A & R Connections Magazine

1

IVY LEAGUE MUSIC Singers | Rappers | Comedians | Spoken Artists

•

Label Services

•

Distribution Deals

•

Artist & Brand Development

•

Marketing Strategy

•

Street Teams

•

Radio Promotion

•

Awards & Recognition

•

Endorsement Deals

•

A&R Showcases

•

Fans & Followers

•

Music Data

•

Music Technology Development

•

Media Tours

•

Las Vegas Residency

We Specialize in Urban Entertainment Marketing Helping Artists Make Music Their Fulltime Career Helping Independent Labels Make Music Their Fulltime Money

Call Us For A Consultation : Atlanta 770-369-2649 | Las Vegas 702-550-9264 www.SwanSimpsonMediaGroup.com 2

Join The Ivy League of Music www.JoinIvyLeague.com

Get Your Music Profiled In A & R Connections Magazine Seen By Over 300+ A&R Professionals, Industry Executives & Tour Managers.

As well as Thousands of Music Fans Worldwide.

Some of The Execs Who Receive Our Magazine Include: • Grand Hustle • So So Def • Konvict Music • Mogul Money Records • Sony • And MORE!

What You Can Expect: • Increased Media • Media Tour Invites • Showcase Invitations • Label Connections • Additional Interviews • More Fan Exposure To Help You Increase Your Following • Improve Your Chances For Money Making Opportunities

Available Slots: • Cover Stories • Interviews • Music Reviews • Profiles

The Music Industry Is All About the Numbers. And A&R Connections Offers You An Opportunity to Improve Yours.

Completely SEO Optimized to drive more fans and listeners to your website and social media pages.

We Are Your Media Partner. Helping You To Keep Your Brand On Top.

Slots are competitive. We only work with artists that make us look good to the industry. Bring your “A” game. Placement fees do apply.

www.JoinIvyLeague.com

702-550-9264

3

10 Internet Radio & FM Radio Stations That Will Play New Music from Unsigned Artists

There are vast radio stations out there where indies can have their music played to the entire world. However, these radio stations are not always easy to find especially for those who don’t have information regarding their existence. Gone are the days when an artist relied on the support of labels, a well connected A&R, or even a prominent radio promoter to give you a massive radio campaign.

Here’s a list of some of the best internet based radio stations:

1. Kiss International 107.7 FM

Kiss guarantees airplay on a national and international level, but your music has to be professional. The radio station also pays royalties to artist when they play their music. They recommend that artists sign up with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC).

2. NLD Radio ATL

This station is designed to provide you with organic feedback.

Before you spend your hard earned money on a record that might/might not go places, you need to test it first to see the reaction people have towards it.

3. Power 106 (Hip-Hop)

After submitting your song, it's added to the Power 106 Hiphop playlist for 30 days, and later sent to club DJs and mix shows. They also have an app which you can download to let fans know more about your music and listen on the go.

4. Sound 106 FM

This is a 24/7 online radio station that reports to SESAC, ASCAP, Sound Exchange, and BMI to determine the royalties that should be paid to artists. For only five dollars, you become a featured sponsored artist on their music blog and listeners have an opportunity to listen to your music.

5. Tone Flame Radio

Not only do you get airplay on this station, but it also markets your music through Urban Music E-ZINE, certified platform. The genres played include: Rap, Hip-hop, Soul, Reggae, Pop, EDM and IDM genres.

6. Ms. Dynasty Promotion

Artists get paid royalties when their music is played for one month guaranteed. The Basic Gig gets you one play per day, that’s 30 spins per month. The Gig Extra provides 140 spins per month/ 30 days

7. Spinz FM

You can get the 2 for 1 Gig, and your music gets featured on their radio station playlist and they tweet your graphics and details to their followers for a period of 30 days. Additionally, they also feature different music genres.

8. Tidal

This music streaming service has made a comeback since its re-launch last year. The best thing about it is; it's owned by musicians and promises to pay artists higher royalties than any other streaming site.

