More Media Changes: Vibe Magazine Salaries Slashed, 4-day Work Weeks

According to Folio.com, Vibe Media announced a sweeping series of changes it says will position the company for survival and, allow the brand to salvage its print magazine without layoffs.

Among the changes: Beginning March 1, staffers will be asked to work four days per week, and have their salaries slashed 10 to 15 percent, according to a Vibe spokesperson.

“While numerous other media companies (Time Inc, Condé Nast, Meredith and Hearst) have closed titles completely and laid off staff to cut costs,” the company said. “VMG has taken a smarter and more thoughtful approach to workforce adjustments.”

Vibe will cut its guaranteed rate base 25 percent in July to 600,000 copies (down from 800,000). The monthly magazine is also trimming its frequency to 10 times per year.

The company also plans to launch a-yet-to-be-named “urban celebrity” tabloid in December. That magazine will be published twice-yearly.

Elliot Wilson launches Huffington Post-esque Website with Eminem Manager Paul Rosenberg

According to Dylan Stableford at Folio.com, former XXL editor Elliott Wilson is preparing to launch RapRadar, a Web site he hopes will eventually be a Huffington Post-like destination for hip-hop music fans and, perhaps, a print magazine. First, though, he says, he wants to develop a voice that has been lacking among Web sites that cover rap—that is, something akin to Perez Hilton.

The New York-based site is slated to go live March 9.

When it does, RapRadar will enter a highly-competitive category—with established Web sites including AllHipHop.com, SOHH.com and upstarts like NahRight covering the space alongside MTV, Billboard, the Source and even XXLmag.com, which Wilson launched during his XXL tenure.

“There are a lot of sites out there that do news, and a lot do gossip,” Wilson told FOLIO:. “But not a lot of them can put it into the proper context, where it’s journalism versus pure gossip. I want to raise the bar journalistically. The public is hungry for both.”

Once the ad-supported site is up and running, Wilson plans to invite artists and producers to post entries, Huffington Post-style. “If Jay-Z wants to express his feelings about Obama, there’s not really a forum where he can do that right now,” he said. (Wilson’s Soul of a Hustler, an authorized biography of Jay-Z, is scheduled to published in Spring 2010 by Atria/Simon & Schuster.)

The venture is being backed by Paul Rosenberg, Eminem’s manager with whom Wilson launched Makavelliott LLC. “But this isn’t gonna be an Eminem fan site,” Wilson said.

Wilson—whose wife, Danyel Smith, is the editorial director of Vibe—still thinks rap magazines are viable, and is hoping Rap Radar will eventually make its way to print.

“If you’re a magazine, in this climate, you have to prove your value,” Wilson said. “You are looking at your editorial staff of 10 or 15 people saying, ‘Who are the seven people I can keep and still put out a magazine?’”

Wilson added: “Right now, the goal is to build a brand.”

For those who missed the Zion I record release party last Tuesday at 330 Ritch in San Francisco, it kicked major ass. Pictured are MCs Deuce Eclipse and Zumbi (of Zion I) and me for a STASH magazine shot. If you want to hear one of the best hip-hop albums of 2009, be sure to cop the TakeOver.And, if you want to see one of the best live hip-hop shows ever, check Zion I coming to a town near you.

Rap Sessions 2009 Coming to a City Near You

Critically-acclaimed author Bakari Kitwana partners with the Harvard University-based think tank The Jamestown Project to announce a national tour that seeks to answer the question, “Is America Really Post-Racial?

Targeting the hip-hop generation that helped build early support for America’s first Black president, these interactive townhall meetings debate the extent to which young Americans have opened a new chapter in American race relations. Beginning in February 2009, Rap Sessions’ community dialogues will convene in ten cities across the United States. Panelists include: Tricia Rose (Brown University Africana Studies professor and author of four books including The Hip-Hop Wars); Jabari Asim (Editor of The NAACP magazine, The Crisis, and author of What Obama Means), Stephanie Robinson, Esq. (president and CEO of The Jamestown Project and author of Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise), MC Serch (host of VH-1 reality shows The White Rapper Show and Miss Rap Supreme) and activist Lisa Fager-Bediako (founder and president of Industry Ears, Inc.).

For more information about Rap Sessions, click here.
February
18th: Little Rock, AR
23rd: Knoxville, TN

March
13th: Boston, MA
24th: Cleveland, OH
31st: Anchorage, AK

April
10th: Auburn, AL
15th: Champaign, IL
16th Chicago, IL
17th: Minneapolis, MN
22nd: Los Angeles, CA

The Grouch and Eligh Release "Say G&E" this April

Legendary Music is getting ready to release The Grouch and Eligh's SAY G&E! On the 14-track collection, The Grouch teams up once again with fellow Living Legends member and producer, Eligh, for a perfect balance of straightforward wordplay and high-concept rhymes. The duo’s third collaboration, SAY G&E!, features notable guests: Slug of Atmosphere, Pigeon John, Gift of Gab, Mistah F.A.B., Sage Francis, Mystic, and LA’s latest sensation, Blu, along with guest beat production from Flying Lotus, super-producer Rick Rock, and Zion I’s Amp Live, who’s received major blogospheric activity for his Radiohead guerilla remix project.

