From Michael Jackson to James Brown, Harlem's The Apollo Theater is famed for helping launch some of the most successful figures in U.S. black entertainment and marking their influence in popular culture.

A new exhibit, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," displays images, videos and artifacts including instruments, shoes and costumes from music greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Sammy Davis Jr. who performed at the theater over the past 75 years.

From swing to Motown to hip hop, it details the 1500-seat music hall's history of propelling styles of music and artists that have graced its stage from Nat King Cole in the 1940s to its famed Apollo Amateur Night, which helped the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix and The Jackson 5.

"The first time I appeared at the Apollo was during Amateur Night -- my gospel group during a gospel caravan show. And we won. And the next time was at the very beginning of my career in 1962," Dionne Warwick told Reuters Television.

"The Apollo Theater is the creme de la creme. And as is said, and is so true, if you can make it at the Apollo, you can make it anywhere," Warwick added.

The exhibit, held from Feb 8 to May 1 at the Museum of the City of New York, also explores Harlem's history as a hub of U.S. black culture and the theater's role in hosting memorial services for James Brown and a public tribute to Michael Jackson.

Jackson first performed at Amateur Night at age 9 with his brothers. Their group, the Jackson 5, won the competition in 1969, when the pop singer was 11 years old, performing Smokey Robinson's "Who's Lovin' You."

"When I think of a soundtrack for the second half of the twentieth century, it's the music that was launched by the Apollo," Susan Henshaw Jones, director of the Museum of the City of New York, said in a statement.

Letters from Martin Luther King and Frank Schiffman, the owner of the Apollo from 1935 until his death in 1974, are also included in the exhibit.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

You, as an independent artist can also find endorsement deals, but not necessarily on a National basis. Try working with people and businesses within your own demographic, for example if you are a traveling Blues artist you may want to have a few suits created for you by a tailor in your town and in turn you will place the clothing company or tailors name on your print publicity, plus make sure their information is given out at everyone of your shows.

When shooting your album cover or creating your stage show try contacting a few companies in your home town for some “free” goods. I have personally gotten clothing, cosmetics, musical instruments, travel services and a VAN just by asking and making sure that I executed my part of the deal. Most people feel that Hip Hop artists are getting ALL of the endorsement deals, but Jazz artists, Blues artists, Spoken Word artists, R&B artists and even Gospel artists are being well represented within the endorsement community.

If you ask you will be surprised what people will give to entertainers just so they can become a part of your “magic”.

This is not a true revenue stream for the artist, but with the amount of money you can save you free up your on hand cash for other ventures. Remember that this is the Music BUSINESS and BUSINESS controls the Music Industry.

In my final installment of HOW TO GET PAID IN THE RECORD BUSINESS I want to look at some non traditional means of revenue directly related to the Recording industry.

I have been and continue to be a strong proponent of International music sales and touring. I personally feel that this is a massive underused revenue stream, and having been involved in the MIDEM conference for the past 16 years I have first hand knowledge of the International marketplace. One of the prime sellers within this International community is performance DVD and Video.

VIDEO / DVD SALES

Almost all of you reading this article are familiar with the touring act, that artist or group that has acquired a decent stage show and is on the look out for more dates. These are the prime candidates for DVD / Video creation. Start digitally taping your performances and reviewing these tapes. If you can afford to have a 2 or 3 camera shoot at a few of your gigs you will find that you now have some pretty spectacular footage. This footage can be edited into a long form music video (5 – 10 minutes) or into a full performance show (60 – 90 minutes). Now you have a product to start selling to the masses.

Utilizing the Internet you can place a small clip (2 – 3 minutes) of your show online and use this as a teaser ad to have individuals purchase your full length product. You can use SONICBIDS.COM to place not only your mp3 files, but your music video into a format that you can send to potential booking agents, venues, distributors, publishers and potential buyers.

You can also place your music video on VIDEO.GOOGLE.COM with direct links to your website and have potential customers buy directly from you. At this writing VIDEO.GOOGLE is a new free service looking for DVD / Video material to place upon the Internet.

