lima

Bill Wilson

Assistant Chair Berklee’s Voice Department

SVP Digital Operations and Innovation Entertainment One

Berklee College of Music has named Philip Lima as Assistant Chair of the Voice Department. Lima is a baritone vocalist who has garnered critical acclaim for his performances on both concert and operatic stages. He currently serves as interim chair of the department while chair Anne Peckham is on sabbatical.

Lima has sung leading operatic roles in Germany and for regional opera companies in the US in repertoire ranging from traditional favorites by Handel, Mozart, Puccini, and Verdi to important works of 20th century masters such as Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten and Viktor Ullmann to the comic masterworks of Gilbert and Sullivan. For more, contact medwards@berklee.edu.

Entertainment One (“eOne”) has tapped Bill Wilson as Senior Vice President Digital Operations and Innovation, Music. Wilson will oversee all aspects of digital strategy across the company’s music business, including label service, talent management, music publishing and live entertainment. Wilson will be based in New York City and will report to Sean Stevenson, eOne’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, Music. For nearly 20 years, from 1989 to 2007, Wilson co-founded and operated Blackout! Records. In 2009, Wilson joined NARM (now the Music Business Association (“Music Biz”) as Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development. For more, contact gmelchiorre@entonegroup.com.

Paul Sinclair

Brittney Ramsdell

Paul Sinclair has been promoted to GM and Executive VP of Atlantic Records.

Sinclair has been the driving force behind the creation of the industry’s premier digital department, which has been a pioneer in digital innovation, while developing unique, bespoke campaigns for artists on the Atlantic roster. In his new post, Sinclair will focus on strategies to keep Atlantic at the forefront of modern culture, bringing his extensive marketing and creative experience to a wide scope of company initiatives. Sinclair moved to WMG’s Atlantic Records in 2006, spearheading the company’s commitment to emerging technologies and digital innovation. For more on this appointment, contact sheila.richman@atlanticrecords.com.

Brittney Ramsdell has been promoted to Senior VP Film and TV Synchronization at Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Verve Label Group under parent company Universal Music Group (UMG). In her new role, Ramsdell will oversee a team that will have dedicated synch representatives at each of the four labels to secure premium and impactful opportunities for the use of their music in all visual media. Ramsdell began working as the VP Film and Television Synchronization in 2014. During that time she has identified and brokered licensing opportunities, provided creative support on soundtracks, set up on-camera performances for artists and created custom and original recordings. Contact communications@umusic.com.

Jarrod Holley

Niklas Agevik

Artist management firm Make Wake Artists has appointed Jarrod Holley as Manager. Holley, who previously co-managed Suit Music, will oversee operations for Jobe Fortner and Drew Parker. Additionally, he’ll continue managing Jackie Lee, Jason Nix and Kid Politics. Holley began in the live entertainment space before moving to Nashville in 2011 to run dayto-day and digital for Frankie Ballard. He has since worked alongside Eli Young Band, Canaan Smith and Eric Hutchinson, before starting Suit Music in 2015. He previously served on the Young Entertainment Professional’s (YEP) board in Nashville for five years. For more on this appointment, contact jcarter@shorefire.com.

Propellerhead Software’s Board of Directors have appointed Niklas Agevik as CEO. As part of a planned succession, Agevik will take over from current CEO and founder, Ernst Nathorst-Böös, on June 10. Nathorst-Böös will remain a shareholder and take a seat on the board of Propellerhead Software. This follows on the heels of the company’s recent expansion of its management team in Q1, with the addition of Sofia Juhlin as SVP of Sales and Marketing and Timothy Self as SVP of Product. Early in his career Agevik spent five years at Ericsson. After that he was part of several fast-paced startups and, most recently, he founded the company Wi-Fi platform Instabridge.

Contact niklas.agevik@propellerheads.com.

General Manager & Exec VP Atlantic Records

Manager Make Wake Artists

Senior VP of Film & TV Synchronization Universal Music Group

CEO Propellerhead Software

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– BARRY RUDOLPH barry@barryrudolph.com

JBL PROFESSIONAL ONE SERIES 104 POWERED MONITORS I was attracted to the JBL 104 reference powered monitor mainly because they use a single coaxial driver with a 4.5-inch woofer and a concentric 0.75-inch tweeter. With coaxial or concentric drivers, the sound emanates all together as a single “point source” from the speaker.

This driver design and shape uses the same research that led to the revolutionary waveguide found in JBL’s top-of-the-line M2, 7-Series, and 3-Series monitors. The 104s are rear-ported monitors with low frequency extension down to 60Hz. The JBL 104 use 60-watt Class-D amplification to drive them to 104db SPL peak. The right monitor contains the power amps for both the right and left units and connects to the left using a short length of (included) speaker wire. I liked the front-panel volume control and headphone jack; it automatically muted the speakers when I plugged in my ear buds.

There are three ways to connect the 104s: L/R RCA jacks for unbalanced -10dBv inputs, two ¼-inch TRS balanced line inputs, or the front-mounted, 1/8-inch TRS jack to connect to any music player Here at my mix room, I set up my pair of 104s on either side of my wide-screen computer monitor screen and started using them as alternate monitors to check my music mixes.

Most significant is that the driver is located near the top and above the halfway point in the vertical dimension of the speaker. It is important to decouple any speaker from the desktop surface so as to not overly emphasize the bass. Also of note is the rounded top and bottom surfaces of the 104 that, besides being stylish, diffuses the sound coming from my main monitors up on stands behind them.

The JBL Professional One Series 104 Powered Monitors are a solid choice for nearly any use when you are looking for great sound in small, desktop speakers. They are easy to hook up and can be used with any music system or player. The pair sells for $149 MSRP. jblpro.com/www/products/recording-broadcast/one-series

SHURE RMCE-BT2 HI-RES BLUETOOTH 5.0 EARPHONE CABLE I was excited to check out the new RMCE-BT2 high resolution Bluetooth 5.0 Earphone Communication Cable. The BT2 is an upgrade in both fidelity and operation from my original (and well-used) RMCE-BT1; it provides higher fidelity sound, even on phone calls using my iPhone X. The new BT2 main module is slightly larger and holds a longer lasting battery that now lasts up to 10 hours. I no longer have to think about turning it off when not immediately using it. The new BT2 module has a metal clip to attach it to your clothing plus the cables from the two earphones now come from a single point on the main module.

The biggest change is that the sound compares with today’s high-resolution audio players that have wired earphones. The BT2 has a high-performance headphone amplifier with a low noise floor, low distortion and accurate frequency response.

The Shure RMCE-BT2 supports all popular audio codecs, so no matter what device you're enjoying streaming music from, you'll be able to connect to it with no problem.

There is the same in-line remote and mic control as the BT1, plus the BT2 also has a wireless range of up to 30 feet. I leave my iPhone on the coffee table to have phone conversations or listen to streaming music anywhere in my living room. The battery lasts for up to 10 hours of playing time with up to 350 hours of standby time.

If you have not gotten into a Bluetooth earphone cable system for your phone, the RMCE-BT2 is the one to own now! Add a pair of Shure SE215 earphones ($99); they snap in using gold-plated MMCX connectors and know you'll have improved sound fidelity and advanced, modern Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

The RMCE-BT2 sells for $149 MSRP. shure.com

WARM AUDIO WA-84 SMALL DIAPHRAGM CARDIOID CONDENSER MICROPHONE Warm Audio's small-diaphragm cardioid condenser WA-84 microphone starts with an Australian-made capsule that has the original specs of the vintage German microphone. The capsule feeds a discrete Class-A FET amplifier with premium-grade capacitors and a large nickel core CineMag output transformer.

I tried the WA-84 on an acoustic guitar recording, a very popular application. My guitarist plays a Taylor model 655-C 12-string guitar and I had the mic about 6-inches out over the 12th fret aimed back toward the sound hole and bridge. This sounded good, clear, present, full and bright but also picked up too many fret squeaks. So I tried moving the mic about five inches over the lower bout, behind the bridge and aimed back at it. This produced a good sound with less fret squeaking.

Next, I tried the WA-84 on a drum kit. For close in on a five-inch Ludwig Black Beauty, I put the WA-84 out about seven-inches away and aimed at the center of the drum with the -10dB pad switched in. I like the sound in this position—it was bright, transient-rich and dynamic sounding with plenty of detail heard including stick drags, snares rattling and hi-hat work.

I also tried the WA-84 as a single overhead about 1 meter above the rack toms over the center of the kit. With careful re-positioning I was able to reduce the loud cymbals and focus on the snare. I could hear the entire kit well but you would need two WA-84s for complete and proper coverage of drum kits.

The Warm Audio WA-84 comes in either matte black or nickel finishes and in matched pairs. A single WA-84 sells for $399 while a stereo pair sells for $749 MSRP. Either kit comes in a nice, foam-lined carrying case with all the accessories. The Warm Audio WA-84 is a great way to add a small diaphragm condenser workhorse microphone to your collection at a great price! warmaudio.com/wa-84

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– BARRY RUDOLPH barry@barryrudolph.com

EVENTIDE INSTANT PHASER MK II PLUG-IN Modeled on the original 2U analog hardware unit that Eventide created in 1972, the Instant Phaser Mk II delivers the original’s sonic character and retains the same look and feel of one of the first rack mount electronic effects box—ever!

Used on countless iconic recordings—such as Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, this classic effect plug-in sells for $129.

Some awesome features include: Manual mode for precise automation of the phasing effect and Oscillator mode modulates the phasing at a user-defined rate with tempo sync and retriggering. While the Envelope follower allows the input signal to modulate the phasing effect. This is just like the original hardware unit I remember except now there is also a side-chain input and the Remote mode maps the phasing control to a (MIDI) Mod Wheel controller.

The Instant Phaser Mk II provides a pair of de-correlated outputs offering three different sonic characteristics: Shallow, Deep and Wide for creating a pseudo stereo image.

I found it interesting that Eventide added an Age feature in the Instant Phaser Mk II. Age ranges from 0, for emulating a brand new hardware unit with all new components, all the way to 100—as if the components were ancient, random and barely working! Awesome!

The Instant Phaser Mk II plug-in is available for Mac & PC in AAX. Registered owners of the Eventide Anthology X or Anthology XI bundles can get the Instant Phaser Mk II as a FREE download, available immediately from eventideaudio.com. eventideaudio.com/instantphaser

NEUMANN STUDIO HEADPHONES NDH 20 Designed for music mixing, the Neumann NDH 20 closed-back circumaural studio headphones combine better isolation with an excellent, balanced sound and good stereo imaging. Neumann has solved a problem with closed-back headphones having “nasty resonances in the mid-band, making it difficult to come to reliable mix decisions.”

The NDH 20s have newly designed 38-mm drivers, 150-ohms impedance, and a 114dB SPL sensitivity rating. They come with both a 1.5-to-3-meter curly-cord and a straight, 3-meter cable to work with your smartphone. Frequency response is 5Hz to 30kHz and they will handle up to 1-watt of audio power input! The NDH 20s' response is flat and unflattering and exactly what I prefer for music mixing.

A crucial specification is sound isolation; it’s greater than 34dB (@ 1kHz) and I did find external sounds in the studio reduced plus they seal well around your head and prevent leakage into microphones.

Weighing just 388-grams, the ND 20s are comfortable to wear because the plush (and replaceable) ear cushions are made from soft memory foam.

For comparison, I listened to past mixes I had done using my main monitors. It was remarkable how close the sound of these mixes sounded on the NDH 20s compared to my monitors! I could hear deeper into the mix revealing detail that I knew was there but found difficult to discern on many outside monitor systems.

Listening on headphones during mixing is useful to check pan positioning, intrusive noises and the excessive use of reverb and delay. Because of the "masking" effect by other elements in the mix it’s easy to miss those problems listening only on speakers. Furthermore, mixing in less than sonically accurate or acoustically untreated rooms makes reliance on proper headphones even more essential.

I think Neumann has developed an excellent new tool with the NDH 20s. They offer a new level of scrutiny and referencing in my mix process with their accurate sound and I highly recommend them to anyone relying on headphones for songwriting, music recording/production or mixing work! They sell for $499 MSRP. NDH20.neumann.com

CASIO PRIVIA PX-S1000 AND PX-S3000 KEYBOARDS Both models in Casio's Privia® digital piano line are compact, stylish and have the slimmest depth ever (20% slimmer) yet they retain a sophisticated keyboard touch and the sound and feel of a grand piano at a fraction of the weight and price.

The newly developed Smart Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard makes the slim 232-mm depth possible for playing a great sounding keyboard in any size space. AiR Sound Source design reproduces the individual response characteristics of each of the 88 keys as well as the natural tone of a grand piano with string and damper resonance. Adding to the elegant look is a control panel with illuminated touch sensor controls that disappear from view when powered off.

The PX-S1000/S3000 models also offer Bluetooth® audio playback for playing along with your favorite songs streamed from your phone, computer or tablet. The PX-S1000 includes 18 Tones with 192 notes of polyphony and layer/split/duet functionality. The PXS3000 has 700 Tones plus 200 accompaniment rhythms, derived from Casio's acclaimed CT-X series instruments.

Both models feature recording capabilities, optional battery power (for playing outside), integration with the Chordana Play Piano app, and a music rest designed to hold iOS/Android devices. There are two headphone jacks for silent playing, and ¼-inch L/R outputs to connect to any amplifier, mixer or PA system.

As a perfect easy-to-play and beautiful instrument that'll fit anywhere in your home or apartment, the Casio Privia PX-S1000 and PX-S3000 offer easy ways to have BARRY RUDOLPH is a recording engineer/mixer who has worked on over 30 gold and platinum records. He has great sound at an affordable price. recorded and/or mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat The PX-S1000 sells $899.99MSRP Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and more. Barry has his and the PX-S3000 sells for own futuristic music mixing facility and loves teaching audio engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. He is a $1,199.99MSRP. CasioMusicGear.com 12

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lifetime Grammy-voting member of NARAS and a contributing editor for Mix Magazine. barryrudolph.com

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Begin the Begin: R.E.M.’s Early Years

By Robert Dean Lurie (paperback) $19.95 This new book recounts the band’s first gig, initial tours, recording sessions and much more. Author Robert Dean Lurie also delves into R.E.M.'s relationship with, and place in, the music scene of its adopted hometown of Athens, GA, and how the American South influenced the group.

Begin the Begin—named after the first track of R.E.M.'s album Life’s Rich Pageant—also includes interviews with people associated with R.E.M. whose perspectives have not appeared in previous biographies about the band.

Ellie and the Harpmaker

By Hazel Prior (hardcover) $26.00 A novel by Hazel Prior, Prior herself is a freelance harpist, Ellie and the Harpmaker tells an unexpected love story between Ellie and Dan— she’s a lonely housewife with an inattentive husband; he’s an introvert who mostly keeps to himself in the Harp Barn where he lives and works. Neither of them think their lives might be missing something special until they meet and start to get to know each other. Dan introduces Ellie to harps and music and gives her space to explore both in his Harp Barn. Ellie ultimately introduces Dan to something he never could have fathomed.

Slanted: How an Asian American 1964 -1974: A Decade of Odd Troublemaker Took on the Tales and Wonders Supreme Court

By Travis Edward Pike

By Simon Tam (hardcover) $24.29 In 2004, Simon Tam formed a dance-rock band of all Asian-Americans after leaving his previous group, The Stivs. When naming his new band he decided to turn something negative into a positive, while also using a double-entendre to alter his listeners’ opinions. He named the group The Slants, playing on racial stereotypes. In 2009 Tam attempted to patent the name but was rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Tam and his legal team began legal action and the case, Matal v.

Tam, took about a decade to conclude. Unfortunately for Tam and his group, it proved to be a great distraction from the musical process.

California Slim: The Music, the Magic, and the Madness

by Andrew J. Bernstein

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(paperback) $22.95

Chronicling the prolific, multi-faceted Pike’s development as a storyteller, singer and songwriter, along with his performances in the U.S. and abroad from 1964-1974, the book also includes all the lyrics to the songs on his albums Odd Tales and Wonders: Stories in Song, Feelin' Better, Rconstructed Coffeehouse Blues, Travis Edward Pike's Tea Party Snack Platter and Outside the Box, as well as the text to all the rhymes on the Odd Tales and Wonders: Stories in Rhyme CD. There are also over 170 photos and artifacts which detail Pike’s varying degrees of success throughout his unique career.

Famous Guitarists I Have Met Who Influenced Me

(paperback) $15.99

By Robert Lee Balderrama (paperback) $14.50

Bernstein writes of his front-row seat during the ever-evolving music scene of the 1960s and 1970s in California Slim, a personable memoir that gives a glimpse of what it was like to be a witness to rock & roll history. His career, which spanned 1962 to 1980, represents the dreams of many male music-loving Boomers of that time. As a teenager, he studied with Jerry Garcia, and in 1980 he attended the premiere for Willie Nelson’s movie Honeysuckle Rose.

Impresario Bill Graham selected Bernstein and his posse to produce light shows at Fillmore West, where luminaries like B. B. King, the original Fleetwood Mac, and the Grateful Dead performed.

As the guitarist in #1 hit (“96 Tears”) ‘60s garage-rock band Question Mark and the Mysterians, Bobby Balderrama travelled far and wide playing gigs alongside other legendary acts like the Yardbirds, The McCoys, The Seeds and more. In this homegrown memoir, Balderrama recounts those moments and especially what he learned when talking shop with respected players like Rick Derringer, Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper), Johnny Winter, James Burton (Ricky Nelson, Elvis) and others. Available from RLB Publishing, PO Box 106, Essexville, MI 48732. Send check or money order care of Robert L. Balderrama.

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– JONATHAN WIDRAN

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MAGIC GARDEN MASTERING magicgardenmastering.com

No Perfection, Only Connection: Driven by a singular philosophy “there’s no perfection, only connection,” veteran mastering engineer Brian Lucey sees his two decades of work for bedroom projects, signed indie artists and Grammy-winning legends as the “art of enhancement, facilitating the connection between artist and audience.” Take it from Neil Young, quoted on Lucey’s website, “That guy is fucking great…” Located on a street in Atwater Village with artists from every genre, Lucey’s Magic Garden Mastering uses a fresh concept in studio design. The freestanding walls treat mid and high frequencies, while the low-end escapes into the four story, open floor plan, concrete and glass structure—providing effortless low-end clarity. The windows and fresh air bring a human connection to the outside world in a design that enhances his work in a way that a windowless cave studio cannot.

A Fellow Musician’s Ear: Lucey moved to Los Angeles six years ago after establishing a successful mastering room in his hometown of Columbus, OH. As a veteran professional musician, he is a minority in the mastering community, most of whom enter from the production/engineering side. As a result, he brings a musician’s musicality—not a technician’s perfectionism—to the mixes. He believes this is the only hope an artist has of making a real connection with listeners.

Launching his career in the late ‘80s in NYC’s East Village, Lucey (who sings, plays guitar and piano) later studied with Guitar Craft and Robert Fripp in the ‘90s. He has many years of experience in band creativity:

For each validly claimed Qualified Unregistered Work that was played more than 24 times in its entirety by someone other than the copyright holder and for which Rhapsody did not have a voluntary or compulsory license, Rhapsody will pay $1.00 (reduced pro rata where there is more than one claiming rights holder for the same work or the total amount of claims exceeds a set cap of $10,000,000).

The cap referenced above could increase up to $20 million under certain circumstances. For more information about those circumstances, please see paragraphs 82-89 of the Settlement Agreement.

The Settlement Website below provides complete instructions that you need to follow when filing a claim.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? You must submit a claim online by December 31, 2019 or by mail postmarked no later than December 31, 2019 to receive a payment.

You can opt-out of the class and keep your right to pursue your own lawsuit about these claims by mail, postmarked by July 5, 2019. You can also object to the settlement by mail, postmarked by July 5, 2019.

For details on how to opt-out, object, or to file a claim, please visit www.RhapsodyNOIClassAction.com or contact the Claim Administrator. If you do nothing you will not receive a payment and you will be bound by the decisions of the Court.

COURT HEARING AND ATTORNEYS’ FEES The Court will hold a hearing on March 13, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. PT to consider whether to approve the settlement. If the settlement is approved, the attorneys for the class have represented to the Court that they intend to ask for an award of attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses between $5,511,878 and $5,661,877.50, and potentially an additional $75,000-$150,000 in fees, costs and expenses incurred between now and the Court’s approval.

The attorneys for the class have also represented they will seek class representative payments of $2,500 for each of the named plaintiffs. You may attend the hearing, but you do not have to. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs will be posted on the website after it is filed.

MORE INFORMATION This is only a summary. For more information, please visit: www.RhapsodyNOIClassAction.com, or contact the Claim Administrator by calling 1-833-253-8061 or by writing to Lowery v. Rhapsody, c/o Claim Administrator P.O. Box 58232, Philadelphia, PA 19102-8232.

1-833-253-8061 www.RhapsodyNOIClassAction.com 16 June 2019

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writing, arranging, performing, tracking and mixing organic music using the Ampex MM1200 2” 16-track. Frustrated by the digital sound of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Lucey started mastering first for himself, then for others in 1999. His vision has always been to restore some of music’s “juicy and musical” naturalism from the vinyl era, using the digital opportunities for clarity and control.

Clientele: “My biggest thing is potential,” Lucey says. “I want to help artists fulfill whatever their potential is in music, so that they’re happy and the people who listen to their work are elevated today, tomorrow, always.”

While the majority of his projects are singles, EPs and albums for indies, Lucey’s clientele also includes numerous major label projects, including Liam Gallagher, Marilyn Manson, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, Shania Twain, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco and Michelle Branch.

Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Greg Wells says, “Brian has vast musical range and gets everything from indie recordings to full-blown productions like The Greatest Showman Soundtrack, Katy Perry or the new Grace VanderWaal.”

Contact Magic Garden Mastering, 614-620-4567

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Bastille’s Doom Day is Arriving MATHIAS FAU

Bastille’s third album, Doom Days, will be out on June 14 via Virgin Records.

The album was made by Dan Smith with bandmates Kyle Simmons, Will Farquarson and Chris “Woody” Wood, and producer Mark Crew. Recorded during the course of 2018 at the band’s South London studio, One Eyed Jack’s, the new album captures the need to temporarily switch off and escape. For more, visit bastillebastille.com. Pictured (l-r): Will Farquarson and Dan Smith.

Chemical Diary Record at Capitol Studios Chemical Diary, composed of Roland Numbers and Dudee, recorded and mixed at Capitol Studios in Studio D during a 12 hour recording session with Staff Engineer, Ira Grylack. The band worked on 11 original songs in a 12 hour session. For more, visit chemicaldiary.com.

WAMCon Celebrates Women in Audio

The Stars Line Up For Little Days Gov’t Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson and vocalist Mini Diaz are Little Days and the duo just completed their new album Pop & Tacos, which has a late ‘70s flavor a la 10cc, Pink Floyd and ABBA. Recorded at Rogers Boat Studio in LA, guest artists on Pop & Tacos include everyone from Steve Ferrone and Will Lee to Lenny Castro and Steve Lukather and many others. Gov’t Mule bandmates Matt Abts and Warren Haynes also appear on this star studded LP. Pictured (l-r): Carlsson and Diaz.

WAM (Women’s Audio Mission) wrapped up a sold-out WAMCon conference in Nashville during May. Presented with Change the Conversation and hosted

by Ocean Way Nashville and The Tracking Room studios, WAMCon brought together 150+ aspiring engineers/producers and professionals for transformative trainings with guests like MCA Nashville Recording Artist Clare Dunn, Linda Perry (Adele, Alicia Keys), Emily Lazar (Dolly Parton, David Bowie), Simone Torres (Cardi B, Sia), Gena Johnson (Brandi Carlile, Kacey Musgraves), and many more.

Producer Playback “Don’t party with the band. The minute you do, they won’t respect you. Your job is to be the adult in the room.”

– Howard Benson (Three Day Grace, P.O.D.)

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SIMON FOSTER DAVID GOGGIN

ANTHONY DUTY

–JACQUELINE NARANJO jackien@musicconnection.com –JACQUELINE –JACQUELINENARANJO NARANJO NARANJO jackien@musicconnection.com jackien@musicconnection.com jackien@musicconnection.com –JACQUELINE –JACQUELINE NARANJO jackien@musicconnection.com

Mindi Abairand andthe theTalented Boneshakers’ Good Musical Deed The Young

Mindi Abair and Promotions the Boneshakers’ studio Good Deed, is set for release on June 28 through Good ForSound A Girl while Records.

No Good National Record honchothird Larry Weir album, hosted No recording artists (brother and sister) Garrett & CallieAbair’s YoungPretty at Studio City the duo wereDeed on tour reflectsthe theLos longtime camaraderie group andset unleashes infusions punk, radio jazz and blues. The album Pictured took only(l-r): five Steve days to record the album though Angeles area. Both between have newthe solo singles to breakunbridled on US radio throughofWeir’s promotion company.

Jung, manager; at the Young; EastWest Studios in Hollywood and wasFee, produced

by Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith).

Callie Garrett Young; Larry Weir; Debi FAF Media; and Jeff Ryon, producer and engineer. Pictured (l-r): Mindi Abair; Third Richardson, drums; Ben White, bass; Randy Jacobs, guitar; Rodney Lee, keys.

SoundGirls Jégou Tracks Empowers Songs for The "IfNext It Ain't Generation Love" at United Recording Pixies Return With Eighth Album

JORDAN WOLFBAUER

LAURENDAVID KALLEN GOGGIN JOHN SHEARER DAVID GOGGIN

SoundGirls Canadian professional held a recentfigure Analog skater Tapeturned Recording accomplished Workshop taught singer by Patrice producer-engineer Jégou recentlyLenise recorded Bentsongs at 4thfor Street her Recording upcoming in sophomore Santa Monica, album, CA.If Pictured It Ain’t Love (l-r):at Sublime with Rome Return Pixies have announced a Angeles. brand-new album due this September.

Produced by Tom Dalgety, (Ghost, Royal Blood, Pixies’ 2016 album HeadEmme, Carrier), the asSayet Hannah United Recording Kacmarsky, in Julie Los Kane, Chelsea Scheduled Zareczny, toout beKathleen released Wirt March (owner, 2019, 4th theStreet album Recording), blends jazz Lenise and pop, Bentcomprising (producer), big Juliet band, Wong, orchestral Ainjel arrangements, Melissa power untitled was written over thewill course of and recorded in26 December atWaldron.

Dreamland Recordings near Woodstock, Visitand pixiesmusic.com more.

Ska-punk trioa Sublime With Rome release Blessings onJégou, AprilMills via Music/Red Music.

The album was recorded inNY. Texas LA and produced by Rob maniego, ballads album and Karrie cappella Keyes (SoundGirls). adaptations.

Sitting Pictured on2018 (l-r): the floor Patrice Jasmine producer and5Emily Yinka Oyelese, These recording workshops engineer are important Don Murray, to share keyboardist audio knowledge Mike Langfor and and empower United Pictured (l-r): Paz Lenchantin, Tom Dalgety, Black Francis, David Lovering, Joey Santiago.

Cavallo (Green Day) and Andrew Goldstein (Robert DeLong).

For more, visit sublimewithrome.com.

Pictured (l-r): Eric Wilson and Rome Ramirez. the staffnext engineer generation Scott of Moore. women in audio.

To join or get involved visit soundgirls.org

METAlliance Announces LEWITT as Newest Pro Partner SoundExchange Hosts Gathering of The FGL METAlliance Engineering & Technology Alliance) has announced Bring (Music the Country with Fourth Album Producers/Producer Managers Wallows Debuts Atlantic Hollywood's Barefoot Recording Studio Opens ItsorganizaDoors Posner Returns With Third Album that Austria’s LEWITT hasWith become the Line newest Partner of the GRAMMY nominees Florida Georgia willPro release their fourth studio Don’tComes Sleep Debuts with session Victory Repeat Repeat Collabs with Carney SoundExchange hosted a breakfast forRecords more than music producSouthern California alt-rock trio Wallows debut Nothing Haption.

ProCAN’T Partner membership is limited companies that have shown the Here DeMarco Barefoot Recording has opened its doors toalbum outside clients after servGrammy-nominated, multi-platinum singer-songwriter and100 producer Mike album SAY Iofficially AIN’T COUNTRY onto Feb. 15 via BMLG Records.

Diane Warren Guests on the Music Connection Podcast Hardcore musician Dave (Dag Nasty, ALL, Down By new Washingers and their managers inSmalley’s Hollywood’s chic h Club.

VP of pens will out on March 22 through Atlantic Records.

Recorded atby Los Ambassadors Shoot for thehas Stars ability to be manufacture andstudio distribute products that meet the organization’s Badflower with Big Machine/John Varvatos Records Nashville band Repeat Repeat’s new studio album, Glazed, produced ingXas Eric Valentine’s private since 2000, where hewas has produced alPosner will release his third album Afull-length Real Good KidSoundExchange’s on Jan. 18Law) via Island Longtime producer Joey Moi, who stood at the helm of the duo’s Mac DeMarco will Debut release his fourth album, Here Comes The ton DC /Hall Pennsylvania based five-piece Don’t Sleep signed to Victory Records Industry Relations, Levine, Head of West Coast Operations, Wade Metzler Prolific ofcreation Fame songwriter Diane Warren returned to the Music Connection Records.

The and completion ofwill the album encompassed aFeb. two Cowboy, on May 10 Barry via DeMarco’s Record Label.

TheOK, album was written, Southern California rockers Badflower release I’M SICK on 22 viain February and will release their full length debut this summer.

The album is curand Manager of Account Management, Taylor Gerber, walked the asPodcast for amixed chatfor about the Oscars and her creative process.

From “Rhythm of the year-plus period Posner as he moved back into the house outside Detroit tracked and at DeMarco’s Jizz Jazz Studios in Los Angeles during the Big Senior Machine/John Varvatos Records.