9. XRAY. Fm

This is definitely one of the liveliest young stations in the states. It features everything music has to offer, clean kid stuff, to hard rock and the latest west coast releases.

10. Boston Rock Radio

Streaming at 192k, this Boston Indie Rock and Metal Radio Station reaches out to a global audience in a massive way. The main focus of the station is to promote unsigned and independent artists globally. However, they only play original content that is rock, hard rock, or metal.

4

HOW CHANCE THE RAPPER CHANGED THE MUSIC GAME Chancellor Jonathan Bennett popularly known by his stage name, Chance the Rapper is a 23 year old who has managed to shatter musical expectations. Apart from being a rapper, he is also a singer, songwriter, record producer and philanthropist. He released his first mix tape, ‘10 days’, back in 2012, so he isn’t very new in the music industry. At that time, his music was relatable to most high school kids since he was one of them. Surprisingly, unlike other kids who indulge in all sorts of crazy things when on suspension, Chance the Rapper used his 10 days suspension to record his first mix tape.

Five years later, we are now watching him receive three Grammy Awards.

During the 59th Grammy Awards held on Feb 12, 2017 he won three awards for best new artist, best rap album and best rap performance for the song “No Problem.” Many people are surprised how he went from being a suspended high school kid to become an elite artist and how he changed the hip-hop game through his unique untraditional ways.

The type of sound he features in his songs His songs have witty lyrics, jazzy beat and vibrant rhymes to entertainment his audience. He also incorporates full choirs and instruments such as trumpets and horns in his songs. Additionally, he is known for making unusual yelps and noises in his songs in an entertaining way.

He is loyal to his hometown Chance the Rapper grew up in Chicago and is not the kind of artist who forgets where he came from. He is one of the main forces behind the #SaveChicago campaign whose aim is to combat crime in the city. As part of the campaign, he organized successful leadership classes, positive loitering and community sports. He also hosts open mic nights and Magnetic Coloring Day at Chicago high schools.

He is contemporary Among the most unique things about Chance the Rapper is that, he doesn’t sell his music. His music doesn’t appear in physical albums; instead he uses Sound cloud to promote his music. He chose this platform since he didn’t want to put a limit to the fans who wanted to connect with his music globally.

Basically, he earns money through tours and sales generated from his merchandise, proving that his aim is not to profit from the fans who listen to his music.

Unsigned to any record label Contrary to what most people would expect, Chance is not signed to any record label, he remains an independent artist. After releasing his second mix tape, he had planned on signing with a label; nonetheless, after meeting with three prominent labels he abandoned the idea. He realized that labels would limit the quality of music he released, so he decided to ride solo and the music you hear is 100% Chance the Rapper.

5

How to Make Money Selling Your Music Online In this era, music album sales have declined and most fans prefer buying music online. Nowadays, most of the music is being created, distributed, shared, bought and even discovered online. Additionally, musicians are generating more revenue from their music and building their brands in a way that traditional methods could not. By marketing your music online, you are able to improve your merchandise sales and live shows internationally.

should bundle them. If the price of one album is $15, then the price of two should be $25. Although you make less money from each album, you end up selling more products. Another approach that you can use is; pairing download cards with t-shirts, hoodies etc.

5. Discount codes

Here are eight effective strategies for selling your music online:

This is the best approach that you can use with new subscribers.

If you happen to meet some fans at a gig, send a welcoming note to them the next day with discount codes in case they forgot to buy the album at the gig.

1. Sell direct from your website

6. You Tube

If you don’t have a website, the first step should be to have one developed and running. Fans should have a way of buying your album and a website is the best platform that can make that possible. There are also several other ways you can sell your products online such as Bandzoogle.

Most artists overlook You Tube as a platform for selling their music. However, it’s a good platform to market your single, a new album or music video. Ensure that you provide a link that directs your viewers to your website or iTunes where they can buy your music.