This DVD / Video project that you have created is also a perfect item to start selling within your show merchandise everywhere you perform. Of course if your show is WACK than your DVD / Video will be WACK and it won’t matter anyway if you sell it or not, but for those interested in creating long lasting fans and continuous buying fans a DVD / Video project is the way to go.

ENDORSEMENTS

Every artist I’ve ever met has a burning desire to be selected to endorse a clothing line, automobile line or some product that gets a lot of television exposure. Endorsement deals on a National or International level are not easy to come by unless you have a major hit record speeding up the charts and a good amount of print and television coverage accompanying your record sales. The reasoning is basic; the major corporations only want celebrities that can influence the public to buy their products.

There are a few “up and coming” new artists that have received endorsement deals, but these deals were all based on the size of the publicity budget that the record label had committed to the artist prior to an endorsement deal signing.

You, as an independent artist can also find endorsement deals, but not necessarily on a National basis. Try working with people and businesses within your own demographic, for example if you are a traveling Blues artist you may want to have a few suits created for you by a tailor in your town and in turn you will place the clothing company or tailors name on your print publicity, plus make sure their information is given out at everyone of your shows.

When shooting your album cover or creating your stage show try contacting a few companies in your home town for some “free” goods. I have personally gotten clothing, cosmetics, musical instruments, travel services and a VAN just by asking and making sure that I executed my part of the deal. Most people feel that Hip Hop artists are getting ALL of the endorsement deals, but Jazz artists, Blues artists, Spoken Word artists, R&B artists and even Gospel artists are being well represented within the endorsement community.

If

ABC, CBS AND NBC NETWORK TELEVISION RATES

PERFORMANCE TYPE PRIMETIME
(6:00 PM-10:59 PM) LATENIGHT
(11:00 PM-1:59 AM) OVERNIGHT
(2:00 AM-5:59 AM) MORNING/DAYTIME
(6:00 AM-5:59 PM)
FULL FEATURE
(45 SECONDS OR MORE)* $11.50 $9.00 $5.00 $6.00
THEME
(PER SHOW) $5.00 $3.32 $0.58 $1.00
BACKGROUND
(PER MINUTE) $1.10 $0.72 $0.52 $0.60
LOGO
(PER SHOW) $0.30 $0.24 $0.22 $0.28

Fox, UPN, WB and other local stations have a different fee schedule based on local airplay.

Local Television Rates
PERFORMANCE TYPE DAYPART A
(4:00 PM-12:59 AM) DAYPART B
(ALL OTHER TIMES)
FULL FEATURE
(45 SECONDS OR MORE)* $5.00 $1.50
THEME
(PER SHOW) $2.00 $1.00
BACKGROUND
(PER MINUTE) $0.76 $0.42
LOGO
(PER SHOW) $0.18 $0.16


PBS Television and CABLE networks all work on a varying fee scale based on local market airplay.

Pay-Per-View Services - based on the local airplay.

Internet Music and Mobile Entertainment – The Internet is expanding at a rate that is almost incalculable and keeping abreast of the many avenues where your music could be is almost impossible. Now the US Government has created a office to assist in the collection of Internet & Mobile Entertainment Royalties.

SoundExchange
Attn: Membership Department
1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 330
Washington, DC 20036 202.828.0120

SoundExchange handles the following:
• collects performance royalties from the statutory licensees;
• collects and processes all data associated with the performance of the sound recordings;
• allocates royalties for the performance of the sound recording based on all of the data collected and processed;
• makes distribution of the featured artist's share directly to the artist;
• makes distribution of the SRCO's share directly to the copyright owner;
• makes distribution of the nonfeatured artist's share to AFTRA and AFM's Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund; and
• provides detailed reports summarizing the titles, featured artists and royalty amounts for each of the sound recordings performed by the statutory licensees.

Commercial Music Services – These are digital/cable music suppliers and background music suppliers (Muzak, PlayNetwork, IBN) where your musical works are used by these services.

Next up will be a few more ways you can get PAID IN THE RECORD BUSINESS.