Members of the band co-wrote the 13-track rently being recorded by Grammy-nominated producers Carson Slovak and Grant sembled luminaries through how MMA and more specifically AMP act Night” that put her on the map, tothe her latest Oscar Nominated “I’ll Fight” for theto where he grew up,anin order toAngeles stay with his terminally illThe father during his final first two weeks of exceptionally rainy January 2019. title isthe inspired project and recorded in Los with executive producer credits attributed McFarland atit’s Think Studios in York, Pictured: Dave Smalley.

For more(l-r): will affect record producers.

Pictured (l-r): Wade Metzler and Grammy-winning movie RBG, Warren’s time a Best Original Song Nominee. months.

The album, which tells his story, deals heavily with love, lossPictured andPictured by DeMarco’s use of Loud “cowboy” as a as term ofPA. endearment for close friends.

For Scott Borchetta and John10th Varvatos.

For more, visit Badflowermusic.com. information, visit facebook.com/Dontsleepband. and producer AlThomas Shux.Noah Rachel Wohl, Arnie Wohl, Randy and Shain.

Diane Warren. acceptance.

For more, visit mikeposner.com. more, visit mac-demarco.com. (l-r):Oscar-nominated frontman Josh Katz and producer

Sargent Studios, the sees Wallows reunited with Grammy professional audio Pictured (l-r): Moritz Lochner, LEWITT Head Patrick Carney of such The Black KeysCharlotte, in album Nashville, TNproject and will beon released May 31 bumsAngeles’ for artists as Good Taking Back Sunday, Nickel Creek, Ithaca, NY-based band Xstandards.

Ambassadors release ORION June 14on via KIDientire discography, captained thewill fresh alongside FGL with their award-winning producer John (St. Vincent, Alvvays, Future of Product Management; Jim Pace METAlliance Executive Director; via Dangerbird According toCongleton frontman Jared Corder the album isRoman about Queens of co-producer the Records.

Stone Age, Third Eye Blind and Slash, among many others. naKORNER/Interscope Records.

The album was produced by Ricky Reed and first credit.

FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley also each Islands) and captures the band’s towards adulthood through 11 Perschon, LEWITT Founder &tracks, CEO; Mike Van Der Logt, LEWITT Head of looking at(l-r): theFever world through aStudios different lens. about taking the Pictured Grace Potter, recording artist; Eric Valentine (seated), producer recorded at Recording injourney North Hollywood, CA. Forfamiliarities more, visit co-penned over half of the as It’s some carry heavy-hitting guest tracks.

For more, visit wallowsmusic.com.

Pictured Sales; Al introspective Schmitt, METAlliance Co-founder; Matthias Pleyer, LEWITT Head of lifeintimate, and love and the end ofsure the to world and approaching them with renewed and studio owner; Larry Jasper, UnderToneAudio equipment designer; and Tim xambassadors.com and be check out our podcast interviews the collaborations with Jason Derulo, Jason Aldean and Hardy.

Forwith more, (l-r): Dylan Minnette and Cole(l-r): Preston. of Marketing; and Cherney, METAlliance Co-founder. optimism and a fresh setEdof colors.

For more, repeatrepeatmusic.com.

O’Sullivan, studio manager. band at bit.ly/2M1oWZ4.

Pictured Adamvisit Levin, Sam Harris, Casey Harris. visit floridageorgialine.com

April2019 2019 March February January 2019 2019 May June 2019

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PRODUCER CROSSTALK

– ROB PUTNAM

LUIS BACQUÉ T

he moment he discovered audio editing software on his parents’ home computer, Argentine Luis Bacqué knew that he’d just crossed paths with his creative calling. Later when he stepped into a music store, he found that recording gear drew his interest far more than any of the instruments did.

Bacqué relocated from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Brooklyn in 2012, but not before he studied engineering at Escuela de Música Contemporánea, a Berklee-affiliated college. During his career he’s worked with jazz drummers Ralph Peterson Jr. and Antonio Sanchez as well as Argentine pianist and composer Guillermo Klein, among others. In 2018 he engineered Daniel Binelli and violin virtuoso Nick Danielson’s Nostalgias, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy.

Production and/or engineering challenges will always exist. What’s unique, however, is the form that each engineer’s reaction takes. “Today I know that I’ll get the results I want when I work on something,” Bacqué observes. “But in the past there were insecurities. Now the challenges come from how I interact with artists; what kind of clients I get. My goal has always been to do high-end-sounding recordings. But now I realize that there are a lot of great musicians that don’t really give a damn [about sound quality]. It’s kind of crazy.

He can classify artists in three The three most important ways, he says. “One is those who lessons he’s learned as a don’t care about sound. If one of their producer and engineer are: albums sounded great, it wasn’t because of them. The second is people • An album will be good when who can’t tell the difference but also the artist’s expectations don’t understand that it’s important to have exceed his or her limitations. a good-sounding record. Then there’s the third kind: they care about sound • Have respect for the artist. I and notice the difference. The clients know how difficult it is to be a I don’t care to work with are in the first musician. During the session, category: they don’t notice sound and take care of everything so don’t care about it.” they only have to think about Bacqué is a devotee of Sonoris the music.

Audio Engineering’s audio tools.

• Have a lot of patience with When he first sat down to use the yourself. It took me a long company’s Mastering Equalizer and time to become confident and Multiband Compressor plug-ins, it to get professional results on struck him immediately that they were my first try. among the finest he’d ever used. He was so impressed that he reached out to the company and offered to enter an endorsement deal. “In Buenos Aires, I used to master in a beautiful studio called Steps Ahead Sound,” he recalls. “They had everything; so many amazing pieces of gear.

“Once I moved to New York, the studio where I worked didn’t have all of that stuff,” he adds. “So I downloaded every mastering plug-in demo– –I was particularly looking for an equalizer. When I listened to the Sonoris [EQ plug-in], it was beautiful, easy to use and the interface was straightforward. I was so happy with it that I sent an email to [Sonoris founder] Pieter Stenekes. I told him that I loved their gear and would be happy to do an endorsement. He got back to me quickly and suggested that we meet at New York’s next AES. The only multi-band compressor I have in my studio is theirs. What they do is extremely high-end.” Indeed, he used a range of the company’s plug-ins to master Nostalgias last year.

Recent and upcoming projects for Bacqué include work with Daniel Binelli and Nick Danielson, the tango duo he teamed with on 2018’s LatinGrammy-nominated Nostalgias. Also on his slate is Argentinian multiinstrumentalist trio Manu Sija as well as the New York outfit, Plasticity.

See bacquerecording.com

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The Indie Artist

“Music Connection is a fantastic industry publication, providing a great resource for Independent Artists and ensuring that we have a platform to be seen and heard by the right people.”

– Lucinda Belle

The Grammy WIinner

“Music Connection is consistently the best source for how to make records and sustain a career in music.”

– Greg Wells producer, songwriter-musician (Katy Perry, Panic!, Adele)

The Indie Band

“Music Connection magazine is a pretty sick magazine if you’re in the music industry.

My professor always regarded it as an amazing magazine for musicians and music lovers.

Find professionals to work with, news, reviews. I’ll be checking out their podcast too.”

– David James Fate Under Fire

The Educator

“As the author of four music business and marketing books, an instructor at UCLA and Musicians Institute, and a music business consultant, it’s my job to keep up to date with the best music business and entertainment resources available today. By far, Music Connection ranks as one of the best physical and online resources for musicians and business folks today. A must-read.”

– Bobby Borg Music Marketing For the DIY Musician and Business Basics For Musicians

The Studio Owner

“MC is the perfect blend of art and business, education and invaluable resources for those waiting in line for the party and those who are already inside.”

– Matty Amendola producer-engineer, 825 Records, Inc.

The Producer–Songwriter

“Music Connection, the only magazine I still read religiously.”

– Alex da Kid Imagine Dragons, Rihanna

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– ANDY KAUFMANN payee. You’ll get a message saying you have royalties waiting for you. And when the money comes in it automatically handles the accounting. That’s a big pain point for labels. We’re one of only three distributors that offer that level of functionality.

Jeff Ponchick Co-Founder / CEO Repost Network

Years with Company: 3.5 Address: 1516 South Bundy Drive, Unit #200, Los Angeles, CA 90025 Phone: NA Web: repostnetwork.com Email: support@repostnetwork.com Clients: Naomi Wild, Redbull Records, Mayer Hawthorne, Waka Flocka Flame, Far East Movement, Slightly Stoopid BACKGROUND Servicing between 7,000 and 8,000 artists, Repost Network was co-founded

by Jeff Ponchick in an effort to help artists increase revenue streams via digital distribution. Initially launching with SoundCloud as their primary focus, they eventually expanded by partnering with many other major outlets.

“If anyone steals our artist’s music and puts it in their video without our artist’s permission, we can claim that third-party video and drive that revenue back to our artist.”

Fullscreen I worked at a company called Fullscreen, which is a YouTube MCN or multi-channel network. It’s sort of a management / advertising agency for YouTube influencers. While I was there, I helped oversee the music department and worked with some of the largest influencers in the world on YouTube in the music space.

As the company grew, it became about figuring out how to make money off their channels. When I started doing that, I was shocked at how much revenue was slipping through the cracks. A lot of independent artists didn’t have access to [the type of] workforce one might have if they were associated with a major label. As a result, there were a lot of inefficiencies. That’s the problem I wanted to fix.

Mission Repost’s mission is to help independent artists make a living through their audiences online.

We have direct deals with 25-plus platforms–– Spotify, Pandora, Apple, SoundCloud, YouTube, you name it. Essentially, we build products and tools catered to the nuances of each platform. The way in which you build your audience on Spotify is very different than the way you build your audience on SoundCloud.

We’re going to focus on the platforms artists care the most about and give them next generation tools around marketing, content protection and monetization.

Quick Pay, Quick Growth We started the company when SoundCloud rolled out monetization. The process for getting an advertisement to play in front of a song so the channel could generate ad royalties required a lot of clearance. The publisher split was being done through physical mail through a third-party company. If you had access to a workforce like a label to do it for you great, but for a lot of independent artists there was an education to be gotten there.

So when we started we were like, okay, SoundCloud’s a great platform, there’s tons of artists, open API and data so you can see how people are growing. We’re going to solve that problem first and figure out monetization.

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International Distribution We just launched in China, so you can get your music onto Tencent, NetEase and Alibaba. We’ve been fortunate enough to have a couple artists pass the 100 million play mark on those platforms.

We also launched in India. We partnered with Anghami, one of the largest streaming sites in the Arabic world.

One of our artists hit me up and said, hey, I had my song stolen and put on Musical.ly without my permission.

With Chinese stores, they don’t show your play count but you can see the comments and he had 40,000 comments on one song. We redistributed the album into those stores, making sure all the royalties would go back to him.

I kept asking, how many plays does this have? They said we can’t tell you.

It turns out on one of those platforms he’d broken through 110 million plays.

He’d written for some big artists but he wasn’t successful in his artist career yet and his music was being played in Chinese supermarkets. He’s over there right now touring.

That’s what we’re passionate about. It’s not about being successful in the music industry; it’s about finding ways to change people’s lives.

processes. Where it would take people a month to monetize a song, we got that down to just a couple days. That’s how we set ourselves apart.

The Velvet Rope We’re selective about who we work with. We have an apply with SoundCloud process, so if you want to work with us you connect your SoundCloud channel. We’ve built an algorithm that will automatically accept or reject you based on whether or not we think you have revenue potential.

Walking the Walk Since we’re a technology company in music and not a music company in music, we want to be able to scale up to service theoretically tens, even hundreds, of thousands of artists.

We account for roughly 12% of SoundCloud’s U.S. mid-tier subscription revenue. We work for a lot of people in the hip-hop, rap and electronic dance music space, just because we’ve already kind of won that platform. Unlike a lot of other distributors in this space who’ve raised a ton of venture capital, we didn’t go that route. If we can’t make our clients a sustainable living through their craft, then maybe we shouldn’t exist. We put our money where our mouth is.

Security We have a way of fingerprinting our artists’ music and delivering it to YouTube. If anyone steals our artists’ music and puts it in their video without our artist’s permission, we can claim that third-party video and drive that revenue back to our artist. That’s something a couple companies do but we take it a step further—our artists can choose what videos they want to let monetize their music and which ones they want to take the revenue from.

Split Pay Say we wrote a song together and I distributed it through Repost. I can add you as a third-party

All-Inclusive Service We operate on revenue share, so there’s no up-front fee to join. Once you’re in, whether you’re an artist who makes 10 bucks a month or an artist who makes $10,000 a month, everyone gets access to the same stuff with regards to content protection. The only thing that isn’t available to everyone is marketing.

Flexible Offers If someone starts to do really well, we’ll adjust their revenue share. We’ll do roster deals, where a management company will want to bring ten artists over and we’ll give them a better rate. We’re always willing to talk. If the catalog or content is worth the value, we’ll have those conversations. We want people to feel comfortable with where we’re at.

SCPlanner and Artist Engine Artist Engine allows artists to give away their music for free in exchange for a follow or like on a given social platform. That’s a great marketing tool.

SCPlanner costs anywhere from $2 to $99 per month based on how much you’re using it.

Think of it as a universal login. Let’s say you have ten SoundCloud channels or 50 Spotify playlists. You can tether them together through this platform and manage your SoundCloud reposts or Spotify playlists via universal login. But the most valuable part is the hub.

That allows you to communicate with other influencers and initiate trades. Let’s say we’re both trying to promote a song; we can repost songs from each other’s channel and the platform will facilitate that repost or playlist. We have massive artists using this.

– BERNARD BAUR

OPPS

Nettwerk Music Group is seeking new artists for its label and management rosters. A premier, long-standing music organization with an outstanding reputation for developing stars, Nettwerk is one of the most influential independent record labels and management companies in the world. If interested, go to nettwerk.com to check them out.

Experience Music Group (EMG) is looking for new music to add to its playlists. Ten (10) ReverbNation artists will be featured in one playlist each and receive an ad-supported playlist promotion where songs will be advertised to fans looking to discover new music. Each selected song will receive up to 10,000 Spotify streams before the promo is over. For additional information, visit experiencerecords.com and opportunities at reverbnation.com.

Whet Travel, award-winning innovators and leaders of the dance music cruise craze, is looking to book artists for a festival. On Sept. 27 to 30, Catalina Island will become Groove Island 2019, a celebration of life, positivity and dance music. To perfect its lineup this year, Whet Travel is looking to book artists for Groove Island 2019. Go to whettravel.com for further details.

Find more Opportunities each week by signing up for MC’s FREE Weekly Bulletin e-letter!

DIY Spotlight Rainne is a dark and bold alt-pop duo comprised of Annie Dingwall and Justin Klunk. Both classically trained from USC’s Thornton School of Music, Dingwall specializes in singing and songwriting whereas Klunk is a master saxophonist/engineer. Leading the way in experimenting with an edgy pop sound, they embrace the dark and twisted landscape of pop music.

In terms of their name, Annie explains, “We wanted something that reflected the darker, brooding, moody aggressive music that we make, a lot of people like

LABELS•RELEASES SIGNINGS

R&R Records has inked a joint venture with Warner Bros.

Records (WBR)—it was announced by WBR Co-Chairman & CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck and R&R founders Ben Persky, Mason Klein and Will Perliter.

Based in LA, R&R was launched in 2016 with the goal of providing an alternative approach for independent artists, focusing on an aggressive digital strategy. In its first two years, the label amassed a quarter billion streams, introducing artists such as Mt. Joy and Sorcha Richardson. The first two signings under the new R&R/WBR deal are acclaimed singer-songwriters Dijon and Wens. See wbr.com.

United Talent Agency (UTA) has announced that it now represents global electronic trio Cheat Codes in all areas worldwide.

Comprised of three members Matthew Russell, Trevor Dahl and Kevin Ford, the trio joined forces to create Cheat Codes, combining their different backgrounds to produce their varied sound, which can range from warm pop to big bass house bangers. To check them out, go to cheatcodesmusic.com

PROPS

Have you ever looked up Drake, tried to go to drake.com, and realized that it has nothing to do with the artist? You’ll have to go to drakeofficial.com to find his information, as even the world’s biggest artists don’t always own their “.com” site. Well, now there is a resolution. DotMusicLimited has announced that the global

JORDAN JOHN’S FUNK PARADE R&B musician and singer-songwriter Jordan John will release his new album Funk Parade this June. He wrote seven of the 11 tracks and played multiple instruments on the record. As a lead-singing guitar wielding frontman, he opened for The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin (at her request), jammed on drums (at age 16) with the artist formally known as Prince, and sang the American National Anthem at the 2011 Toronto Honda Indy. Garnering praise from a “Who’s Who” of the music industry including producer David Foster, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Keith Richards, and Robbie Robertson, you get the idea his music has impact. Check him out at jordanjohn.com. music community has prevailed in finding a solution to this problem, as ICANN has awarded them the rights to the .MUSIC top-level domain name extension and will move to contracting soon. It will be the first domain extension launched with music-tailored policies to protect creators’ rights and ensure that legitimate music

artists, industry professionals and companies can claim their name without fear of cybersquatting or piracy. Current applicants for .MUSIC included global companies, Google and Amazon, leading domain registries, Donuts, Radix and MMX, and other interested groups. For additional details, go to music.us.

RAINNE rain. It’s not always necessarily in a negative context.”

Both artists found success doing separate ventures before partnering together to form Rainne.

Dingwall was a singersongwriter earning syncs on American Crime, The Doctors, and Nude, while Klunk toured as a saxophonist for Ariana Grande, Lindsey Stirling, Tommy Page, and Saint Motel.

In search of something new and exciting, Dingwall decided to reach out to Klunk. “I was in the middle of a three-month run with Saint Motel. We were opening for Panic! At The

Disco, and Annie just called me in the middle of the tour and was like ‘Hey Justin, I have this crazy idea. Do you want to become a band?” he recalls.

Rainne recently released their second and newest single, “Psycho Killer.” The single consists of a heavy bass line, powerful vocals, and a melodious bridge. It dives deep into a lover’s passion gone too far with a dark and captivating sound all the while maintaining their catchy pop melodies.

To keep up with the duo’s future releases and tour announcements, visit weRAINNE.com

June 2019

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– BERNARD BAUR

THE BIZ

Warner Music Group and Curb Records are among a growing list of businesses voicing opposition to a set of controversial bills in the Tennessee General Assembly, which they argue could pose a threat to the LGBT community in the state and its beloved Music City. Among other things, the bills would allow private adoption agencies to turn away same-sex couples and require the Tennessee Attorney General to either defend schools who are sued for anti-transgender policies or pay their legal costs. In an open letter to state legislators, signed by Warner and Curb, Aaron Davis, a Tennessee resident and CEO of global music administration company Exploration, writes, “Nashville is Music City; this legislation threatens the fabric of that long-standing value and pride that we all feel around the role that Nashville and Tennessee play on the world stage.”

The window is open for authors and heirs to recapture owner-

The LEGAL Beat

ship of their copyrights. Terminations create a lot of new movement for copyrights in the marketplace and music rightsholders need to be knowledgeable in order to stay competitive.

Statutory terminations come with many complexities, but the basics are as follows: In the United States, termination of a grant can be effected during a five year period: (1) Beginning 56 years after the original copyright date of the grants made before Jan. 1, 1978; or (2) Beginning 35 years after the date of the grant for grants executed on or after Jan. 1, 1978. Both of these categories of termination require that proper notice be sent anywhere between ten and two years before the effective date of termination.

Outside of the US, there are some other countries that have their own rules regarding terminations, most notably, the British Commonwealth countries. NOTE: Some countries do not have any termination rights included in their copyright laws.

Rob Bondurant

PIXIES DROP NEW ALBUM & PODCAST The Pixies have announced a brand-new album due out later this year. Produced by Tom Dalgety, the as-yet-untitled album was written over the course of 2018 and recorded at Dreamland Recordings. This will be the group’s second album, and the eighth overall Pixies studio recording. Historically, Pixies have not let much light in on their creative process, but with this album, they definitely pulled back the curtain. Additionally, they are offering a weekly podcast, which will lead up to the album’s release. Hosted and narrated by New York Times best-selling author Tony Fletcher, the series will be available globally on all podcast platforms. For details visit pixiesmusic.com.

Social Media Companies License Music

BY GLENN LITWAK

quests from music rights holders, such as labels and publishers.

According to an article in an April 27 article in Billboard magazine: “But since December 2017, when it reached a deal with Universal Music Group (UMG) for both recordings and publishing, the company has been licensing rights that allow users to include music in personal videos and special features on it platform and its Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus VR services. In April What if you post a video on Facebook that you created and you want to include music from a famous recording artist’s album?

Can you do it legally?

Social media companies such as Facebook are now licensing music from music labels and publishers. This can be a new source of income for music rights holders. In addition, people can now include certain music on their social media pages.

In the past, Facebook would handle user-uploaded music under the “safe harbor” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA requires that users of music respond promptly to takedown re-

rights holders.

In the past year or so, Facebook has expanded the music features it offers. In April of 2018 Facebook launched Facebook Music tools on all of its online properties. In addition to including music in videos, and messages on Facebook and Instagram, it has introduced music stickers and filters for a number of recording artists. Facebook has also “introduced products like Tiktok competitor Lip Sync Live and Songs on Profile, which “pins” a

“This can be a new source of income for music rights holders.”

2018 Facebook started supporting licensed music on its platforms, with new in-app functions soon following.”

The Billboard article used as an example Shiggy (a social media comic) posting a short video of himself dancing to “In My Feelings” by Drake. It went viral and helped the song reach the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. This showed the potential for social media as a revenue source for music

track to the top of a profile page.

In February, Eminem developed the 21-minute film Marshall From Detroit, a personalized tour of his hometown, for Oculus. And Facebook has integrated Spotify and Apple Music into its platforms as partners, not competitors.”

(Billboard April 27 article).

So what does this all mean for those of us who want to share music on their Facebook page?

Now you can share it legally if you

use the songs licensed by Facebook. Due to demand from users, Facebook created the Facebook Sound Collection, which provides access to use thousands of songs and sound effects on your Facebook pages. The songs are legal to use in videos people create on Facebook and Instagram.

Until recently, the labels and publishers viewed social media companies as competition. They have now started to work together to their mutual benefit. The music industry now views social media licensing as a substantial and growing source of income. Usergenerated content now represents 1.2 billion dollars of the global recorded music business. It appears this will only grow over the next few years.

GLENN LITWAK is a veteran entertainment attorney based in Santa Monica, CA. He has represented platinum selling recording artists, Grammy winning music producers, hit songwriters, management and production companies, music publishers and independent record labels.

Glenn is also a frequent speaker at music industry conferences around the country, such as South by Southwest and the Billboard Music in Film and TV Conference. Email Litwak at gtllaw59@ gmail.com or visit glennlitwak.com.

This article is a very brief overview of the subject matter and does not constitute legal advice.

24 June 2019

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– BERNARD BAUR

I Quit My Day Job Because I Make More Money From My Music.

Matthew Vander Boegh, TAXI Member

T

hat’s every musician’s dream, isn’t it —quitting your day gig because you make more money with your music.

Well, that’s my life now, and here’s how I did it…

I joined TAXI. Looking back, I wish I’d joined years earlier. TAXI taught me how to create music that people in the industry actually need. Then they gave me 1,200 opportunities a year to pitch my music!

My income keeps growing exponentially, and my music keeps getting better because it’s my full time gig now!

Here’s the ironic part…

I live in Boise, Idaho, not Hollywood, yet my music is on TV nearly every day.

My studio is in a glorified tool shed in my backyard, and my gear setup is so quaint other musicians ask, “Really?

That’s it?!” I’ve got a computer, monitors, a few mics, and a cheap little interface.

No fancy outboard gear, no rack-mounted anything!

My Two Secret Weapons Targets and deadlines are my secret weapons. Knowing who needs music and when they need it motivates me to get things done. It’s changed my life!

Actually, TAXI changed my life.

I’m getting paid for my music now instead of sitting on my couch dreaming about it. I’m my own boss, and some day my music will probably pay for my retirement, a vacation home on an exotic beach, and some umbrella drinks!

Don’t wait until you’ve built a catalog…

Join TAXI now and let them help you build the right catalog! Be patient, be persistent, and you’ll hit critical mass like I have. My income keeps growing every year!

I’m all the proof you need that a regular guy can make enough money with his music to quit his day job! Do what thousands of other musicians have done to become successful—join TAXI. You might never have to work another day gig in your life!

It Didn’t Take That Long I promised myself I’d quit my job as a college professor when my music income became larger than my teaching income. I reached that goal in less than five years because of TAXI. The World’s Leading Independent A&R Company

1-800-458-2111 • TAXI.com

June 2019

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AARON CARPENTER

Date Signed: February 2018 Label: Capitol Records Type of Music: Pop Management: Jacob Epstein, Zack Morgenroth - Lighthouse Management & Media, jacob@lighthousemm.com, zack@lighthousemm. com Booking: Ben Totis, Joe Izzi - WME, btotis@wmeentertainment.com, jizzi@wmeentertainment.com Legal: Jeremy Mohr, Kevin Eskowitz - Mohr & Binder, jmohr@rmbllp. com, keskowitz@rmbllp.com Publicity: Kristen Kanopka - Capitol Music Group, kristen.kanopka@ umusic.com Web: aaroncarpentermusic.com A&R: Jeremy Vuernick

B

y 2013, 20-year-old Louisianian Aaron Carpenter had built an Instagram following of more than 200,000 (now nearly four million).

That empowered him and several other social media megastars to book the nine-state MAGCON tour. Later, he recorded and uploaded cover songs, the first of which was Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” In 2016 he bounced for Los Angeles. A mere month after his arrival, he connected with a William Morris Endeavor (WME) agent and a meeting was arranged. It flowed flawlessly and led, ultimately, to a deal with Capitol Records.

“I moved to LA without thinking,” Carpenter admits. “I was clueless about how to pursue music. I bought a piano and guitar and taught myself to play by watching YouTube videos. Then I met an agent from WME

“I want people to get to know me slowly.” at a party and we set up a meeting. I told him that I wanted to make my own music rather than keep posting covers. I met a writer, we wrote a few songs and I sent them to my agent. He liked them and sent them out.

That led to my signing with Lighthouse Management and we started to connect with writers, producers and labels.”

Jacob Epstein, a member of Carpenter’s management team, happened to play poker with Jeremy Vuernick, Capitol’s Executive VP of A&R. Vuernick, who signed Halsey, incidentally, heard that Carpenter had taken meetings all around town and requested one himself. “It was an immediate click,” Carpenter recalls. “I wanted someone to step up to the plate and swing as hard as I was going to. We had a second meeting soon after that and I signed with them about five months later.”

For now, Carpenter remains content to release singles. “I want people to understand me as an artist before I release a full record,” he explains.

“I didn’t want to come out of the gate with everything. I want people to get to know me slowly and sit with a couple of songs before I move on to the full record.” His single “Attitude” dropped on March 22 and has already earned nearly 40,000 YouTube streams. – Rob Putnam 26 June 2019

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IDA MAE

Date Signed: January 2019 Label: Thirty Tigers Records Band Members: Chris Turpin, Stephanie Jean Type of Music: Americana/Rock Management: Vector Management Booking: Buster Phillips - WME for US/Canada; Oliver Ward - UTA for UK/Europe/ROW Legal: Kent Marcus - Marcus & Colvin LLC Publicity: Missing Piece Group Web: idamaemusic.com A&R: N/A

W

hat do you do if you’re in a critically acclaimed rock band that manages to score a deal with a major label, releases three highly rated albums and positions itself on the brink of a huge amount of success, and then splits up? Well, you could do it all over again.

That’s what Chris Turpin and partner-wife Stephanie Jean did after leaving British alt-rock band Kill It Kid. That band was signed by Seymour Stein to Sire/Warner Bros. when the whole project fell apart.

“We were underground, did a load of records, signed a few deals,” Turpin says. “Ida Mae came at the end of that, after we got sick and tired of being on the road with a rock band and wanted to get back to what we really love, which is roots, songwriting, Americana country-blues really.”

“We recorded most of it live, straight to tape.”

Ida Mae relocated from England to Nashville eight months ago, and they’re now signed to Thirty Tigers Records, but a lot happened before that. Two, again, TWO major label deals fell through.

“When we left our old band, we ended up signing to Decca, Universal,” Turpin says. “Long story short, we fell out with them but they did us right.

We ended up doing half the album and then we got given the album back.

Then we ended up getting signed by Seymour Stein to Warner Bros. and Sire Records, who we’d known and worked with in our own band. We did a deal with him, finished the record and then as we moved to Nashville after they got us the visas, Seymour Stein left Warner Bros. So after all of that, we landed in America and they said that they can put out the album, but in actual fact we should step aside and take the album with us. So we left Warner Bros.”

So, the band started the album on Universal, finished it on Warner Bros, and were now in a position where they owned their own record and were able to work with Thirty Tigers, the label Turpin says they wanted to work with in the first place. That album, Chasing Lights, will finally see the light of day in June and Turpin is over the moon.

“There was no compromising with the record,” he says. “We sat down and recorded the record exactly how we wanted. We recorded most of it live, straight to tape and we tracked most of it in three or four tapes.

It was an amazing way to work because we’d never recorded that way before. Even for us, it’s still full of surprises.” – Brett Callwood

ELLE WINTER Date Signed: Feb. 8, 2019 Label: Red Music (Sony Music Entertainment) Type of Music: Pop Management: David Nathan - D&D Endeavors Booking: Mark Cheatham - CAA Legal: Michael Reinert - Fox Rothschild Publicity: Michael Tomczak - RED MUSIC Web: ellewinter.com A&R: N/A

W

ith her recent signing to Red Music, singer-songwriter Elle Winter enters an exciting new phase of an extraordinary career that began at age 12, when she was discovered by Radio Disney. In her early teens, she cut her teeth in the industry by touring and recording for Disney, and in 2012 was featured on Season 5 of The Next Big Thing, which later spotlighted future pop sensations Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara.

Winter later began working with different management to help her make the transition from that Disney vibe to a more mature artistry as a singer-songwriter. Collaborating with various writers and producers, she homed in on a pop urban sound, which would eventually formed her evolving aesthetic as a solo artist.

