Product and Artist Management Lessons

The journey of going back to school and making the decision to dive whole-heartedly into an industry that I have been in love with for as long as I can remember has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. When I looked at the name of this month’s class “Product and Artist Management,” I knew that it would be very interesting. I did not expect it to be my favorite class so far in the program. I can honestly say that I have learned something significant from each guest speaker in our class.  Here are three of the major lessons I’ve learned from our guest speakers:

1.     Stephanie Christie is a Public Relations expert that taught me the importance of cohesiveness within all promotional materials for an artist. In short, the music has to match the visuals and vice versa. I’m hoping to work in artist development and potentially in management as well so this lesson was huge for me. I will make sure that any artist I work with has an outward appearance that matches the music they create.

2.     Craig Hayes taught me the importance of professionalism and working your way up in the industry. He told the story of how he interned at LaFace Records after graduation. He had to do some of the dirty work that a lot of people aren’t willing to do. However, because he did it without complaints, he was able to build relationships with important people and eventually begin producing for some major artists. I am no stranger to hard work and I think this lesson helps me not be afraid to take on small tasks and even do some things for free when the bigger picture is of significant value.

3.     Samuel Allen taught me the importance of creating a culture when thinking about successful marketing. Sam’s presentation really made me think of expanding the scope of what my company can do. Not only can we help with the development of an artist, but we may be able to be a part of the creation of their marketing as well. Creating a culture, something the target market can get behind emotionally is a great lesson.

1 Million Cups: H3 (Healthy Hip Hop)

The 1 Million Cups presentation that I watched was about H3:Healthy Hip Hop. H3 is a company that produces Hip Hop influenced content that promotes youth education and physical activity. Their main vision is to “motivate families to build healthy lifestyles.”

My first impression of this company was they were very positive, fun and energetic! I love the concept. Being a Hip Hop dance instructor who works with young children, I can see that Hip Hop culture is a hugely influential medium in today’s youth. This company seems to have a good idea of how to use Hip Hop to motivate kids into creating positive habits regarding their education and fitness.

H3 showed many strengths during their presentation. They did a great job of describing the variety of products and services they offer. They have CDs and DVDs that can be purchased for Hip Hop dance/fitness for elementary, middle school and high school students. The H3 crews also perform at several schools, after school programs, recreation centers and birthday parties in the Kansas City area. This company also has a working partnership with the LeBron James Family Foundation as well as other like-minded organizations.

The only weaknesses that I saw in their presentation were more technical. There was a moment when the microphone was not working for one of the presenters. They also had a sound issue when two of the presenters were trying to perform one of their songs. They did a great job of not letting those technical difficulties negatively impact the presentation as a whole. They were also very personable and seemed comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. My suggestions for this would have been to actually start the presentation with the actual performance, then go into the speaking part. I think this would have helped with the flow of the presentation as a whole.

The future of this company is really exciting to listen to. Some of their future projects are a weekly television show, as stated above, as well as more educational based Hip Hop music that teaches history, mathematics and other school subjects. The company is very interactive. Their website, H3tv.com, is where they house all of their content. The website is very user friendly and has tons of information, games and videos that kids and their parents can access. As a dance instructor, I will definitely be purchasing some of their CDs. I think they give a great positive alternative to what is already out there. I enjoyed their 1 Million Cups presentation very much.

Negotiations: Featuring interview with Professional Athlete Greg Dilligard

Contract negotiations can be one of the most stressful conversations in business. However, when you’re able to hone in on a few techniques and utilize effective communication skills, one will see that you can have more successful negotiations than not. I’ve been blessed to meet a lot of entertainment, media and sports professionals throughout my life. To get an inside look on how the pros do it, I was able to reach out to a fellow Illinois State Alum.

Greg Dilligard is a professional basketball player. He currently plays for Aguada in Uruguay. He has been playing professional basketball for six years and in four different countries. He has two agents that have been helping to negotiate his various contracts throughout his career. Being a professional athlete, negotiations are a “necessary evil,” he said when we spoke via Skype.  

