bboy87 said:

Publishing and music education

If I had about $10 million, I'd buy a piece of MTV and re-launch it as a music channel like it originally was

My lineup

- 120 Minutes

- MTV Jams

- Unplugged

- UK Top 20

- Making The Video

- Headbanger's Ball

- Direct Effect

- Club MTV

- Classic MTV

- Artist Collection

and MTV Uncut (MTV's version of BET Uncut!!)

LittleBLUECorvette said:

bboy87 said:

Publishing and music education

If I had about $10 million, I'd buy a piece of MTV and re-launch it as a music channel like it originally was

My lineup

- 120 Minutes

- MTV Jams

- Unplugged

- UK Top 20

- Making The Video

- Headbanger's Ball

- Direct Effect

- Club MTV

- Classic MTV

- Artist Collection

and MTV Uncut (MTV's version of BET Uncut!!)

If I made a "Uncut" show, It would be on something like Showtime.....

bboy87 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

and MTV Uncut (MTV's version of BET Uncut!!)

If I made a "Uncut" show, It would be on something like Showtime.....

Now we're talking.

I wouldn't.

I'd invest it in ballet instead - probably the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

If I had a million dollars, the first thing I'd do is pay off all my debts. Then, I'd buy me a new car, a new house, and new furnishings. Then, I'd use the rest to pay the utility bills for as long as I could. That would last a while but it wouldn't last forever so I'd need to either invest in something or continue to work. I don't know what the hell I'd invest in though but I would want it to be something that's going to make money and the music business is a dying industry. It would have to be something I'd enjoy though and after being smart and buying myself living essentials, I wouldn't have much money left. People seem to love violence so much these days, maybe I'd find two groups of people that I can't stand, shit hop thugs and redneck hillbillies, rent a coliseum, build a ring, and sell tickets to people that want to watch them beat the hell out of each other.

If the money were to fall in my lap though and I absolutely had to blow it all on the music business, I wouldn't go near starting a record label or promoting new artists though. Music is 20 years too far gone to even attempt to try to bring it back and there's no way that little ole me could go up against the monopolized major labels and win. I mean, let's be realistic here. I'd just start a radio station right here in my area that plays nothing but the old school jams and slow jams but nothing past 1984. They wouldn't be the same old extremely popular crossover stuff that folks like Clear Channel plays over and over. They would be the popular, the obscure, and the local jams that people have heard before, but haven't heard in years. It would be mainly for my own enjoyment with hopes that it would catch on and be a success. I'd still keep my day job though, I'm not stupid.

Assuming the question is conditional upon spending it on music, I would dump the etire $1 mill in developing a better and more centralized system for artists to sell their music online. itunes could stand the competition. Also, I would examine any new direct marketing technologies to better enhance catering to a listener's tastes.

BlaqueKnight said:

I would dump the etire $1 mill in developing a better and more centralized system for artists to sell their music online. itunes could stand the competition.

vainandy said:

I'd just start a radio station right here in my area that plays nothing but the old school jams and slow jams but nothing past 1984.

I've been daydreaming about having my own radio station for years now. There's a localAM station here that was the station o listen to up unil about 1984. At that time a new FM station came along and basically took over. The old AM station has reinvented itself over the yeras, and they play ton of old school R&B gems form the 60-80s. byt they are too inconsistent. I mean, one morning I'm waking up to "The Beatiful Ones" followed by a remix of "A Love Bizzare" then Bootsy. Then the next 2 months straight they play nothing but old school blues, shit I in't NEVA heard of.

My radio station would play music past 1984, though. There ws some great stuff after that. The point is, I would play what my friends and I like to hear, that old school funk, R&B, classic hip-hop including the early and mid 90s...

vainandy said:

If I had a million dollars, the first thing I'd do is pay off all my debts. Then, I'd buy me a new car, a new house, and new furnishings. Then, I'd use the rest to pay the utility bills for as long as I could. That would last a while but it wouldn't last forever so I'd need to either invest in something or continue to work. I don't know what the hell I'd invest in though but I would want it to be something that's going to make money and the music business is a dying industry. It would have to be something I'd enjoy though and after being smart and buying myself living essentials, I wouldn't have much money left. People seem to love violence so much these days, maybe I'd find two groups of people that I can't stand, shit hop thugs and redneck hillbillies, rent a coliseum, build a ring, and sell tickets to people that want to watch them beat the hell out of each other.

If the money were to fall in my lap though and I absolutely had to blow it all on the music business, I wouldn't go near starting a record label or promoting new artists though. Music is 20 years too far gone to even attempt to try to bring it back and there's no way that little ole me could go up against the monopolized major labels and win. I mean, let's be realistic here. I'd just start a radio station right here in my area that plays nothing but the old school jams and slow jams but nothing past 1984. They wouldn't be the same old extremely popular crossover stuff that folks like Clear Channel plays over and over. They would be the popular, the obscure, and the local jams that people have heard before, but haven't heard in years. It would be mainly for my own enjoyment with hopes that it would catch on and be a success. I'd still keep my day job though, I'm not stupid.