The artist catapulted onto her current career trajectory by signing in 2017 to D&D Endeavors, the then brand-new management company launched by longtime Republic Records executive David Nathan. “He had heard about me from several people, and my team at the time heard

“Our first 30-minute meeting turned into three hours.” about him, and our paths kept crossing, like it was fate,” Winter says.

“Our first 30-minute meeting turned into three hours as he connected with my vision as a pop artist.

“Once he signed me,” she adds, “he hooked me up with Def Jam A&R man Bruce Carbone, who hooked me up with different producers who helped me grow as a storyteller. Lyrically, I just wanted to be as honest as possible and use music to tell the story of my life. I began incorporating organic instruments and EDM elements. I realized that to be authentic, we can’t shy away from writing about all we’re going through.”

Spending the majority of 2018 in the studio, Winter continues to work with a number of high-profile producers, including: The Orphanage/OAK Felder (Demi Lovato, Alessia Cara); Dave Katz (Katy Perry and Train); and 2019 Grammy winner SWAGG (H.E.R.).

Nathan introduced her to Tony Bruno, GM at Sony’s Red Music, and when Bruno and his team heard her in progress material, they immediately agreed with the manager that the label would be an amazing fit. Winter, whose debut album will be released this year, says, “We met with Tony and the rest of his team and they discussed my story and the plans I have for my music. We decided together that this could be an exciting opportunity for all of us, and worked out a wonderful agreement that came together earlier this year. I am thrilled to be joining an amazing team there to partner with me on this next chapter of my musical journey.” – Jonathan Widran

MAEZ301

Date Signed: December 2018 Label: Strange Music Band Members: N/A Type of Music: Hip-hop, R&B, rock, pop, jazz Management: Jerome Taylor Booking: TBD Legal: Vaughn Gil Publicity: Richie Abbott Web: Maez301 on all social media A&R: Earvin Pope (EP)

M

aryland-bred, Los Angeles-based rapper Maez301 originally set out to become a basketball player—before Tech N9ne recruited him instead.

“At one point, I believed that basketball was my calling,” says Maez, who played as a shooting guard and point guard in high school. “It didn’t pan out the way I wanted to—but I’ve always been an artist before I picked up a basketball. Even though I feel free on the basketball court, art is a connection to my soul.”

Indeed, the 25-year-old had already recorded about 700 songs before Tech N9ne caught wind of one of his demos.

“I’d been recording a long time in my own bedroom,” he recalls. “I was self-conscious about putting myself out, but then I put out a song called ‘Nowhere’ on SoundCloud.”

The decision paid mad dividends for Maez. He connected with producer Earvin Pope, who played the song for Tech N9ne’s longtime bodyguard, Jerome Taylor, who in turn passed the song on to Tech N9ne.

“The first time I met him, I was flown out to [Tech N9ne’s] Strange Music [record label facility] and toured the campus,” Maez recalls. “It

“I was in my mom’s basement a year ago.” felt like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. They were essentially recruiting me.”

Tech N9ne did just that, and Maez scored two feature spots on last year’s Strange Music release Duality by Big Scoob.

A year later, Maez has bagged a Tech N9ne guest appearance of his own, for the debut album he has planned for release in October. The yetunnamed LP is slated to drop after the release of four EPs starting with M in April. Each of the four EPs will be named after a letter in Maez’s name and contain songs written by the rapper.

“My goal is for each body of work to have a cohesive sound: one more pop-ish, one more hip-hop-ish, one more rock-ish,” he says, noting that the fourth EP will combine all those genres.

With that quartet of releases on tap—topped off by the LP—Maez is poised for a hell of a breakout year.

“I was in my mom’s basement a year ago,” he says. “It wasn’t a gradual ride. I hadn’t done a lot of shows before the signing. I always felt like I was a rapper, but it [suddenly] became a career.” – Kurt Orzeck June 2019

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NSAI Malibu Presents “Think Sync”

Mustard Spreads to Sony/ATV Mustard (formerly known as DJ Mustard) has signed a global publishing agreement with Sony/ATV ahead of the Los Angeles-based producer's third studio album, expected this summer. Mustard’s most recent single was January’s “Pure Water” with Migos. His upcoming LP features 21 Savage, Quavo, Meek Mill and Rich Da Kid. He is one of the core producers of records

by Meek Mill and the late Nipsey Hussle, and serves as executive producer for YG and Ella Mai's new full-lengths. Pictured (l-r): Jennifer Drake, Sony/ATV senior director A&R; Mustard, and Jon Platt, Sony/ATV chairman and CEO.

McDonald Goes with Kobalt Legendary singer-songwriter Michael McDonald has signed a publishing administration deal with Kobalt Music. The worldwide agreement includes administrative, creative and global sync services for this Doobie Brother’s entire catalog and any future works.

Selling and Telling with AIMP LA AIMP LA chapter’s most recent panel event “SELLING A LEGACY: Considerations for Buying, Selling, and Administering Music Catalogues,” took place in Beverly Hills, CA. Pictured (l-r): Cedar Boschan, Boschan Corporation; Jeff Brabec BMG; Teri Nelson Carpenter, Reel Muzik Werks and AIMP National Chair, LA Chapter President; Todd Brabec, author, Music, Money & Success and AIMP LA Chapter Board Member; Erin Jacobson, attorney and AIMP LA Chapter Board Member, Tim Cohan, peermusic.

28 June 2019

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On Sunday, June 9 from 1:00 p.m.

- 4:30 p.m. the Malibu Chapter of Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) will feature music supervisors Jon Ernst and Brain Naguit as they discuss their work and share important tips and strategies for placing music in film and TV shows. The pair will also listen to a selection of songs and provide feedback.

Ernst, founder of ShowRunner Music, has a long history supervising shows for MTV and VH1. His current projects include the multiple Netflix series Selling Sunset, Last Chance U, Cheer and Ultimate Beastmaster and MTV’s docusoap series Siesta Key and The Border Life.

Nauguit is the Director of Music, Creative for CBS television. His current music supervision projects include Blood & Treasure, NCIS New Orleans and FAM. An RSVP is required to nsaimalibu@gmail.com by Monday, June 4. The event is free for NSAI Members and $15 for Non-Members. A limited number of pre-selected songs will be played at the event. To submit a song to be considered for feedback, send mp3 and lyric sheet by Monday, June 4 to nsaimalibu@gmail.com.

Songwriters in the Round with CCC On Tuesday, June 18, The California Copyright Conference will present a Songwriters in the Round at the Federal Bar, 5303 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, CA. In the first part of the evening, hit songwriters will tell the stories behind their hit songs and perform them live.

In the second half, moderators Mara Schwartz Kuge, President and Founder of Superior Music

Corporation, and David Quan, VP Business Affairs for Angry Mob Music and CCC President, will talk with the songwriters and their representatives about the business side of songwriting: sources of income, licensing deals, publishing deals, co-writing, etc.

Check-in is at 6:15 p.m., cocktails 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. and dinner and panel discussion are at 6:30 p.m.

Registration info is at theccc.org.

Goldstein Inks with Concord

Noah Goldstein has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Concord Music Publishing.

The deal will include the Grammywinning multi-hyphenate’s entire catalog as well as all future works.

Goldstein’s discography includes multiple hits by Kanye West. He has also engineered records for the likes of Rihanna, M.I.A. and Nas, and won a Grammy for his work on Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs.

In addition to the publishing deal, Goldstein is joining forces with Concord to form a new joint venture to sign both established and developing artists and songwriters. The joint venture’s first signee is Minneapolis-based songwriter-producer Psymun (born Simon Christensen). Visit Concord. com for more.

Free App for Songwriters

Create Music Group is offering a new free mobile app which aims to eliminate songwriting disputes between writers, producers and artists. Splits, the free app, which Create has been testing in the App Store since early this year, is available for download here.

In just a few steps, Splits makes it possible for songwriters to generate a split agreement, the document music publishers use to clarify individual contributions to

Little Mix Gets Hip With Sony/ATV Members of the band Little Mix, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, have signed a worldwide publishing deal with Sony/ATV through the company’s new joint venture TwentySeven Music Publishing. The band’s 2018 single “Woman Like Me,” co-written by Ed Sheeran, featured Nicki Minaj. Pictured (l-r): Barry Weiss, TwentySeven Music and RECORDS founder; Jenna Andrews, songwriter and RECORDS A&R consultant, and Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

– DAN KIMPEL dan@dankimpel.com

a song. Splits accomplishes this elegantly, simply and with just a few clicks from a smartphone.

George Gershwin: Classic Music Goes Downtown

Downtown Music Publishing has signed a publishing administration and catalog marketing agreement for the George Gershwin catalog with the Godowsky family and Heyward Memorial Fund, respective successors to the historic American songwriter and Porgy and Bess authors DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. In addition to many of Gershwin’s preeminent works, the agreement includes management of more than 300 previously unpublished songs by Gershwin that have been largely unavailable since their discovery in the 1980s.

The agreement covers many of Gershwin’s most well-known compositions including songs such as: “They Can't Take That Away From Me,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “Love Is Here to Stay,” and the enduring “Summertime,” from Porgy and Bess which has inspired more than 25,000 renditions including those by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Janis Joplin and Willie Nelson. Visit dmpgroup.com for more info.

SummerSongs Encourages Personal Growth

Founded by singer-songwriterteacher-mentor Penny Nichols in 1999, SummerSongs offers a haven for creative inspiration and artistic growth. SummerSongs is a community, a retreat, and an experience for songwriters of all levels. Nationally known touring artists are the instructors, and are handpicked for each camp.

Classes and coaching include: songwriting, song arranging, performance/stagecraft, harmony singing, co-writing, guitar, keyboard, creative process and more. In the evenings, there will be concerts and song circles, coffeehouses and jams that go late into the night. Songwriters will have many opportunities to share your music in song circles, coffeehouses, concerts and feedback sessions. SummerSongs camps take place in the spacious Stony Point Center in Stony Point, NY. Registration info is at Summersongs.com.

Songwriting Wisdom With Dar Williams

In two sessions, June 24-28 and Aug. 5-9, singer-songwriter Dar Williams will host “Writing a Song That Matters” at the Garrison Institute, north of New York City.

This workshop is for anyone (over 16, and under 18 with parental consent) who wants to write a song that counts.

Dar Williams has been writing songs and touring for over 20 years, drawing inspiration from her travels over four continents and from the Hudson Valley where she lives. She has recorded nine studio albums (eight with Razor & Tie Records), clocked in over 2,000 gigs, and has enjoyed teaching at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival song school and more.

Space is limited to 48 songwriters for both retreats.

The organizers also offer an a la carte format so participants can customize their experiences.

Contact and registration info is at darwilliamsretreat.com.

Position Signs Pub Deal with Franti Michael Franti has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Position Music to maximize opportunities for his new music in film, television, advertising and gaming outlets. Position Music, founded in 1999, serves as an independent publisher, record label and management firm.

Latin Music Week in Vegas BMI’s Joey Mercado (left) posed next to Juan Luis Guerra and BMI’s Delia Orjuela backstage at the Billboard Latin Music Week, at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Guerra was the keynote speaker at the conference and provided a rare Q&A for attendees.

DAN KIMPEL, author of six music industry books, is an instructor at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA. He lectures at colleges and conferences worldwide.

NY’s AIMP Chapter’s Hip-Hop Contest The AIMP's NY Chapter teamed up with the cloud-based music creation and collaboration platform, Splice, to conduct a synch-focused hip-hop writing contest. Pictured (l-r): Keith D’Arcy, Kobalt Music Publishing; Sarah Tembeckjian, McGarry Bowen; Madison Norris, Zync/Round Hill; Jennifer Newcomer, Bank Robber Music/Rough Trade Music Publishing; DAVIE, songwriter-producer, and Matt Block, Splice.

BMI to Rep Kendrick Lamar BMI announced that multiple award-winning superstar and Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope Records recording artist Kendrick Lamar has signed a long-term deal to represent his catalog of music worldwide. In addition to his solo work, Lamar has collaborated on hits such as “Don’t Want to Know” with BMI songwriters that include Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, Rihanna and most recently “All the Stars” with SZA from the Black Panther soundtrack.

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S O NGWR ITER P RO FILE

– DAN KIMPEL

Nick Furlong

Hits with Diplo, Steve Aoki, Avicii & Papa Roach

OPENINGS FOR MALE VOCALIST AND KEYBOARDIST

THE U.S. AIR FORCE BAND MAX IMPACT AUDITION BY INVITATION www.music.af.mil/Auditions/Upcoming-Vacancies

U

nlike a conventional recording artist whose creations are tightly contained by style and genre, songwriter and producer Nick Furlong is able to create across a much wider spectrum. Working with dance artists like Diplo, Steve Aoki and the late Avicii, rockers Papa Roach and Blink-182, and pop artists Jordin Sparks, Colbie Caillat and Leona Lewis, offers him expansive opportunities for a colorful sonic palette, both as a writer and producer.

“It allows me the ability to adapt to a lot of different rooms, and figure out how I can add value, as opposed to just focusing on one strong suit,” he says of his variety of endeavors. “It makes it easier for me to do my job, because I can cover more ground as opposed to doing only one thing, especially when that thing isn’t in demand. It’s ‘adapt and survive’ in the modern music industry.”

Now 32, Furlong was drawn to music very early in life. “When I was nine years old I used to take lyric books from CDs and copy the lyrics down verbatim. I would think I had written a song. What that transcended into was figuring out that songwriting was creating something of my own. By the time I was 15, I was writing full-fledged songs by myself, mainly rap lyrics, which was cool because it instilled a lot of rhythm in me.”

Next came attention to hooks and melodies. “I started listening to hooks and that was my introduction to melody which I started applying to a more worldly view of music. The thing I was missing was chords, so I learned to make them the summary of the song.”

Furlong’s knowledge of hit-making alchemy expanded as he listened. “I’ve always been drawn to pop music. In the ‘80s, when rock was more in a glam stage, there were power ballads. Van Halen and Bon Jovi were able to do these massive choruses with a lot of melody.” His experience deepened from 2011 until 2013 when he was developed under the tutelage of OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder.

“Working with Ryan and analyzing how he is able to construct a melody was the university phase of my career. Everything I learned that was pop oriented: The math, the rhythm, how many syllables are being said per line, do they match up and is there a pattern, and finding patterns, notes and rhythms. That’s mainly how I construct a topline. In doing that with heavier bands like Papa Roach, I try to bring that into the room, to take them out of their element and do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do.”

In collaboration with electronic artists, Furlong is a topline writer. “There have been instances when Steve Aoki sent me a track and said, ‘I need a lyric over this music bed; let me see what you’ve got. And I’ll come back with something and we’ll go back and forth two or three times until we have something we both mutually agree is strong and then boom!”

The single, “The Nights,” by the late Avicii, featured Furlong’s lyrics and melody, plus his lead vocal. “We created something that was very far left––I wanted to do this Irish rock acoustic thing that had a bit of a puboriented singalong feel to it. That was created and then passed around to a lot of managers and executives. I was just trying to find the right home for it, then a light bulb went off in my brain and I sent it to Avicci’s team.”

In 2016, Furlong founded a producer and publishing company, Attaboy Music to develop songwriters and producers. He is now working on a solo project with a wide range of collaborators. “It’s all over the place,” he says. “I’m engaged in the art of there being no rules or boundaries.”

Moving forward into the future, Furlong maintains his open viewpoint.

“If I’m not seeing something, maybe it’s me––I need to shift my own perspective. And I think that’s essentially how you expand and grow in your career or personal life. Growth is shifting perspective and asking yourself the questions you wouldn’t otherwise ask.”

Contact Ashley Lanaux, AshleyL@pressherepublicity.com

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DROPS

After nearly a decade in the making, David Crosby: Remember My Name will open in New York and Los Angeles on July 19. The film, a collaboration between director A.J. Eaton and producer Cameron Crowe, offers a portrait of the famed artist in his own candid words as he considers mortality and looks back on both the good and bad of his past, which included a dark period of addiction and prison time in the 1980s.

As a founding member of The Byrds and the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash, Crosby is part of the fabric of pop culture and the defining music of his generation. He recounts his life and career in this film, taking viewers all the way up to the present where he’s now touring and making more music than ever. For more information, contact Scott.Feinstein@42West.net.

SWEPT AWAY

The soundtrack to newly acclaimed documentary Echo in the Canyon dropped May 24, featuring artists from the film including: Fiona Apple, Beck, Cat Power, Eric Clapton, Jakob Dylan, Norah Jones, Regina Spektor, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, plus a special cover of the Monkees’ “She” by Josh Homme exclusive to the soundtrack. The film, directed by Andrew Slater, captures the early Laurel Canyon music scene from 1965 to 1967 through the eyes of those who lived and are influenced by it with interviews with Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton, David Crosby, Brian Wilson, the late Tom Petty, to whom the film is dedicated, and more. Recording sessions for the soundtrack took place at some of the legendary LA studios, like Sunset Sound, where many of the original versions of the songs were recorded. The doc premiered in LA and New York in May with live music performances and will expand to theaters nationwide in June.

Contact Grace Fleisher at gfleisher@shorefire. com for details.

Decca Broadway, the label behind Wicked and Mamma Mia! cast recordings, relaunched this spring with the release of new cast albums for hit musical Tootsie and acclaimed revival of 32 June 2019

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Oklahoma!—76 years after its original release on the label in 1943, which marked the firstever cast album release. For seven decades, Decca Broadway has been a leader in musical theatre recordings, releasing one of the most successful cast recordings of all time—The Phantom of the Opera—and such iconic recordings as Rent, Les Miserablés and Guys and Dolls. The label has the most Grammy Awards for “Best Show Album,” and its catalog features more than 55 Tony Awardwinning performances and “Best Musical” winners. Contact julia.casey@ umusic.com.

Ladies Night, a series chronicling a national tour starring Salt-N-Pepa, DJ Spinderella and SWV, premiered on BET this spring. These pioneering female artists took on the male-dominated rap and hip-hop scenes in the 1980s and 1990s and changed it forever.

SNP and Spinderella became the first all-female rap act to accomplish gold and platinum status, blazing the trail for future generations of female emcees. And SWV—also known as Sisters With Voices—has been nominated for multiple American Music, Billboard and Grammy Awards with six studio albums and more than 25 million album sales. Ladies Night captures the artists on a national tour—and all the egos and conflicts that go with it. Contact Michelle Huff Elliott at michelle@strategicheights.com.

The new musical Swept Away, featuring the music of the Avett Brothers, will have its world premiere at Berkeley Rep beginning performances in June 2020. Inspired by the Avett Brothers’ 2004 album Mignonette, the show is produced by Berkeley Rep by special arrangement with Matthew Masten and Sean Hudock.

Tony-winning stage and screen writer John Logan (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge!, Skyfall, Gladiator) and Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (American Idiot, Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) took part in the project, and Chris Miller and Brian Usifer provided music arrangements and orchestrations. Swept Away is set in 1888 off LADIES NIGHT the coast of New Bedford, MA. When a violent storm sinks their ship, four survivors grapple with the questions: “How far will I go to stay alive? And can I live with the consequences?” For details, contact Juliana Hannett at jhannett@Rubenstein.com.

Grammy-winning, multiplatinum singer, songwriter, actor and author Ashanti and her production company, Written Entertainment, will executive produce and co-star in Winter Song, in production now in Michigan. She will write a song for the film as well. Ashanti joins veteran actor Stan Shaw and director, Camille Brown, in the Mar Vista Entertainment film. Contact

– JESSICA PACE j.marie.pace@gmail.com Maureen O’Connor, moconnor@rogersandcowan.com.

OPPS

June 30 is the deadline to apply to BMI’s Pete Carpenter Fellowship, which began in 1989 as an annual, competitive residency for aspiring film, television and video game composers. The program awards a $2,000 stipend for up to five weeks of intensive, in-studio mentorship with established LA composers. For more information and to apply, visit bmifoundation.org/pro grams/info/pete_carpenter_fellowship.

The Composers Conference, which takes place at Brandeis University in Massachusetts July 28-Aug. 11 this year, offers a chance for emerging composers, professional musicians, amateur chamber players, and conservatorylevel instrumentalists and singers to all come together.

Founded in 1945, the conference has been overseen since 1968 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Mario Davidovsky and is the oldest program of its kind. All concerts at the conference are free. Learn more at composersconfer ence.org.

Did you know you can learn the basics of film scoring from famed composer Hans Zimmer, or dance music from Armin van Buuren, without leaving your house? Through a series of paid online videos, you can get an exclusive crash course on your creative field of choice—from filmmaking to acting to electronic music production—from some of the best in the industry. Visit masterclass.com.

PROPS

Congratulations to Lisa Hagopian & Eric Harabadian, the producer-directors of Paradise Boogie, the new documentary feature film from Vision 561 Productions. The film has not only won Best Documentary at the Detroit Filmmaker Awards but has also won Best Music Documentary at the Bare Bones Film Festival in Muskogee, OK. In the film, Detroit’s blues makers demonstrate the melding of times and sharing of cultures. Paradise Boogie shines a light on the influence of Detroit’s early blues musicians, the neighborhoods of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, and how it all influenced the music makers of today and tomorrow. Highlighting the alliance of a veteran hall of famer musician Billy Davis (Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Jackie Wilson) and a 10-year-old harp player Mighty Michael Mendelson, the film honors the past, savors the present and strives toward the future of Detroit blues. See facebook.com/ParadiseBoogieMovie for more details.

Live Nation Urban has launched Femme it Forward, a multi-format series of all-female curated lineups spotlighting the entertainment industry’s most creative and accomplished female visionaries, whether they work onstage or behind the scenes. The events, which kicked off in April, will feature immersive activations, panel discussions and comedy shows along with live shows from established and emerging artists including: Cardi B, City Girls, Teyana Taylor, Nicole Bus, Rico Nasty, Jorja Smith, Kali Uchis, Ari Lennox, Ama Lou, Dounia, Brianna Cash, Mahalia, Jill Scott, Faith Evans, Tweet, Monica, Brandy, Ashanti, Keri Hilson, Amerie, Lil Mo, Mya and more. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will go to organizations that support the advancement of women.

Contact Chloe Snyder at chloe@donovanpublicrelations.com for more information.

In May, the 2019 ASCAP Screen Music Awards honored with special trophies composers Pinar Toprak (Captain Marvel), Michael Giacchino (Incredibles 2) and songwriting team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Greatest Showman, La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen).

The latter received the Vanguard Award, which has never before been given to scoring or soundtrack creators as part of the Screen Music Awards. Toprak, who is now associated with a higher-grossing film than any other female film composer in history, will get the Shirley Walker Award, associated with diversity in film and TV music. Giacchino received the Henry Mancini Award, considered the Screen Music Awards’ highest career-achievement honor. Find more information at ascap.com.

Video game composer Winifred Phillips gave a lecture this spring at the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, at the invitation of the library’s music division.

Phillips’ April 6 lecture was the first-ever focused on video game music composition at the national library. The lecture was part of the 2018-2019 season of concerts and symposia, and Phillips spoke on topics including horizontal resequencing, vertical layering and interactive MIDI-based composition; music’s various roles in popular games from the early days of game design; and how Phillips herself approaches her projects.

Her music composition credits include God of War, the Little Big Planet series and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, and she is the author of A Composer’s Guide to Game Music. Learn more about the composer at winifredphillips.com JESSICA PACE is a music journalist-turned-news-reporter based in Durango, CO. She is from Nashville, where she started a writing career by freelancing for publications including American Songwriter and Music Connection. Contact her at j.marie.pace@gmail.com.

Out Take

Beau Black

Composer/Songwriter/Instrumentalist Website: iambeaublack.com Contact: Carleen Donovan, carleen@ donovanpublicrelations.com Most Recent: The Lion Guard (season 3), Rocketeer

As the son of Jay Black of the 1960s group Jay and the Americans, Beau Black was practically raised onstage, but he quickly learned that the touring rock star lifestyle wasn’t how he wanted to invest his musical talents. When a song from his record landed in a commercial for AT&T, he said, that changed everything. “When I realized a song is married to a picture, and has a home somewhere, I enjoyed it, because you’re serving something bigger than yourself,” Black says.

His start in commercials eventually caught Disney’s eye and set him on the path to scoring and writing songs for the channel’s shows, including The Lion Guard, which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Soundtrack Albums Chart. “I never calculated what my ‘voice’ was. I just kind of did what I’ve always done, and the more work I do, the more I progress,” Black says. “I did 93 songs for The Lion Guard show, and after that, you better progress.”

Though it’s glamorous to some, Black says he didn’t enjoy the “judgement or lifestyle” of the touring life, preferring instead to learn the details of songwriting and production. “That really saved me, because I became a self-sustaining person,” he says.

“If I give any advice to any young wannabe, it’s learn the tricks all by yourself.

Don’t rely on anyone to produce for you.”

Black says a day in the life of a composer varies, from meeting with executives to just developing songs in his head. One of the challenges, he says, is adhering to strict timeframes even when a piece doesn’t quite feel done. “Sometimes you commit to something that wasn’t your best or something you might not be into, that’s part of the game.”

Black also has an interesting, practical take on perseverance: “Eventually you will succeed, because there’s a weeding out period. You won’t live your whole life with nothing happening. Something will happen.”

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Willams Launches Successful Festival

KEVIN MAZUR / GETTY IMAGES FOR CITI

Pharrell Williams’ inaugural “Something in the Water” three-day festival, celebrating the diversity of his hometown Virginia Beach, VA, featured an all-star lineup and a few surprises. Williams headlined the evenings with friends including: Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Diddy, Usher, Tyler, the Creator, Migos, SZA and more. The event was meant to bring the best of what Williams has encountered around the world back to his hometown and empower everyone from the youth to the small business owners. Pictured (l-r): Pharrell Williams and Diddy.

Wolf Bro Don Was Rocks BeachLife Festival Bob Weir and Wolf Bros, together with Slightly Stoopid, knocked the first day of this year’s stellar BeachLife festival out of the park, along with artists who are synonymous with SoCal “beach life” including: Ziggy Marley, Violent Femmes, Steel Pulse and many others. Pictured backstage (l-r): guitarist Hal Hankel of the Flying Camels, who was a featured guest with Slightly Stoopid; producer and bassist Don Was, who is a featured member of Bob Weir and Wolf Bros; and guitarist Erin Daniels.

Rexha, Brown & Frampton Honored during Music Biz 2019

KIDTEE HELLO PHOTOGRAPHY

JEFF FASANO PHOTOGRAPHY

Bebe Rexha, Kane Brown and Peter Frampton were honored during the Music Biz 2019 conference awards dinner in Nashville. Rock legend Peter Frampton humbly accepted the Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement, while pop star Bebe Rexha and country phenom Kane Brown were both honored with the Breakthrough Artist Award. This year's conference and awards dinner were the biggest the Music Business Association has had in the last 17 years. The conference brought together some of the top executives, influencers and artists in today's industry. With panels on diversity, law, tech, finance and even parenting, and health, Music Biz 2019 included aspects of the business and industry that no other conference has touched on before, in one place at one time. Pictured (l-r): Kane Brown, Jim Donio and Peter Frampton.

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The Immediate Family Standing-Room-Only at The Mint The Immediate Family (Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar & Steve Postell) performed to a standing-room-only crowd at The Mint in Los Angeles on May 4. The performance was the last US show before the band left to tour Japan. Additional North American dates will be announced soon. For the latest news, visit facebook.com/TheImmedFamily or check out our podcast interview with Kortchmar at bit.ly/2Q98Mvn.

–JACQUELINE NARANJO jackien@musicconnection.com

RALPH LARMANN

Tidbits From Our Tattered Past

Carrie Underwood Kicks Off Tour Following her sold-out opening night at Greensboro, NC’s Greensboro Coliseum, seven-time Grammy Award-winning musician Carrie Underwood brought her “The Cry Pretty Tour 360” to the Legacy Arena at BJCC in Birmingham, AL and Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR. The new tour will play 55+ arenas across the US and Canada. A strong supporter of rising female artists, Underwood was joined by special guests Maddie & Tae and Runaway June, who also joined her onstage for a tribute to numerous female country icons, in addition to their own sets.

ETHAN MILLER

Urie Honored by the City of Vegas Las Vegas native and Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie earned the esteemed honor of receiving the Key to the City of his hometown in recognition of his outstanding achievements in music. Presented to him

by Las Vegas Commissioner Jim Gibson, Urie now joins the likes of renowned artists like Elvis Presley, Madonna, and Britney Spears who received the honor before him.

1997–Women in Music–#25 In MC's exploration of the role of women in the industry, we spoke to a variety of individuals, including producer Sylvia Massey who observed, "It's a double standard in that men can have a family and still work away from home, whereas women are expected to balance home and office."

Our Club Reviews area spotlighted New Orleans star Leo Nocentelli.

BMI’s 67th Annual Pop Awards Honors

MICHAEL KOVAC/GETTY IMAGES FOR BMI DAVID KLEIN

BMI paid tribute to the best in songwriting at its 67th Annual BMI Pop Awards held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. World-renowned singer-songwriter and musician Sting was celebrated for “Every Breath You Take” becoming the Most Performed Song in BMI’s repertoire of over 14 million musical works, GRAMMY Award-winning band Imagine Dragons received the BMI President’s Award and legendary music publishing executive Martin Bandier was named a BMI Icon. Pictured (l-r): BMI President & CEO Mike O'Neill, Trudie Styler, Daniel Platzman, Daniel Wayne Sermon, Sting, Dan Reynolds and Ben McKee.

2008–BJM–#7 Brian Jonestown Massacre mastermind Anton Newcombe was the subject of our cover story interview, in which he addressed the often turbulent relationship he'd had with fans: "I just do the best with what I have. I'm an artist and I consider what I do art.

I outlived all the legends who killed themselves over all this kind of shit and I can't argue with getting results."

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PHOTO BY SAVANNAH BAKER 36 June 2019

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t the age of 46, Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul has been active for 25 years, releasing seven albums and a string of singles that have helped take his music from the Jamaican underground onto mainstream stages around the world. Nearly all of those albums have seen Paul nominated for a Grammy in the reggae category, though it was the sophomore release, Dutty Rock, that took home the prize.

