Value of Business Plans

This post will cover the view by experts about the value of a business plan; and whether it’s important or not to have, when you are trying to get a business started. I examined and researched the views of (2) recognized “experts” in the field of writing and reviewing business plans; and I must say that I was totally satisfied after seeing that one of the experts was totally on the same page that I am about business plans.

The first expert that caught my attention during my research is Carl Schramm, who is a PhD economist and past President and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (2012). The reason he caught my attention when researching is because like myself, Carl believes business plans go out of date quickly. In an article I read, it said that Carl Schramm isn’t satisfied with the state of American entrepreneurship; it’s not because people aren’t getting into it, it’s because they’re not being taught correctly (Bhasin, 2012).  After reading that article, I asked myself could this be a fact or just an opinion from Carl Schramm? In that same article it states that Schramm’s theory is that leaving the education of entrepreneurs to schoolteachers is “inherently weak.” Why? Because their choice of profession shows that they don’t take risks; at least not economic ones. Schramm also states that the material taught in college-level courses doesn’t fit with what entrepreneurs need to succeed. He says, that you don’t learn what it really takes to get a business started (Bhasin, 2012).

The next expert that caught my attention during my research is Chuck Blakeman, a serial entrepreneur and business success mentor; who started and built eight businesses in the U.S., Europe and Africa. He is the founder of Crankset Group, providing business advisory for leaders and companies worldwide (Inc., 2014). The reason why Chuck Blakeman caught my attention, is because of his viewpoint about business plans; where he believes that a new company does not need a business plan to get started. Blakeman feels that preparing a business plan wastes time that could be spent actually doing the business; and I agree with him 110%.

On Chuck Blakeman’s website he states that, not a single Fortune 500 was started with a business plan. He said that, the all understood that the second worst thing someone starting a business can do is create a business plan, and the worst thing they can do is follow it. It’s said that massive pre-planning is a business disease. Blakeman said that the Industrial Age was wrong. Implement now. Perfect as you go. He says that if you do things this was, you may have a much higher chance of success than if you plan it all out before you get started (Blakeman, 2014).

After doing my research on these (2) “experts,” suggestions that I am considering from them, is to implement now and perfect as I go. I know that I have to put together a business plan for this course and for my final grade to graduate; but to be honest I most likely won’t use it. To be honest, I am not looking for any investors to invest in my company, especially while I still have student loans to pay back. Who wants to spend the rest of their lives paying people back? Not me.

Independent Artists

Is it worth the trouble to try to get a music label to sign you today? It’s really not. The digital world has become so dominant today, that you really can promote yourself; rather than having a label take a percentage from you. There are websites today like CD Baby and Tune Core, which are aggregators that allows you, the artist or group to upload your album to their site, and pay them a small fee to distribute, market, promote, and advertise, etc. you single or album. These are sites that also collect royalties for you and send your royalty check on a monthly basis.

The reason I chose to write this blog is because I am from the old school era of music, especially Hip Hop; I am talking about back when having a fan base didn’t matter to music labels, if they felt you were hot or should I say talented, they gave you an opportunity. The hottest and most legendary artists and groups was not given an opportunity or signed to a label because of their views on a video website and how many comments they had about their video; they were discovered by someone who was either in the music industry or someone who had connections to someone in the music industry. It was all about the vision someone had once they heard your voice or music back in the day. This is why it’s best to go the independent route, because if you can build your own fan base; which is what labels want you to do anyway; then what do you need them for?

Times have definitely changed in the music industry, especially digitally; so either you catch up or get left behind. Internet marketing and digital distribution have taken over the music industry, that’s why being an independent is the best option for some artists, musician, or group; it allows you to learn everything along the success of your career. It will also make you more alert about your choices throughout your career, because you are hands on with everything about it. Take advantage of the digital music world today, it’s never going to go away. Do as much research as possible about any questions you have for yourself about anything about the industry. There is no limit to the amount of knowledge one can gain about anything. Build yourself, career, and music to a success story, and you will become a brand that cannot be destroyed.

Check this video out:

This video will show all independent artists that a fan base was not necessary back in the day. Founders of Def Jam music label Rick Ruben and Russell Simmons signed artists like Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Slick Rick and LL Cool J, just to name a few, and none of them had a huge fan base, if any, but Rick and Russell was determined to get these artists names and music out the; and all those legends are now known worldwide, and also Hip Hop legends.

Will CDs Be Extinct Soon?

