Below are new photos I took in my studio. Clients were very happy and I didn’t spend more than 15 minutes on the Artist. Gave him a direction and got a pose out of him.
Check out some of my songs that I’ve produced and wrote along with some other songwriters. The songs are up for sale as references for placements and licensing opportunities. If there are any interest in my records on the business level, please do email me. Thank you.
PS: Some songs will be available as is via iTunes for download very soon. Stay tuned and check back as the download links will be available.
Hey Everyone,
Since it’s the holidays and I know everyone is on a budget. I’m giving a holiday discount for portrait photographs. It’s $100 for 2 looks, 4 edited pictures, and all unedited photos I took for that session. If you’re interested, please email me at khoa.le@kvibe.com. You’ll get the pictures within 2 days. This is only temporary until after new years.
It’s probably been said over and over. But you know, there’s still not enough discussion about it. So I’ll write my opinion about what I think of the Major Labels and why I see them failing if they are not going to change their tactics right now.
First of all, Major’s shot themselves in the foot for producing great singles and terrible albums in the past. They forced people to buy albums for 1 or 2 songs that they liked on the album. Now the tides changed where people have more control on what they want to buy and not buy. They don’t need to buy albums, but can download singles. Well, if Majors got it right in the beginning or stopped taking advantage of what they knew was happening, then maybe people would be buying albums and not be pissed off for making them buy terrible albums just for 1 great single. Fully albums should be expected to have quality songs.
Anyways, they set no “real” standards for the industry. There were no standard pay rates, no unions to help fight for those who are trying to break into the industry, and so much conflict of interest. They had “Uneducated” A&R’s working for Majors that couldn’t even type a damn professional e-mail. For someone that is professional, I expect someone would be able to write in complete sentences. So already, major labels have uneducated staff members to help run their business. Their ethics are poor, at least most that I’ve encountered, and were probably taking advantage of their network and contacts for their own self-interest and purposes.
In the corporate world, there are rules and regulations with regards to conflict of interest. And trust me, those rules and regulations were enforced and those who got caught, regretted it! Well in the music industry, it’s the wild wild west. Anything goes. They set their own pay rates. If you were unknown in anything, you are expected to do it for free until you get lucky with one great opportunity. Almost like a little rat looking for a crack in the dark to escape.
The industry is designed in a certain way for people to fail miserably. What if a music producer had to have a masters degree in music in order to “present” music to the major labels? What if an Artist had to go through a certain certification to get access to certain things and certain people that can help boost their career? Maybe it’s dumb, maybe it’s not. But if we had certain standards like what we have in any other damn industry like Medical, Law, Finance, and etc, maybe just maybe there would be consistency and people who have a passion for something can get into an industry that is reliable where any talented person with skills can make a living off their work, instead of having to work another job that’s consistent and reliable to support their passion. Right now, we have any JO that makes a beat think he is a “producer”. LoL….well that’s another blog
Now is the time to change. With the declines in revenue, quality, and so forth, why not go for it? Thoughts and opinions?
I had forwarded the link to a few buddies of mine which I won’t reveal, but I had an email conversation with someone about the post I had put up yesterday (read yesterday’s post). I think he hit the nail on the head when he replied to me that the Article tells him that it is a dying industry and it sucks to be a producer and songwriter. Here is the conversation:
Anonymous: What it tells you is that producing is a lousy business – especially for hip hop.
Me: Basically. And it tells you that you really need a hit record to go anywhere. But it also tells you that you need to have a lot of passion to be in it.
Anonymous: Unfortunately it is a passion and no longer a way to make a living at your passion. It tells you that it is a dying industry that barely functions by not paying people.
When the market can no longer support full time producers and professional song writers you wind up with songs no one wants to buy. But as the tide turns it will be acts and musical groups that survive due to touring – everything else will be incidental.
I think the key will be finding new ways to monetize your songs – the traditional methods really don’t support making a living. Even at say 40K a song – how many can you sell per year? Say at your peak it is say 10 0r 20 a year – major acts make that in a week.
I still think the only way to make $ is the 360 deals – they just have to be well funded.
Me: You make a great a point. I think I want to blog this topic. I think its realized, but I think many are in denial still thus not fully expressing their opinions and complaints. Not sure what that would do but I don’t read too many talking about it.