A year ago, Paul released his latest fulllength effort, Mad Love the Prequel and, true to form, it was well-received by critics and fans. More recently, he joined forces with reggaeton artist J. Balvin on the “Contra La Pared” single. This led to the pair performing the song together during Balvin’s set at Coachella and, as a result, keeping Paul in front of a young audience. We spoke to him about all of this and more...

Music Connection: Mad Love The Prequel came out last year––have you been working on new material?

Sean Paul: Yeah, I’m always working on new material. I was in the studio until 5 a.m. last night. In the dancehall community, there are so many different artists to collaborate with, I’ve been doing some of those as well as my work which basically has more of an international flavor. Everybody who’s on the LP from last year––Dua Lipa, Becky G, Tory Lanez, Ellie Goulding, Jhené Aiko––all of those people I’d worked with from the summer before.

I released the song with J. Balvin about a month ago, so I have songs lined up with Sia to drop at some point, with Rita Ora to drop at some point. So my point is I keep working, and I have work that’s being mixed at this point. I’m looking forward to putting out a mixtape or a Dutty Rock album, which is my own production.

As well as another album or EP with Island in a few––work never stops. I like what I do.

MC: You performed at Coachella with J. Balvin––how was that experience?

Paul: It was good. I’ve performed already at Coachella in 2016 with Major Lazer and a DJ called Matoma. I’ve been looking forward to getting on that stage again, and this was the right way to do the right things––promote the song and perform at Coachella. It was a good vibe. I can tell you that song, after that performance, the streaming went up and it hit platinum the week after. So we got a platinum plaque a few days later. He was invited to the Latin Billboard Awards and he invited me to perform with him because it’s one of the bigger new songs in his repertoire as well as mine. So yeah, it was a good vibe at Coachella and I’m looking forward to having my own set there one day.

I saw some artists there from the afrobeat world and also from the reggaeton world.

These musics are so closely linked in terms of the vibe and the production style––it’s more drum & bass oriented. Definitely a lot of influence from dancehall and afrobeat right now and also reggaeton. It feels great to be

involved with the new, but I also am looking forward to a time when I’m able to present my full dancehall set to a vast majority of people such as a Coachella audience.

MC: How much prep went into that?

Paul: I drunk a beer and I was ready. My performance at Coachella was just one song, so it was an easy process for me. With J. Balvin, he had a whole set where he had to present a big thing. It was his show, which I was invited to.

MC: Did you do both weekends?

Paul: Last time, I did both weekends. This year, I only did the first weekend. Reason being, it all happened a little late and I had my own booking for Kaya Fest in Miami, a 4/20 concert. I was obligated to go and do that and I couldn’t do Coachella weekend 2.

“After that Coachella performance, the streaming went up and it hit platinum the week after.”

MC: How did the single with J. Balvin come about?

Paul: It came about from me wanting to work with J for quite some time. He’s in the reggaeton community, but he has always shown me a lot of respect and he has also shown a lot of knowledge of my culture, which is important for me. I’ve wanted to work with his producer, so I went into the session with a bunch of different Latin writers and producers so I could interject some Spanish into my song. I’ve done this before with songs like “Hold My Hand” and “Punkie.” “Punkie” was from 2002, “Hold My Hand” was 2009. Those songs were English songs at that time, or Jamaican patois, but I had them translated with someone in the studio. So I’ve done that before and I did that to reach out to

my Latin audience, which has shown me a lot of love from the beginning of my career.

From the first couple of years of me going to New York City every week and writing songs, I realized that a lot of my audience was Latin people. I do not speak the language, but I had someone coach me through it. This time around, I wanted to have a lot more options, and I wanted it to be half English, half Spanish.

When I heard this track, I immediately wanted to send it to J. He got straight back to me. It was a good choice because there are times when I feel an artist for a song and then I send it to them and they don’t really feel it for whatever reason. All the stars fell in line this time.

The demo was done just before Christmas, and then we started to mix, getting the video ready and stuff like that.

MC: Who else have you been listening to lately?

Paul: J’s introduced me to a couple of artists.

Anitta, from Brazil. We’ve been talking about doing some stuff. We have a song together that’s finished, but I’m not sure about the process of where it’s going to come out.

Becky G introduced me to people like Natti Natasha and so we were talking about doing something, but nothing has come to fruition yet.

So it’s setting up to be a few Latin songs here and there. I’ve been considering a Latin LP. I was testing the water with this one, and this one has really become something big and feels very good. Possibly more songs coming.

I have done a song with Mozart La Para. We also have another song, his own, which should be out.

Other than that, I’m checking out a lot of what’s happening in the dancehall scene in Jamaica. I produced “Gang Gang” earlier this year. In Jamaica we do “juggling” in dancehall, which means one rhythm with a few different acts and a couple of different people. They sing their own songs, it’s not one long song with all those people in it. So that was a juggling production that I put out this year.

We also put out another one called “Callaloo.”

Callaloo is a vegetable like collard greens. We called it that because one of the songs on there is talking about callaloo as in money, green.

The song that I did with Sia is produced with Tiësto. I’m in a very good position right now in terms of being able to reach out to the Latin community, reach out to the hip-hop community and my own dancehall community, and get work done. I’m in a position where a lot of people want to work with me, which is a great thing. I’m looking forward to touring this year.

MC: You’ve worked with Sia and also Little Mix—do you enjoy those pop collabs?

Paul: I definitely do enjoy them. It helps me to keep a younger pop audience. A song like “Get Busy” went to number 15 in the “popular” Billboard charts. After being popular that time and then a few years later not being so popular, I try to keep my younger audience. Any opportunity that presented itself and I thought it was a good song, I would jump up and do.

As I said before, dancehall has become a [type of] pop music. I won an American Music June 2019

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Award in 2006 for Best Pop Artist over Justin Timberlake and Kanye West. That was a very big indication for me that I need to keep that audience connected to what I was doing. A lot of pop artists nowadays, such as Rihanna and even Drake, they started to do music that reflects a lot of influence of what dancehall has given to the world. That’s a proud moment in time, in terms of a lot of people are turning their heads and saying, “How come everything sounds like this?” That’s the influence of dancehall.

MC: Was it fun to work with Sia and Little Mix, and also Simple Plan?

Paul: I didn’t really meet Little Mix until after we had done the song. Simple Plan––same thing.

I met all of those people online. I did a song called “Rockabye” [with Clean Bandit]. There are some people who I work with straight, but a lot more is done over the Internet. I like it when we’re in the same room. I’ve done lots of collabs over the Internet, but it always feels better when you’re in the same room.

MC: Your son was born in 2017––how did that change things for you?

Paul: Less sleep. I try to keep in the studio because it’s cooler––Jamaica is a hot country.

Also, there are less people around at night. I go to studios and there are a lot of people who want my attention or they want me to produce them, or they want me to sing with them. It’s just a lot.

It would be overwhelming to me and my fans if I did it all. At night, it’s a better vibe for me.

The boss is my son now. So when the boss

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“Art comes from your heart, but the people judge it. When people don’t like it, it can be crushing to the artist who has put his mind, heart and soul into the piece.”

is like, “Yo, get up” at 6 a.m. even if I came in at 4, I’m getting up. I’m on tour a lot, so I don’t spend a lot of time at home. So when I am at home, I like to spend a lot of time with him. Just this past weekend, there was a big carnival weekend in Jamaica––35 parties in that one weekend—but I didn’t do any of them because I wanted to spend time with my son. I just want to be a good dad. It has changed me in that respect—my focus has changed but not musically. I have been writing one or two more meaningful songs, but mostly it’s been the same type of thing.

MC: What’s the best career advice you’ve been given?

Paul: One was from my mom and one from a friend in Jamaica. They both said the same thing—art comes from your heart, but the people judge it. When people don’t like it, it can be crushing to the artist who has put his mind, heart and soul into the piece. If people disrespect your efforts, it can be crushing.

It really prepared me and helped me to last this long because there have been lulls in my career and times when it would seemingly be, to a younger audience, like my time was over.

That advice has always helped me to put my head back into gear, be humble, and just work hard at what I’m doing. You have to have thick skin in this business. Don’t have feelings when it comes to what people think.

MC: And the worst advice?

Paul: I get bad advice every day. There was one time—it’s a little silly one, but it was bad

QUICK FACTS 1. Sean Paul has worked with artists as diverse as Beyoncé, Busta Rhymes and Santana.

2. His grandfather and father both played water polo for the Jamaican national team.

3. Paul is married to Jamaican TV host Jodi Stewart. They have a son, Levi Blaze.

4. Since the middle of 2016, Sean Paul has been signed to Island Records.

PHOTO BY SAVANNAH BAKER

5. Paul has eight Grammy nominations, one of which was a win.

advice. I was on a red carpet, and I don’t like changing and wearing these red carpet clothes, one for a performance and another after. I was on a red carpet in Scotland for the MTV Music Awards. The stylist had convinced me to wear a kind of an army-style kilt. She said it would be dope. But all of the reviews were like, “What the fuck’s he got on?”

MC: How do you think your crowds have changed over the years?

Paul: Staying in pop has helped me to have younger audiences. I’m growing older, but the same party people of 19 to 25 are coming to the concerts. That’s great for me—I’m a very physical performer in terms of I run up and down, jump, scream at the audience, get them involved to the point where they feel like they’re on the stage and jumping alongside me. They get a lot of energy from what I put out.

The older crowd, the people my age, they’re not able. They can’t jump as long or whatever.

The crowds keep me young, but also, I have fans that are my mom’s age, and fans that are my niece’s age. That’s a brilliant position for me to be in.

MC: What’s next for you?

Paul: One of the artists that I was talking about for my production was Chi Ching Ching, and I actually released an album for him last year.

That’s called Turning Tables and it’s been doing pretty well. He’s an artist that, in Jamaica, people know him for his dance moves and charismatic and jovial attitude. He brings a lot of good vibes to people. But this album has some songs that really surprised people as well. A few more meaningful songs and not just dance moves songs, which shows growth.

Contact cheyenne.beam@umusic.com June 2019

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HOW TO CREATE YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

By Bernard Baur

BRANDING… We’ve all heard that word applied to artists for years now. Every artist is supposed to be a brand, almost like a company. It’s so ubiquitous, managers, publicists and agents focus on creating a brand for their acts. But what constitutes a brand and why is it so important? To find out, Music Connection spoke with four seasoned pros from the worlds of management and publicity. Their insights will help you understand why branding yourself is so important, and what you need to do to create your own personal brand.

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the perfect paradigm… they fed their fans with live shows and constant touring.

How should artists present their brand?

Take a stand and go big. No one likes a boring artist. You should treat everything as an event.

You should always have some form of publicity before you release a song or do a show.

That advance notice creates awareness and a demand. Make it interesting, make it exciting, make it important and fans will show up.

Everyone mentions the “story” when referring to an artist’s brand.

There has to be a story… That creates the brand as long as it’s consistent. It should relate to everything you do––bios, press releases, videos, photos, blogs. You need to let people know “who you are,” in addition to your music.

Artists need to understand, it’s not just about their music. It’s about everything they do.

How do you incorporate a brand into an effective campaign?

You have to make everything an “event.” Make it look BIG. Do advance publicity prior to a release. Use social media to create anticipation and excite your fanbase. Don’t just drop a song and hope for the best.

JONATHAN WOLFSON jonathan@wolfsonent.com

A television executive and manager, Jonathan Wolfson is known for his managerial work with the musical duo Daryl Hall & John Oates, Loverboy, Huey Lewis and The News and The Tubes. Wolfson was previously well known for handling publicity for Suge Knight and Death Row Records through his company Wolfson Public Relations. He has executive produced Daryl Hall’s TV shows Daryl’s Restoration Over-Hall and Live From Daryl’s House.

Can artists do all this themselves?

It is a DIY (Do It Yourself) world. It’s possible, but it could take a long time if you do it organically. Hiring industry professionals can save a lot of time, and even money, in the long run.

But, you usually have to generate some heat on your own before you can attract the type of people who could really help you. •

How do you deal with those additional responsibilities?

Our responsibility hasn’t changed that much.

Most of the time, management and artists rely on us to sell out shows. We use a lot of different marketing techniques to do that––interviews, TV appearances, email blasts, social platforms and press.

How has the Internet affected your job?

It has become a big target. We used to take out ads in publications. Now, we not only do that, we also have to be Internet savvy and utilize blogs, playlists and social media to reach as many fans as possible.

How do you establish a brand for an act?

It’s about building a story. It’s not always about the music––it could be about the artist’s life.

When we represented Matchbox 20, we set up interviews for Rob Thomas so he could talk about his life. He was actually homeless for a while. That was the pitch that helped to brand him as someone who could overcome adversity.

How does branding get attention?

Artists are competing against millions of other artists, and they need to stand out. It could be their life story, their lyrics, their message. You need to dig in to find what inspired them, what their message is and what triggered it.

Can artists do it themselves?

They can, but it takes a lot longer. A PR company can get attention quicker. We have the relationships and the connections. With the right amount of lead time (two to three months) we can make a difference.

Your artists are already established. How does branding affect them?

We try to expand the brand and reach out to a new audience. Today, Hall & Oates are attracting a younger crowd, mostly because of the Internet. With social media, word spreads faster and their fanbase is getting younger.

That’s a lot of work. Where should artists focus their efforts in creating a brand?

You can get attention online and build a decent fanbase. But, you still have to play live for fans––that’s where it is today. Social media can maintain an audience, but playing live can build one. So, artists have to perfect their performance skills and develop their brand onstage as well as online. The Grateful Dead created

How has public relations changed in the new music business?

Everything changes all the time. This is not a business that remains the same for long. Now, it’s more than simply getting press coverage. You still need press and publicity, but it also includes branding, marketing and social media aspects.

There is so much music being released.

How can artists break through all the noise?

There are several ways. Make it exclusive, with private links. Put out a clever “lyric video” that helps to establish your brand. Don’t do it all at once––set up times when and where you are releasing it. It’s a process that brings people to your material.

You started as a publicist and ended up as a manager.

It was a natural evolution, very organic. Both jobs are similar and my role just kept increasing. I approach management with a publicist’s mind. I always try to find a PR angle even as a manager.

How can a manager help to develop a brand?

Management has increased workloads today.

Label services are not what they used to be.

Today, managers do a lot of the work labels used to do, and that includes creating a brand for your artist and growing their fanbase.

That diversity enables MSO to obtain coverage in multiple outlets and mediums, from underground to mainstream.

How do you work with management?

Often, we act like a manager because some acts don’t have a manager. We’re seeing more and more of that nowadays. When they do have management, we strategize and suggest ideas that would generate the attention they need.

MITCH SCHNEIDER mschneider@msopr.com

What ultimately brings attention to an artist’s brand?

In this era, media gravitates to artists who have already been validated by other outlets. You need reviews, interviews, playlists and social media all working together. You have to be consistent across all platforms to establish a strong brand.

The Mitch Schneider Organization (MSO) is one of the world’s premier public relations firms. The MSO roster is eclectic and encompassing. It includes various styles and genres, superstars, musical legends, festivals, award shows and emerging artists.

If you were an artist today, what would you do?

I would do a clever “lyric” video. Visuals are very important. Image is the attraction, sometimes more than the music. Everyone wants to see a video now. • June 2019

musicconnection.com 41

How important is image today?

It’s superimportant. Fans like to see visuals, i.e. photos and videos. We often work with photographers, stylists and creative consultants to create a signature look.

Your company also focuses on social media. Why do you do that?

We have a dedicated division just for social media. It’s the fastest and easiest way to connect with fans. The problem is a lot of artists don’t know how to engage their fanbase. They consistently promote and hype everything they’re doing, and fans fall out.

You need to engage fans and treat them like friends, not a commodity. If you do it right, you can attract super-fans rather than casual fans.

AMANDA BLIDE

How has this new approach affected the public relations profession?

PR used to be about pitching magazines and the press. Now, there are many more outlets, like blogs, playlists, streaming services, live video streams, websites and, of course, social platforms. You need to change and adapt to the times or you will be left behind. •

amanda@lafamos.com

LaFamos specializes in “lifestyle” marketing.

How does that contribute to a brand?

You need to find some connection with your audience. And sometimes that’s about your interests and things you care about. It could be fitness, health, rescue pets, or a certain cause or charity you are committed to. Those things will help establish your brand. The nice thing about lifestyle markets is that people support lifestyles by buying your music and merchandise.

What if an artist’s perspective is controversial?

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it could get you attention. A lot of musicians talk about politics. And while it could be divisive, it could also gain fans.

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Is there a formula that artists can follow to establish their brand?

Too many artists simply release a song and hope for the best. That will not get you the results you want. You need to do an advance notice––one to two months––prior to the release to create awareness and a demand.

That’s where publicity comes in. You need a compelling story that is publicized before you release your music. If you don’t do that, you’re going to be disappointed, and won’t get the attention you want.

Can artists do all that themselves?

Sure they can, but it takes a lot of time and work. If you have the time and inclination to do the necessary research to find the right media platforms, you can create awareness and demand for your music. The advantage to hiring professionals is that they already have the relationships and contacts. That saves a lot of time and effort.

Why is branding important?

When you establish a “brand” it sets you apart from everyone else. Today, artists need to stand out. If they don’t, they’ll be just like everyone else and get lost in all the noise other artists are making.

Do you mean artists should build a personal storyline?

Absolutely. It should be something that relates to other people. Where did you grow up? What are your experiences? What challenges have you overcome? Why are you a musician? How did you become who you are today?

How do management and PR work together to develop a brand?

Public relations and management share skill sets. Management helps to guide a campaign while PR executes it. Often those functions overlap, and PR reps end up acting like managers. In fact, a lot of managers come from the public relations field.

How important is image regarding your brand?

Today, it’s super-important. It’s all about videos now. It’s also a big mechanism for A&R who are searching for new artists. You must have videos that accompany your songs. Most people go to YouTube to check out new artists.

Amanda Blide is the Director of Publicity at LaFamos PR, Branding & Social Media. She has over 10 years of experience with several prominent companies (The Firm, Atomic Music Group, Verona Management) as an artist manager, tour manager and publicist. LaFamos is a full-service company that serves the independent artist community, focusing on press coverage, lifestyle marketing and brand awareness.

How do you find your brand?

It’s not always about the music. Many artists may be doing similar things musically. You should focus on your interests, what you’re into, what you stand for, and what you’re passionate about. That way you can relate to people in a more personal way, beyond the music.

How do you create a brand?

You have to think beyond the music. It’s about your personality, your point of view, your message. Actually, music takes a backseat to personality. Why are you doing what you’re doing, what is your point of view and how does that relate with other people?

AL SHAW

alshaw@machinepr.com With over 20 years of experience, Al Shaw has worked as a booking and tour agent, manager, publicist and promoter. He is currently a Public Relations Specialist and Management Consultant. Shaw is also a partner in Machinewerk, with offices in Los Angeles and London. His current clients include up-and-coming artists, DJs, producers, songwriters, record labels and sound engineers.

How can artists work best with industry pros?

If an artist has already got the process going, they can bring in a professional to maintain the momentum and help create a bigger impact. •

CREATING YOUR BRAND

(It’s more about YOU than about your music) • Who are you?

• What do you stand for?

• What are your interests?

How did the Internet change what you do?

It changed the game. Now there are many more areas to consider. You have public relations, branding, marketing and SEO (search engine optimization). And you have to combine all of them into a strategy.

• What is your message?

Why is branding so important?

It establishes what people think of you. It encompasses everything: Who you are, your goals and your story. It’s way more than just the music. It’s how you connect and relate with people.

• What do you love?

• Do you have special causes dear to your heart?

• What inspires you?

• Have you overcome a challenge?

• What do you hate?

• What makes you unique and interesting?

MC Covers the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO 2019

LESTER COHEN

LESTER COHEN

The 14th annual ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO in Hollywood brought together music’s top hitmakers, performers and passionate songwriter advocates for panels, workshops, master classes, one-on-one sessions, networking events and performances. Thousands of music creators attended this jam-packed event at the United States’ largest conference for music creators. Here are some highlights....

Questlove discussed his newest book, NY Times best-selling and Grammy-nominated Creative Quest, with ASCAP Chairman of the Board & President Paul Williams.

AFM & SAG AFTRA Fund’s “Learn and Earn” panel about new royalty opportunities featured (l-r): Fund CEO Stefanie Taub; Tune Registry Co-Founder Dae Bogan; platinum-selling songwriter and independent recording artist Dan Navarro; Managing Director of The Recording Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing Maureen Droney; and A2IM CEO & President Dr. Richard James Burgess.

Giving insights and observations about the red-hot Atlanta music scene (l-r): LVRN Records and Mgmt President Tunde Balogun; SVP Global Creative at Capitol Music Group Amber Grimes; and producer Don Cannon.

TOMMASO BODDI

BRIAN STEWART

TOMMASO BODDI

LESTER COHEN

Grammy-winning band Portugal. The Man performed live on the EXPO’s mainstage.

Music Connection caught happy ASCAP EXPO Sponsors Cre8 Music Academy and Sound Royalties making their way through the crowded halls. Pictured (l-r): Cre8 Music Academy President Steve Burdick; Sound Royalties Director of Music Funding Reggie Calloway; and Sound Royalties VP of Business Development Kevin Day.

MC’s Publisher Eric Bettelli; EastWest Studio Manager and 2018 She Rocks Award recipient Candace Stewart; and ASCAP Senior VP, Global Services Project Leader, Seth Saltzman took a moment between panels.

ASCAP Exec VP, Membership, John Titta stopped to say hello to another royalty distributor, SAG-AFTRA & Industry Sound Recording Distribution Fund Manager Terry O’Neal.

BRIAN STEWART

BRIAN STEWART

Transparence Entertainment’s panel featured a performance by ASCAP artist-producer Gorden Campbell and breakout artist Morgen Campbell. Pictured (l-r): Transparence President Shari Hoffman; Chairman Dennis Dreith; and Vice President Bruce Waynne.

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– ANDY KAUFMANN

Sound Royalties Banking on Yourself

M

usic makes the world go round, but so does money. And fittingly, it takes money to keep an artist’s career chugging. Sound Royalties is in the business of helping artists, songwriters and producers fund themselves so that they can record that new album, build that state-of-the-art studio or own reliable transportation for that fangrowing tour by offering advances against existing royalties. Most importantly and unlike traditional labels, Sound Royalties will never take away your copyrights, no matter what.

It’s an approach that works counter to the way the music business has been traditionally conducted. Founder and CEO Alex Heiche illustrates why he created a company that followed a banking model instead of that of

Heiche notes that the vast majority of his clients utilize this option.

Then there’s Edge Funding, which provides cash assistance for labels and distributors.

“There are a lot of distributors and smaller independent labels out there looking to acquire artists and content,” he states. “This is funding that allows us to work with labels and distributors that are looking to raise capital and acquire content and refinance.”

One hurdle the company faces is conquering a lack of awareness and general misconceptions surrounding Sound Royalties.

As Heiche puts it, “They either assume we’re just like everybody else or they haven’t gotten the opportunity to really understand what we do and what differentiates us.” Creating

return. As fate would have it, the instrument in question had been purchased by someone at a yard sale and hung in a basement as a conversation piece. When the person suggested she get the item appraised, the guitar’s original owner was identified. Heiche eventually flew the woman from Michigan to LA for an eventual reuniting between player and axe. “That’s why I started this,” he insists.

“I don’t get anything other than personal satisfaction.”

This attitude is exemplified by his company’s offer of free royalty accounting.

In 2016, Heiche estimates they uncovered $8.5 million in uncollected revenue for 400 artists and songwriters. In 2017, that number mushroomed to $19 million. While they don’t

“If you have a hit song today, it can be a year-and-a-half before you see a penny.” a pawn shop. “They thought the only way to make the money they were looking to make was to get copyrights,” he explains regarding the old system. “That was the holy grail.”

Starting small in 2014, Sound Royalties soon began growing quicker than anybody had expected. “It was something the market had been waiting for,” Heiche proclaims.

Artists large and small have taken advantage of Sound Royalties’ rapid financing, some examples of which include Lil Wayne, Brenda K. Starr, The Mad Stuntman and Kevin Lyttle.

Everything is confidential and they can extend credit anywhere from $5,000 all the way up to $10 million. It doesn’t hurt, either, that they offer up to $25,000 in referral fees.

More recently, Heiche introduced Sound Check, which blesses artists with the ability to obtain fast cash. After a one-time fee of $695, artists can receive funds between $5,000 and $25,000 or more within a matter of days, perfect for those emergency scenarios.

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plenty of video content and engaging regularly on social media are two ways in which the company is working to educate the public. But the proof of their artist-positive attitude lies within Heiche himself, whose desire to stay a part of the industry he loves and play a helpful role in making creative visions a reality can be observed differently.

One example comes via his Nashville studio, where he regularly hosts networking parties. When one of his clients, Priscilla Renae, invited Heiche to jam with him, the chance encounter blossomed into a series of freeform sessions recorded for posterity and distributed freely. “There’s no pitch or anything,” he says. “It’s just a desire to be with creatives.”

Another incident happened last December, when Heiche received a call asking if he knew Billy Corgan. The Smashing Pumpkins leader had lost a guitar many years ago and subsequently offered up to $20,000 for its

charge for the service, which includes up to 50 pages of accounting review, clients receive priority attention and artists themselves are responsible for the actual collecting.

“We’re here to help creatives fund their creativity,” states Heiche. “If it isn’t helping, it’s not something we’re interested in.”

Bottom line is that Sound Royalties helps creative individuals through funding their careers without jeopardizing their copyrights or burdening them with onerous financial terms.

As Heiche points out, “Artists are funding more of their own work than ever before. If you have a hit song today, it can be a year-and-a-half before you see a penny.” Therefore, any artist earning $5,000 or more per year should take advantage of Sound Royalties’ complimentary offer to find out what’s available, so when life’s unexpected circumstances occur they’ll be prepared to face that challenge head on.

See soundroyalties.com

Stray Cats

9

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Schoolboy Q

5

Crash Talk

Surfdog Records/BMG Producer: Peter Collins

TDE / Interscope Producers: Various

Hey there, all you cool cats and kittens, The Stray Cats are back! In honor of the trio’s 40th anniversary Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom have recorded their first album of all-original material in over 25 years. “Cat Fight (Over a Dog Like Me)” is a wild and woolly rouser, “Cry Danger” is stylized storytelling coupled with edgy hooks and solos, and the relentless “Devil Train” simply burns the house down. The production is lean and uncluttered and retains a robust and very live feel. This release was, as they say, definitely worth the wait. A dozen tunes total and not a clunker in the bunch! – Eric Harabadian

Crash Talk is Schoolboy Q’s fifth studio album, and one would expect a seasoned artist to place greater expectations on himself. Unfortunately, that is not the case this time around. In fact, Crash Talk barely holds itself up with okay songs like “Lies” featuring Ty Dolla $ign and YG, “Chopstix” with special guest Travis Scott, and “Water” with Lil Baby. However, tracks like “Gang Gang,” “Tales,” “Numb Numb Juice,” “Drunk,” “5200,” among others, drag the album down. When all is said and done, this record is unfocused, bland and expendable. Hopefully Q can regain ground next time around.

– Adam Seyum

Haelos

Earth

Any Random Kindness

8

8

Full Upon Her Burning Lips

Infectious Producer: Dom Goldsmith

Sargent House Producer: Self-produced

On their second album, this UK quartet were specifically on a mission to take their electronic-based music and infuse it with a stark organic and, ultimately, human quality.

They touch on themes ranging from issues of climate change to the disaffected state of how we relate to one another. Blending vintage synthesizers and guitars with modern technology they travel through cinematic and surreal landscapes on tracks like “Another Universe” and “Buried in the Sand.” There is also a tasteful use of sampling on “End of World Party” and Lotti Benardout’s soulful vocals that permeate throughout. – Eric Harabadian

Long before Om and Sunn0))) materialized (and even before Boris), there was Earth, an experimental project from Washington that inspired countless drone bands that followed. Nearly 20 albums deep into their career, guitarist Dylan Carlson decided to take a different approach this time, writing and recording Burning Lips without a preconceived plan. The result is 10 tracks of widely varying length on which he and percussionist Adrienne Davies channel the essence of Earth: a lumbering instrumental exploration of the ethereal, underpinned by a heady heaviness. It’s lightning in a bottle. – Kurt Orzeck

Pip Blom

Cage the Elephant

8

Boat

8

Social Cues

Heavenly Recordings/PIAS Producer: Dave McKracken

RCA Records Producer: John Hill

Named after their magnetic singer, Amsterdam’s Pip Blom are every drop as sophisticated and cool as the city from which they hail, and that quality has enabled this rising band to open slots for the likes of The Breeders and Garbage. Bursting with craveworthy beats and infectious moments, what ultimately makes this art rock debut’s pistons fire is their charismatic frontwoman’s silky yet brash vocals, pregnant with heady, sexy appeal.

Featuring “Daddy Issues,” “Ruby,” it’s a concoction seemingly custom built to please the palette of your average SPIN editor, but is there anything wrong with that? – Andy Kaufmann

Alt-rockers Cage the Elephant are back with Social Cues, their fifth studio album.

The band trades their rambunctious/youthful material and delights us with a mature perspective on the ups and downs of their rock & roll fame. Fresh off a divorce, we immediately find a moodier and vulnerable tone from frontman Matt Shultz, especially on the single “Goodbye.”

The band give fans exactly what they want by maintaining their bluesy, garage-rock roots (“Dance, Dance”). They do occasionally spice things up with elements ranging from art-rock/pop to post-punk and manage to deliver another knockout album. – Jacqueline Naranjo

Peter Frampton Band

Kinetic Element

All Blues

Universal Music Producers: Peter Frampton and Chuck Ainlay

10

Like many of the British rock guitarists who emerged in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Peter Frampton was raised on American blues and played it early on in his career. Recent jams with Steve Miller re-sparked his passion for the genre. Frampton and his current band deliver the goods on a full-length set of classic gems, including the Miles Davis penned title track, B.B. King’s signature “The Thrill is Gone” and the ubiquitous “I Just Wanna Make Love to You.” Guest guitarists include Larry Carlton, Steve Morse and Sonny Landreth, with harmonica by Kim Wilson. Essential! – Eric Harabadian

9

The Face of Life

Melodic Revolution Records Producers: Michael Murray, Fred Schendel and Steve Babb On this their third album release, the Richmond, VA-based quintet continues on a path of musical excellence and tradition.