PUBLISHING REVENUES

Today the buzz word in music is publishing, everyone knows that you need to keep your own publishing, but few understand the different ways you can get paid from music you create. There are three (3) basic ways to obtain money from your songs and several variations of each one of these ways.

1. Mechanical Rights – Everytime your song is manufactured for sale you, as the writer, should receive money. This includes the recording and reproduction of CDs, ringtones, and Internet downloads. You must contact the Harry Fox Agency to receive this income.

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc
711 Third Ave
New York, NY 10017 (212) 370-5330
2. Performance Royalties – RADIO The catch phrase here is “IF IT IS PLAYED YOU GET PAID” Normally you are paid for radio performances that last 90 seconds or more and the performance is the sole sound being heard. Radio performances are paid on 4 different types of stations
COMMERCIAL RADIO - .12 cents per play
CLASSICAL RADIO - .32 cents per play
COLLEGE RADIO - .06 cents per play
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO - based on total number of songs played
Have you ever wondered why record companies spend tons of money for radio BDS “spins”? The answer is very simple, after your song has been performed 95,000 times on radio it then qualifies for the HIT SONG BONUS or an increase in the amount of money you can receive. Songs that have been performed 2.5 million times and receive at least 15,000 BDS recorded performances per quarter (3 months) are considered STANDARDS and are eligible to receive an additional bonus.

There are additional bonus rates paid for radio performances that are featured as Radio Theme songs.

3. Synchronization Rights and Royalties - A synchronization license is needed for a song to be reproduced onto a television program, film, video, commercial, radio, or even an 800 number phone message. It is called this because you are "synchronizing" the composition, as it is performed on the audio recording, to a film, TV commercial, or spoken voice-over. The synchronization royalty is paid to songwriters and publishers for use of a song used as background music for a movie, TV show, or commercial.

TELEVISION – A song you wrote played on US Television can be a significant money maker, especially if it is played more than 45 seconds and is one of these.
FEATURE PERFORMANCE
VISUAL VOCAL – the vocalist is on camera doing your song

VISUAL INSTRUMENTALIST – the instrumentalist is on camera

BACKGROUND VOCAL – when the song can be heard even if there is dialogue going on simultaneously.

BACKGROUND PERFORMANCE – When your music is used to set the mood and is not featured.

THEME PERFORMANCE – Your song is the theme song for the show

LOGO PERFORMANCE – Your music is played whenever the company logo is shown

INFOMERCIAL PERFORMANCE

PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT PERFORMANCE

COMMERCIAL JINGLE PERFORMANCE

REALITY TWO – A small team will always make more money than the act that has an entourage. Besides the act on stage one road manager is sufficient to not only handle the financial particulars, act’s itinerary and sound requirements, but to also sell the acts merchandise.

MERCHANDISE:

Here is where a little investment can go a long way. There are several different types of goods that always sell at large and small venues alike. Color photos autographed by the act are the leading sellers. If you can have someone available to take photos on the spot with your fans you will make a lasting impression and more money. T-shirts are good however unless you have a unique logo or T-shirt design you may windup giving your shirts away to record store sales people. When working large venues almost anything that glows in the dark and makes noise will sell. Whistles, blowers, horns, clappers, etc just keep it inexpensive and cute.

REALITY THREE – There will be times when your merchandise sales will be larger than your show payment. Be prepared to budget your money wisely.

On the next writing I will talk about:

Endorsements

Publishing Revenues

Video / DVD sales

Let’s talk about the most important factor within the music business MONEY.

There are several ways to make a decent living within this industry and I want to bring you up to speed with only a few.

RECORDS:

The majority of my readers figure that if you sell millions of records you will become extremely wealthy. Well if you don’t OWN the company that manufactures, markets, sells and collects monies from records you will only receive a small portion or percentage of the sales. Major label recording artists normally make between 10% and 18% of the retail sale price on every CD of theirs that is sold. From this percentage any recoupments most be deducted. So if you sell $1,000,000 worth of product your share is $100,000. From your share has to be deducted that $50,000 advance you took, the $60,000 paid to the promotion company to promote your CD, the $65,000 spent on your 30 city promotional tour, the $30,000 owed your producer, the $10,000 owed to your manager plus packaging deductions, attorney’s fees and anything else the label has “slipped” into your contract.