Adisa said:

vainandy said:

I'd just start a radio station right here in my area that plays nothing but the old school jams and slow jams but nothing past 1984.

I've been daydreaming about having my own radio station for years now. There's a localAM station here that was the station o listen to up unil about 1984. At that time a new FM station came along and basically took over. The old AM station has reinvented itself over the yeras, and they play ton of old school R&B gems form the 60-80s. byt they are too inconsistent. I mean, one morning I'm waking up to "The Beatiful Ones" followed by a remix of "A Love Bizzare" then Bootsy. Then the next 2 months straight they play nothing but old school blues, shit I in't NEVA heard of.

My radio station would play music past 1984, though. There ws some great stuff after that. The point is, I would play what my friends and I like to hear, that old school funk, R&B, classic hip-hop including the early and mid 90s...

bboy87 said:

Publishing and music education

If I had about $10 million, I'd buy a piece of MTV and re-launch it as a music channel like it originally was

My lineup

- 120 Minutes

- MTV Jams

- Unplugged

- UK Top 20

- Making The Video

- Headbanger's Ball

- Direct Effect

- Club MTV

- Classic MTV

- Artist Collection

I'd watch! But....what's Direct Effect? I don't remember that program.

bboy87 said:

JoeTyler said:

in Miami, probably...

San Francisco would be a great place

oh yeah, Miami or SF, definitely

BlaqueKnight said:

Assuming the question is conditional upon spending it on music, I would dump the etire $1 mill in developing a better and more centralized system for artists to sell their music online. itunes could stand the competition. Also, I would examine any new direct marketing technologies to better enhance catering to a listener's tastes.

www.bandcamp.com

Harlepolis said:

Honestly?

Hire somebody to shoot a 2-parts documentary about black female instrumentalists from the yester years all the way to now and sell it to PBS.

It might be sound short sighted in a business sense, but it will always be there, accessible for everybody to see for the many years to come, whether for enjoyment or knowledge/reference seeking. And hell, I'll get a percentage for every time they show it,,,um,,,provided there's interest of course

YES

and i don't have an issue with Harle gettin' paid.

i know the sista will take the money and put it right back producing more films about women in music.

Depends on your aim.

Do you invest to get profit?

Do you invest to feel good about yourself. being soooo altruistic?

Do you believe music stands for something else that you believe in and want to support?

Do you mind when your million goes up in flames, either due to no-profit or no-benefit-for-aimed-good-cause?

For me the music business would be not on my top list to invest any money in. Neither for profit, neither for a philantropic whim. (not that I even could miss 1$, My own bankaccount would be a good cause )

Militant said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Assuming the question is conditional upon spending it on music, I would dump the etire $1 mill in developing a better and more centralized system for artists to sell their music online. itunes could stand the competition. Also, I would examine any new direct marketing technologies to better enhance catering to a listener's tastes.

www.bandcamp.com

That's pretty cool, Militant. Thanks. Are the creators/ staff friends of yours?

Militant said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Assuming the question is conditional upon spending it on music, I would dump the etire $1 mill in developing a better and more centralized system for artists to sell their music online. itunes could stand the competition. Also, I would examine any new direct marketing technologies to better enhance catering to a listener's tastes.

www.bandcamp.com

I know about bandcamp, reverbnation and a whole host of others. Most of them lack charm. The layout is kinda clumsy and unappealing.

A sleek design that makes the users want to be there along with a strong marketing campaign could create a more centralized environment that welcomes users as well as artists. Something that is to mp3s what youtube is to video. MySpace was that for a while but we all knw what happened there...

We need a MySpace for the 10s that would attract everyone and not just artists looking to hock their wares.

Adisa said:

Militant said:

www.bandcamp.com

That's pretty cool, Militant. Thanks. Are the creators/ staff friends of yours?

Yes, actually! But I was using it, talking it up to my friends and whatnot before I became friends with Ethan who is the visionary behind it.

Long story short - I've been doing guest lectures at Birmingham City University for a while through my friend Sam who is a Professor there. He introduced me to Andrew Dubber who is one of the leading music industry lecturers in the world and also teaches at BCU. So as it turns out, an e-book that Andrew wrote called "The 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online", was the inspiration for Ethan to create Bandcamp - and now Andrew sits on the board of directors. We shot a quick video of me, Andrew and Martin Atkins (Invisible Records/Public Image Ltd/Ministry/Killing Joke/Nine Inch Nails/Pigface) discussing Bandcamp and it's on YouTube. So I emailed it to Ethan and we've been cool since! And to bring it full circle - he's a Prince fan and the first concert he ever saw was on the Purple Rain tour

It really is an incredible platform and I'm happy to see it becoming so popular - as it was in it's infancy when I first began using it myself and now there's all sorts of well known artists using it. They've managed to scale incredibly well and are still innovating, too.

Here's my page on there - http://music.s-endz.com

Militant said:

Adisa said:

That's pretty cool, Militant. Thanks. Are the creators/ staff friends of yours?

Yes, actually! But I was using it, talking it up to my friends and whatnot before I became friends with Ethan who is the visionary behind it.