“I have one agent in the states and another here in South America. They both work together in the off-season to work out the best deals for me. They bring the options to me and we all figure out what the best opportunity for me will be.” Normally, the bulk of the negotiations are between the interested team’s board members, the coach and his agents. However, he was able to directly be involved in a negotiation when he wanted to leave a particular team in the middle of a season.

In this particular situation, Greg found out that the coach for the team he was playing for wanted to release him midseason in order to pick up another player. Greg contacted his agents and they started negotiations with another team that had previously showed interest in him. A verbal agreement was set and Greg made the decision that he wanted to move to that team. Before an official contract could be signed, the team he was already on set up a negotiation meeting. The coach of the team that he was already on had a change of heart. They wanted to see if they could work out a new deal to have him stay on the team. Greg and his agents were able to come into that negotiation with a best alternative to the negotiated agreement, or BATNA. Unless his current team came up with an “out of this world” offer, he was moving to the new team.

Greg and his agents did not appreciate the fact that they had to hear about the team’s original wish to release him from a third party source. They didn’t feel that it was very professional. Although Greg wasn’t very happy with his coach at the time, he was able to separate the person from the problem. He could have approached the negotiation angry and allowed emotions to control the conversation but they knew that would not contribute positively to the negotiation. The team’s offer ended up not being better than his BATNA and he was amicably released and able to sign with the new team that year.

Greg was also able to give me an interesting story where he was victim to a dirty trick during negotiations. During off-season negotiations with one team, another team became interested in him. The second team contacted the team that he was in negotiations with and asked for an injury report on him. He had fairly recently come off knee surgery but was cleared to play. The first team gave a false injury report on him in order to keep him from even starting negotiations with the second team. Greg found this out after he agreed to the play for the first team. The potential contract from the second team was actually for more money but he found out too late. One thing he and his agents learned from that situation was to always ask questions. On their end, the lines of communication closed suddenly with the second team. If they asked a few more questions, they may have been able to intercept the false injury report before signing any contracts.

Greg says that he prefers to leave the negotiations to his agents because of situations like the two he described for me. It takes a patient person to be able to look at all sides of an argument objectively and communicate in a way that will mutually benefit all parties involved. I’m grateful to have been able to speak to him regarding his personal experiences and learn from them as well.

The Side Hustle

One of the most important aspects of making money in the entertainment industry is finding ways to create multiple income streams. I like to call this having a "side hustle." With my background being in dance, one of the most seamless ways a choreographer can create new income is by creating a clothing line. Dancers and performers in general love to look good. The image is sometimes more important than your level of talent. Business wise, a choreographer’s main revenue streams are the different “jobs” or “gigs” they book. These can include, but are not limited to, choreographing for a particular stage show, commercial or movie. They can also include anytime they are invited to teach at a dance workshop such as Monsters of Hip Hop or The Pulse.

NappyTabs

 Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo are a husband and wife hip-hop dance choreography duo. They are most widely known for their work on the dance show So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew. To add to their amazing resume of choreography work, they also have their own clothing line, called NappyTabs. NappyTabs can be found on dancewear websites as well as at various dance workshops that they teach at. Nappytabs is a funky dance clothing line that caters to hip hop dancers who are looking for something stylish to wear to dance class or to even perform in.

Brian Friedman

Brian Friedman is another dancer who has made his way up the ranks to choreographer for the stars. He’s worked with Michael and Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber to name a few. He has most recently added a clothing line called “Brian Says B Free.” He played with this idea a few years ago when he partnered with a shoe company and came out with his own shoes (which I own and love). BSBFree is now branching into clothing and continuing to grow.

These are just two examples of dancers and choreographers who have decided to make a clothing line their side hustle. In the world of entertainment, one must be flexible and multi-talented. The more hats you’re able to wear, the more opportunity to make money.