Oakland's Zion I Hold Remix Contest

As part of their plan to takeover the airwaves in 2009, the Oakland duo Zion I invite heads to create a new version of the electro-inspired track, "DJ DJ," from their February album The TakeOver. The contest uses an innovative new widget from MixMatchMusic that gives fans access to the stems, or individual parts that make up “DJ DJ." What's more, MixMatch Music provides a basic production interface with remixing software built right in so you can remix within your own browser. You can even embed favorite versions on various social networks. Upload the track to the widget and vote. And then tell your friends to vote!

Zion I will choose three of their favorite remixes for a variety of prizes including placement of the song on their website, merchandise, autographed CDs, etc.

"The MixMatchMusic technology is dope," explains Zumbi, Zion I's emcee. "The best part is that we can interact with fans now in a way we never could before."

Deadline for submissions is March 1, 2009. Register at MixMatchMusic.com

Shaina's Latest Thoughts: Does Math Matter?

Shaina here, Nicole's mentee. My topic today is FINAL EXAMS!!!!! What a bummer. With math, like what does math do for you? Well, I'd love to know because with everything that's going on with our economy, WHO HIRED THOSE LOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!??? Anyway, back on the subject: why do we need math anyway, other than addition, subtraction, and division (rarely multiplication). Tell me, do you use math in your daily life? Because I think it's unnecessary and a waste of time, but that's my opinion. I'm just a 12-year old who gets A's in history! What do I know?

A New Music Model: What Every Artist Must Know

The invention of the mp3 and Napster (aka the digital revolution) has turned the music industry upside down, leaving music execs and artists scrambling to make dollars and sense of it all. This is the subject of Rolling Stone writer Steve Knopper's latest book Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. "Gone are the days when you had no choice but to depend on Sony to discover you, get you onto the radio, and make you a mega-star," explains Knopper when I asked him a few questions about the current state of the business.

"The upside to this," Knopper notes, "is that an artist today can break more easily than ever before. A band's success,” he adds, “is only limited to how aggressive and creative they are at marketing their music." He offers websites, My space, and You tube as examples of ways of getting noticed.

But the clients I work with want to know, with CD sales on the rapid decline, how do you make money? "It's all about promoting yourself creatively and then selling something on the back end," notes Knopper. “You reel people in with free tracks, a mixtape or a live show, and then you sell your music.”

Knopper adds that acts can go to outlets like Tune core, where there’s a nominal fee to put any track on I tunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and other digital distribution outlets.

It's the concert model (which it was the way it used to be), says Knopper, that all artists must conform to, even Madonna. “Concerts are the only format not threatened by illegal downloading. "If you can get people into your shows, you can sell vinyl, CDs, and merchandise.”

Knopper is the eternal optimist, believing the sky's the limit for new acts. “There are more tools in an artist's toolbox than ever before. Perfect your live show. Play local shows and go out on the road and build a fan base slowly,” says the writer who, lest you think is an out of touch journalist, has his own band called The Propane Daisies and has had to play gigs in Denver for four people like everyone else.

He also adds that going beyond the usual My space, You tube viral campaigns by doing something that will grab people's attention. Finally, he suggests, look at an artist such as Secondhand Serenade, who has been extremely successful at marketing himself--and make that a blueprint for your band."

All of this, of course, begs the question: Will major labels become extinct? “There will always be major labels for the Beyonces of the world,” believes Knopper, “But maybe only one or two. I anticipate some day Apple merging with EMI. Now that's gonna be wild.”

Fourth Annual PAID DUES FESTIVAL Announces Line-Up

Once again the hip-hop tour PAID DUES brings fans a solid line up of acts to this year's festival. 09's headliners include Murs, Atmosphere, Tech N9NE, Living Legends, The Grouch and Eligh, among others. This year's event will on Saturday March 28 at the NOS Events center in San Bernardino, CA.

Ballin PR featured in STASH magazine

Stash, a hip-hop magazine based in San Francisco, CA., featured none other than Ballin PR in a recent issue. Click here to read the entire article and to learn more about me (pictured with hip-hop duo Zion I) and the inner-workings of pr--what to know, how the media landscape is changing, and questions to ask a prospective publicist.

Atlantic Magazine Asks: Is it the End of White America?

This month's Atlantic magazine has a fascinating cover story on America's white identity crisis, where music journalist and social critic Hua Hsu poses the question: what will a post white America look like?

Hsu writes, "As a purely demographic matter, 'white America' may cease to exist in 2040, 2050, or 2060, or later still. But where he culture is concerned, it's already all but finished." Read this article.