The message here is one that is spiritually rich and thoroughly uplifting in tone, without being preachy. Clocking in at a lean 47 minutes, all five pieces of music are arranged in a song cycle that is delivered lyrically with verve and passion by frontman Saint John Coleman. Each track is multi-tiered and assembled tastefully with love and care. ELP, early Genesis, Yes and Canterbury scene fans unite!

– Eric Harabadian

To be considered for review in the Album Reviews section, you must have a record deal with a major label or an independent label with an established distributor. If you do not, please see our New Music Critiques section.

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The Shakin’ Shivers

Royaljag

Contact: theshakinshivers@gmail.com Web: facebook.com/theshakinshivers Seeking: Booking, Labels Style: Blues-Rock

Contact: jaz@mijamgmt.com Web: royaljagband.com Seeking: Film/TV, Booking Style: Pop

From Toledo, OH, The Shakin’ Shivers are a raw blues-rock duo fronted by Maddison, whose blistering voice delivers the perfect tone and texture for the band’s strippeddown blues-rock format. This lass can really rip it up at the mic, and her guitar playing has an impressive bite. What she does not yet have (and drummer Ryan, too) is the ability to make the listener forget about the absence of a bass player. As a result, these recordings seem a bit barren, undernourished. Perhaps in a live setting this duo can generate a rich, satisfying racket like Jack White with The White Stripes. But on record, the band’s shortcomings––limited musicianship and simplistic, repetitious lyrics––loom large.

Yes, the production could inject a bit more finesse and the vocal mix could definitely be stronger, but this trio is a crowdpleaser right from the jump. “909” bursts forth with a happy, upbeat hook that’s carried by bold, driving synth sounds and a funky bass presence that together enforces just the right amount of vintage ‘70s pop-funk. We only wish this catchy song’s hook were a bit more focused. With a much more emphatic hook, “Foreign Exchange” and “Dangerous” continue the summery-sounding fun, songs that embody the carefree thrill of being alive. Reeking with potential, Royaljag is fresh and familiar at the same time. They’d make a perfect opener for a crowdpleasing hitmaker like Leon Bridges.

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

8 8 7 8 8

Rey Jama

All This Huxley

Contact: recordingartistreyjama@gmail.com Web: youtube.com Seeking: Film/TV, Booking Style: Reggaeton/G-Funk

Contact: booking@allthishuxley.com Web: allthishuxley.com Seeking: Film/TV, Booking Style: Indie

San Diego artist Rey Jama is a sometimes compelling lyricist and a solid voice at the mic, but he’ll have to improve his production quality to get film/TV action for his recordings. Right away with “Desnuda” we’re hearing an overall muddled quality to the sound mix that handicaps the impact of his flow, which sounds distant when it should be front and center. Same goes for “Impeachment” whose aggressively political lyrics and threatening message is compromised by a chaotic quality to the mix. Our favorite is “Beware of Dog” the artist’s “don’t mess with me” calling card, enhanced by ballistic percussion and a fat synth bass. Jama needs to get with a producer who knows his knobs.

Philly-based four-piece All This Huxley deliver an earnest, hale & hearty brand of folk-rock exemplified by the song “Stockholm,” wherein the band’s lead singer (in a deep, breathy voice) intones a story with western overtones. At least it seems like a story—the muddy mix on his voice makes all but a few phrases incomprehensible.

“Comrade II” is better vocally, as it is sung in a higher register as it rides along a calming, rustic vibe. By the time we heard “One of These Things,” the band’s consistently flatline songwriting style finally overcame us and we all curled up for a nap. No, not really, but the group’s knack for sticking to one octave through an entire song was enough to wear us out.

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

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Raspin Stuwart

Frequency

Contact: raspinstuwart1@gmail.com Web: raspinstuwart.com Seeking: Distribution, Publisher Style: Eclectic Singer-songwriter

Contact: kjones@akeyrecords.com Web: akeyrecords.com/frequency Seeking: Film/TV Style: Rap/Hip-hop

Well-seasoned and backed by expert players and production talent, Raspin Stuwart has a well-weathered quality that will appeal to a mature crowd. The artist taps into his folk-blues roots with “Down Low,” showing off a voice that, while not distinctive, is plenty deep and relaxing and sounds good when accompanied by sassy backup ladies and a brassy speakeasy-style saxophone that injects a hint of vintage color. “NY2LA” is laidback, sweet ‘n breezy, and it brings forth a whole different demeanor, a relaxing acoustic vibe with borderline corny lyrics.

“Lovin’ You” is a soulful, straight-up love ballad, a “goodbye” tune on which the tender touch of Stuwart’s backup players really shines through.

North Carolina-based artist Frequency has an appealing voice and works hard to make sure that he delivers a variety of different tones and textures with it.

On “Losing Myself” he sets methodical, almost military-style verses against melodic (vaguely gospel) backup singers and it’s a cool combination. “Turnpikes” generates a dark, aggressive energy featuring insistent group-chants. Our favorite might be “Steph Curry” where a moody, dense, desolatesounding synthesizer fog sets the mood for Frequency to really display his skills at the mic. No, the lyrics aren’t especially new (the rapper’s monologue is piled up with plenty of boasts, jeers and threats) but his punchline is memorable: “Bitch, I’m Curry!”

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

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Music Connection’s executive committee rates recorded music on a scale of 1 to 10. Number 1 represents the lowest possible score, 10 represents the highest possible score.

A final score of 6 denotes a solid, competent artist. For more information, see Submission Guidelines on the next page.

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Music Carolyn

Dayvid

Contact: carolyn@music4scenes.com Web: musiccarolyn.com Seeking: Everything Style: Soul/Jazz

Contact: mgmt@officialdayvid.com Web: officialdayvid.com Seeking: Label, Film/TV, Booking Style: Pop

Pleasant, melodious lead vocals and exceptional backup blends elevate these recordings by Music Carolyn, whose tunes and lyrics have a persistent positivity that is disarming. Unlike so many records we hear today, all three songs here emit a warm, heavenly (almost blinding) glow of gratitude. On “Satisfied,” Carolyn’s sweet lead vocals are enriched by beautiful uplifting harmonic blends. “Walls Fall” has touching, soulful moments about achieving a sense of peace with oneself. The sweet and hopeful “I C Me and U” allows the artist to once again extend heartfelt gratitude to her lover/best friend. We urge Carolyn to try collaborating with a wordsmith who can make her lyrics a bit more poetic.

One of the most polished, assured and commercial demos we’ve heard in months, Dayvid’s sound is very much radio-ready, blessed with a nice, knowing touch on the production side that enhances what is already a strong foundation. The singer’s focus is relationships and he articulates in a way that will lure hordes of females to his music. “VHS” is fresh and entertaining as he pines over a lost love. Powered by a catchy chorus, “Sure of Me” reveals his wounded, vulnerable (and sexy) side and is perhaps his strongest recording. Equally catchy and convincing is “Miles,” a mix of soul, R&B and pop where Dayvid voices frustration bordering on despair. A consistently confident, convincing artist.

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

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Dusty Santamaria + Moira Ichiban

MT. Pool Contact: manager@mtpool.band Web: mtpool.band Seeking: Booking, Developing Fanbase Style: Dream Rock

Contact: ichibanprezentz@gmail.com Web: voodooityourself.com Seeking: Booking, Distribution, Film/TV Style: Avant-Garage Voo-Doo-Wop

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

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This daring duo have an intriguing formula: lonesome, languid surf-guitar accompanying raw, ragged vocal harmonies. “Quick Draw Chimera” is a promising start. The song’s thick and chewy guitar chords set a great mood, like in an off-kilter indie crime flick. We really dig the minor-key guitar strums that adorn “Digital Fuck Talk,” though the song’s monotony (Try a change of key, perhaps?) ultimately wears thin. The duo hit their stride vocally on “If You Go” a performance that nearly achieves a proper duet. There’s definitely something in this project that could be developed. Square one, though: need stronger material.

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

7 8 8 8 8

A young four-piece, MT. Pool took a little while to grow on us, but by the time we finished their 7-minute “Fourever,” the band’s genuine positivity, its breathy group-vocal sound and its apparently off-handed live-instudio approach, was sounding pretty nice.

“Fool’s Paradise” is a sunny song whose carefree vibe conjures visions of blue skies and puffy white clouds. It’s almost enough to make you overlook the recording’s offkey moments. Equally edgeless and just as pleasant is “Metallic Blue,” a soothing, feel-good song with a vintage vibe in the guitars and harmonies that reminds us of the band Wallows. MT. Pool is a quartet that “wants to be your best friend, nothing less than.” Good indie potential here.

Raisinbran

Coyote Eyes

Contact: raisinbran1999@gmail.com Web: song.link/AbstractThoughts Seeking: Label Style: Hip-Hop

Contact: iamjoeubanks@gmail.com Web: coyoteeyes.com Seeking: Everything Style: Singer-songwriter, Dark-pop

Fittingly, Raisinbran produces music that puts out a positive, inspirational message.

His songs are hip-hop-infused but also combine the softening elements of melodic rock and pop to make the music stand out.

“Sunny Days” is powered by a melodic pop/ rock hook, a funky, mellow beat and lyrics (“Gotta keep on track”) that convey the positive point of view of a happy individual who has turned his life around. The rapidfire phrasing in “Abstract Thoughts” is impressive, but it lacks a catchy hook and the beat stays the same from beginning to end. “Excellence” gets to its chorus quickly and is more commercial, though quite short at two minutes. At his best, Raisinbran is funky, fun and good for ya.

Coyotes Eyes (NY-based artist Jo Eubanks) has a deep dark vision that aims to enthrall the listener with layer upon layer of melancholy sonics. It is an ambitious goal and the results are mixed. The sad, piano powered “Rain” is not only over-laden with airy effects, but her heavily frosted lead vocals are an utter misfire––tinny and thin where it should be bold and alluring. “Looking for God,” however, with its cello and heavenly nimbus of synthesizers, is much better at conveying the artist’s haunting vision. Effects elevate rather than diminish her vocal presence. Same is true of “Monster,” with its big, dramatic drums and growling guitar tone. We applaud Coyote Eyes’ ambition but urge her to simplify her sonics.

Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship

7 7 7 8 7

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: There is absolutely no charge for a New Music Critique. We critique recordings that have yet to connect with a label or distributor.

To be considered please go to musicconnection.com/get-reviewed. All submissions are randomly selected and reviewed by committee.

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Lot 1

Los Angeles, CA

Contact: ethandrone@gmail.com Web: glorybots.com Players: Jalal Andre, guitar, bass, lead vocals; Ian Sides, bass, guitar, backing vocals; Ben Hilzinger, drums

Musicianship: In a perfect storm of musical talents, the Glorybots trio of Jalal Andre, Ben Hilzinger and Ian Sides join forces to create a new and compelling take on indie electronica and ‘80s retro pop. The clear musical chemistry and seamless communication between the bandmates delivers a healthy balance of ability and passion. Popular track “Dream About Nothing” is especially reminiscent of 1980s pop anthem glory and generates a familiar party atmosphere. “Blepharospasm” marries powerful vocal lines with hard-driving drumming and punk guitar riffs, and features Andre on bass and Sides switching from bass to full-on rock-out guitar, while the funky electronica of “Soon” combines floating vocals underpinned

by Hilzinger’s staccato drumming and Andre’s lilting guitar licks to create a delicious retro trance. Track effects on new release, “Nomad,” with its Kings of Leon rhythm vibe and ‘80s pop vocals, make for a unique and vibrant sound.

The Peppermint Club

GLORYBOTS

Performance: Fun-loving and approachable, Glorybots demonstrate seasoned musicianship, effortless camaraderie and a genuine passion for the best of indie pop. Authentic in their expression and down-to-earth demeanor, their sound is relatable and comforting, and the crowd was engaged throughout their performance, both with respect to the music and the band’s openness with their audience.

Andre was clearly at ease at the mic and enjoyed interacting with the crowd, but he also knew when to keep the show moving.

ADRIAN ARROYO

Material: A wild combination of sounds reminiscent of Depeche Mode and Nirvana meets the Pet Shop Boys with a dark synthpop edge, the Seattle-based Glorybots bring a refreshing indie sound to the Los Angeles scene.

From the Tom Petty vocal swagger and early U2 vibe of “Run” and “Immolation” to the anthem feel of “Gold Politique,” the band delivers an engaging highly memorable experience.

Summary: A balanced combination of talented, energetic and humble musicians, Glorybots makes for an energizing night out with friends. Predominantly upbeat and danceable, the trio paints the perfect backdrop for an entertaining evening with retro-pop-loving friends. Andre’s charisma and conversational approach at the mic creates a relaxed, inviting atmosphere for those looking to unwind with a new twist on a nostalgic but very current musical adventure.

– Andrea Beenham

West Hollywood, CA

Material: When PJ Moon met The Swappers they were all thriving in different bands in their native Durango, CO, which has become a melting pot for rock mash-ups and collaborations such as theirs. Ever since these four musicians partnered up, their band has evolved into a combination of Southern rock, blues, folk-rock and hard rock. “Sal Gatlin,” a track from their debut album Memoirs of Living In A Car, features a breakdown section that experiments with samba, much like “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin. Their live performance of this song embodies the way in which they have blended so many of their musical influences.

Musicianship: As the lead singer and principal songwriter, PJ Moon structures his harmonic sets within the blues-rock genre.

Many compositions feature instrumental sections that showcase the guitar soloing of Dyllon Drake. As this four-piece continues to publish new material, they have slowly begun to integrate more of the country-rock properties of their bassist. In fact, Charlie Henry wrote and sang lead on an original track called “Marsha May” for their upcoming EP, Soul Fashioned. Alt-country songs 48 June 2019

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PJ MOON AND THE SWAPPERS like this have diversified the sound and presentation of their live shows.

Performance: PJ Moon and The Swappers played a total of 10 songs. Drummer Cord Drake maintained a groove as his band transitioned through an assortment of rock genres. The soulful voice of PJ Moon often struck a chord that was comparable to the late Bradley Nowell (of Sublime). When he sang the reggae-rocker “Carry The Weight,” it captivated several members of the audience, who danced to the music.

Summary: The band's synchrony resembled that of a professional jam band. Their musicianship garnered the attention of several members of the following act, as they were noticeably spotted peeking out near stage left. Much like the Dave Matthew’s Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this group has the ability to filter their brand of rock music through a litany of subgenres.

Going forward, all that's needed is some engaging stage patter between songs to would make the experience more personable.

– Miguel Costa

MIGUEL COSTA

Contact: dawn@pressedfreshpr.com Web: pjmoonandtheswappers.com Players: PJ Moon, vocals, guitar; Dyllon Drake, guitar; Charlie Henry, vocals bass; Cord Drake, drums

to the gig, we went home and checked out the Clawmarks album. Sure enough, songs such as “Late Stage Capitalism” are fiery slabs of snotty, smart street-punk.

NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS Alex’s Bar

Long Beach, CA

Contact: info@takenbysurprise.net Web: neighborhoodbrats.bandcamp.com Players: Jenny Angelillo, vocals; George Rager, guitar, vocals; Nick Aguilar, drums; Mike West, bass Material: On a bill that also included beloved California punk stalwarts The Avengers, Alice Bag and The Alley Cats, it would be easy for Long Beach-via-Oakland band the

Bardot

BRETT CALLWOOD

Musicianship: While, yeah, this is punk rock and doesn’t require prog levels of virtuosity, the three musicians in the band are way more than gnarly three-chord rippers. Guitarist George Rager, intense stare and snarky sneer throughout, seemed to effortlessly pull out one melodic chainsaw riff after another, allowing Jenny Angelillo to do her crazy frontperson thing. The rhythm section is tight; drummer Aguilar initially looks way too wellput-together to be in this band, button-up shirt and all, but the guy is a dervish.

Neighborhood Brats to get a little lost. After all, this is the only group on a four-band bill that wasn’t around for the birth of the genre. They might not be kids, but they were the babies on this Sunday matinee show at Alex’s Bar in their hometown. But here’s the thing––not only did the Neighborhood Brats hold their own, but there’s a strong case to be made that they provided the strongest set of the day. And that’s largely on the strength of their material. The songs (which fly by in a blur such is the intensity of the set) are simply superb. Unfamiliar prior

Performance: It’s all about Angelillo. The vocalist pulled so many zombie walks, high kicks and manic head shakes, it’s a wonder that she remembered to sing at all. But damn, her voice is superb too. With wide, intense eyes that probably intimidated the first three rows, Angelillo sounds like a wonderful blend of Poly Styrene and Alice Bag. It all comes together perfectly.

Summary: “I stand before you tonight because of Alice [Bag] and Penelope [Houston, of the Avengers],” Angelillo said from the stage. That’s a glowing tribute to two women who blazed a trail. That said, while there are elements of old punk bands in the Neighborhood Brats’ sound, they’re so energized and furious that it seems fresh. The old punks in the crowd at this gig might not have been there to see this band, but they likely went home remembering the name.

– Brett Callwood

Hollywood, CA

Web: CreatureCanyonMusic.com Contact: joey@villamrocks.com Players: Austin Steele; vocals, guitar; Ryan Amyot, guitar; Kyle Victoria, drums; Aaron Lund, Bass; Luc Fralic, keyboard

Musicianship: Creature Canyon is a very tight, well rehearsed outfit. Everyone on stage came out ready to play and gave it their all as confidence took over at downbeat. That only comes from playing a lot together, whether it be rehearsed or performing live. Amyot, Victoria, Lund and Fralic came together in a great rhythm section revelry as Steele ogled the girls and sang to them as he bared the insides of his soul. All the songs were extremely tight and well played.

Performance: The band performed with impressive energy under hot lights to screaming fans wearing Creature Canyon t-shirts. Steele is clearly the frontman, parading around the stage and talking to anyone who will listen. His rapport with the audience is exceptional as

PIERCE BROCHETTI

Material: Creature Canyon is an indie-pop group playing pop-rock and pop-funk. The band opened up with a tune called “Lonely As I Am” and as the song started, someone commented that they thought Steele sounded a lot like Bobby Darin singing “Dream Lover.” Aside from the very close sounding melody to “Dream Lover” all the other songs are very well crafted and unique.

CREATURE CANYON he tells Creature Canyon’s story. Meanwhile, bassist Lund, who was equally forward with the audience, played confidently to them.

Summary: Creature Canyon can be likened to Maren Morris in their lyrics and Maroon 5 in their music, but having their own unique sound makes it a big plus for them. Their

new EP, Did You Want That?, seems to have been recorded methodically and although a bit dry, the music is well written enough that it captures the authenticity that is Creature Canyon. They are a superb band to see live as the musicianship carries this group and the show takes them to another level. Don’t miss them! – Pierce Brochetti June 2019

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Adults Only

Hollywood, CA

Material: Kisspanic represents more than the Latin American bond shared among a trio of cofounders. It’s a story of a three-piece band that began to form in Chile when Rudi Meibergen met drummer Fer Fuentes at a college called Escuela Moderna de Música. It is also a narrative that climaxed in Los Angeles when Meibergen and Thomas Rojo were introduced to each other by the renowned music producer, Darryl Swann. Thus, Kisspanic played their first live show in September of 2018. And in January of 2019, they released their debut LP, Stereotape, a Latin rock album with an infusion of funk and post-punk revival. The single, “Orta Historia en el Mar,” shares many of the alternative-rock components that are featured in “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

bass guitar riffs of Rojo are built. Some of Meibergen compositions feature lead vocalist sections by the band’s drummer, Fer Fuentes.

The progressive rock song “No Solo Tu Lealtad” showcases the vocal interplay of Rudi Meibergen and Fer Fuentes quite well.

Musicianship: All three members of Kisspanic currently reside in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, they have made the collective decision to cater to the Spanish speaking market with songs like “Lo Normal Se Esconde.” Lead singer and guitarist Rudi Meibergen serves as the band’s primary songwriter. His radiofriendly lyrics and pop-chord progressions are the foundation upon which the rhythmic

Performance: Kisspanic performed six songs from their debut album. The trio’s music resounded in an upbeat style similar to bands like Cake and The Strokes. During Kisspanic’s rendition of “The Good Kind,” Meibergen and Rojo often displayed their skillful ability to manipulate the feedback and distortion coming from their amps. Meibergen sang all but two of the band’s songs in Spanish. Despite

THE WEST COAST FEED The Hotel Café

Hollywood, CA

Contact: Amanda Blide, Amanda@LaFamos.com Web: Thewestcoastfeed.com Players: Jesse Butterworth; lead vocals, guitar; Matt Woll, lead guitar, vocals; DJ Park, violin, vocals; Adam Gerty, electric guitar; Tim Oas, bass, vocals; Chad Elrod, drums; Matt Simmons, sax; Skyler Floe, trumpet; Henry Sparks, trombone Material: It’s hard to put a band like The West Coast Feed into a neat little box, as the nine-piece soul/swagger rock” project hailing from Seattle, WA at times echo some of the 50 June 2019

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ALEXX CALISE

KISSPANIC

bands you often hear on the jam band circuit, like Guster or Blues Traveler. However, their more danceable grooves, high-energy performances, and pop sensibility liken them to more commercial artists such as Bruno Mars, the Barenaked Ladies or Maroon 5.

Performance: The band began with a spirited “Crazy in Love” intro, gearing up the room for what would be a lively and incredibly energetic night you wouldn’t expect out of a club like Hotel Café, which usually caters to folky or Americana artists. The standout tune was their single, “Shake It.” That is, until they played “Not Giving In.” Before

MIGUEL COSTA

Contact: mg@lapdev.com Web: kisspanic.com Players: Rudi Meibergen, vocals, guitar; Thomas Rojo, bass; Fer Fuentes, back-up vocals, drums

the language barrier, the crowd responded enthusiastically, with salsa dancing and nonaggressive mosh pits.

Summary: When Rojo played his bass guitar, he often shook his upper body to the point where his glasses practically fell off of his smiling face.

His carefree demeanor set the mood for an evening of fun. Kisspanic’s charisma helped them appeal to an audience predominately made up of people who did not understand Spanish.

Nonetheless, as this new band plays more live shows in the US it may become beneficial for them to cover at least one top 40 hit in English.

That gesture could take their crowd engagement to the next level. – Miguel Costa

erupting into this emotive tearjerker, lead singer Jesse Butterworth gave a courageous, intensely personal account of one of his lowest moments, forcing the entire room to be completely still and silent. Though only two chords, which Butterworth remarked was all he could muster in that moment (talk about gut-wrenching), this heartfelt ballad had more substance, vulnerability and soul than all of the songs in their set combined, which is saying a hell of a lot.

What would have made the song absolutely perfect would have been a brief pause immediately at the end, so that the audience could take in and process such a heavy and hauntingly beautiful message. Their immediate transition into the much faster-paced “Blame It On Me” unfortunately took you out of that moment, but not so much so that you couldn’t fall right back in step with their adrenalinepumping tunes.

Musicianship: It is pretty difficult to avoid stepping on each other as a nine-piece band, but The West Coast Feed does a great job of giving each member their own space, and their own time to shine, so to speak. Violinist DJ Parks was a crowd favorite, wowing the audience with his gypsy-esque runs and stunning vibrato. Also impressive was Matt Simmons’ sax interlude leading into “Blame It On Me,” and the band’s unison singing and stomping at the end of “Not Giving In.” Summary: Simply put, this band just rocks, and puts on an extraordinarily entertaining show that will have you undoubtedly clamoring to the dance floor. It ain’t heavy; it’s just the fun we need to have in these trying, tumultuous times. – Alexx Calise

juxtaposition alongside the underlying teachable lyric.

Poisson Rouge

New York, NY

Contact: Brittany.oconnell@thesyn.com Web: taalimusic.com Players: Taali, vocals, piano; Dustin Kaufman, drums; Doug Berns, bass, Jose’ James, guest artist Material: Taali joins the ranks of artists who produce their own tracks, combining them with her live music experience. Dubbed Jewish contemporary pop, her music falls in the cracks of pop/electronica, touching upon various other styles.

Her spin on the mélange plays well as a marketing designation, but also infuses

Maui Sugar Mill Saloon

MARK SHIWOLICH

TAALI

Musicianship: Taali sings with abandon, her voice leaning toward the sweeter side, blending effectively with the pre-recorded vocal tracks. She also showcased her piano skills with several solo numbers. Two additional band members were added, as vocals and backing tracks completed the sound. Locking in seamlessly with the prerecorded material left no room for error, and was achieved effortlessly.

her strong cultural Hebraic background with personal struggles and those of her kin. The use of minor chords is prominent, as are rhythms that harken back to traditional Judaic music, but with a modern twist. In the ethereal “Hear You Now,” the song’s message radiates outward, from a highly individualized one, to that of universality, imploring the need to stand up for who you are and be acknowledged: Masquerade / always felt like a good escape / to protect what was left to take / the illusion is fading out / and the words that you swallowed down / tickle at the back of your mouth /oh but they’re gonna feel you / oh they’ll see you / oh they’ll hear you.

The joyous upbeat track offers an interesting

Performance: The artist’s signature sound, which features vocal layering mixed with electronica, lent excitement to the set, though cutting back slightly on those numbers would have made for an even stronger set as it became repetitive as a motif. She did, however, offer a few piano ballads in addition to inviting guest artist James to perform “Star,” a song they co-wrote. In one of the more moving moments in the set, Taali paid homage to her grandfather by singing one of his favorite Hebrew songs, which she did entirely in Hebrew, underscoring her profound connection to her ancestry.

Summary: Taali has rightfully earned a spot on the world music scene, while crossing other genres to include a larger audience. Cutting one or two of the pre-recorded songs and adding more of the Hebrew element would further set her show apart. – Ellen Woloshin

Los Angeles, CA

Contact: joenormalusa@gmail.com Web: joenormalusa.com Players: Joe Normal, vocals, lead guitar; Michael Lockwood, lead guitar; Tony Babylon, bass; Tony Snow, drums, backing vocals

Musicianship: The complementary talents and personalities of Joe Normal, Michael Lockwood, Tony Babylon and Tony Snow result in a solid stage presence and an easy confidence rarely found in today’s rock scene. “Living with Me,” which spotlights Lockwood’s pulsating guitar, is surprisingly danceable, and Snow is in his element with the intense drum rhythms in “Leaving Hollywood,” a cautionary tune relatable to every big city artistic dreamer. “Stuck in a Job” transmits a particularly Beatlesque vibe, both in its musicality and the universally relevant lyrics, and the performance featured Normal’s impressive guitar acrobatics and showmanship. Babylon rounded out the show with funky deep bass lines in the crowdpleaser “The Beast Within.”

JOE NORMAL & THE ANYTOWN'RS Performance: In their fifth in a string of performances following the release of their latest single, “Don’t Hurt Me,” Joe Normal & The Anytown’rs connected easily with the crowd, delivered refreshingly honest lyrics, and clearly embodied the messages contained in their songs. Normal enjoyed brief interludes with his audience, conveying hopeful messages for humanity while remaining faithful to his fun and memorable musical delivery.

The volume of the music may have been too loud for the venue, but its quality was undeniable. Preambles to songs were concise, with the focus kept on the music and performance, leaving no time for the packed

ANDREA BEENHAM

Material: A well-balanced group of polished rockers, Joe Normal & The Anytown’rs infuse a classic British and old-school American rock sound with a vital new energy. With a driving blend of Tom Petty and the early Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and a sprinkle of Beck and The Presidents of the United States of America for an edgier flair, the band brings a new flavor to indie rock.

From the upbeat swagger of “In the City Tonight” to the bouncing groove of “Nuthin’,” this group knows how to keep its audience moving.

crowd to lose momentum—or the urge to dance along with each tune.

Summary: With their even musicality and tight, balanced Brit-rock sound, Joe Normal and his cheerful, hat-wearing comrades provide a lively, buoyant evening of straightforward, danceable music. The New Jersey singer clearly found his tribe when he moved to Los Angeles and teamed up with the Anytown’rs trio in 2016, and the group’s natural musical chemistry is infectious. The perfect evening out with friends looking to have a blast and raise the energy level of their own tribe. – Andrea Beenham June 2019

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Directory of

Managers & Booking Agents

Music-makers Updated for tap2019, into MC’s this directory exclusive, to national connect list withofindie professionals labels, marketing will help &connect promo experts you to those and indie who can publicists. handlePlus yourloads career ofinterests contact information andtoarrange aid youlive in promoting bookings.your (For music MC’s list career, of Music DIY style: Attorneys, T-shirtplease and CD visit development, musicconnection.com/industry-contacts.) blog sites and social media tools.