REALITY ONE – From the first Million dollars made you owe $115,000 after your $100,000 has been recouped.

Doesn’t seem like a very profitable business at this point does it? Especially when you take into consideration that most new artist like to buy the accoutrements having a HIT record requires. Things like jewelry, clothes, cars and occasionally houses. Yesterday I was on a video shoot for a new artist and his management team “borrowed” $500,000 worth of Cartier jewelry. I remarked that the ice and gold on his body could probably buy 40 acres and a tractor with enough money left over to build a $300,000 house. It’s REAL EASY to be a broke new artist in the record industry.

But let’s discuss a few ways to make money.

TOURING:

This is the quickest way to put cash into your account when your record is HOT and when it is not. Developing a strong stage show and keeping your act small and tight, not only will allow you to tour continuously but also allow you the freedom to build your fan base, promote your product and sell MERCHANDISE. Developing a strong fan base will keep you touring even after your video has been dropped, your single is not getting airplay and your record label has moved on to the next hottest act.

REALITY TWO – A small team will always make more money than the act that has an entourage. Besides the act on stage one road manager is sufficient to not only handle the financial particulars, act’s itinerary and sound requirements, but to also sell the acts merchandise.

MERCHANDISE:

Here is where a little investment can go a long way. There are several different types of goods that always sell at large and small venues alike. Color photos autographed by the act are the leading sellers. If you can have someone available to take photos on the spot with your fans you will make a la

Any single track of recorded music consists of 2 copyrights.

There is a copyright in the written words and music (the “musical composition”), which is typically held by the songwriter or their publisher.

There is a copyright in any recording of the composition (the “sound recording”), which is typically held by the performing artist or their label.

What the Performance Rights Act is proposing is that the owners of the sound recording start receiving payment for the use of their art. Prior to 1995 performers could not receive ANY remuneration for their art, then Sound Exchange started collecting for Internet radio, Satellite radio and Cable radio plays and artists who had not seen any money in years from their publishers or labels started seeing renewed checks.

We are now talking about paying recording artist direct for their contributions to the BILLIONS of dollars in revenue radio stations have all ready collected.

This is not the end of Black radio.

This is not the end of free on air time for non-profit organizations.

This is not the reason for firing announcers and other radio station people.

This is a call for station owners to become more attuned to their community needs, develop consistent sales programs that develop better usage of their staffs, stop doing business the way it was done years ago and step into the future. I find it really strange that the people speaking out the most against the Performance Act either work for a major radio network or have refused to embrace the new technological changes now available for supplementary revenue formation.

Interestingly enough radio stations outside of the United States have been paying publishing fees AND performance fees for years and it has grown there business.

Music Conferences today have become big business for the individuals and companies that put them on. Almost every conference created has an educational component, a seminar, panel discussion or technical workshop. Here lays the problem, why pay good money to come to a conference with positive seminars and not attend? Every conference I have attended in the United States this year has had more night time attendees for parties and performances than daytime seminar attendees.

In Europe it is the complete opposite. Conference attendees come for business during the day in droves. Panels are packed and private meetings are scheduled. Let me give you a few ideas on how to become more productive at your next conference.

Rules To Work Conferences.

1. Research Your Conference – Know who is going to be at the event you will be attending. Read the Schedule in advance and determine who you want to meet and WHY you want to meet them.

2. Schedule Meetings – Try and reach companies, executives, publicists and other artists prior to the event and schedule private meeting times to discuss your MUTUAL interests. Email works when used properly for communication, so Please spell correctly.

3. Speak Correctly – Leave the urban street based conversations at home. This is a business and professionals will be attending and speaking on the seminars. Lose the phrase “You know what I mean?” and the phrase “You feel me?” Say what you mean upfront and be prepared to explain yourself. The way you speak in the “trap” is not going to get you anywhere in the entertainment BUSINESS environment.

4. Take a Shower – Partying the night before is NOT an excuse to have bad breath or body odor. Make the effort to bathe BEFORE you come to the seminar. You never know who you will be standing next to. By the way dousing yourself in perfume or cologne is NOT bathing.

