New Rules:No Rules

Last week Jay-Z shook up the music industry once again when he announced he would be dropping a new album July 4^th entitled Magna Carta Holy Grail. The album will be the 12^th from the Brooklyn rapper. Jay-Z has transcended from music superstar to successful businessman. In announcing the album a little over two weeks before its release, the artist formerly known as Shawn Carter has adopted a strategy of new rules: no rules.

Jay-Z partnered with Samsung earlier this month in a deal reportedly set to earn Jay-Z $20 million. The parameters of the deals were unclear, but the signs of something bigger brewing were certainly present. The announcement of the new album came at halftime of the NBA Finals this past Sunday. The announcement came in the form of 3-minute Samsung commercial featuring producers Timbaland, Pharell Williams, Rick Rubin, and Swizz Beatz.

To add to the release of the new album, Samsung sweetens the deal for a million of its users. Samsung will giveaway a million digital copies of the album away free via the Google play app. It has been reported that Samsung paid Jay-Z $5 per album that is given away for free. With the stir of Jay-Z selling a million albums before it is even released, rumors swirled of the album going platinum in an unprecedented way,

With swirls of the album going platinum so fast emerging, a spokesperson from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) confirmed that albums are only eligible for RIAA certification 30 days after release. Billboard also reached out to explain that albums bought in bulk are not counted.

Jay-Z seems to be getting a kick out of the confusion amongst the masses. On June 17^th Jay-Z tweeted “ If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard doesn’t report it, did it happen? Ha. ‪#newrules ‪#magnacartaholygrail Platinum!!! VII IV XIII”

With the sudden announcements Jay-Z has turned the marketing strategies of releasing music upside down. With Jay-Z’s every moved watched he continues to push the envelope and use his business acumens to achieve success within the music industry. There is no song on the radio, no press tour to fill us in on what the album is about. We get information in doses, leaving us in anticipation for the next thing. Jay-Z even recently sent fans on a scavenger hunt to reveal the tracklist of the upcoming album. An act that can only be orchestrated by an artist such as Shawn Carter. 

The Spirit Of Competition

The hip-hop culture has long been driven by the lifestyle of the urban inner cities and the competition of sport.  Measuring success in hip-hop is vastly subjective. You could simply look at album sales as the barometer, but the culture and the sport of hip-hop has advanced far beyond just album sales. Yet and still we checkout the Billboard charts every Tuesday to check for which artist sold the most that week. In hip-hop going head to head, and releasing albums on the same day is the closet you will get to a Sunday during the football season. 

This past week was arguably the biggest weak in hip-hop so far in 2013. Superstar Kanye West released his seventh studio album entitled Yeezus, rising star J. Cole released his second album Born Sinner, and independent star Mac Miller released his second album Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Each artist has achieved levels of success within the music industry and as they prepared for their released dates each artist took a vastly different approach in their marketing campaign. 

Kanye West, always known for his ability to command the spotlight took control of Twitter on May 2nd when he simply tweeted "June 18th.  After confirmation of the tweet being the release date of his new album, Kanye then took it up a notch and simulcast the release of his music video for the song "New Slaves" in 66 locations across the globe. Kanye also garnered attention for the artwork (or lack thereof) for Yeezus. With announcement of the album coming only a month and a half before its release, and a marketing campaign that lacked a lead single from the album, Kanye pushed the limit of simplicity with his moves. 

J. Cole, the 28-year-old Roc Nation artist shook up things when he announced his album would be pushed up a week to compete directly with Kanye West. A student of the game, Cole explained his reasoning for the release date move up saying " I worked too hard to come a week later after Kanye West drops an amazing album. It'd be like, 'Oh and J. Cole dropped too, a week later.' Nah. I'm going to go see him on that date. He's the greatest. So it's like, I'm a competitor by nature so it was instant, it wasn't even a thought”. Cole also released a Born Sinner series of vlogs leading up to the release of his album. The vlogs included commentary from Kendrick Lamar to his mother Kay Cole. He is currently in the midst of a 10 city "Dollar & a Dream" promo tour. Each cities venue will be kept private until the day of the show, with show admittance only costing $1. Cole really made sure to appeal to the emotions of his fan base with his marketing strategy.