MANAGERS 5B ARTIST MANAGEMENT 220 36th St., Ste. B442 Brooklyn, NY 11232 310-450-7132 Email: hello@5bam.com Web: 5bam.com Styles: Metal, Rock, Alt. *No unsolicited material Additional location: 12021 W. Jefferson Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90066 310-450-7132 AAM 270 Lafayette St., Ste 605 New York, NY 10012 212-924-2929 Email: info@aaminc.com Web: aaminc.com Contact: Matthew Clayman Styles: Alt., Rock, Pop, Indie Clients: Call for roster *No unsolicited material, represents producers only Additional locations: 5979 W. 3rd St., Ste. 204 Los Angeles, CA 90036 310-271-9350 1600 17th Ave., S. Nashville, TN 37212 615-742-1234 ABBA-TUDE ENTERTAINMENT 311 N. Robertson Ave., Ste. 505 Beverly Hills, CA 90211 818-991-7399 Email: kingabba@aol.com Contact: Mark “Abba” Abbattista Styles: All Services: Personal management, legal *Accepts unsolicited material AFRICAN MUSIC SOURCE 1225 Everett St. El Cerrito, CA 94530 510-778-1885 Email: kaokulolo@aol.com Web: africanmusicsource.com Contact: Baba Ken Okulolo Styles: African Clients: Baba Ken and Kotoja, Baba Ken and Afro-Groove Connection, West African Highlife Band, Baba Ken Okulolo and the Nigerian Brothers *Accepts unsolicited material AMERICAN ARTISTS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP 29 Royal Palm Pointe, Ste. 5 Vero Beach, FL 32960 772-226-7201 Email: online@aaeg.com Web: aaeg.com Styles: pop, rock, R&B, country, s/s Clients: Jenny Galiardi, Mike Guerriero, Lyrical Eye, Baha Men, Frank Stallone *Accepts unsolicited material, but not seeking new clients

Email: oscar@discoverhollywood.com Web: arslanianassociates.com/who.html Contact: Oscar Arslanian Clients: Fabian, Chris Montez, Little Peggy March, Kathy Young, Johnny Tillotson, Merrilee Rush, Brian Hyland Styles: Classic Rock Services: personal management *No unsolicited material ARTIST IN MIND 14100 Dickens St., Ste. 1 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423-4236 818-906-8020 Fax 818-924-1000 Email: info@artistinmind.com Contact: Doug Buttleman Clients: Sanders Bohlke, Jeffrey Cain, The Verve Pipe, Brian Vander Ark Styles: rock, modern rock, pop, adult *No unsolicited material AZOFF MUSIC MANAGEMENT 1100 Glendon Ave., Ste. 2000 Los Angeles, CA 90024 310-209-3100 Styles: All *No unsolicited material ELLEN AZORIN, MANAGER, PEDRO GIRAUDO JAZZ ORCHESTRA 157 W. 79th St., Ste. 4A New York, NY 10024 212-724-2400 Email: ellenazorin@gmail.com Web: pedrogiraudo.com, cantaloupeproductions.com Styles: Jazz Client: Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra *Accepts unsolicited material THE BABBLE BOUTIQUE Email: Azalee@TheBabbleBoutique.com Web: TheBabbleBoutique.com Contact: Azalee Maslow Styles: All Services: Social and digital media consulting and management agency.

We specialize in converting your followers into paying fans. *No unsolicited material BACKER ENTERTAINMENT LLC 87 Plymouth Ave. Yonkers, NY 10710 914-779-6087 Email: info@backerentertainment.com Web: backerentertainment.com Contact: David Backer BACKSTAGE ENTERTAINMENT 5018 Franklin Pike Nashville, TN 37220 310-325-9997 Email: staff@backstageentertainment.net Web: backstageentertainment.net Contact: Paul Loggins, John Stevens, Laurent Stoeckli Styles: All Services: full-service radio promotion, publicity and PR, radio programming/ consulting, personal management, entertainment consulting/marketing *Accepts unsolicited material

ANGELICA ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Nashville, TN 615-794-0485 Fax 615-591-1463 Email: mgmt@angelica.org Web: angelica.org Contact: Jules Delgado Styles: ambient, lounge, new age, pop, world, Film/TV Clients: Seay, Pat Thomi *No unsolicited material

BANDGURU MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 11192 Denver, CO 80211 303-477-6987 Email: mark@bandguru.com Web: bandguru.com Contact: Mark Bliesener Styles: All Styles Clients: the Third Degree, Baxter Black, Ronny Cox, Highway 101, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band *No unsolicited material

ARSLANIAN & ASSOCIATES 6671 Sunset Blvd., Ste. 1502 Hollywood, CA 90028 323-465-0533

BBA MANAGEMENT & BOOKING 12400 Hwy. 71 W., Ste. 350-177 Austin, TX 78738 512-477-7777

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Email: info@bbabooking.com Web: bbabooking.com Contact: Laura Mordecai Styles: rock, jazz Clients: Matt Wilson, Beto and the Fairlanes, Javier Chapparo Services: specializes in placing musicians for recording sessions and back up for touring acts, must read sheet music *No unsolicited material BEAR CREEK PRODUCER MANAGEMENT 6313 Maltby Rd. Woodinville, WA 98072 425-481-4100 Email: mannyhadlock@hotmail.com Web: bearcreekstudio.com Contact: Manny Hadlock Styles: intelligent rock, indie rock, rock nervous, folk, renaissance, rock, jazz Clients: Gordon Raphael, Ryan Hadlock, Holy Ghost Revival, Sony Records, Sub Pop, Vertigo, Warner, Transgressive *No unsolicited material BEDLAM MUSIC MANAGEMENT 290 Gerrard St. East Toronto, ON M5A 2G4 416-585-7885 Fax 905-248-3195 Email: info@bedlammusicmgt.com Web: bedlammusicmgt.com Clients: The Sheepdogs, Moors, JuD, City and Colour, Monster Truck Additional locations: 4525 Russell Ave. #1 Los Angeles, CA 90027 1300 Clinton St., Ste 205 Nashville, TN 37203 BIG HASSLE MANAGEMENT 40 Exchange Place, Ste. 1900 New York, NY 10005 212-619-1360 Web: bighassle.com Styles: alt., indie, rock, pop Clients: Ben Kweller, A Fragile Tomorro, Absofacto, Alice Phoebo Lou, All Them Witches *Accepts unsolicited material Additional Location: 3685 Motor Ave., Ste 240 Los Angeles, CA 90034 424-603-4655 BIG NOISE 11 S. Angell St., Ste. 336 Providence, RI 02906 401-274-4770 Email: al@bignoisenow.com Web: bignoisenow.com Contact: Al Gomes Styles: pop, rock, R&B, metal, jazz, acoustic, blues, punk, techno Clients: Christina Aguilera, Katharine McPhee, Alice Cooper, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Jay Geils, Jim Brickman, Melba Moore *Accepts unsolicited material--please call or email first.

BITCHIN ENTERTAINMENT 1750 Collard Valley Rd. Cedartown, GA 30125 678-901-0162 Email: ty@bitchinentertainment.com Web: bitchinentertainment.com Styles: rock, pop, hip-hop, Americana, country, R&B, jazz, punk, metal, rap, folk, s/s Clients: Blackhawk, Blue Oyster Cult, Charlie Allen, Gary Campbell, Kansas, Judas Priest, Nickel Creek, Steve Miller Band *Accepts unsolicited material

BLACK DOT MANAGEMENT 6820 La Tijera Blvd., Ste. 117 Los Angeles, CA 90045 310-568-9091 Fax 323-777-8169 Email: info@blkdot.com Web: blkdot.com Contact: Raymond A. Shields, Pat Shields Clients: producers, engineers, marketing, production Styles: R&B, jazz, urban adult contemporary Services: personal management, marketing *No unsolicited material BLACK ROSE 409 Rte. 112 Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776 631-367-8544 Email: admin@blackroseproductions.com Web: blackrosemusicpub.com Styles: jazz, rock, R&B, gospel, hip-hop, country, blues, pop Clients: Conan Horn Section, Black Rose Band, Organic Sound Project, Chris Patti of Modern Voices, IndiMusicTV, John Pandalfo, Roger Evans, Tito Batista featured on vocals with Conan Horn Section and Black Rose Band *No unsolicited material Additional location: 15 Gloria Ln. Fairfield, NJ 07004 631-367-8544, 973-575-7460 BRICK WALL MANAGEMENT 39 W. 32nd St., Ste. 1403 New York, NY 10001 212-501-0748 Email: bwmgmt@brickwallmgmt.com Web: brickwallmgmt.com Contact: Michael Solomon, Rishon Blumberg Styles: pop, rock, country, singersongwriter Clients: Adam Landry, Cherry Poppin Daddies, The Clarks, Eddie Berman, Jarett Bellucci, Lonesome Animals, Marshall Altman, Michael Counts, Nevada Color, Vanessa Carlton, William Fitzsimmons, 10X Management *No unsolicited material BRILLIANT PRODUCTIONS Decatur, GA 30030 404-312-6237 Email: Nancy@brilliant-productions.com Web: brilliant-productions.com Contact: Nancy Lewis-Pegel Styles: roots, rock, jam, Americana, blues Clients: Webb Wilder, Geoff Achison, Yonrico Scott, Randall Bramblett, Peter Karp, Glenn Phillips/Cindy Wilson of B-52’s Services: A boutique agency that gives personal attention to musicians *No unsolicited material BROKAW COMPANY, THE 10736 Jefferson Blvd. #462 Culver City, CA 90230 Los Angeles, CA 90069 310-273-2060 Email: brokawc@aol.com, db@brokawcompany.com Web: brokawcompany.com Contact: David Brokaw, Joel Brokaw, Sanford Brokaw Styles: All Services: Full service *No unsolicited material BULLETPROOF ARTIST MANAGEMENT & BOOKING 241 Main St. Easthampton, MA 01027 413-527-9393 Email: patty@bulletproofartists.com Web: bulletproofartists.com Contact: Patty Romanoff

Download at musicconnection.com/industry-contacts Styles: folk, pop, rock, country Clients: Dar Williams, The Nields, Susan Werner, Cry, Cry, Cry *No unsolicited material BURGESS WORLD CO. P.O. Box 646 Mayo, MD 21106 410-798-7798 Email: info@burgessworldco.com Web: burgessworldco.com Contact: Richard James Burgess Styles: rock, alt., singer-songwriter, blues, jazz Clients: Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, Ace Elijah, the Electrofied Blues Band *No unsolicited material BUSYBOY PRODUCTIONS 77 13th Ave. NE, Ste. 112 Minneapolis, MN 651-230-4362, 818-561-6000 Email: info@busyboyproductions.com Web: busyboyproductions.com Contact: Ella Reid Styles: rock, pop, country, alt.

Clients: Michelle Ella Reid, Lorenzo, Lizzy Borden, White Lion, Gin Blossoms, Anita Baker *Accepts unsolicited material CASE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC. 102 E. Pikes Peak Ave., Ste. 200 Colorado Springs, CO 719-632-0227 Fax 719-634-2274 Email: rac@crlr.net Web: newpants.com, oldpants.com Contact: Robert Case Clients: Silence, Lisa Bigwood, C. Lee Clarke, Kathy Watson, Todd Harris, Sherwen Greenwood, Chad Steele, James Becker, Stephanie Aramburo, Rocky Shaw, John Ellis Styles: pop, rock, country Services: personal management, record promotion *No unsolicited material CELEBRITY ENTERPRISES New Mexico 800-700-3898, 505-281-1149 Email: chris@ent123.com Web: ent123.com Contact: Lisa de Wolf Styles: Variety Clients: the Pink Flamingos, the 3 Painters, Art Explosion, ARTRAGEOUS! *No unsolicited material CHAPMAN MANAGEMENT 14011 Ventura Blvd., #405 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 818-788-9577 Fax 818-788-9525 Email: info@chapmanmanagement.com Web: chapmanmanagement.com Styles: contemporary smooth jazz Clients: Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, David Benoit, Jeff Golub, Euge Groove, Jeff Lorber, Al Stewart, Peter White, Lindsey Webster, Jane Monheit, Eric Marienthal, Vincent Ingala, Keiko Matsui, Sara Gazarek *no unsolicited material CIRCLE CITY RECORDS USA Artist Management 1831 12th Ave. Ste 186 Nashville, TN 37203 Contact: Lincoln Plowman Telephone: 615-600-2266 Email: music@circlecityrecords.com Web: circlecityrecordsusa.com Genre: Country Music Comments: It all starts with a song! We welcome unsolicited material submitted by email. Please review our website so that you know what we are seeking and what we can do for you. Include links to your Social Media and Music. Tell us about yourself and what you want to do. Go into detail!

CLC ARTISTS MANAGEMENT Burbank, CA Email: clclifecoach@gmail.com Styles: Personal management, artists branding, personal consultation, music production *Accepts unsolicited material COAST TO COAST MUSIC/MUSICBIZ MENTORS Artist Development, Music Biz Education & Touring

Encino, CA 818-376-1380 (Please email us first) Email: ccmusicbooking@gmail.com Web: MusicBizMentors.com Contact: Chris Fletcher Clients: Harold Payne, Gravity 180, Anna Beatriz, Darious Lux Styles: All Services: Management, Promotions and Booking expert *Email for permission to send your materials COLLIN ARTISTS Pasadena, CA, CA 91104 323-467-4702 Email: collinartists@gmail.com Web: collinartists.com Contact: Barbara Collin, Robert Sax, Goh Kurosawa Clients: see website for roster Styles: jazz, blues, world, Latin, R&B, doo wop/classics and beyond Services: Management, promotion, consulting, booking, workshops *No unsolicited material COLUMBIA ARTIST MANAGEMENT, LLC 5 Columbus Cir. 1790 Broadway New York, NY 10019 212-841-9500 Email: info@columbia-artists.com Web: cami.com Contact: Tim Fox Styles: instrumental, classical, jazz, world, celtic, vocalists Services: one of the world’s largest Classical music management firms *Accepts unsolicited material CORNERSTONE MANAGEMENT 6121 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 213-217-4500 Email: info@cornerstoneagency.com Web: cornerstonepromotion.com *No unsolicited material Additional locations: London 3 Perseverance Works, 1st Fl. 38 Kingland Rd. London, E2 8DD +44 207-729-2637 New York 71 W. 23rd St., 13th Fl. New York, NY 10010 212-741-7100 COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT 110 W. 26th St., 3rd Fl. New York, NY 10001 212-645-3068 Email: brenda@countdownentertainment. com Web: countdownentertainment.com, facebook.com/CountdownEntertainment Styles: urban, hip-hop, pop, rock, country, alt., dance, club, DJ *Accepts unsolicited material, see site for submission details THE COZZA COMPANY 651 Holiday Dr. Foster Plaza 5, St. 300 Pittsburg, PA 15220 412-928-3292 Email: rocco@roccocozza.com Web: hecozzacompany.com Contact: Rocco Cozza Styles: hip-hop, alt., indie, rock, pop Accepts unsolicited material CRUSH MANAGEMENT 60 11th St., 7th Fl. New York, NY 10003 212-334-4446 Email: info@crushmusic.com Web: crushmusic.com Styles: rock, pop, indie, hip-hop, s/s, punk Clients: See website for roster *No unsolicited material DAS COMMUNICATIONS 83 Riverside Dr. New York, NY 10024 212-877-0400 Styles: rock, pop, hip-hop Clients: Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Jim Steinman, Carney, Spin Doctors, Toby Gad,

the Veronicas, Taylor Momsen and the Pretty Reckless, Sean Paul, Prince Royce, Katy Tiz, the Lone Bellow *No unsolicited material DAVE KAPLAN MANAGEMENT 1126 S. Coast Hwy. 101 Encinitas, CA 92024 760-944-8800 Fax 760-944-7808 Email: scott@surfdog.com Web: surfdog.com Contact: Nola Schoder Style: Rock Clients: Brian Setzer, Stray Cats, Dave Stewart, Glen Campbell, Joss Stone, Gary Hoey, Dan Hicks, Rusty Slightly Stoopid, Dan Hicks, the Burning of Rome, Butthole Surfers, Pato Banton, Richard Cheese, Mom *We accept all unsolicited materials DAWN ELDER MANAGEMENT 303 Loma Alta Dr., Ste. 31 Santa Barbara, CA 93109 (global) 805-963-2415, 805-637-1178 Email: deworldmusic@aol.com Web: demgmt.com Contact: Dawn Elder Styles: world, rock, pop, jazz, roots, traditional, classical, international, CentralSouth Asian underground, Middle Eastern, North African, Mediterranean Clients: Souad Massi, Mayssa Karraa, Simon Shaheen and Arab Orchestra, Simon Shaheen and Near Eastern Ensemble, Simon Shaheen and Qantara, Bassam Saba, Kadim Al Sahir, Cheb, Sabbah and 1002 Nights and many more.

Services: specializing in Middle Eastern, Central and South Asian, North African, West African and Mediterranean *No unsolicited material DCA PRODUCTIONS 675A 9th Ave., #252 New York, NY 10036 800-659-2063, 212-245-2063 Email: info@dcaproductions.com Web: dcaproductions.com Contact: Daniel C. Abrahamsen Styles: pop, folk, rock Clients: Andjam Band, Backbeat A Tribute, Alison Fraser, Fiesta, Rockspolsion, Lisa Bouchelle, Vladimir & Nadia Zaitsev, Acrobats of Cirquetacular Services: variety performers, comedians, musical performers, theater productions and producing live events *Accepts unsolicited material DEEP SOUTH ENTERTAINMENT P.O. Box 17737 Raleigh, NC 27619 919-844-1515 , 615-953-4800 Email: hello@deepsouthentertainment.com Web: deepsouthentertainment.com Styles: pop, rock, alt., country, AC, Christian Clients: Marcy Playground, Vienna Teng, Tres Chicas, Parmalee, I Was Totally Destroying It, Michael Sweet, LanCo, Katie Garfield *Accepts unsolicited material. **Please NO CALLS DIRECT MANAGEMENT GROUP 8332 Melrose Ave., Top Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90069 310-854-3535 Email: info@directmanagement.com Web: directmanagement.com Clients: Ferras, Maddei Simpson, K.D. Lang, Katy Perry, Au/Ra, Steve Perry Styles: All Services: Personal management *No unsolicited material DREAMCATCHER ENTERTAINMENT 2910 Poston Ave. Nashville, TN 37203 615-210-2270 Email: jmazza@dreamcatchermgmt.com Web: dreamcatchermgmt.com Contact: Jim Mazza Styles: Country *No unsolicited material EAST END MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 41389 Pasadena, CA 91114 818-784-9002 Contact: Tony Dimitriades

Styles: rock, pop Clients: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ELLIOT CAHN MANAGEMENT 44 N. San Pedro Rd. San Rafael, CA 94903 510-652-1615 Email: elliot@cahnandsaltzman.com Web: elliotcahn.com Contact: Elliot Cahn Clients: Goapele, Luce, Daisy Grace Vardell, Kevin Jorgeson Styles: All styles Services: Personal management *No unsolicited material EMCEE ARTIST MANAGEMENT 189 Franklin St., Ste. 294 New York, NY 10013 212-925-6458 Email: liz@emceeartist.com Web: emceeartist.com Styles: jazz, rock, blues Clients: Medeskim Martin and Wood, the Wood Brothers, Nels Cline, John Medeski, Jenny Scheinman, Gill Landry, Kate Davis *No unsolicited material EMPIRE ARTIST MANAGEMENT 235 W. 23rd St., 6th Fl. New York, NY 10011 212-343-2200 Email: info@empireartistmanagement.com Web: empireartistmanagement.com Clients: Above & Beyond, Ron Reeser, Dan Saenz, Adam K, EDX, SOHA, Dresden & Johnston *No unsolicited material ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES INT’L 1819 S. Harlan Cir. Lakewood, CO 80232 303-727-1111 Email: randy@esientertainment.com Web: esientertainment.com Contact: Randy Erwin Styles: Rock, Classic Rock Clients: the Nylons, Brewer and Shipley, Carl Dixon, the Guess Who, Humble Pie, Iron Butterfly, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Powder Mill, Rare Earth, the Creek Rocks ERIC NORWITZ ARTIST MANAGEMENT 3333 W. 2nd St., Ste. 52-214 Los Angeles, CA 90004-6149 213-389-3477 Email: enorwitz@pacbell.net Contact: Eric Norwitz Styles: alt., dance, pop, R&B, rock Services: management & legal *Accepts unsolicited material FIRST ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT 6725 Sunset Blvd. Ste. 420 Los Angeles, CA 90028 323 454 1162 Email: LA@firstaccessent.com, Newyork@firstaccessent.com, london@firstaccessent.com Web: firstaccessent.com Published: see web How to Submit: no unsolicited material FIRST ARTISTS MANAGEMENT 4764 Park Granada, Ste. 110 Calabasas, CA 91302 818-377-7750 Fax 818-377-7760 Email: fam-info@firstartistsmgmt.com Web: firstartistsmgmt.com Styles: film, singer-songwriter Clients: film composers, music supervisors, music editors *No unsolicited material FLEMING ARTISTS, INC. PO Box 1568 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-995-9066 Fax 734-662-6502 Email: jim@flemingartists.com Web: flemingartists.com Contact: Jim Fleming Styles: rock, pop, singer-songwriter, contemporary roots rock, folk, bluegrass, improv comedy Clients: Jeff Daniels, Judy Collins, the Kruger Brothers, Shane Koyczan, Ariel Horowitz, Holly Near FRESH FLAVA ENTERTAINMENT 2705 12th St. N.E. Washington, DC 20018 202-832-7979

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Directory of Managers & Booking Agents Email: freshflava1@aol.com Web: freshflava.com Contact: Emanuel Maurice “Moe” Yeoman Styles: hip-hop, R&B, jazz, gospel, rock Clients: Elliot Lavine, Tabbo, DJ Sir Jamm *Accepts unsolicited material GARY STAMLER MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 34575 Los Angeles, CA 90034 310-838-1995 Email: garystamler@me.com Web: gsmgmt.net Contacts: Gary Stamler, Nancy Sefton Clients: Pete Molinari, Tchad Blake, Daniel Powter, Dave Alvin, Styles: All Services: personal management *No unsolicited material GARVAN MEDIA MANAGEMENT & MARKETING P.O. Box 737 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-265-1718 Email: steve@garvanmanagement.com Web: immf.com Contact: Stephen Bond Garvan (formerly of NYC, Colorado, New England, MMF-US Board, Funding Council AMA, IMMF Global Director of Folk/Roots/Americana) Styles: rock, s/s, roots, country, Americana Clients: Chris Daniels and the Kings, Ryan Shupe, Lenou (US/Canada) Big Wide Grin, Tom Roznowski, Michael Kelsh HALFPIPE ENTERTAINMENT P.O. Box 10534 Hollywood, CA 90213 310-651-6233 Email: info@halfpipemusic.net Web: halfpipe-entertainment.com Contact: Lee Scheinbaum Styles: alt., rock, indie, singer-songwriter, surf pop, electronic, lounge, remixes, psychedelic, hip-hop, R&B, nu soul, jazz, underscores Clients: Jeff Martin, Greg Camp, Aidan Lavelle, Ceiri Torjussen, Erik Godal, Tommy Coster, Kiran Shahani, Scott Thomas, Jaymay, Mark Tschanz, Trevor Shand, Mike Semple, Nina Gordon *Accepts unsolicited material--web streaming audio submissions only, prefer SoundCloud or similar.

HARDKNOCKLIFE ENTERTAINMENT 2201 N. Lakewood Blvd., Ste. D236 Long Beach, CA 90815 562-354-1058 Email: info@hardknocklifeent.com Web: hardknocklifeent.com Contact: Ayana Cobb Styles: pop, rap, hip-hop, acoustic, r&b, Services: Management *Accepts unsolicited material *No phone calls HEADLINE TALENT AGENCY 250 Greenwich St. New York, NY 10007 212-257-6110 Email: Erica@headlinetalent.net Styles: Actors for theatre, film and TV Contact: Erica Bines, Owner HEART & SOUL ARTIST MANAGEMENT, LLC Miki Mulvehill Minnesota Office 1885 Shady Beach Ave. Roseville, MN 55113 651-755-7944 Email: mvt@utrmusicgroup.com Web: UTRMusicGroup.com Clients: Otis Clay, Syl Johnson, David Z, Lisa Wenger HOFFMAN ENTERTAINMENT Brooklyn, NY 212-765-2525 Contact: Randy Hoffman Styles: R&B, rock, pop, country Clients: John Mellencamp, Hugo, Carlene Carter *No unsolicited material accepted IMC ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC. 19360 Rinaldi St., Ste. 217 Porter Ranch, CA 91326 818-700-9655 Email: sr@imcentertainment.com Web: imcentertainment.com

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Contact: Sylvester Rivers Clients: Paul Riser, T. Renee Styles: pop, R&B Services: full service *No unsolicited material IMPACT ARTIST MANAGEMENT 293 Tinker St. Woodstock, NY 12498 212-280-0800 Ext. 22 Email: info@impactarists.com Web: impactartist.com Styles: jazz, world, rock, pop, blues, R&B, folk, alt. country Clients: Gipsy Kings, Jon Cleary, Amy Helm, Eef Barzelay *No unsolicited material IN DE GOOT ENTERTAINMENT 119 W. 23rd St., Ste. 609 New York, NY 10011 212-924-7775 Fax 212-924-3242 Web: indegoot.com Contact: Michael Iurato Styles: rock, pop Clients: Audiodamni, Bel Heir, Black Stone Cherry, Chevelle, Highly Suspect, Halestrom, In This Moment, Kyng, Neon Trees, Robert Fenn, Story of the Year, Theory Of A Deadman *Accepts unsolicited material--Attn: Michael Iurato Additional locations: 900 South St., Ste. 101 Nashville, TN 37203 10 Greenland St., 4th Fl. Camden, London, NW1 0ND England +44 77 84110102 INDIE MUSIC CONSULTING GROUP Indie Artist & Label Publicity, Marketing & Consulting 888-242-9331 Web: indiemusicconsultant.com “Voting Member the Recording Academy” INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT (ICM) 10250 Constellation Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90067 310-550-4000 Web: icmtalent.com Contact: Carol Goll Styles: dance, classical, jazz, folk, world, contemporary, R&B, hip-hop *No unsolicited material Additional locations: 65 E. 55th St. New York, NY 10022 212-556-5600 WeWork 3rd Fl. Marlborough House 10 Earlham St. London, WC2H 9LN, England +044 0208 004 5315 IN TOUCH ENTERTAINMENT 5 Columbus Cir., 8th Fl. New York, NY 10019 212-235-7015 Email: info@intouchhome.com Web: intouchhome.com Contact: Charles Carlini Styles: All Styles Clients: Irene Cara, Michael Carvin, David Chesky, Suzanne Ciani, Elisha Abas, Equie Castrillo, Larry Coryell, Mamma Freedom, George Garzone, Eumir Deodato, Keith Emerson, Kenia, Craig Handy, Paulette McWilliams, Captain Beyond *Accepts unsolicited material. See website for instructions.

INTRIGUE MUSIC MANAGEMENT 24 Preble St., 3rd Fl. Portland, ME 04101 203-349-9000 Web: intriguemusic.com Styles: rock, pop Clients: Waterson, Artem Korolve, Shana Farr, Old Man Canyon, Rene Fris *No unsolicited material INVASION GROUP 1133 Broadway, Ste. 919

New York, NY 10010 212-414-0505 Fax 212-414-0525 Email: info@invasiongroup.com Web: invasiongroup.com Styles: rock, world, folk, singer-songwriter Clients: Gail Ann Dorsey, Caravan of Thieves, David Krakauer, Jennifer Knap, Jai Uttal, Bill Laswell, Maiysha, Ryan Dahle, *Accepts unsolicited material JAMPOL ARTIST MANAGEMENT 8899 Beverly Blvd., Ste. 812 West Hollywood, CA 90048 310-654-1900 Email: assistant@jamincla.com Web: wemanagelegends.com Contact: Jeff Jampol Clients: The Estates of the following: the Doors, Janis Joplin, Peter Tosh, Jim Morrison, Ramones, Michael Jackson, Rick James, Johnny Ramone, Henry Mancini *Does not accept unsolicited material JONATHAN KLEIN ARTIST MANAGEMENT Jonathan Klein 455 Market St., Ste. 1480 San Francisco, CA 94105 (office) 415-438-3730, (mobile) 415-3102571 Clients: Jeffrey Foucault, Michelle Lewis, Tom Rhodes KAHN POWER PICTURES 433 N. Camden Dr., Ste. 600 Beverly Hills, CA 90210 310-550-0770 Email: Artists4Film@gmail.com Web: artists4film.com Styles: Film/TV scores, composer/ performer/director representation Clients: Eva Babic, Nancy Bishop, Stewart Copeland, Robert Domheim, J.P. Dutilleux, Claudio Faeh, Jiri Madi, Eric Neveux, J. Peter Robinson, Peter Golub *No unsolicited material KARI ESTRIN MANAGEMENT & CONSULTING P.O. Box 60232 Nashville, TN 37206 615-262-0883 Email: kari@kariestrin.com Web: kariestrin.com Contact: Kari Estrin Styles: folk, Americana, AAA, roots Clients: David Llewellyn, Janis Ian, Tony Rice, Bluegrass/Newgrass legend, Suzanne Vega, Kanda Bonga Man, Papa Wemba, Kevin Brown, 3 Mustaphas 3 *Accepts unsolicited material KBH ENTERTAINMENT GROUP Los Angeles, CA 818-786-5994 Web: kbhentertainment.com Contact: Brent Harvey Styles/Specialties: All styles, entertainment consulting, publicity, music placement/licensing and live event production *No unsolicited material KBM 310-228-8172 Email: kbmgt@aol.com Contact: Brent Harris Clients: Tony! Toni! Tone’!, Sounds of Blackness *No unsolicited material KRAFT ENGEL MANAGEMENT 15233 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 200 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 818-380-1918 Email: info@kraft-engel.com Web: kraft-engel.com Contact: Richard Kraft Styles: Film Composers *No unsolicited material KRAGEN & COMPANY Email: info@kragenandcompany.com Web: kenkragen.com Contact: Ken Kragen Clients: Suzanne Whang, Ronn Lucas, the Smothers Brothers, J. Geils Band, Travis Tritt, Burt Reynolds, Trisha Yearwood Styles: Comedy, Country, Adult Contemporary Services: personal management, TV

production *No unsolicited material KUPER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT/ RECOVERY RECORDINGS 515 Bomar St. Houston, TX 77006 713-520-5791 Email: info@recoveryrecordings.com Web: recoveryrecordings.com Contact: Koop Kuper Styles: folk, roots rock, Americana Clients: the Very Girls, David Rodriguez *Accepts unsolicited material LAKE TRANSFER ARTIST & TOUR MANAGEMENT Studio City, CA 818-508-7158 Web: laketransfermgmt.com Contact: Steven B. Cohen, Mgr. Clients: Candyboy, Friends of Distinction, Evelyn Champagne King, Rose Royce, DJ Asi Vidal LAMONT PATTERSON 409 N. Pacific Coast Hwy., #417 Redondo Beach, CA 323-957-7322 Email: info@worldmovement.com Web: worldmovement.com Contact: Olivia Shannon Clients: Drew Raber, Rogon & Co, Kanya, Comedian Dewayne Dukes, Wylde Bunch, Beko, Coast Ridas, Michelle, Ghetto Hippie LEN WEISMAN PERSONAL MANAGEMENT 357 S. Fairfax Ave., Ste. 430 Los Angeles, CA 90036 323-653-0693, 323-653-7670 Email: parlirec@aol.com Web: parliamentrecords.com Contact: Len Weisman Styles: R&B, soul, blues, gospel, rap, soul, pop Clients: Jewel With Love, Chosen Gospel Recovery Singers, Winds Of Fate, Rapture 7, Chosen Gospel Singers, L’Nee, Sister Maxine West, TooMiraqulas (rapper), Winds of Fate *Accepts unsolicited material LEONARD BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 11900 West Olympic Blvd., Ste. 410 Los Angeles, CA 90064 310-458-8860 Email: info@lbmgt.com Web: leonardbusinessmanagement.com Contact: Jerry Leonard Clients: Call for roster Styles: All Services: Business management only *No unsolicited material LIPPMAN ENTERTAINMENT Beverly Hills, CA 90210 805-686-1163 Email: music@lippmanent.com Web: lippmanent.com Contact: Michael Lippman, Nick Lippman Clients: producers, artists, songwriters Styles: All Services: Full-service *No unsolicited material LLOYD SAX MANAGEMENT 3021 Airport Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90405 310-572-0023 Contact: Lloyd Sax Clients: Troy Burgess Styles: All Services: personal and business management *Accepts unsolicited material LOGGINS PROMOTION 310-325-2800 Email: staff@logginspromotion.com Web: logginspromotion.com, facebook. com/logginspromotion Contact: Paul Loggins Services: Represents both major and independent artists. All genres.