Bay Area's Conscious Daughters Return with The Nutcracker Suite

These days, women MCs are almost non-existent in hip-hop. Enter the Conscious Daughters (remember the '93 track Fonky Expedition?) and their new album, The Nutcracker Suite. Hardcore street poet veterans with triple O.G. status in the game, the Daughters have proven themselves over time to be as cold as they come, fusing street knowledge with messages of empowerment from a distinctly female point of view that can only be described as refreshing in the middle of the testosterone-fest that hip-hop has become. All hail the Queens.

The Nutcracker Suite touches on it all - black-on-black crime, domestic violence, the trials of single motherhood, and the need for unity and sisterhood. It features production by Paris, Rick Rock, One Drop Scott and others, with guest appearances by Paris, Mystic, Marvaless, T-K.A.S.H. and more.

With female voices all but absent in today's hip-hop climate, the time has never been more right for strong women's voices to be heard. Guerrilla Funk will continue to keep pushin', releasing material of substance in the face of adversity, and hopefully rewarding those who seek more from their entertainment.

Hit me up at nik@ballinpr.com for more info on the Conscious Daughters and their new record.

Blast From the Past: Rasco's Take It Back Home Video: How Cool Is This?

My Biggie Painting by Pop Artist Howie Green

This cool painting that adorns my office is by artist Howie Green of Boston, MA. Green's art, while mainstream, has been featured in over 30 solo and group shows and he has painted more than 20 murals and public art projects. Howie has won over 40 awards for his work for International clients including Sun Life Financial, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Coca-Cola, CBS Television, LL Bean, PBS and others. Howie's portrait 'Madonna Smoking' is featured in the British art Book "Madonna in Art" by Mem Mehmet.

Green also recently painted a portrait of rap superstar Biggie Smalls for the cover of the tribute album "Unbelievable" along with artists Tupac, Outkast, and Eminem. To contact Howie Green: 617.308.6472 or howie_green@hotmail.com.

A Brooklyn Label Exec Talks Piracy

Since the issue of CD piracy has struck a cord with the readers of this blog, I talked to one other expert in the field, Director of Digital Marketing, Stephen Bolles, at Gold Dust Records (People Under the Stairs, Zion I, Large Pro, among others) in Brooklyn. Having been on both sides of the issue, as a writer and on the label end, Bolles explains there's no easy answer.

NB: What's your stand on the issue of sending full length promo CDs to press 3- 4 months ahead of time?

SB: There isn't a perfect median between the needs of both sides. Press lead times keep getting longer and longer, so in order to get material into issues when the record's still fresh, writers need to have access to the music months in advance. Obviously, it sucks to have to write about something you haven't heard in full (and this happens a lot, too) so a means for writers to hear the full album is a necessity. At the same time though, it's a GUARANTEE that the album is going to end up on the internet shortly after full CDs are circulated to the press. It's usually not even malicious, just people ripping the CD and putting it in a folder that they forget is shared on a file sharing service, or making a rapidshare link and sending to some folks and it ends up on a blog, or whatever. But it's an inevitability, and once something gets out online, the time and energy it takes to try to combat its spreading is usually more trouble than it does good. And I've seen firsthand, albums circulating online months before it's available to be purchased in any form really does hurt an album's sales, and even it's buzz.

NB: What has Gold Dust done to prevent illegal downloading with respect to promo CDs?

SB: What we've been doing is putting together CD promos for the press that feature five full-length tracks, and snippets (usually 30 seconds or so) of the remaining tracks. We then have a password protected streaming player that's available on request for people who would like to hear the whole thing, and a limited quantity of watermarked full length CDs (though these can be really expensive) whose content is traceable back to the original person to whom it was sent if it turns up online or wherever.

NB: Have you found it to be successful?

SB: For the most part this has been the most successful middle ground we've been able to come up with. People can get a good impression of the album, and if they want to hear more there are ways to. There are still a couple of problems though. Writers are flooded with so much music at all times that adding hoops for them to jump through (such as requesting a streaming player or a watermarked CD) in order to hear a full album can hurt your chances of coverage, especially with artists that don't have a long standing reputation or strong following. Also, streaming music (even at high fidelity) isn't really the best way to listen to music. Ideally people could have a chance to listen to music however they like (in their cars or on their IPODS or whatever) and this kind of takes that opportunity away. One other thing is that with high profile projects, even limiting the full tracks sent out to five can be problematic. Obviously you want people to hear the strongest tracks so they get excited about the record, but if all the potential singles get leaked on Nah Right or OnSmash or wherever before they're even available digitally, there's a lot less incentive for folks to check them out when they hit digital retailers, which is where the bulk of our singles business is these days. So it's not a perfect system. But it still beats annoying drops, and really, why would you want someone who is supposed to be listening critically to your output to have to sit through someone yelling "Album in-stores blahblahblah" every two minutes?