2. Sale pricing

7. Back catalog deals+ bundles

As an artist you should take advantage of holiday seasons, special limited run items and special occasions. For instance you can offer you album at a 50% off discount during Valentine’s season or Christmas.

3. Pre-orders Fans like it when they can pre-order an album even before it’s released, since it makes them feel like they are on top of their game. You can choose to pre-sell your album through your website or iTunes which allows you to reward your fans with an advance single.

4. Combining physical and digital bundles During times when you are selling more than one product, you

6

There’s that album that you did back in the day that you are very embarrassed of. Your fans will love such kind of stuff; give it a try especially during special occasions by putting it out for them to listen to it.

8. Mailing Just like social media platforms, emails are 40 times more effective and most musicians, organizations and corporations use it. Through newsletters, you can keep your fans up to date with the latest events in your career. Additionally, don’t forget to include links to your Online Store, Band camp, iTunes and You Tube.

The New Age of Music Distribution Currently, the music industry is not the way it used to be many years ago, new platforms are constantly being developed that make the distribution of music easier and efficient. Gone are the days when people used to walk into stores to buy music.

The internet has made music more accessible to people in all corners of the world. Fact is, people don’t view music the same way they did many years ago when there were a few genres to listen to.

The music industry is all about distribution. You might produce good music, but without a good distribution network it might not reach the target audience. Record labels produce albums and give them to the distributor, the distributor then goes ahead to put them in the store where they are accessible to the fans.

From there, it’s the responsibility of the record label to market the album to create demand and high sales in return. However, stores have limited space for CDs, which means they can only take a limited number as part of their CDs in stock. This means that if a CD is not put on the shelf, then there’s no way that it can sell. Consequently, you need a powerful distributor so that your CDs can be put on the shelves which results in the music from less popular artists being shoved aside.

The introduction of digital stores such as iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, etc, have revolutionized the entire music industry. First of all, the shelves available on these stores are unlimited, so there’s always room for uploading your music to the entire world. Furthermore, digital stores never run out of stock, they have an unlimited virtual inventory that is frequently replicated on demand. This means that you don’t have to make CDs and then distribute them to warehouses and later to stores. In digital distribution, the music is uploaded to a server once, where its stays until someone decides to buy it. The main advantage of using digital stores is that; they are more convenient since music can be accessed at any time.

In the past, people discovered new music through; Radio, print magazines, Viacom owned properties such as VH1, BET, MTV etc. However, nowadays everyone has a voice via the internet.

One of the most effective ways of promoting your music is mp3 blogs. A blogger can write a blog about you and provide a download link which people can use to download you music for free. If your music is catchy and people like it, it spreads and many blogs will be talking about it with links to where your music can be found.

7

Indie A&R Mixer & Artist Showcase in the Las Vegas Arts District

Mogul Money Nights Vegas Style Hosted By Comedian Dani

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO ENTER Tuesday August 15th 2017 7pm-12 midnight The Urban Lounge 107 E. Charleston Blvd (Arts District) Las Vegas, NV

Attention!

• Singers • Rappers • Comedians • Spoken Artists Showcase Participation $15 per song Limited SLOTS CALL ASAP/Free Admission Bring Your Entire Crew Introducing Mogul Money Recording Artist Dada Doe Performing LIVE her anthem “Cheers”

Lock In Your Slot CALL or TEXT 702-550-9264 8

WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN SEPTEMBER 2017 1st Place Grand Prize 3 Year Distribution & Licensing Deal 2nd Place Radio Plays & Magazine Interviews 3rd Place Gear From Our Partners

www.MogulMoneyRecords.com

Why You Need a Strong Manager to

GROW YOUR MUSIC CAREER The decision to hire a music manager is vital in your music career. Most professional musicians have built a strong music career with the help of their managers and probably a team that is hired by the manager. As a musician, concentrating on everything that pertains to your music career can be difficult; you need someone who can handle all those issues on your behalf. First of all, you need to know that there are certain things a manager can change in the early stages of your music career.