Long story short - I've been doing guest lectures at Birmingham City University for a while through my friend Sam who is a Professor there. He introduced me to Andrew Dubber who is one of the leading music industry lecturers in the world and also teaches at BCU. So as it turns out, an e-book that Andrew wrote called "The 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online", was the inspiration for Ethan to create Bandcamp - and now Andrew sits on the board of directors. We shot a quick video of me, Andrew and Martin Atkins (Invisible Records/Public Image Ltd/Ministry/Killing Joke/Nine Inch Nails/Pigface) discussing Bandcamp and it's on YouTube. So I emailed it to Ethan and we've been cool since! And to bring it full circle - he's a Prince fan and the first concert he ever saw was on the Purple Rain tour

It really is an incredible platform and I'm happy to see it becoming so popular - as it was in it's infancy when I first began using it myself and now there's all sorts of well known artists using it. They've managed to scale incredibly well and are still innovating, too.

Here's my page on there - http://music.s-endz.com

Cool, and congrats on the solo release!

Hey Militant, I would just like to add that I think bandcamp is a very good site for artists. From the perspective of the artist, it gives you everything you need to be up and rolling and building a web presence.

From the perspective of a consumer, well...that's where the problems come in. Its just not interesting-looking and that aspect needs to be explored if its going to become a more centralized type of site for music consumers.

That's all I was saying. I didn't mean to sound crass about the site. I think its a good concept. In time, it may turn into a great one.

BlaqueKnight said:

Hey Militant, I would just like to add that I think bandcamp is a very good site for artists. From the perspective of the artist, it gives you everything you need to be up and rolling and building a web presence.

From the perspective of a consumer, well...that's where the problems come in. Its just not interesting-looking and that aspect needs to be explored if its going to become a more centralized type of site for music consumers.

That's all I was saying. I didn't mean to sound crass about the site. I think its a good concept. In time, it may turn into a great one.

Right now as far as platforms that actually sell music - I don't think there's anything better from a consumer perspective. iTunes is fucking horrible - slow, clumsy, requires software, requires cables to sync to any device, is completely bloated with crap that nobody uses Ping, there's little-to-no options for anyone that may want anything other than their standard crappy m4u file.....

As far as consumers I think that can and should be up the artist to provide a great, community web presence. Bandcamp can be fully integrated into your website... if you have a really well designed web presence with social network connectivity (ie people can login and comment via FB, or Twitter, etc) and you use Bandcamp to power your music downloads then I don't see a problem.

If you take a look at my bands website - that's basically what I'm trying to do right there. It's not all the way there yet but it's looking good, Bandcamp powers the player/sales, there's a good design and I'll be adding heavier integration with other places soon like Tumblr, etc. Take a look - http://www.swamimusic.com

[Edited 5/27/11 7:49am]

Usability for costumers is the pivotal factor for succes of e-commerce.

Adisa said:

What would you do?

Music education?

Publishing?

Record label?

Concert promotion?

Artist development or talent agent?

Recording studio or new recording technology?

Retail?

Distribution?

Instrument manufacturer?

Other stuff?

Fostering new talent...that's what I'd do!

HotGritz said:

bboy87 said:

Publishing and music education

If I had about $10 million, I'd buy a piece of MTV and re-launch it as a music channel like it originally was

My lineup

- 120 Minutes

- MTV Jams

- Unplugged

- UK Top 20

- Making The Video

- Headbanger's Ball

- Direct Effect

- Club MTV

- Classic MTV

- Artist Collection

I'd watch! But....what's Direct Effect? I don't remember that program.

Direct Effect was a hip hop/R&B countdown show that MTV aired after TRL from '99 to maybe 2003. I think Sway was the host

bboy87 said:

HotGritz said:

I'd watch! But....what's Direct Effect? I don't remember that program.

Direct Effect was a hip hop/R&B countdown show that MTV aired after TRL from '99 to maybe 2003. I think Sway was the host

I remembered that.

I'd cut that "UK Top 20" show bboy. The UK charts are fucking pointless.

Just a random shuffling of the Billboard charts with the odd awful cheesy UK act like Take That lol.

Militant said:

I'd cut that "UK Top 20" show bboy. The UK charts are fucking pointless.

Just a random shuffling of the Billboard charts with the odd awful cheesy UK act like Take That lol.

What about the UKG or Drum and Bass charts on 1Xtra? I'd make a show for artists that are UK exclusive and highlight them

I just checked the top 40 chart on 1Xtra's site.... only 15 are UK exclusive

I'd take those 15 and only show them I'd do a show for J-Pop artists too

Militant said:

I'd cut that "UK Top 20" show bboy. The UK charts are fucking pointless.

Just a random shuffling of the Billboard charts with the odd awful cheesy UK act like Take That lol.

Am I the only one who thinks that band was only popular because of their videos where they were either nude, shirtless or wet? It seems like every Take That video prior to their initial breakup they were in some form of undress, or wet or totally buff.

They were like the UK's grown man answer to New Kids on the Block.