Will CDs be extinct soon? I believe that they will, due to the fact that the Internet and satellite radio has become the go to place for music lovers. Cars today still comes with a CD player, but they also offer you satellite radio through a subscription that a lot of individuals subscribe to. A lot of cars today are equipped with an auxiliary input for individuals to plug their phone or iPod to for music; and this is the reason why I ask, will the CDs be extinct soon?

How many people today are actually going into stores and purchasing their favorite artist or group’s CD when they are released? I bet not many. Instead people use Internet sites to stream and download the music; and there are some folks that choose to go to piracy sites and download all their music for free. With so many mobile devices today, that have access to downloading and streaming music, what do we really need a CD for? Lets be honest here.

Independent artists and groups, and even the ones signed to music labels are using digital sites to upload and sell their music, because the Internet is where an average American spends most of their day on, whether it’s on their mobile phones and computers, or on their desktops. Compared to back in the day, it’s not important at all to an artist or group to get signed to a major record label, because there are so many Print on Demand (POD) sites where they can get their music published and sold; and also earn 91% of the money that they accrue from selling their music. Dealing with POD sites are very inexpensive and less of a headache to deal with, rather than wait for your turn to be promoted and marketed by a major record label. As they say, time waits for nobody.

TuneCore, which is a POD site paid artists $32.7 million in Q3 2014 for music distribution. Those numbers have brought the total amount paid to distribution clients since TuneCore’s inception in 2006 to $471.5 million, based on 10.6 billion combined streams and downloads. How can an artist, group, or producer go wrong using these POD sites, when they are developing numbers like this? That is why I ask you the question that I ask you; and that is, will the CDs be extinct soon?

"Entertainment Industry's Legal Liabilities"

This blog is about legal controversies in the entertainment industry, and how important it is in this business to have intellectual properties, to prevent you from legal issues in the long run. I’ve done a lot of research about legal controversies in the entertainment industry in the past year, and what I came across was unbelievable. I am going to elaborate on three legal controversies that I feel should’ve been prevented from happening if these individuals knew how important it is when it comes to intellectual property.

The first legal controversy that I would like to talk about is the copyright infringement lawsuit that the legendary Hip Hop group, Beastie Boys filed against Monster Energy Beverage. The reason why the Beastie Boys filed a lawsuit against Monster Energy Beverage was because the beverage company used their music in a promotional video on their website. After reading an article about the lawsuit, it seems that an employee inadvertently believed that Monster Energy Beverage had permission to use the music. What was also said was that the beverage company had Beastie Boys songs for download on the company’s website.

An award-winning global DJ, DJ Z-Trip had played a few of Beastie Boys songs on his live set at the Monster-sponsored Canadian festival Ruckus in the Rockies; which is where Monster Energy Beverage had taken the songs from the DJ’s footage from the festival. This festival was a few days after the Beastie Boy’s former MC the late Adam “MCA” Yauch had passed away; and it is said that in Adam “MCA” Yauch’s will that no company is allowed to use the group’s music for advertisement. A Monster employee sent a copy of the promotional video to DJ Z-Trip using his Beastie Boys Megamix; after watching the video DJ Z-Trip replied back that the video was “Dope!” and just from DJ Z-Trip’s reply the employee assumed that it was fine to use the Megamix for the promotional video.

My opinion about this legal controversy is that the employee who took the initiative to use DJ Z-Trip’s Megamix of the Beastie Boys’ songs should be or should’ve been terminated. There is no way that any promotional video should’ve been posted without it being approved by the managers and executives over top of that employee; or with that employee having the position of authority that they have, they should’ve known that in order to use the Beastie Boys’ music, it should have been cleared by whatever copyrights organization their music is under. It cost Monster Energy Beverage $1.7 million, because of a mistake that one of their employees made, which I feel could’ve been prevented.

The second legal controversy that I would like to talk about is rapper Kendrick Lamar being sued for infringing music copyrights in his song “Rigamortus”. Eric S. Reed, who is a composer, musician, and recording artist is suing Kendrick Lamar, because he says that Kendrick Lamar copied music from a song that he composed in 2009 called “The Thorn” which he did for Willie Jones III’s 2010 recording “The Next Phase”. Eric Reed claims that he never gave Kendrick Lamar permission to use his music, in which Kendrick Lamar did in numerous versions and remixes of his single “Rigamortus”.

My opinion on this matter is Kendrick Lamar’s manager or producer should have made sure that before the instrumental was given or presented to Kendrick Lamar that there were no samples from other artists or composers in the instrumental, especially if they were not cleared to be used. This would’ve definitely avoided this lawsuit for copyright infringement. You would think artists, managers, or producers would know better than that. In the article that I read about this lawsuit, it says that, “The plaintiffs seek at least $1,000,000 in damages and full disgorgement of Defendants’ profits from the infringement. In addition to seeking an injunction, Plaintiffs demand payment of all their attorneys’ fees and costs (Keshishian, 2014).” It’s amazing how small problems in this industry can become a huge problem.