LOYALT MANAGEMENT Brooklyn, N.Y. Contact: info@loyaltmgmt.com Web: loyaltmgmt.com Clients: Lord Huron, Animal Collective, Panda Bear, The Gaslight Anthem

Download at musicconnection.com/industry-contacts LUPO ENTERTAINMENT 725 River Rd., Ste. 32-288 Edgewater, NJ 07020 Email: steve@lupomusic.com Web: lupomusic.com Contact: Steve Corbin, Nick LoPiccolo, Brooke Bloomquist Styles: rock, pop, R&B, country, hip-hop Clients: Melinsa Colaizzi, Megan McCallon, Lo-Star, Lauren Mayhew *Contact prior to sending material MAINE ROAD MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 1412 Woodstock, NY 12498 212-979-9004 Email: mailbox@maineroadmanagement. com Web: maineroadmanagement.com Contact: David Whitehead Styles: rock, singer-songwriter, pop Clients: The Antlers, Tyondai Braxton, Lloyd Cole, Mimi Goese, Helmet, Joe Henry, Joe Jackson, Hugh Laurie, Natalie Merchant, Elvis Perkins *No unsolicited material MAJOR BOB MUSIC Nashville, TN 37212 615-329-4150 Web: majorbob.com Contact: Bob Doyle Styles: Country, Pop Clients: Garth Brooks, the Features, Brett Kissel, Farro *No unsolicited material MANAGEMENT ARK 116 Village Blvd., Ste. 200 Princeton, NJ 08540 609-734-7403, Vernon H. Hammond III 301-859-4050, Edward C. Arrendell, II Email: managearkeast@comcast.net Web: managementark.com Contact: Vernon Hammond III, Edward C. Arrendell, II Styles: jazz Clients: Wynton Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Joey Alexander, Cecile McLorin Salvant *No unsolicited material MASCIOLI ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION 319 Dillon Cir. Orlando, FL 32822 407-897-8824 Web: masciolientertainment.com Contact: Paul A. Mascoli Styles: country, jazz, R&B, orchestras, swing, tropical, rock Clients: See website for roster *Accepts unsolicited material MCGHEE ENTERTAINMENT 615-327-3255 21 Music Sq. W. Nashville, TN 37203 615-327-3255 Email: info@mcgheela.com Web: mcgheela.com Clients: Kiss, Paul Stanley, Ted Nugent, Down, Vintage Trouble, Caleb Johnson THE MGMT COMPANY 6906 Hollywood Blvd., 2nd Fl. Hollywood, CA 90028 323-946-7700 Email: inquiries@themgmtcompany.com Web: themgmtcompany.com Contact: Marc Pollack M. HITCHCOCK MANAGEMENT Nashville, TN 37220 615-333-0015 Email: info@mhmgmt.com Web: mhmgmt.com Contact: Monty Hitchcock Styles: alt. country, contemporary folk, rock, country Clients: John Starling and Carolina Star, Ben Cyllus, Danny Flowers, Dylan LeBlanc, Sweethearts of the Rodeo *No unsolicited material MICHAEL HAUSMAN ARTIST MANAGEMENT 17A Stuyvesant Oval New York, NY 10009 212-505-1943 Fax 212-505-1127 Email: info@michaelhausman.com Web: michaelhausman.com Contact: Michael Hausman Styles: rock, pop, singer-songwriter

Clients: Aimee Mann, Suzanne Vega, the Both *No unsolicited material MIKE’S ARTIST MANAGEMENT Funzalo Records P.O. Box 571567 Tarzana, CA 91357 Email: dan@mikesartistmanagement.com Web: funzalorecords.com Contact: Mike Lembo Styles: rock, pop, Americana Clients: Tony Furtado, Mostly Bears, Luca, Brian Lopez *No unsolicited material MIKE GORMLEY L.A. Personal Development (LAPD) 818-795-2834 Email: Glebe99@yahoo.com Web: lapersdev.com/history “Activity Breeds Activity” MILLION DOLLAR ARTISTS 12 Lake Forest Court West St. Charles, MO 63301 636-925-1703, 888-521-8146 Email: info@americaneaglerecordings. com Web: americaneaglerecordings.com/ welcome Contact: Dr. Charles “Max” E. Million Styles: All Styles Clients: Well Hungarians, Sable, Spanky and Our Gang, KLLR SmiLe, Jim Carrick *Accepts unsolicited material. See website for instructions.

MONOTONE INC. 820 Seward St. Hollywood, CA 90038 323-308-1818 Web: vampireweekend.com/?s=contact Clients: Amason, Amber Coffman, Andrew Wyatt, Autolux, Baio, Banks, Bella Thorne, Benjamin Booker, Broken Bells, Cathedrals, Cold War Kids, Danger Mouse, David Longstreth, the Dead Weather, Devendra Banhart, Dirty Projectors, Discovery, Electric Guest, EL-P, Empress of, Ezra Koenig, Flake Music, Flo Morrissey, Foster The People, French Style Furs, Isom Innis, Jack White, Jamie Foxx, James Murphy, Kasabian, Kid Wave, the Kills, LCD Soundsystem, Margo Price, Mark Foster, Miike Snow, Nuns, Oscar, the Olms, Pete Yorn, Pontus Winnberg, the Raconteurs, Ratatat, Rome feat. Danger Mouse & Jack White, Rostam, Run the Jewels, Saol Alainn, Sir Sly, the Shins, Smims & Belle, Toy, Vampire Weekend, Wet, the White Stripes.

MORRIS HIGHAM MANAGEMENT, LLC 2001 Blair Blvd.

Nashville, TN 37212 615-321-5025 Email: morrisartistsmanagement.com Web: morrisartistsmanagement.com Styles: Country Clients: Kenny Chesney, Brandon Lay, MamaDear, Old Dominion, Ryan Griffin *No unsolicited material MSH MANAGEMENT Studio City, CA 213-200-4255 Email: mshmgmt@yahoo.com Web: mshmgmt.wix.com/musicmanagement Contact: Marney Hansen Clients: Nancy Luca, Evil Nancy, Git’erDone, Josie Cutting Services: personal management *No unsolicited material MUSIC & ART MANAGEMENT Asheville, NC 28801 828-225-5658 Web: musicandart.net Contact: Steve Cohen Styles: Jazz, Electronic, Experimental, Multimedia Clients: Theo Bleckmann, Carl Hancock Rux, David Wilcox, Vijay Iyer *Does not accept unsolicited material MYRIAD ARTISTS P.O. Box 550 Carrboro, NC 27510 919-967-8655 Email: trish@tg2artists.com Web: myriadartists.com

Contact: Trish Galfano Styles: folk, bluegrass, jazz, Americana Clients: A.J.Croce, Mike Marshall, Leahy, Sugar and the Mint, Seamus Egan, *No unsolicited material NETTWERK PRODUCER MANAGEMENT 3900 W. Alameda Ave., Ste. 850 Burbank, CA 91505 747-241-8619 Email: info@nettwerk.com Web: nettwerk.com *No unsolicited material Additional locations: Head Office: 575 W. 8th Ave. Vancouver, BC V5Z 0C4 604-654-2929 33 Irving Pl. New York, NY 10003 212-760-9719 15 Richdale Ave., Unit 203 Cambridge, MA 02140 617-497-8200 15 Adeline Place, Ground Fl London, WC1B 3AJ 011-44-207-456-9500 Neuer Kamp 32 20357 Hamburg, Germany 49-40-431-846-50 Rear of 44 Chiswick Ln. London, W4 2JQ 011.44.207 456 9000 NEW HEIGHTS ENTERTAINMENT Calabasas, CA 91372 323-802-1650 Email: info@newheightsent.com Web: newheightsent.com Contact: Alan Melina Styles: All Styles Clients: See website *No unsolicited material NOCTURNAL MOVEMENTS MUSIC RESOURCES P.O. Box 5583 Vancouver, WA 98668 360-513-9121 Email: info@nocturnalmovements.net Web: nocturnalmovements.net Contact: Jett Black Styles: All Styles Clients: Deathwatch Beetle Repairman, Tri-State Killing Spree, Collilde, Tone Casualties *Accepts unsolicited material ONCE 11 ENTERTAINMENT 310-906-9800 Email: javierjwillis@gmail.com Web: once11ent.com Contact: Javier Willis Styles: all types of Latin and world music Clients: Espinoza Paz, Vazquez Sounds, Annette Moreno, Sergio Arau, Agina Alvarez, Jerry Demara Consulting and Personal Management *Call for approval before sending material.

OPEN MIND MEDIA (Record Label) 252-269-4799 Email: sherrodimprove79@gmail.com Web: openmindmediallc.com Contact: Sean Sherrod Management/A&R Owner: Brehon Ford Style: Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, World, Other OPULENT VISION MANAGEMENT 14747 N. Northsight Blvd., Suite 111-142 Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 480-788-0161 Email: manage@opulentvisionmgt.com Web: opulentvisionmgt.com Styles: Urban R&B, Indie, Pop, Gospel, Hip-Hop, Jazz Clients: T.Wong, RONNiE *Accepts unsolicited material and seeking new clients PANACEA ENTERTAINMENT 2021 Vista Alcedo Camarillo, CA 93012 805-491-9400

Email: info@panacea-ent.com Contact: Eric Gardner, Paul Maloney Styles: rock Clients: Donny Osmond, Todd Rundgren, Utopia, Paul Shaffer, Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson Services: Personal management *No unsolicited material PATRICK RAINS & ASSOCIATES 1255 5th Ave., Ste. 7K New York, NY 10029 212-860-3233 Email: pra@prarecords.com Web: prarecords.com Contact: Patrick Rains Styles: jazz, pop, rock Clients: Jonatha Brooke, Curtis Stigers & the Estate Joe Sample, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, *No unsolicited material PERFORMINGBIZ.COM 10 Chestnut Ct. Palmyra, VA 22963 Email: jerig@performingbiz.com Web: performingbiz.com Contact: Jeri Goldstein Styles: All Styles/Coaching and Consulting Only *Accepts Unsolicited material PERSISTENT MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 88456 Los Angeles, CA 90009 Email: pm@persistentmanagement.com Web: persistentmanagement.com Contact: Eric Knight Styles: All Clients: Disciples of Babylon--Eric Knight, Blake Nix, Keith Shaw Services: Personal Management *Accepts Unsolicited material, email links only, see website for information PRIMARY WAVE MUSIC 116 E. 16th St. #9 New York, NY 10003 212-661-8890 Contact: Steven Greener Email: sgreener@primarywave.com Web: Primarywave.com Clients: Cee Lo Green, Fantasia, Melissa Etheridge, Brandy, Cypress Hill, Eric Benet, Toots & The Maytals.

Additional location: 10850 Wilshire Blvd, Suite #600 Los Angeles, CA 90024 424-239-1200 PRODIGAL SON ENTERTAINMENT Brentwood, TN 37027 615-377-0057 Email: prodigalsonent@gmail.com Web: prodigalson-entertainment.com Contact: Scott Williams Styles: rock, alt., hard rock, country, Christian, instrumental Clients: Skyhawk Drive, 7 Bridges, Jason Lee McKinney, iShine Live, KISS Mania, Voices of Rock Radio, Liquid Blue, Submission Red, llia, Joanna Beasley, August Rain, Air Five *No unsolicited material PRODUCTIONS / PETER KIMMEL’S MUSIC CATALOG P.O. Box 55252 Sherman Oaks, CA 91413-0252 818-980-1039 Cell/Text 818-903-6518 Email: peter.kimmel@sbcglobal.net Contact: Peter Kimmel Styles: All Services: Professional Music Licensing; Publishing, Personal Management *Call for approval before sending material Q PRIME MANAGEMENT New York, London, Nashville 212-302-9790 Email: newyork@qprime.com (NY), nashville@qprime.com (Nashville), london@qprime.com (London) Web: qprime.com Styles: rock, Pop Clients: Bear Hands, Silversun Pickups, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Church, Brothers Osborne *No unsolicited material

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Directory of Managers & Booking Agents RAINMAKER ARTISTS P.O. Box 342229 Austin, TX 78734 512-843-7500 Email: paul@rainmakerartists.com Web: rainmakerartists.com Contact: Paul Nugent Styles: rock, pop Clients: Blue October, Bowling For Soup, IAMDYNAMITE, Danny Malone *Accepts unsolicited material RAM TALENT GROUP Fort Lee, NJ 07024 201-363-1461 Ext. 201 Email: ruben@ rubenrodriguezentertainment.net Web: RAMTalentGroup.com Contact: Ruben Rodriguez Styles: urban, gospel, urban AC, Latin music REBEL WALTZ MANAGEMENT Laguna Beach, CA 92651 949-499-4497 Email: ltull@rebelwaltz.com Contact: Jim Guerinot Styles: punk, rock Clients: the Offspring, Josh Freese, Gwen Stefani, Robbie Robertson *No unsolicited material RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT 5800 Bristol Pwky, Suite 400 Culver City, CA 90230 310-273-2266 Email: info@redlightmanagement.com Web: redlightmanagement.com Styles: All styles Clients: Phish, Luke Bryan, Alabama Shakes, Lady Antebellum and many more. *Accepts unsolicited material Additional locations: Virginia New York Nashville London Atlanta Seattle Charlottesville REGIME MANAGEMENT 105 W. Alameda Ave., #230 Burbank, CA 91502 Email: info@regimeinc.com Web: regime72.com Clients: Amigo the Devil, Analea Brown, Between Kings, Common Kings, Diego’s Umbrella, Dilated Peoples, Dirtwire, DJ Babu, DJ Muggs, Dustbowl Revival, DJ Westafa, Everlast, Evidence, Fiji, House of Pain, Landon McNamara, Lettuce, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Matisyahu, Morgan Heritage, Nattali Rize, Pancho Sanchez, Rakaa, Sammy Johnson, Save Ferris, Wailing Souls, Warporn Industries RIOT ARTISTS Web: riotartists.com Styles: World, Jazz Services: Personal management and agents Clients: Hermeto Pascoal, Huun Huur Tu, Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares, Les Yeux Noirs, Paris Combo, Quetzal.

See website for complete roster. *No unsolicited material RON RAINEY MANAGEMENT, INC. 8500 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 525 Beverly Hills, CA 90211 310-277-4050 Fax 310-557-8421 Email: rrmgmt@aol.com Web: ronrainey.com Contact: Ron Rainey Clients: John Kay and Steppenwolf, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Estate of Alvin Lee, Estate of Blue Cheer Styles: rock Services: management *No unsolicited material ROSEN MUSIC P.O. Box 1308 Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 310-447-4704 Email: rosenmusiccorp@me.com Web: rosenmusiccorp.com Contact: Steven Rosen Styles: all styles Clients: Eden, Juliana Buhring, DJ

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Rhiannon, Gloria Loring, Edwin Aquilar and Jose Zelaya, A Night With Janis Joplin, Orianthi, Jumaane Smith, Three Graces, Naria, Kelley Levesque, Bonnie Walker Events *No unsolicited material RPM MUSIC PRODUCTIONS 420 W. 14th St., Ste. 6NW New York, NY 10014 212-246-8126 Email: info@rpm-productions.com Contact: Danny Bennett Styles: rock, pop, jazz Clients: Tony Bennett *No unsolicited material RPS RECORDING AND ENTERTAINMENT GROUP 4212 E. Los Angeles Ave. Simi Valley, CA 93063 805-551-2342 Email: rps.entertainment.group@gmail. com Contact: Gary Bright Styles: Various genres along with Gospel and Christian *No unsolicited material please RUSSELL CARTER ARTIST MANAGEMENT 567 Ralph McGill Blvd.

Atlanta, GA 30312 404-377-9900 Email: info@rcam.com Contact: Russell Carter Styles: singer-songwriter, alt., Americana, pop, rock Clients: Indigo Girls, Matthew Sweet, the Bangles, Shawn Mullins, Chely Wright, the Shadowboxers, Larkin Poe SEMAPHORE MGMT AND CONSULTING 1707 S. Racine, Ste, RB-3N Chicago, IL 60608 773-733-1838 Email: info@semaphoremgmt.com Web: semaphoremgmt.com Contact: Taylor Brode, Maggie Vail Styles: alternative - synth, rock, experimental, punk Services: General Management, Project Based Short Term Consultancy Clients: Debby Friday, Orville Peck, Roseblood, Shamir, Summer Cannibals SAM Silva Artist Management 722 Seward St. Los Angeles, CA 90038 323-856-8222 Email: info@sammusicbiz.com Web: sammusicbiz.com Contact: John Silva Clients: Foo Fighters, Band of Horses, Ryan Adams, Jimmy Eat World, Beastie Boys, Beck,Sonic Youth, Queens Of The Stone Age Styles: alt., rock *No unsolicited material SHARPE ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES, INC. 683 Palmera Ave. Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 310-230-2100 Email: frances@ses-la.com Web: ses-la.com, Contacts: Seven Design Works, Styles: alt., pop, singer-songwriter, rock Clients: Sarah Bettens, K’s Choice, Twinkle Time Services: Personal management *No unsolicited material SIREN MUSIC P.O. Box 12110 Portland, OR 97212 503-238-4771 Email: december@sirenmusiccompany. com Web: sirenmusiccompany.com Contact: December Carson Styles: roots, Americana, rock, folk, singer-songwriter, alt. country, Irish, pop, bluegrass Clients: Sara Jackson-Holman *Accepts unsolicited material SKH MUSIC 540 President St. Brooklyn, NY 11215 Email: skaras@skhmusic.com, khagan@skhmusic.com

Web: skhmusic.com Contact: Steve Karas, Keith Hagan Clients: The Afghan Whigs, Arthur Buck, Joseph Arthur, Davina and the Vagabonds, Greg Dulli, Robert Finley, The Gutter Twins, Jonny Lang, Lily & Madeleine, The Magpie Salute, Squirrel Nut Zippers, TOTO, The Twilight Singers SOLSTICE ARTIST MANAGEMENT 623 Sheelin Rd. Xenia, Ohio 45385 615-557-5003 Email: solsticeartist1@gmail.com Web: Solsticeartistmanagement.com Contact: Skip Mattan and David Orlik Style: Rock and Country Clients: Mick Blankenship, Trevor Ohlsen *unsolicited material OK via snail mail SOUNDTRACK MUSIC ASSOCIATES 4133 Redwood Ave., Ste. 3030 Los Angeles, CA 90066 310-260-1023 Email: info@soundtrk.com Web: soundtrk.com Contact: John Tempereau Styles: All Styles Clients: Composers: Cliff Martinez, Rod Abernethey, Evan Lurie, (se website for roster) *No unsolicited material SO WHAT MEDIA & MANAGEMENT 890 W. End Ave., Ste. 1-A New York, NY 10025 212-877-9631 Email: sowhatasst@me.com Contact: Lisa Barbaris, Nikki Vianna Styles: rock, pop Clients: Cyndi Lauper *No unsolicited material accepted SPARKS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC P.O. Box 82510 Tampa, FL 33682 734-394-9945 Email: SparksEntertainment78@gmail. com Web: BSparksEnt.com Contact: Brian Styles: ALL, hip-hop, R&B, country, rock, acting, modeling Clients: Gary, Lyrix Services: Talent Management, Career, Development, Booking, Promoting, Networking STARKRAVIN’ MANAGEMENT McLane & Wong 11135 Weddington St., Ste. 424 North Hollywood, CA 91601 818-587-6801 Fax 818-587-6802 Email: bcmclane@aol.com Web: benmclane.com Contact: Ben McLane, Esq. Styles: pop, rock, alt.

Services: Personal management, legal services *Accepts unsolicited material STERLING ARTIST MANAGEMENT, INC. Studio City, CA 91604 818-907-5556 Email: mark@sterlingartist.com Web: sterlingartist.com/Home.html Contact: Mark Sterling Clients: Pete Miser, Plake, Math The Band, Messer Styles: singer-songwriter, Americana, blues Services: Personal management *Inquiry letters accepted STEVEN SCHARF ENTERTAINMENT 126 E. 38th St. New York, NY 10016 212-779-7977 Web: stevenscharf.com Contact: Steven Scharf Styles: rock, alt., singer-songwriter, hip-hop, world, producers, film & TV composers Clients: Mackenzie, The Kickback, Leah Siegel, Liquid, Mike-E *No unsolicited material STEVE STEWART MANAGEMENT 12400 Ventura Blvd., #900 Studio City, CA 91604 Email: stevestewart@stevestewart.com Web: stevestewart.com Contact: Steve Stewart Styles: alt., rock, pop producers, film & TV

composers *No unsolicited material STIEFEL ENTERTAINMENT 21731 Ventura Blvd, #300 Woodland Hills, CA 91364 310-275-3377 Contact: Arnold Stiefel Clients: Rod Stewart Styles: rock, pop Services: personal management *No unsolicited material SUNCOAST MUSIC MANAGEMENT 9215 Jminez Dr. Hudson, FL 34669 888-727-1698, 727-237-7971, (Ohio) 330-730-1615 Email: suncoastbooking@aol.com Web: suncoastentertainment.biz Contact: Al Spohn Styles: disco, rock, classic rock, variety Clients: Poison’d and Red White and Crue (tributes to Poison and Mötley Crüe package), Hells/Bells (AC/DC Tribute), Battery (Metallica) Paradise City (GNR), Live Bait (Jimmy Buffett and Party Band), Stayin Alive (Bee Gees and 70s Disco), Space Cowboy (Steve Miller Band), Higher Ground (Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute) *Accepts unsolicited material TAKEOUT MANAGEMENT 1129 Maricopa Hwy., #238 Ojai, CA 93023 805-382-2200 Fax 805-201-7816 Email: Howie@howiewood.com Web: howiewood.com Contact: Howard Rosen Clients: Simple Plan, Kanye West, Paula Abdul, CeeLo Green, Norah Jones Styles: All Services: Personal management, shop for distribution and record deals. Production and remix with major producers.

TED KURLAND ASSOCIATES 173 Brighton Ave. Boston, MA 02134 617-254-0007 Fax 617-782-3577 Email: agents@tedkurland.com Web: tedkurland.com Contact: Ted Kurland Styles: jazz, blues, vocals Clients: Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Ellis Marsalis, Ramsey Lewis, Bill Charlap, Ellis Marsalis, Ann Hampton Callaway, Stacey Kent, John Pizzarelli, Lisa Fischer, Pat Martino, Pancho Sanchez and more *No unsolicited material TENTH STREET ENTERTAINMENT 38 W. 21st St., Ste. 300 New York, NY 10010 212-334-3160 Email: info@10thst.com Web: 10thst.com Clients: Mötley Crüe, Sixx AM, Drowning Pool, Papa Roach, Blondie, Deborah Harry, Crossfade, Eve, Hellyeah, Deuce, Oh No Fiasco, Nico Vega, Five Finger Death Punch Styles: All Services: personal management *No unsolicited material Additional location: 6420 Wilshire Blvd., #950 Los Angeles, CA 90048 310-385-4700 Email: info@10thst.com THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (T.E.I.) 3820 E. La Palma Ave. Anaheim, CA 92807 714-693-9300 Email: jmcentee@teientertainment.com Web: teientertainment.com Contact: John McEntee Styles: All Services: Entertainment broker for corporate/concert events, personal management *No unsolicited material THREEE Erik Eger Entertainment, Inc. 918 N. Western Ave., Ste. A Los Angeles, CA 90029 213-381-5100 Fax 213-381-5115 Email: info@threee.com

Download at musicconnection.com/industry-contacts Web: threee.com Contact: Erik Eger Styles: All styles Clients: Rich Costey, Chris Carmouche, Michael H. Brauer, Dan Carey, Stuart Matthewman, John Hill, Johnny McDaid, Jordan Palmer, Lewinsky, Mark Rankin, Robin Hannibal, Stint, Jordan Palmer *We do not accept unsolicited material THUNDERBIRD MANAGEMENT GROUP 133 Industrial Park Rd. Larose, LA 70373 985-798-5665 Email: thunderbird@viscom.net Web: thethunderbirdmanagementgroup. com Contact: Rueben Williams Styles: all styles *Accepts unsolicited material TKO ARTIST MANAGEMENT Nashville, TN 615-383-5017 Web: tkoartistmanagement.com Contact: T.K. Kimbrell Styles: Country Clients: The Bacon Brothers, Ashley Campbell, Colt Ford, Krystal Keith, Toby Keith *No unsolicited material TOM CALLAHAN & ASSOCIATES Boulder, CO 310-418-1384 Email: info@tomcallahan.com Web: tomcallahan.com Contact: Tom Callahan Styles: All Services: full-service consulting company, including record promotion, legal services, Internet marketing, web design, retail promotion and publicity. *No unsolicited material TOWER MANAGEMENT 106 Shirley Dr. Hendersonville, TN 37205 615-430-0244 Email: rufuswendy@live.com Web: castlerecords.com Contact: Ed Russell Styles: country, rock, AC, bluegrass, blues Clients: Carl Butler, Bridgette Elise, the Hoods, Edd Greer, Eddie Ray, Eddie Ray II, Shane Keane, Jimmy Velvet, Abby, Cody Dooley, Jerry Presley, Mike Garnett *Accepts unsolicited material, see website for instructions TRUE TALENT MANAGEMENT 9663 Santa Monica Blvd., #320 Dept WEB Beverly Hills, CA 90210 310-560-1290 Email: ineedpr@truetalentpr.com Web: truetalentmgmt.com Contact: Jennifer Yeko Clients: Specializing in film/TV placement, radio promotion, music publicity and managing pop/rock/singer-songwriters *Accepts unsolicited material TUSCAN SUN MUSIC Nashville, TN 615-794-0485 Email: mgmt@angelica.org Web: angelica.org, tuscansunmusic.com Contact: Jules Delgado Styles: ambient, new age, inspirational, pop, film/TV Clients: Seay, Pat Thomi *No unsolicited material UNION ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC. Huntington Beach, CA 714-840-5800 Email: info@ueginc.com Web: ueginc.com Contact: Tim Heyne, Bryan Coleman Clients: Nickelback, Kevin Costner and Modern West, DMC, High Valley, Mr. Big, Tom Kelfer, (see website for more) Styles: Rock Services: personal management *No unsolicited material VARRASSO MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 387 Fremont, CA 94537 510-792-8910 Email: richard@varrasso.com Web: varrasso.com

Contact: Richard Varrasso Styles: rock, covers, country *Accepts unsolicited material VECTOR MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 120479 Nashville, TN 37212 615-269-6600 Email: info@vectormgmt.com Web: vectormgmt.com Contact: Ken Levitan Styles: country, pop, singer-songwriter *No unsolicited material Additional locations: 276 5th Ave., Suite 604 New York, NY 10001 9350 Civic Center Dr. Beverly Hills, Ca 90210 57B St. Dionnis Rd. London, SW6 4UB VELVET HAMMER MANAGEMENT 9014 Melrose Ave., W. Hollywood, CA 90069 310-657-6161 Email: sendusyourmusic@velvethammer. net Web: velvethammer.net Clients: System of a Down, Alice in Chains, the Deftones, Code of Orange, Night Riots Specialties: All *Accepts unsolicited material WANTED MANAGEMENT Email: wantedgregg@gmail.com Web: facebook.com/WantedMgmt Styles: rock, pop, punk, soul Services: personal management *No unsolicited material WAYWARD GOOSE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP 1269 Hadaway Ct. Lawrenceville, GA 30043 888-824-1152 Email: info@wwgentertainment.com Web: wwgentertainment.com Clients: Twisted Royalty, Jacques Lesure, Jazz Guitarist and Clinician Styles: jazz, performing arts, other ONLY *No unsolicited material, No Phone Calls WHIPLASH PR & MANAGEMENT 398 Columbus Ave PMB #183 Boston, MA 02116 617-445-4383 Email: WhiplashPR@aol.com Web: whiplashprandmanagement.com Clients: Venus Theory, The Ormewoods,The Lumineers WOLFSON ENTERTAINMENT, INC. 805-494-9600 Email: info@wolfsonent.com Contact: Jonathan Wolfson, Dillon Barbosa Web: wolfsonent.com Styles: All Clients: Daryl Hall and John Oates, Loverboy, Huey Lewis & The News, Live From Daryl’s House, The Tubes, Fox Wilde, Down North Services: Personal management. Also offers full-service media relations for management clients.