At the onset of your music career, the best thing a manager can offer you is the opportunity to concentrate on your music. Furthermore, it’s a business and you have to put in a lot of effort to become successful. The music industry has a lot of responsibilities that can be challenging for a musician.

Consequently, musicians who don’t have managers find themselves pitching after journalists and chasing after promoters, when they should be writing new songs, practicing or recording. While the musician concentrates on creativity, the manager handles business.

In addition to handling your business professionally, a strong manager has contacts that can help in the advancement of your career. Some of these contacts involve record labels, promoters, and agents who can offer you a gig, people working in media houses and many more.

Apart from the business perspective, a good manager helps you in deciding the type of songs you should release and the people who should write your music for you, so that you can build a strong image. The manager also handles the launching of CDs, books shows, plans promotional tours, handles the royalties and builds a fan base by hiring people to market your music online. Besides that, they also confirm that the CD labels are printed with the correct name of the song writer.

At times, musicians who don’t have managers tend to postpone the release of new albums. A music manager ensures that they allocate a specific date for the release of your album and they keep reminding you so that you can keep working on the music. Lastly, when hiring a manager, you need to verify their credentials and assess their ability to multitask. They should also have excellent communication and PR skills which can result to tremendous growth of your music career. A music manager plays a major role in influencing the direction that the career of an artist will take, so you need to hire one even though you might think you don’t need one.

9

Russell Simmons’

WALL STREET DEAL Long time hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons has recently launched a new outfit promoting urban youth culture, music, comedy, poetry and other issues of interest to the youth. Russell named it All Def perhaps staying with the ‘Def’ from his iconic music promotion venture Def Jam. This is how All Def describes itself on LinkedIn: “All Def Digital (ADD) is a premium, multi-platform digital media company and entertainment hub, curating, developing and connecting a new generation of content creators to global fans” All Def claims to have attracted over 3.5 million fans on social media who view its content on YouTube, Facebook and its other media channels. Media channels working with All Def include HBO, MTV, Spotify and SeeSo. All Def Digital is also involved in promoting creativity and has signed on writers, poets, actors, stand-up comics, socialites and hip-hop stars. The target audience is 18-24 year olds all around the globe.

All Def: Urban Youth Culture, Music, and Comedy

All Def works with upcoming artists who are defining the next phase of hip-hop including Desiigner. It gives a platform for music artists looking for exposure. It also works with upcoming stand-up comics who are overlooked by the main outlets, giving them a stage to showcase their talent. Poetry has been the ignored base of hip-hop and All Def has dedicated time for poets from all over the world. Sport is common glue among the youth and has featured big on All Def content. ADD is collaborating with HBO to release ‘All Def Comedy’ in the fall of 2017. It is also in a deal with NBC Universal’s SeeSo for distribution of comedy content. It has signed a distribution deal with Spotify for distribution of content of the hip-hop reality show ADD is calling the ‘Rush Hour.’ ADD has a show series to address injustice on the youth. The show has been dubbed ‘Town Hall’ with hosts Nick Cannon and Melissa Harris Perry. It will be distributed exclusively through Facebook Live.

ADD CEO Sanjay Sharma says the media outfit is changing the way content is distributed to reach a demographic segment that largely ignores traditional media. The Millennial and Gen Z group is more likely to access content on online, social media and mobile content. ADD is leveraging on these channels to reach over 100 million youth across the globe.

ADD has attracted interest in funding by among others Third Wave Digital Partners. The Series B funding arrangement saw these partners pump in $10 million. Like other successful ventures by Russell Simmons, All Def promises a very interesting future.

10

Swan Simpson

MEDIA GROUP Disrupting Music’s A&R Development Swan Simpson Media Group’s, CEO, Swan Simpson has spent decades in the Entertainment Industry. In 2017, she started two boutique labels to capitalize on the growth of streaming music.

Mogul Money Records is more Rap and Hip Hop driven. Ivy League Music Group is R&B, Gospel, Neo Soul and everything in between.