5. Be on Time, awake, attentive and prepared – Walking into seminar fashionably late shows disrespect for the other attendees and to the seminar speakers. It also says that maybe a professional does not want to work with you because you didn’t think enough of their time to hear them from the very beginning.

6. Take notes - Just like you were back in school. This is how you remember some of the information that will be disseminated. Plus this is how you can keep names and numbers straight, while you write down any questions you may have.

7. Have Business Cards Available – name, email, website, phone number, mailing address and a representation of what you do. (logo, business name, etc)

8. Receive Business Cards – When you give a card, receive a card. Take the card in both of your hands if possible; read it before you put it away. This business card is the beginning of your entertainment industry database, treat it with esteem.

9. Carry a Camera – Take photos of the panelists to help you remember who was who. And take as ma

In the past few weeks there has been a flurry of controversy concerning the PERFORMANCE RIGHTS ACT. Many broadcasters and thousands of uninformed people are suggesting that the bill would be the death of Black radio within the United States.

Black radio died years ago when consolidation of ownership, syndication of programming and disregard for the local community became the Black radio norm. What the cry is now is for the local listeners to rally around the Black owned radio stations so the stations won’t have to pay out more money. Where is the concern for the artists whose creativity and expertise made this entire industry possible?

Looking at Black radio within the United States many people seemed to forget exactly how Black radio assisted the recording artists and independent labels. In the beginning Black radio was concerned about the health and growth of independent Black owned labels and worked closely with them, at times in complete partnership, to create events, shows, in stores and remote broadcasts benefitting both parties. As revenues grew and more stations became popular the attitude of owners, sales people and eventually disc jockeys became more and more financially directed. What once was partnership creating revenue for both sides became a mandatory free show, promotion, in store or event FOR the station. Disk jockeys became PIMP jockeys and wanted money in advance of hearing the music that was offered to them for possible airplay. Research techniques were initiated to offer “scientific” excuses for not playing a song, while new systems were put in place to make the journey to the radio station more difficult.

Record pools, independent promoters, marketing experts, publicity people, ALL were started from the inception of artists creativity and expertise. Without the song NO ONE would be eating. Now that the United States wants to join the rest of the free world in assisting the artist acquire revenue that has been LONG denied them we hear from major and independent broadcast owners that this is a business threatening move.

Education of the issue can help you understand the different visions presented by both sides.

The SOUND RECORDING PERFORMANCE RIGHTS ACT FOR TERRESTRIAL RADIO H.R.4789 passed the House of Representatives on May 13, 2009.

Performance Rights Act - Amends federal copyright law to:
(1) Grant performers of sound recordings equal rights to compensation from terrestrial broadcasters;
(2) Establish a flat annual fee in lieu of payment of royalties for individual terrestrial broadcast stations with gross revenues of less than $1.25 million and for non-commercial, public broadcast stations;
(3) Grant an exemption from royalty payments for broadcasts of religious services and for incidental uses of musical sound recordings; and
(4) Grant terrestrial broadcast stations that make limited feature uses of sound recordings a per program license option.

Any single track of recor

In the past few weeks there has been a flurry of controversy concerning the PERFORMANCE RIGHTS ACT. Many broadcasters and thousands of uninformed people are suggesting that the bill would be the death of Black radio within the United States.

Black radio died years ago when consolidation of ownership, syndication of programming and disregard for the local community became the Black radio norm. What the cry is now is for the local listeners to rally around the Black owned radio stations so the stations won’t have to pay out more money. Where is the concern for the artists whose creativity and expertise made this entire industry possible?

Looking at Black radio within the United States many people seemed to forget exactly how Black radio assisted the recording artists and independent labels. In the beginning Black radio was concerned about the health and growth of independent Black owned labels and worked closely with them, at times in complete partnership, to create events, shows, in stores and remote broadcasts benefitting both parties. As revenues grew and more stations became popular the attitude of owners, sales people and eventually disc jockeys became more and more financially directed. What once was partnership creating revenue for both sides became a mandatory free show, promotion, in store or event FOR the station. Disk jockeys became PIMP jockeys and wanted money in advance of hearing the music that was offered to them for possible airplay. Research techniques were initiated to offer “scientific” excuses for not playing a song, while new systems were put in place to make the journey to the radio station more difficult.