WORLDSOUND 17837 1st Ave., S. Seattle, WA 98148-1728 206-444-0300, 800-470-1270 Email: warren@worldsound.com Web: worldsound.com Contact: Warren Wyatt Styles: rock, world, Celtic, folk, pop Clients: Na Leo, Keith Olsen, Anuhea Services: personal management, consulting *See website for submission information

BOOKING AGENTS 1ST TOTAL MUSIC POWER Los Angeles, CA 323-650-9400 Email: aaron@totalmusicpower.com Web: totalmusicpower.com Contact: Aaron

Styles: rock, jazz, alt, film, all Clients: Aaron Wolfson, Mercedes, the Broadcasters Services: Corporate events, concerts, private parties, recording sessions, producers, film/TV music (all).

25 LIVE 25 Music Sq. W. Nashville, TN 37203 615-777-2227 Email: david@25ent.com Web: 25ccm.com Contact: David Breen Styles: Christian *No unsolicited material ACA MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT 21005 Watertown Rd., Ste. A Waukesha, WI 53186 800-279-7909, 262-790-0060 Fax 262-790-9149 Web: acaentertainment.com Contact: Louie Higgins Styles: variety, bluegrass, bands, lounge acts, nostalgia, DJ’s, club, festival bands, ceremony, dinner hour, cocktail Services: Represents nightclub and acts for private functions, not currently seeking new clients *Accepts unsolicited material ACT 1 ENTERTAINMENT P.O. Box 1079 New Haven, CT 06504 631-758-3505 Email: karl@act1entertainment.net Web: act1entertainment.net Contact: Martha Martin Styles: rock & roll, blues, acoustic, swing, folk, Caribbean Services: mostly books acts for parties/ events Clients: info upon request *Accepts unsolicited material Additional locations: Stonington, CT 860-535-0052 Contact: Carmela Congdon Newington, CT 732-690-4437 Contact: Michael Donaghey Boca Raton, FL / Charlotte, NC Email: act2ent.com/florida 561-251-7338 Contact: Dave Coviello Westport, CT 203-376-2636 Contact: John Paolillo ACTS NASHVILLE 1103 Bell Grimes Ln. Nashville, TN 37207 615-254-8600 Email: actsnashvilleinfo@gmail.com Web: facebook.com/actstalentagency/ Contact: Lee Shields Styles: country, rock, nostalgia and variety only Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material AGENCY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (APA) 405 S. Beverly Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90212 310-888-4200 Web: apa-agency.com Styles: All *Call before submitting material Additional locations:

713-970-1015 Web: amworldgroup.com Styles: All Styles Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material Additional locations: Los Angeles 8605 Santa Monica Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90069 310-295-4150 New York City 228 Park Ave., S. New York, NY 10003 212-461-4796 AMERICAN ARTISTS 8500 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 525 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 310-277-7877 Email: mike@americanartists.net Web: americanartists.net Contact: Michael Weinstein Styles: rock, classic rock, country, R&B, swing Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material ARTIST REPRESENTATION & MANAGEMENT 1257 Arcade St. St. Paul, MN 55106 651-483-8754 Fax 651-776-6338 Email: molly@armentertainment.com Web: armentertainment.com Contact: John Domagall Styles: specializes in ‘80s-early ‘90s rock, country, blues, metal Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material BACKSTREET BOOKING 700 W. Pete Rose Way, Ste. 390 P.O. Box 18 Cincinnati, OH 45203 513-442-4405 Email: info@backstreetbooking.com Web: backstreetbooking.com Styles: progressive fusion, jazz, rock, jam, metal Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material BBA MANAGEMENT & BOOKING 512-477-7777 Email: info@bbabooking.com Web: bbabooking.com Styles: jazz, Latin, rock, classical singersongwriter *No unsolicited material BIG BEAT 1515 University Dr., Ste. 102 Coral Springs, FL 33071 954-755-7759 Email: talent@bigbeatproductions.com Web: bigbeatproductions.com Contact: Richard Lloyd Styles: all styles Clients: info upon request *Accepts unsolicited material BILL HOLLINGSHEAD PRODUCTIONS, INC. 1010 Anderson Rd. Davis, CA 95616 530-758-9779 Fax 530-758-9777 Email: bhptalent@aol.com Web: bhptalent.com Contact: Bill Hollingshead Styles: California surf music, classic ‘50s/‘60s rock *No unsolicited material

3060 Peachtree Rd. NW, Ste. 1580 Atlanta, GA 30305 404-254-5876

BOOKING ENTERTAINMENT 275 Madison Ave., 6th Fl. New York, NY 10016 1-800-4ENTERTAINMENT 212-645-0555 Email: agents@bookingentertainment. com Web: bookingentertainment.com Contact: Steve Einzig Styles: rock, pop, jazz, adult contemporary, pop, R&B Clients: info on website. *No unsolicited material

AMW GROUP 337 Garden Oaks Blvd., #8295 Houston, TX 77018

CANTALOUPE MUSIC PRODUCTIONS 157 W. 79th St., Ste. 4A New York, NY 10024

135 W. 50th St., 17th Fl. New York, NY 10020 212-205-4320 150 Fourth Ave., N., Ste. 2300 Nashville, TN 37203 615-297-0100

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Directory of Managers & Booking Agents 212-724-2400 Email: ellenazorin@gmail.com Web: cantaloupeproductions.com Contact: Ellen Azorin, President Clients: see website Styles: Booking agent specializing in Brazilian, Argentine, Cuban and other Latin music, as well as other world music and top level jazz ensembles. *Does not accept unsolicited material CELEBRITY TALENT AGENCY INC. 111 E. 14th St., Ste. 249 New York, NY 10003 212-539-6039, 201-837-9000 Email: markg@celebritytalentagency.com Web: celebritytalentagency.com Contact: Mark Green Styles: jazz, R&B, hip-hop, comedians, gospel Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material CIRCLE TALENT AGENCY 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 2200 Los Angeles, CA 90036 323-424-4970 Fax 323-424-4976 Email: kevin@circletalentagency.com Web: circletalentagency.com Contact: Kevin Gimble, Owner/Agent, Various, see web BRUCE COLFIN LAW, PC 1178 Broadway, Ste. 312 New York, NY 10001 212-691-5630 Email: thefirm@thefirm.com Web: thefirm.com Contact: Bruce E. Colfin Styles: rock, blues, world, reggae Clients: Dark Star Orchestra, Mick Taylor, Sly and Robbie, Marty Balin, Freddie McGregor, Niney the Observer, Bernard Purdie *Accepts unsolicited material--Submit material with a S.A.S.E. and proper postage for return COLLIN ARTISTS Pasadena, CA 91104 323-467-4702 Email: collinartists@gmail.com Web: collinartists.com Contact: Barbara Collin, Robert Sax, Goh Kurosawa Styles: jazz, blues, world, Latin, R&B, doo wop/classics and beyond Clients: Mary Stallings, Jeri Brown, Kevin Mahogany, Andy Bey, Alan Paul, Latin Jazz Masters, Bobbi Humphrey, Kathy Kosins and more Services: management, promotion, consulting, booking, workshops *No unsolicited material CONCERTED EFFORTS, INC. P.O. Box 440326 Somerville, MA 02144 617-969-0810 Fax 617-209-1300 Email: concerted@concertedefforts.com Web: concertedefforts.com Contact: Paul Kahn Styles: blues, soul, jazz, gospel, zydeco, Cajun, folk, singer-songwriter, rock, world Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY 2000 Ave. of the Stars Los Angeles, CA 90067 424-288-2000 Fax 424-288-2900 Web: caatouring.com Styles: All *No unsolicited material - No phone calls Additional locations: 405 Lexington Ave., 19th Fl. New York, NY 10174 212-277-9000 401 Commerce St., Penthouse Nashville, TN 37219 615-383-8787 6075 Poplar Ave., Site 410 Memphis, TN 38119 901-763-4900 420 Lincoln Rd, Suite 347 Miami Beach, FL 33139 305-538-7535

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3560 Lenox Road, Suite 1525 Atlanta, GA 30326 404-816-2722 444 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 3540 Chicago, IL 60611 312-242-2700 3652 South Third St., Suite 200 Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 904-339-0435 London 12 Hammersmith Grove Hammersmith, London W6 7AP U.K. D. BAILEY MANAGEMENT 6607 Gunn Hwy. Tampa, FL 33625 813-960-4660 Fax 813-960-4662 Email: dennis@dbaileymanagement.com, liza@dbaileymanagement.com Web: dbaileymanagement.com Contact: Dennis Bailey or Liza Saturday Styles: pop, R&B, top 40, rock, variety Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material EAST COAST ENTERTAINMENT 855-323-4386 Email: info@bookece.com Web: bookece.com Styles: rock, acoustic, classical, latin, jazz, pop, R&B, funk *No unsolicited material **See website for additional locations ELECTRIC EVENTS CORPORATION P.O. Box 280848 Lakewood, CO 80228 303-989-0001 Fax 303-989-0037 Email: info2@electricevents.com Web: electricevents.com Contact: Michael A. Tolerico Styles: pop cover bands only Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL 1819 S. Harlan Cir. Lakewood, CO 80232 303-727-1111 Email: randy@esientertainment.com Web: esientertainment.com Contact: Randy Erwin Styles: mostly classic rock Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material ENTOURAGE TALENT ASSOCIATES 150 W. 28th St., Ste. 1503 New York, NY 10001 212-633-2600 Email: info@entouragetalent.com Web: entouragetalent.com Contact: Wayne Forte Styles: rock, pop, singer-songwriter, jazz Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material FAT CITY ARTISTS 1906 Chet Atkins Pl., Ste. 502 Nashville, TN 37212 615-320-7678 Fax 615-321-5382 Web: fatcityartists.com Styles: nostalgia, country, big band, bluegrass, blues, R&B, Cajun, world, folk, funk, gospel, jazz *No rap or opera Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material FLEET TEAM BOOKING Chicago, IL 60608 312-455-1350 Fax 773-442-0224 Email: scott@fleetteambooking.com Web: fleetteambooking.wordpress.com Contact: Scott Comeau Styles: punk, indie rock, hip-hop Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material GIGSALAD 2733 E. Battlefield Rd. Box 105 Springfield, MO 65804 866-788-GIGS Web: gigsalad.com Contact: Mark Steiner, Steve Tetrault Services: A marketplace for booking bands, musicians, entertainers, speakers and services for parties, productions and events.

Additional locations: 225 S. Water St. Chandler’s Wharf Wilmington, NC 312 E. Olive St. Springfield, MO GORFAINE-SCHWARTZ AGENCY 4111 W. Alameda Ave., Ste. 509 Burbank, CA 91505 818-260-8500 Web: gsamusic.com Clients: see our website for client list *No unsolicited material GREAT AMERICAN TALENT P.O. Box 2476 Hendersonville, TN 37077 615-368-7433, 615-957-3444 Email: info@eddyraven.com Web: eddyraven.com Styles: country, Cajun Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material HARMONY ARTISTS INC. 3575 Cahuenga Blvd., W., #560 Los Angeles, CA 90068 323-655-5007 Email: acrane-ross@harmonyartists.com Web: harmonyartists.com Contact: Adrienne Crane-Ross Styles: tribute, nostalgia, R&B, Latin, blues, bluegrass, jazz, swing *No unsolicited material HELLO! BOOKING P.O. Box 18717 Minneapolis, MN 55418 651-647-4464 Web: hellobooking.com Contact: Eric Roberts Styles: bluegrass, country, rock, folk, pop, jazz, indie, hip-hop, acoustic, rockabilly Clients: info upon request *Accepts unsolicited material INA DITTKE & ASSOCIATES 770 N.E. 69th St., Ste. 7C Miami, FL 33138 305-762-4309 Email: ina@inadittke.com Web: inadittke.com Contact: Ina Dittke Styles: jazz, Latin, world Clients: info upon request INDIE MUSIC CONSULTING GROUP Indie Artist & Label Publicity, Marketing & Consulting 888-242-9331 Web: indiemusicconsultant.com “Voting Member the Recording Academy” INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT (ICM) 10250 Constellation Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90067 310-550-4000 Web: icmtalent.com Styles: All *No unsolicited material Additional locations: 65 E 55th St. New York, NY 10022 212-556-5600 Marlborough House 10 Earlham St., 3rd FL. London, WC2H, 9LN England +44.208 004 5315 IN TOUCH ENTERTAINMENT 5 Columbus Cir., 8th Fl. New York, NY 10019 212-235-7015 Email: info@intouchent.com Web: intouchent.com Contact: Charles Carlini Styles: All Styles Clients: Irene Cara, Michael Carvin, David Chesky, Suzanne Ciani, Eumir Deodato, Michael Sembello, Ron Sunshine, Tito Rodriguez, jr., George Mraz, Airto Moreira, Kenia, Paulette McWilliams, Tony Middleton, Toninho Horta & Ronnie Cuber Project, Elisha Abas, Captain Beyond, Sarah Hayes, Guinga, Larry Coryell, Brian Auger, Mamma Freedom, Eddie Jobson, Melissa

Zenago, Toquinho *Accepts unsolicited material - via SonicBids only JAM ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENTS 2900 Bristol St., Ste. A - 208 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 714-556-6000 Email: dennis@jamentertainment.com Web: jamentertainment.com *Accepts unsolicited COVER material JEFF ROBERTS & ASSOCIATES 174 Saundersville Rd., Ste. 702 Hendersonville, TN 37075 615-859-7040 Web: jeffroberts.com Contact: Jeff Roberts Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material KEITH CASE & ASSOCIATES 1025 17th Ave. S., 2nd Fl. Nashville, TN 37212 615-327-4646 Fax 615-327-4949 Email: keith@keithcase.com Web: keithcase.com Styles: bluegrass, roots, folk, singersongwriter Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material LIVE NATION Beverly Hills, CA 800-653-8000 Web: livenation.com Styles: All Styles Services: producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists LUTHER WOLF, LLC P.O. Box 162078 Austin, TX 78716-2078 512-448-3065 Email: como@lutherwolf.com Contact: Wayne Nagel Styles: rock, blues Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material MARSJAZZ BOOKING AGENCY 1006 Ashby Pl. Charlottesville, VA 22901 434-979-6374 Email: reggie@marsjazz.com Web: marsjazz.com Contact: Reggie Marshall Styles: jazz Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material MAULDIN BRAND AGENCY 1280 W. Peachtree St., Ste. 300 Atlanta, GA 30309 404-733-5511 Email: info@mauldinbrand.com Web: facebook.com/mauldinbrand Styles: urban, pop, hip-hop, R&B Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material MAURICE MONTOYA MUSIC AGENCY 11 Island Ave., Ste. 1711 Miami, FL 33139 305-763-8961, 212-229-9160 Email: info@mmmusicagency.com Web: mmmusicagency.com Contact: Maurice Orlando Montoya Styles: jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, contemporary/pop Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material MICHAEL KLINE ARTISTS, LLC 714 Beach Ave. Cape May, New Jersey 609-849-9202 Email: michael@exitOjazzfest.com Web: michaelklineartists.com Clients: info on request M.O.B. AGENCY 6404 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 505 Los Angeles, CA 90048 323-653-0427 Email: mitch@mobagency.com Web: mobagency.com Contact: Mitch Okmin Styles: rock, alt.

Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material

Download at musicconnection.com/industry-contacts MONQUI EVENTS P.O. Box 5908 Portland, OR 97228 503-223-5960 Email: web@monqui.com Web: monqui.com Styles: alt., rock, indie rock, pop, country *No unsolicited material

503-228-3620 Email: andy@pacifictalent.com Web: pacifictalent.com Contact: Andy Gilbert Styles: jazz, blues, R&B, rock, funk, disco, everything Clients: info upon request *Accepts unsolicited material

MUSIC CITY ARTISTS 7104 Peach Ct. Brentwood, TN 37027 615-915-2641 Email: cray@musiccityartists.com Web: musiccityartists.com Contact: Charles Ray, President/Agent Styles: AC, country, oldies, musicals, tribute, comedy, music Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material

PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY 8942 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 310-288-8000 Email: info@amonly.com Web: paradigmagency.com Contact: Paul Morris Styles: rock, hip-hop, electronica, industrial Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material

MUSIC GROUP ENTERTAINMENT, LLC Las Vegas, NV Celebrity Booking Agency 300 Available Acts 404-822-4138, 877-472-4399 Email: musicgroupceo@gmail.com Web: facebook.com/musicgroupworldwide Contact: Mya Richardson Styles: neo soul, R&B, pop, rock, country, jazz, alt, dance, reggae, calypso, dance hall, comedy actors *No unsolicited material, not accepting hip-hop demos

Additional Locations:

MUSICIANS CONTACT 29684 Masters Dr. Murrieta, CA 92563 818-888-7879 Email: information@musicianscontact. com Web: musicianscontact.com Contact: Sterling Howard Styles: All, originals or covers Services: Established 40 years as a referral service between musicians and employers MUSTANG AGENCY 6119 Greenville Ave., Ste. 361 Dallas, TX 75206 214-257-0971, 888-480-3650 Email: booking@mustangagency.com Web: facebook.com/MustangAgency Contact: Don Brooks Styles: rock, country, pop, metal, pop/ punk, alt., classic rock Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material NIGHTSIDE ENTERTAINMENT 10 Crabapple Ln. Greenville, RI 02828 401-949-2004 Email: alsalzillo@nightsideentertainment. com Web: nightsideentertainment.com Contact: Al Salzillo Styles: All Styles Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material OLYMPIC PRODUCTIONS ED HARTMAN MUSIC 4501 Interlake Ave. N., Ste. 7 Seattle, WA 98103 206-634-1142 Email: edhartmanmusic@gmail.com Web: edhartmanmusic.com/bio Contact: Ed Hartman Styles: rock, pop, urban, jazz, Latin, Caribbean, world Clients: info upon request *Does not accept unsolicited material OZARK TALENT 718 Schwarz Rd. Lawrence, KS 66049 913-841-2800 Email: ozarktalent@gmail.com Web: savoybrown.com, wishboneash. com, wcclark.com, jacksemple.com, bluescaravan/facebook, mrmojotribute.com Contact: Steve Ozark Styles: All Styles Clients: Savoy Brown, Wishbone Ash, W.C. Clark, Jack Semple, Blues Caravan, Mr. Mojo Rinsin’ *Accepts unsolicited material PACIFIC TALENT P.O. Box 19145 Portland, OR 97280

New York, Nashville, San Diego, Monterey, Austin, London, Berkeley, Chicago Toronto PARADISE ARTISTS 108 E. Matilija St. Ojai, CA 93023 805-646-8433 Web: paradiseartists.com Contact: Howie Silverman Styles: rock, pop, alt., legends Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material Additional location: 5 Penn Plaza, #2382 New York, NY 10001 646-378-2204 PIEDMONT TALENT 704-399-2210 Email: info@piedmonttalent.com Web: piedmonttalent, facebook.com/ PiedmontTalent Contact: jay@piedmonttalent.com Styles: blues, roots, rock, alt. country, folk Clients: Matt Schofield (Europe, U.K., Asia, S.America), Debbie Davies, Gene Cornish of The Rascals, Jack Mack & The Heart Attack, Trudy Lynn Alastair Greene, Sean Chambers, Slam Allen, Mark Telesca, Kent Burnside, Murali Coryell, Chris Beard, Veronica Martell, Baby Dynamite and The Jay Stollman Band. *No unsolicited material PROGRESSIVE GLOBAL AGENCY P.O. Box 50294 Nashville, TN 37205 615-354-9100 Email: info@pgamusic.com Web: pgamusic.com Contact: Jennifer Fowler Styles: rock, pop, world Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material PYRAMID ENTERTAINMENT GROUP 377 Rector Pl., Ste. 21-A New York, NY 10280 212-242-7274 Email: smichaels@pyramid-ent.com Web: pyramid-ent.com Contact: Sal Michaels Styles: urban, jazz, gospel, classic and contemporary R&B, funk, hip-hop Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material RED ENTERTAINMENT AGENCY 505 8th Ave., Ste. 1004 New York, NY 100018 212-563-7575 Email: info@redentertainment.com Web: redentertainment.com Contact: Carlos Keyes Styles: rock, funk, jazz, gospel, R&B, pop, Latin, hip-hop Clients: Dionne Warwick, Village People, Elliott Yamin, Cameo, Jodeci, Steven Seagal, Gloria Gaynor, Ready For The World, Surface, Erasure’s Andy Bell, Tito Jackson, Bell Biv DeVoe, Case, Baha Men, Hi-Five, DMX, the Brides of Funkenstein, Dwele, Keith Sweat, Mario Winans, Tyrese, Meek Mill, Johnny Gill, Chic Feat. Nile Rodgers, Kathy Sledge, Slum Village, Twista, Jon B, Kenny Lattimore, CeCe Winans, Carl Thomas *No unsolicited material

SELAK ENTERTAINMENT 466 Foothill Blvd., #184 La Canada, CA 91011 626-584-8110, 213-709-4909 Email: steve@selakentertainment.com Web: selakentertainment.com Contact: Steve Selak Styles: tribute bands, blues, country, dance, disco, ethnic, hip-hop, party band, jazz, soul, solo, swing, pop, R&B, blues *no unsolicited material

UNCLE BOOKING 5438 Winding Way Dr. Houston, TX 77091 510-917-1610 Email: erik@unclebooking.com Web: unclebooking.com Clients: Kevin Barnes, Bottomless Pit, CEX, Citay, the Coke Dares, Danielson, Deerhoof, Southeast Engine, Trans Am, etc. *No unsolicited material

SELF GROUP, LLC, THE P.O. Box 14721 Portland, OR 97293 Email: info@selfgroup.org Web: selfgroup.org Contact: Krist Krueger Styles: indie, rock, folk, acoustic, experimental, pop Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material

UNIVERSAL ATTRACTIONS AGENCY 15 W. 36th St., 8th Fl. New York, NY 10018 NY: 212-582-7575 Fax 212-333-4508

SMC ARTISTS 1525 Aviation Blvd., Ste. 1000 Redondo Beach, CA 90278 818-505-9600 Email: ovavrin@smcartists.com Web: smcartists.com Contact: Otto Vavrin II Styles: Film & TV composers Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material SPARKS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC P.O. Box 82510 Tampa, FL 33682 734-394-9945 Email: sparksentertainment78@gmail.com Web: BSparksEnt.com Contact: Gary Styles: ALL, hip-hop, R&B, country, rock, acting, modeling Services: Talent Management, Career, Development, Booking, Promoting, Networking SPECTRUM TALENT AGENCY 212-268-0404 Fax 212-268-1114 Email: marc@spectrumtalentagency.com Web: spectrumtalentagency.com Contact: Marc Katz Styles: pop, R&B, dance, hip-hop, theatrical Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material THIRD COAST TALENT P.O. Box170 Chapmansboro, TN 37035 615-685-3331 Email: carrie@thirdcoasttalent.com Web: thirdcoasttalent.com Styles: Country Clients: see website for complete roster *No unsolicited material

Additional Location: 22025 Ventura Boulevard, #305 Los Angeles, CA 91364 LA: 818-225-0444 Email: info@universalattractions.com Web: universalattractions.com Styles: All Clients: info upon request *Accepts unsolicited material to demo@ universalattractions.com VARIETY ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL 1924 Spring St. Paso Robles, CA 93446 805-545-5550 Fax 805-545-5559 Email: john@varietyart.com, bob@ varietyart.com, lloyd@varietyart.com, zach@varietyart.com Web: varietyart.com Contact: Bob Engel, John Harrington, Lloyd St. Martin, Zach Mullinax Styles: rock, folk, pop, rap, jazz, oldies Clients: info upon request *No unsolicited material WALKER ENTERTAINMENT GROUP P.O. Box 7827 Houston, TX 77270 281-431-9393 Email: info@walkerentertainment.com Web: walkerentertainmentgroup.com Contact: Ernest Walker, President/CEO *No unsolicited material WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY 9601 Wilshire Blvd.

Beverly Hills, CA 90210 310-285-9000 Web: wma.com Styles: All *No unsolicited material **No phone calls Additional locations: 131 S. Rodeo Dr., 2nd Fl. Beverly Hills, CA 90212

UNITED TALENT AGENCY 9336 Civic Center Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90210 310-273-6700 Web: theagencygroup.com Clients: See site for a list *No unsolicited material

11 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10010 212-586-5100

Additional locations:

1201 Demonbreun Nashville, TN 37203 615-963-3000

New York, NY 888 7th Ave., Seventh FL. New York, NY 10106 212-659-2600 Nashville, TN 209 10th Ave. S., Ste. 511 Nashville, TN 37203 615-564-2580 Miami, FL 1101 Brickell Ave. South Tower, Fl. 8 Miami, FL 33131 786-574-5210 U.K. 361-373 City Rd. London, EC1V 1PQ United Kingdom +44-207-278-3331 Sweden Norra Vallgatan 68 214 22 Malmo, Sweden +46-40-0976250

1500 S. Douglas Rd. Ste 230 Coral Gables, FL 33134 305-938-2000

100 New Oxford St. London, WC1A 1HB +44 (0) 20 8929 8400 MLC Centre, Level 25 19 Martin Place Sydney, NSW 2000 + 61 (2) 8046 0300 For hundreds more contacts from Music Connection’s directories (A&R, music attorneys, producers, engineers, video production, video gear rental, vocal coaches, music schools, recording studios, everything indie, promotion, publicity, rehearsal studios, audio gear rental, film/TV, mastering studios, music publishers, college radio and more), visit: musicconnection.com/industrycontacts.

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MARKETPLACE

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MARKETPLACE

– DAVE KUSEK

Rapid Fanbase Growth Through Targeted Marketing

F

inding new fans who will support your music is one of the fundamental factors to success in music today. And yet, it’s something so many musicians struggle with.

Rapid fanbase growth is all about exposure and targeting your audience. So instead of just posting to social media and reaching new fans one at a time, tap into large groups of potential fans using targeted marketing approaches.

Fans reveal a lot about themselves based on the bands they support, the hashtags they follow and the gigs they attend. You can use this data to focus your marketing efforts on people who are likely to respond to your music or message.

This is a core concept behind New Artist Model, an online music business school. Instead of just hoping to make it big, we show how to think and act strategically, as a musical entrepreneur.

Your Ideal Fan First, you need to figure out exactly who your “ideal fan” is. That will show you where to find and connect with them.

You start by describing your ideal fan.

Name them. Male or female? How old?

What genres of music do they like and what other bands are they listening to?

What social platforms are they on? Do they go out and see shows? What are some of their hobbies and passions?

Where do they live? The more detailed you can be describing your ideal fan, the better. This should align with your messaging and your profile as an artist.

If you have no idea where to start, look through your social media analytics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. You’ll find incredibly useful stats that will help you understand your audience better. Another approach is to literally talk to your fans at gigs. Ask them questions and get to know them and what they like. Think of it like musical market research. Once you know who you’re targeting it is much easier to find more of them.

1. Do a Cover Swap with Another Band Find a band, either locally or online, whose audience meshes with your ideal fan profile. Pick artists who play in a similar genre or have similar interests or ideals.

Cover each other’s songs and share with your respective audiences on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Instagram, linking to each other in the post or description. This gets your songs in front of their fans in a way that feels really authentic.

4. Create Cover Videos Posting cover videos to YouTube is a proven way to get your music in front of potential fans. The key to a successful cover strategy is to pick songs your ideal fan would like and make the song your own. You want your cover version to spark their interest to check out your other music.

Your title, tags and thumbnail play a crucial role in how successful your cover video will be, so spend time researching key search terms these potential fans might be using and incorporate them in your video title, description and tags.

And finally, make sure to link to your original music. Use cards and a link at the top of the description box to direct watchers to your recent single. You could even add a short teaser clip at the end of the cover with your original music and a link.

5. Do a Cross Promotion with Another Band Cross promotions are an extremely powerful way to gain exposure. Tap into your network to find bands or musicians whose fanbase matches your ideal fan, and give each other a shout-out and share each other’s music on social media.

With this approach, you are recommending each other to your respective audiences, and that is the #1 most powerful form of promotion there is.

6. Produce Collaborative Content with Other Artists Create original content with another band or artist in your style. This strategy works best with local bands that you can physically meet up with.

Get together and jam on camera and share the video with your fanbases, tagging each other and linking to each other’s page. Or live stream a Q&A to your combined audiences. The key here is to get creative and see what kind of interesting content you can come up with.

7. Reach Out to Music Influencers Music influencers are bloggers, journalists, YouTubers, DJs and anyone else who have their own audience and can share their favorite songs and playlists.

Think hard about how you can get your music in front of these influencers. Most music blogs will have a submission policy you can follow, and most YouTubers will have contact information available on their channel.

Start small and work your way up.

2. Book Gigs with More than Two Bands Being able to book headliner gigs is great, but when you play gigs on your own, there’s no reason for someone who’s not familiar with you to show up. Instead, employ the power of many.

Book gigs with two or more bands on the bill. Each band brings its own audience so you’ll have many new faces in the crowd. When you play your set, make sure you tell everyone from the stage who you are and how they can find you. Have a merch table and an email signup list and offer reasons for people to engage with you, like contests or giveaways.

8. Perform at Festivals or Events Music festivals are another way to get in front of a targeted audience. Focus your efforts on festivals that specialize in your genre of music. So, as a reggae band, a reggae festival will get you in front of more of the right people compared to trying to get into Coachella.

Interest-based events are another option. Think about what interests your ideal fans have. Are they into skateboarding or surfing? Travel and vegan food? Nerd culture and gaming? There are plenty of events out there that need great performers like surf festivals, fundraisers, or gaming conventions and tournaments. Plus there’s a lot less competition for these gigs once you’re outside the music sphere.

3. Utilize Targeted Hashtags It’s no secret that hashtags are critical when posting online. People who follow certain hashtags are already interested in that particular topic.

Identify the hashtags that only your ideal fans would use. When you’re strategic about it, you can leverage hashtags to get your music in front of a targeted audience.

DAVE KUSEK is Executive Director of New Artist Model, an online music business school that teaches musicians the essential skills required to thrive in today’s industry. Grab their most popular ebook, Hack the Music Business, at hackmusic.com.

62 June 2019

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63 June 2019

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– DAVE KUSEK

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64 June 2019

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