Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Music news Blog Party: That Retail Chick puts on for her city's struggling artists
Posted by Rodney Carmichael @Rappin_Rodney on Tue, May 26, 2009 at 8:13 PM
It's been over a year since we featured Desiree Williams in Creative Loafing. At the time, she'd just played an integral role in helping Atlanta soul mainstay Anthony David garner commercial radio spins on V-103 (WVEE-FM).
Since then, Williams, who manages Sound Shop at the Mall West End, has been extending her retail/industry expertise beyond the record store via her funny-as-hell, informative column, That Retail Chick, in which she dispenses priceless advice to unsigned artists.
Check out several of the tips from a recent post — Top 20 reasons artists don't make it in the music industry — on her newly established blog, That Retail Chick:
3. “I’m from OHIO and I moved to ATL to break my music because OHIO ain’t feeling me???”
- If you can’t make a name for yourself in your own city, do you really think it will be easier in ATL? If you just moved to Atlanta thinking this is the place to make a name for yourself in the music industry, take a number. Because you just got in line with a slew of other folks that came here to do the same.
7. ”Artist development…man f–k that, I got SWAG!”
- For all of the artists out there, that have deals, songs on the radio, reality TV shows, or the ones that have no buzz at all; Swag is no good without PERSONALITY and media training is a must! Fans want to see a STAR! And grabbing your pants to hold them up while try to walk or acting stand-off-ish around fans will not work! You may have swag on a record or in a video, but your personality is at Level Zero in person!
12. The production inside 285 in Atlanta is starting to all sound the same.
- If you listen to music now, you are hearing what I am hearing. The same damn sound. The writing is the same, the production is the same, the hooks sound just alike. Can I get some originality PLEASE? I LOVE THE ATLANTA MUSIC SCENE! However, my ears are getting weary of the sound. I know some great producers; let me know if you want to hear something different.
14. “I’m Building My Brand”
- I meet more new artist interested in “branding” themselves before they drop an album. Jay Z didn’t become Jay Z overnight, he’s been doing this music thing for a LONG time. Your brand is no good without fans that trust that your music is always going to be on point. I suggest that you focus on your music first and your “brand” later.
20. BAD MANAGEMENT
- If I had a dollar for every bad manager I met inside the music store, I would own a condo in Buckhead, Manhattan, and LA. Although every manager does not start out knowing it all, they should at least know enough so the artist will not get screwed. To all the new artists out there, ask your manager if they have any books on how to manage an artist in the music industry. If not buy 2. One for them to learn what they are suppose to do, and one for you to make sure they are not messing up!
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