Record pools, independent promoters, marketing experts, publicity people, ALL were started from the inception of artists creativity and expertise. Without the song NO ONE would be eating. Now that the United States wants to join the rest of the free world in assisting the artist acquire revenue that has been LONG denied them we hear from major and independent broadcast owners that this is a business threatening move.

Education of the issue can help you understand the different visions presented by both sides.

The SOUND RECORDING PERFORMANCE RIGHTS ACT FOR TERRESTRIAL RADIO H.R.4789 passed the House of Representatives on May 13, 2009.

Performance Rights Act - Amends federal copyright law to:
(1) Grant performers of sound recordings equal rights to compensation from terrestrial broadcasters;
(2) Establish a flat annual fee in lieu of payment of royalties for individual terrestrial broadcast stations with gross revenues of less than $1.25 million and for non-commercial, public broadcast stations;
(3) Grant an exemption from royalty payments for broadcasts of religious services and for incidental uses of musical sound recordings; and
(4) Grant terrestrial broadcast stations that make limited feature uses of sound recordings a per program license option.

Any single track of recor

Pay back has finally arrived and the system created by the major record labels for music sales is feeling the FULL BLUNT.

In a capsulated version, RADIOHEADS gambit of offering its new release online --and letting the consumer decide on price has turned out to be a genius marketing move.

TELEGRAPH UK reports that hits to RADIOHEAD's website increased 11-fold after the announcement. Although the band refuses to provide concrete numbers on how many fans have pre-ordered their seventh album, "In Rainbows," but figures from Net monitoring agency HitWise show the move pushed the site up from #43 to #1 for music websites in the UK. A band spokesman did confide that consumers so far are spurning the opportunity to download the album for as little as 45 pence ($1US Dollar) in favor of paying full pop for the £40 ($82 US Dollars) box set, which includes vinyl records, CD and artwork

Now that the public has spoken about the music that they desire, the band has direct access to the fans that love their music and they are making more money per disc than they have ever made in RADIOHEADS career. This new concept is ultimately where the Internet will take every type of recorded entertainment. Direct to the consumer. Major labels are not extremely happy about the idea that you can have a massive hit record and not have to use their retail / radio system to get it heard and sold.

The benefits of direct access to the consumer are so great that other acts are now looking at how they can utilize this system. Since Rock & Roll makes up the largest portion of Internet music sales, this is normally what we hear about Internet sales, but the originator of this direct to consumer system has to be PRINCE.

After leaving his “slave” contract PRINCE started selling his music independently through Al Bell (remember The Most Beautiful Girl In The World), but from then on he sold music exclusively online. In his latest move PRINCE gave away 2.8 million copies of his album to newspaper readers in the UK. Prince's free CD was noteworthy not only in that it marked the first time a music icon of his stature gave away a new album of original music, but also because it demonstrates the degree to which album sales no longer matter as much to artists. After all, tours are where most acts make most of their money, and the fact that the music sales have been in a tailspin for the better part of this decade is not news to anyone at this point.

There are a number of factors behind the sales slide, but one important factor is that the album is no longer the primary means for an artist or group to get their music into the hands of the public. Most bands have pages on MySpace where would-be fans can sample their wares. Others, like the Barenaked Ladies, Tilt, and Keane have released albums on USB flash drives.

Now comes word that NINE INCH NAILS mastermind TRENT REZNOR is cutting ties with his label, UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP, according to CNS. Previously

I was told at a recent music conference by an executive from an independent distributor that he wishes the Internet would be destroyed because it hurts record sales so bad.

I have in recent times heard from a major market radio consultant that the Internet was responsible for the demise in listener ship at radio formats around the United States and it should be banned.

To both of these statements I say “It’s about time”, the one sided business practices and limited opportunities within the radio / record / store system should have ceased years ago.