Mac Miller, made waves with his independent album debuting at #1 on the Billboard charts in 2011. The 21 year old from Pittsburgh has amassed a tremendous independent following. Miller capitalized off his success with the premier of his MTV reality show "Mac Miller and The Most Dope Family" in February. Mac Miller has used the show as a major vessel to garner attention towards the album as the show follows Mac and his crew adjusting to life in Los Angeles. Mac Miller constantly grows his fan base through grassroots of shows within the college market as well. 

Three different artist, three different marketing strategies, three different levels of success. The competition of hip-hop forces me to tell you that it's projected for Kanye West to debut with the highest selling week, with a reported 380,000 units sold. J. Cole is projected to sell around 300,000 and independent artist Mac Miller is projected to sell roughly 100,000, no small feat for an independent artist. 

As hip-hop evolves we are seeing that the marketing of projects vastly differ in style. In the 90's and even early to mid 2000's most artist would follow the same media path and release a pattern of music to drum up support for their music. Now artist are using approaches that fit to their specific niche. Whether thru projecting videos across the world or starring in your own reality show, hip-hop music continues to grow as a culture. 

Interview With Shanay Ball

I had the pleasure of having a sit down with entertainment lawyer from Philadelphia Shanay Ball.

Shanay has a background in pharmaceutical product development from West Chester University. She has a law degree with a concentration in Intellectual Property law from Drexel University. Shanay works for Johnson Matthey Inc. as associate counsel. She has been there for 3 years and primarily does contract, patent, trademark and licensing work. Her entertainment clients are private clients but the type of work she does includes: contracts, trademarks and licensing with the addition of copyright work. Shanay did not figure she would be practicing in entertainment law until she was in law school.

Checkout my interview with Shanay as we discuss various topics concerning entertainment law.

What made you want to get into entertainment law?

I love the entertainment business...I would have been an entertainer myself, except I didn't stick to my piano or voice lessons as a child. All jokes aside, my intellectual property classes got me through law school; they helped me to find an area of law I liked and could see myself practicing.

Explain your role and in what capacity do you assist entertainers/entertainment companies build their brands legally?

As pertains to entertainment, I primarily do contract, copyright and trademark work.

What are some important things that entertainers should be doing to make sure they are covering themselves legally?

Be wary of signing a contract given to you. More often than not, that contract will be in favor of the party who wrote it, not you. Also, know what you are signing. Don't be afraid to negotiate and don't be afraid to walk away. Lastly, be sure to legally protect what it yours.

What is the best part about practicing entertainment law?

There is a broad range of issues from contract drafting and negotiation, trademarks, copyrights, licensing, etc. Never a dull moment. 

What’s the worst part about practicing entertainment law?

It's difficult to come into a situation later or at the end and have to try to make the best out of a bad deal. 

Tell me some common mistakes entertainers make in regards to liabilities

1. Infringement of others' intellectual property

2. Breaching contracts - many violate the terms of their agreement because they do not know what is in the agreement they sign. 

At what point should an entertainer seek out an entertainment lawyer?

At the very beginning, especially before you negotiate and/or sign anything.

How important to you is social media in developing a legal career? Have social networks helped you in your career?

It is very important for visibility as a solo attorney or an attorney working for a firm. It is a good way to generate business. I haven't used social media much to promote my legal career - I work full time as in-house counsel for a corporation and the extra business I have outside of that keeps me beyond busy. If I ever decide to have my own firm, I would use social networking. 

What's some advice that you would give to anyone looking to break into the music entertainment industry?

Network and make connections. Like any other business, who you know can be very valuable. Also, make the investment to have an attorney involved early on in the process - it can save a lot of time and money in the future. It also makes sure you have someone with your best interests involved to get you the best results possible.