By Kyva Holman

As a recording artist, it’s extremely difficult for me to wrap my mind around the shake-up the music industry has undergone over the last few years and what it will eventually mean to me.  Sweeping and evidently permanent shifts in production, distribution and marketing have left so many of us stroking our brows, half-disbelieving what our eyes and ears are telling us.  With CD sales plummeting, digital sales soaring and bands needing to self promote and maintain constant contact with their fans, we are looking at a very different type of ballgame these days.  

I spend a lot of time thinking about music – every imaginable aspect of it.  Apparently, so does Scott Kleper.  Riding the train in the morning, he, like me, observed many of his fellow commuters listening to iPods, each in their own little world.  He started wondering how connected these people truly felt to the songs they were listening to.  As an enthusiastic fan himself, he’d organized and re-organized his own album collection, but found himself becoming bored.  To him, there had to be a way to make the experience more fulfilling, more direct, more personal. 

He hit upon an idea: the kind of perfectly radical idea which could only emerge in a time of such upheaval and change.  Why not provide another channel of communication between the artists and the people who support them?  Of course, innovations in internet technology have allowed websites like Myspace to increase interaction between musicians and fans.  But what about a service that actually let the user record a personalized commentary on their favorite songs and albums? 

And just like that, SpotDJ was born.  Founded in 2006 and based in San Francisco, SpotDJ brings content and community to the music listening experience through iTunes and on the Web.  The consumer is literally given the ability to become their own DJ, recording informative and entertaining spots about the acts they enjoy.  Scott Kleper, now the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of the company, says: “I wanted to build a way for people to have a guided, engaging experience of a radio DJ while listening to their digital music.  Music is expressive and collaborative and SpotDJ adds what was missing for me: a sense of context, more engaging content, and the feeling I was having a shared experience”.  

I visited the corporate offices of SpotDJ and spoke with Kevin Barenblat, co-founder and CEO.  As someone who is just a bit behind on the absolute latest and greatest media technology, I wanted to know exactly what this product is and how it’s utilized.  He explained to me: “SpotDJ is a free service that lets people create their own experience around music to share with others.  The plug-in for iTunes automatically adds audio clips from the band, your friends and other DJs to the listening experience, or you can go to the site, www.spotdj.com, to hear the spots directly.  You can record your own audio (by) clicking the ‘Record’ button in the iTunes plug-in, or at the site by clicking on the ‘Create’ tab, which brings up a recorder. ”   

I was duly impressed as I listened to some of the spots for myself.  Ben Fong-Torres, well known writer, DJ and radio columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle, is a frequent contributor of content to SpotDJ.  His audio segments reference the careers and work of such acts as Al Green, the Beatles, The Doors, James Brown, Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Elvis Presley, Heart, Sheryl Crow, Steve Miller and many others.  These spots reveal fascinating new insights into the songs that changed our lives – offered up by the artists themselves – as well as titillating and sometimes scandalizing recording industry lore.  I found myself identifying strongly with Fong-Torres when he said: “When I was a kid, I used to pretend I was on the radio, talking about songs.  Now, with SpotDJ (www.spotdj.com), anyone can broadcast to others and make listening to digital music more fun and interesting”.     

But it’s not only about long established mega-artists with millions of units moved across the globe.  All levels are represented, from indie to major label, as well as all genres.  Kevin Barenblat explains: “It’s a user driven product, so everyone’s preferences are covered.  We have everything from Trackademics and Money Mark to The Donnas, Street to Nowhere, Clinic, Dandy Warhols, Joey McIntyre, Taylor Hicks, Son Volt, The Kooks, Reliant K and so on.  We have tens of thousands of users.”  

As I struggle with my personal feelings about the changes taking place in the industry, I’m always looking for the silver lining – what are some of the things happening which have the potential to really be a benefit to the artists?  SpotDJ is one of those things; it’s one of those revolutionary ideas you look back at and realize it was bound to come about eventually.   Ted Cohen, former vice president of digital distribution at EMI Music and founding partner of TAG Strategic, said, “Musicians will find SpotDJ an effective way to reach fans while they listen to music”.  This is one instance where technological advancement presents a clear advantage for the artist.  As Kevin put it, “What’s cool about SpotDJ is how it lets you add your personality and creativity to your favorite music and then share that customized experience with others.”