Both labels focus on the discovery of talent that fits into a newer business model that completely disrupts the traditional music industry’s idea of potentially successful talent.

Mogul Money Records takes an unconventional approach to finding talent by looking for artists with whom they can form a money-making partnership. It becomes more about the artist and less about the politics of an industry that has grown to insist upon itself.

The label's A&R Team is comprised of actual music fans. People who add artists to playlists, spend time on social media, and are actually buying concert tickets. The CEO says, “When you have people who are trained on a corporate level to use left brain logic to make right brain decisions, you eventually come across as inauthentic and collapse upon your own sword.” The results are what we are seeing today.

The music industry continues to open its doors of success to lesser known acts who can still pull in fans and promote a musical following minus the machine. The machine is expensive, bureaucratic, and quickly becoming obsolete.

Swan Simpson Media Group aims to be an aggregator of talent.

Using technology as a go-between artists and fans. The company believes fans are more important than the industry itself. Ditch the machine and the fans are all that matters at the end of the day.

Artists can contact the Company Direct @ www.SwanSimpsonMediaGroup.com

11

Ones To Watch A&R Profiles Courtesy of

MOGUL MONEY RECORDS

Mogul Money Records and partners Sony/Orchard, Urbanlife, The Urban Lounge & Radio One is holding showcase competitions in Las Vegas, Atlanta and other cities around the country looking for great new rising talent. The Grand Prize Winners in each city will receive a coveted distribution deal.

Other prizes include radio and magazine interviews, record spins and press. The competition is all about the artist and their music and is unlike other showcases which tend to yield very little outcomes.

12

The Las Vegas competition which is hosted by Comedian and SpokenWord Artist, Dani, has already began. The 1st round winners are profiled here in A&R Connections Magazine.

Fly Milli has been around music his whole life. Fly is the great nephew of legendary singer Curtis Mayfield. His latest mix tape “Blood Sweat and Tears� was produced by BRM. He is currently a street performer in Las Vegas. His performance during Mogul Money Nights sponsored by Mogul Money

Julian Thompson, professionally known as “Beast”, is an American Rapper, Songwriter born and raised in Detroit Michigan. Julian first became interested in music around 9 years old when he wrote his first rhyme. His passion for music is undeniable. Earlier this year he teamed up with Competition Zero Productions to make his dreams come true and entered the Mogul Money Nights competition where he so impressed the judges who advanced him to the next round.

Follow him on IG @jujuthompson

Records at The Urban Lounge in Las Vegas, NV, landed him a top performer spot. When asked about his talent and motivation he says, “ I’m just an instrument. God is engineering it all” Follow him on IG @youngflymilli

Young Hood entered the competition last minute and prevailed as one of the finalists. His flow got the audience on its feet at Mogul Money Nights in Las Vegas.

Follow him on IG @younghood702

Singer Duprice credits his grandmother for steering him towards a career in music. He managed to impress the Judges at Mogul Money Nights in Las Vegas to move him to the next round in the music competition. Duprice performs all over Los Angeles and has opened for artists such as Eric Benet, Jahiem, Trick Daddy, Trina, Mary Mary, Nivea ,Yolanda Adams, Shirley Caesar and Adina Howard. Duprice states, “I’m the 50 Cent and Suge Knight of R&B.” Follow him on IG @ dupriceartistextraordinaire

For a list of upcoming showcases and to submit your music visit www.MogulMoneyRecords.com

13

For Your Consideration The Single “Cheers”

Independent Music Awards 2017 Dada Doe

Download Your Free Copy www.MogulMoneyRecords.com/artists Join The Frenzy

Stream More Music & Videos FREE @ https://www.reverbnation.com/dadadoemusic

Follow On Twitter @DadaDoeMusic & tweet “I want tickets” use hastag #Cheers

14

Win Tickets To Dada Doe's Private Listening Party in Atlanta September 3rd Labor Day Weekend.

It's Gon Be Lit!!