Thoughts and feedback are always welcome. Please add me to facebook and follow me on twitter.
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Below is a brief description of what the producer’s have to endure from the business aspect of the game. The A&R who wrote this Article is “Conrad Dimanche”. He talks about “producer contracts, up-front/back end fees, royalties, technology and everything else in between.”
Here’s a brief description of what he has to say:
Ok let’s get right into it. Once the track is confirmed to be on the artist album what happens next?
Well first we have to go into negotiation and come to an agreement on how much the track or the song is going to cost. How much the label is going to pay for the track depends on who the producer is and what caliber of producer he/she is. When I say caliber I’m not referring to how dope they are but their track record as far as singles hitting the charts. You have some producers that have been in the game for over ten years but they’ve always had album cuts only. It doesn’t mean too much, just because you’ve been in the game for 10 years and have been on 20 albums doesn’t mean you automatically have the right to charge $40,000 a track. You have producers that have been in the game for 15 years and are still getting $12k-15k a track because they can always give you that dope album cut but it’s the singles that really make your price rate jump up.
Understood, so after the price is agreed on what’s the next step?
So lets say the cost is $5k and everybody is good with that, the producer then submits an invoice for $5,000 and before they get paid they have to sign what is called a ‘producer declaration’ which is also called a ‘work for hire’ or in some cases the producer will sign a deal memo. Before they get paid the producer is agreeing that they’re not going to sell that particular track to anyone else. The whole point of the producer signing the producer declaration is to get the first half payment. The agreement is simple, usually one sheet and within 30 days of signing the producer should receive the front end which in this case would be $2,500.
At this point has the producer turned over the music files to the label?
I like to let everyone know that I’ve officially signed with Hitclub Entertainment (www.hitclubentertainment.com). They are a management / production company and they will help bring my career to the next level in entertainment from a wide range in music and film. To brief everyone on their recent activities, one of the writers on the team “Lonny Bereal” received 4 grammy nominations as well as 4 song placements on the latest “Chris Brown” album.
I’m also please to announce that my short film “Denial” has been accepted to the New York International Indie Film Festival and BCB Productions International Film Festival in Las Vegas. Still waiting for a few more notices on other festivals.
Please check out their discography at www.hitclubentertainment.com. Also please be sure to add me to facebook and send me a comment or message.
Back in end of may when I invested into my Canon 5d Mark II, I never would have thought I would get a film done. But with persistence, adrenaline, excitement, and motivation, I was able to complete my first short film titled “DENIAL”. I directed, produced, scored, edited, DP’ed, and wrote along with 2 others named Joe Nunez and Zebretta Johnson.
It was a great learning experience. I learned that you really can knock 10 birds with 1 stone. It was not easy as I must have put massive hours to educate myself of all the technicalities and approach to the business. But it was sure worth it.
Now that I can do photography, be a film maker, a songwriter, a record producer, an engineer, and I guess an Actor, I can finally feel confident about my company Kvibe Productions being a 1 stop and shop Media company. I understand that some may view it as a jack of all trades, but my work speaks for itself. If you enjoy looking at my Film or looking at my photography work or listening to my music, then I did the job on getting quality content to the audience.
Now, how do I take all that content and make a profit out of it? Well, I’m still crawling but I’m reaching to the point where I can finally walk as new ideas and marketing strategies I developed has come into the light. While I work on my next short film and featured film, my music projects, and my photography projects, the marketing strategy I have will change how an Independent Artist in the entertainment industry can market themselves with a low budget to create new opportunities for their career. That’s my goal and I’m sticking to that goal.
Please add me on facebook and send me comments.
Khoa Le
Hello everyone, I wanted to put a blog announcement of my wedding photography services. I updated my website with a pricing’s page.
You may also click on this link “Pricings” to view the packages. Also, there are pricing pages for portrait shots as well for non-wedding events. Please do contact me if there are any questions.
Khoa
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Margaret: that’s awesome khoa.... Khoa Le: Hi Ivy, you can email me at... Ivy: $500 is for one beat or entire CD ? I’d... Godyquopoff: Hello, I am new to this forum so this... nobody: not to start any fights but becoming an...