Education, conversation, and inspiration were the focus of the 2^nd chapter of Guitar Center’s Sessions, a vitalizing panel and discussion with some of the most innovative luminaries that Hip-Hop has birthed. Cats like DMC, Chuck D, Buckshot, Rob Swift, Dru-Ha, Grand Wizard Theodore, Large Professor, and 88-Keys all gave some insight on what it takes to be successful in the music industry. Partying and drugs have become too prominent and exploited in the music. How good can your music be if you’re at the club 5 nights a week? The point is that if we put the drinks down, and blunts out for a little while and focus on our craft, we can move Hip-Hop forward and get out of this stagnant rut that this culture has been plagued with.

            The revolutionary Chuck D emphasized making music that was “genuine and 100% you” and that “falling to the pressures of record execs’ everlasting quest to make the maximum profit off a record is deteriorating Hip-Hop”. Chuck’s powerful voice and articulate wordplay controlled the audience like a preacher on Sunday afternoon. It was clear that his speech had inspired more then just a few, the Public Enemy front man was welcomed and finished with standing ovations complete with P.E’s most memorable lyrics being shouted out with some attendees almost in tears. With DMC and DJ Happa hosting the event the energy continued to build in the small room as Large Professor, BuckShot, Dru-Ha, 88 Keys, DJ Jab (Fat Beats), and Rob Swift took to the panel and answered questions from the crowd and dropped some knowledge. They shared some of their personal sagas filled with failures and successes. Large Professor, the same producer that gave Nas his introduction to the world repeatedly explained the importance of taking your time to learn every step of making music before your consider yourself “hot”. 88 Keys (Kanye West,Mos Def,Tribe) told his stories of “ditching piano lessons because I wanted to play drums, now I got to hire a piano player”, who would of thought a producer with a name like that, can’t play the keys? Partners Buckshot and Dru-Ha brought up crucial points on “spending your money wisely” and clearing up what it takes to be an independent label. “We’re not independent because we wanna be”, stated Dru-Ha co-ceo of the legendary Duck Down Records which has been in business since 1992. Bringing the event to a close Grand Wizard Theodore and Rob Swift shut it down with immaculate sets each combining the new school with the old school. The next Sessions event will be hosted in the Midwest and will include artists and entrepreneurs from the region.

Mikey Fresh

In 2006, Hip-Hop’s seemingly silent sub-genre, Holy Hip-Hop (Christian/Gospel/inspirational rap music), gained mainstream exposure as well as momentum. From Dr. Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California and Pastor Phil Jackson’s Tha House on Chicago’s West Side to Pastor Tommy Kyllonen’s Hip-Hop infused community outreach in Tampa, Florida and Father Timothy Holder’s e-Mass (a combination of Hip-Hop and Episcopalian ritual) in South Bronx, NY, emcees who specialize in Holy Hip-Hop music became widely recognized as did Hip-Hop themed youth groups, events, performances, and music ministries. 

Although the Hip-Hop industry tends to balk at spiritual emcees and DJ’s remain unsure about what to do with Hip-Hop’s flourishing sub-genre, the influence of Holy Hip-Hop music in churches and even gospel infused lyrics in mainstream songs continues to grow in popularity. Entertainment marketing consultant and artist manager for The Diadem Group, LLC, Treiva Williams explains the disparity, “Just like any other genre or sub-genre there are doses or levels of [Hip-Hop].  You just have to keep listening until you find your style and your appropriate dosage.  Each kind serves its purpose [but] because [Holy Hip-Hop] is associated with the divine it [usually] gets a one shot deal.” 

The compilation African Underground: The Depths of Dakar furthers Brooklyn label Nomadic Wax’s mission statement of uncovering, recording, and distributing new talent from Africa, but to catalog the disc as a mere label sampler would be misleading. Released in conjunction with the label’s Democracy in Dakar documentary (co-produced with partners Sol Productions), Depths of Dakar acts as both a study of hip-hop’s influence on Senegalese politics and a mouthpiece for the people.