The last legal controversy I will end with is Pharrell Williams and Will.i.am trademark lawsuit, which they both professionally decided to settle it out of court. The reason why there was a lawsuit between the two was because Pharrell Williams wanted to trademark what he says is his “creative venture and way of life” I Am Other; but Will.i.am didn’t like Pharrell’s decision and chose to file a lawsuit, because he felt people would confuse Pharrell’s company with his company, I.AM.Symbolic. Pharrell wanted to settle this whole misunderstanding out of court, because he tried to tell Will.i.am that what his company stood for was totally different from what Will.i.am’s company stood for; but that wasn’t good enough for Wil.i.am. Will.i.am even going as far as saying that Pharrell did not respect intellectual property, because of other problems Pharrell has had with other artists and companies who have filed lawsuits against him. It was said that the two has decided to settle out of court, which could be great for them and the music industry.

My opinion about this lawsuit is there should have never been one in the first place. Will.i.am does not own “I Am” and I’m sure he knew that Pharrell’s “I Am Other” has nothing to do with whatever Will.i.am’s movement is all about. There are so many individuals in the entertainment industry, as well as companies that use “I Am” to express what they are trying to get across when they are promoting, marketing, and advertising a product, brand, or even themselves. Some artists really believe that, because of their status or role in the entertainment industry that they can do or say whatever they want; and I think that they should be careful, because depending on the situation it could lower their status.

King George

Negotiation & Deal Making Interview with Jennifer Smith

This is an interview that I conducted with Jennifer Smith, who is the Marketing & Promotions Director at Townsquare Media Group in Northfield, NJ. Jennifer has been with Townsquare Media Group for 3 years, and before then she was at Millennium Radio Group, LLC for 11 years, where she held the same title. She has over 10 years experience in developing and implementing events, including sales and charity.

Townsquare Media Group is a diversified media; entertainment and digital marketing services company that owns and operates market leading radio, digital and live event properties across the U.S. The company specializes in creating and distributing original and motivating media experiences that connect communities with content they love, people they trust, products they want and things that matter (Townsquare Media group, 2014).

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jennifer for the past three months, interning at Townsquare Media; and I must say she was the perfect candidate for this interview about negotiating and deal making.

GK: Hello Jennifer.

JS: Hello George.

GK: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview you; it’s greatly appreciated.

JS: Anything for you George. Thank you for choosing me for this interview.

GK: How do you separate the people from the problem when you are negotiating?

JS: I guess I would say that I would work with the people to be mutually beneficial for everybody. So, lets really look at what we are trying to accomplish, and we the people will work together and make it the most fabulous thing together. So, lets negotiate to make it a great partnership.

GK: Okay.  How do you handle positional bargaining tactics?

JS: That’s almost a similar question as the first. Okay. I bargain with clients or potential clients to get what I need to get accomplished. I usually showcase something to them to make them see that by giving me what I want is beneficial to them in some way.

GK: I thank you for giving me a little of your time for this interview.

JS: No problem George.

GK: This is my last question for you, being that you have to get to a meeting. Can you give me an example of how you worked toward mutual benefit when you were negotiating a deal?

JS: I just got off the phone negotiating a deal. We have this Insane Inflatable 5k Run, and it is eight days away, and I still don’t have a hydrating beverage. So, our sales team was working towards that, and it didn’t work out; so now it’s my turn to try to hydrate 2,500 people, with no budget. I reached out to a good partner, which is the first thing, I had to do (find a good partner). I had to showcase to them what benefits they would get from it, and we still only have eight days left. I had to do my best to bring things in the light to them, by making things as beneficial as possible to this partner in order to achieve what we are trying to get done.

GK: So, you’re basically presenting this to them in a way that it’s a win-win for both parties.

JS: Yes. You want to make sure everybody feels good in the end.

GK: Can I ask you one more question Jennifer?

JS: Sure.

GK: What tips do you have for new negotiators who are trying to do this?

JS: To have a plan before you try to negotiate with someone. It’s important to know what you’re talking about, and never talk around what you’re trying to get across. What I mean by that, is getting straight to the point, and be prepared for whatever the person or people that you’re negotiating with has to say, because most of them want to make sure that you know what you are talking about.

GK: Thank you Jennifer.

JS: Thank you as well George.

Reference:

Townsquare Media Group. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.townsquaremedia.com