Michael Harrison, publisher of the talk-radio magazine Talkers, told a group at the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Show that competing technologies -- like Internet, Wi-Fi, podcasts and cell phones -- would all but fill the niche they now occupy.
"These are dark times for terrestrial radio," Harrison said. "And most people in terrestrial radio are in denial of it."

The old record industry depended on radio airplay to sell records for record retailers, then they added MTV / BET to their record selling mix. This vicious cycle has finally started to erode, technology has made it easier for more creators of music and multi-media projects, and with this proliferation of new material came new avenues to listen and expose these creations. The new record industry has been birthed and the initial growing pains are now presenting themselves. Change can be embraced, fought or ignored, change can not be stopped, and today’s technology has brought many new revenue generating ideas to our industry.

RADIO
To exist in a profit making position Radio will need to focus on its local sponsors and core community. Music will probably be the first thing that will leave the format as more and more stations will turn to talk and information radio. Genre specific radio has risen significantly already with the proliferation of Hispanic, sports, talk, Asian, Haitian; and other formats. It is not too difficult to envision that this type of audience targeted radio will become mainstream soon. Music is now available on a multitude of levels as proven by the data being collected today on Arbitrons PPM, and consumers are turning away from radio to hear this music by using many different devices.

RETAIL
Independent record retailers are fast becoming a thing of the past. These retailers have had to change their buying patterns and start carrying clothing, multi media accessories, and adult novelties based on their specific customer genre just to stay in business.

An example of positive genre specific business practices is the new deal announced between MUSICNET, the music unit of MEDIANET DIGITAL and LA CURACAO, a leading Hispanic mega retailer in the U.S. creating the first ever full-featured Hispanic focused digital music service.

MUSICNET with LA CURACAO partnering have created PASITO TUNES a Hispanic based fully customized digital music subscription service and do

"Atlantic IS Black Music" Campaign to Focus on Company's Long History of African-American Artistry; Featured Stars Include T.I., Estelle, Cee-Lo, Laura Izibor, Maino, Trey Songz, and Others

NEW YORK, NY - For more than 60 years, Atlantic Records has been home to the most innovative, compelling, and enduring artists in African-American music, spanning soul and R&B, jazz and hip-hop. To commemorate this month's 30th anniversary of "Black Music Month," Atlantic has launched a dynamic online promotional campaign, dubbed "Atlantic IS Black Music."

"Atlantic IS Black Music" will see a video content link running all month long on the Atlantic Records homepage, located at www.atlanticrecords.com. A stunning array of current Atlantic Records Group artists will be featured, including superstars like T.I., Estelle, and Cee-Lo, alongside rising new talents such as Laura Izibor, Trey Songz, B.o.B., Maino, Pleasure P, Young Steff, Sophia Fresh, and Janelle Monae. The "Atlantic IS Black Music" video content will be updated daily throughout June.

In addition, Interactive One, the #1 African-American digital platform, super-serving more than 10 million monthly users, has partnered with Atlantic Records to celebrate the label's many accomplishments and impact on Black Music over the past 60 years. Interactive One will provide its vast online community with the ability to engage and share in the celebration at partnering sites including BlackPlanet.com, TheUrbanDaily.com, NewsOne.com, and HelloBeautiful.com. Each week Interactive One members will receive special Atlantic Records gift packs and other prizes -- please visit blackplanet.com/AtlanticRecords/ for details.

When the music industry first united in 1979 to create the annual Black Music Month celebration, Atlantic Records already had a long tradition in presenting African-American artistry. In fact, it was exactly 60 years ago that the label scored its first major hit with Stick McGhee's 1949 smash, "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee." From there, Atlantic became the preeminent R&B label of the 1950s, boasting a roster which included the likes of Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, the Clovers, the Drifters, LaVern Baker, and the Coasters.

Atlantic's influence on the course of black music certainly didn't stop there. The label pioneered the soul revolution with such stars as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, and Booker T. & the MGs. Jazz was represented by such influential luminaries as John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Atlantic continued to lead the way with Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, the Spinners, Chic, Sister Sledge, Levert, and many more.

Today,