My Mission

The underground has an extreme amount of potential, but artists are often looked down upon because they don't fit what they industry seeks nor crossover. The underground just needs that motivation, that push, that encouragement to strive and prosper then anything can become possible. That's what I intend to do. B.A.M. Entertainment is for the people no matter what the industry thinks. We are here to bring the underground above ground and to steal the limelight that is so often shined on pop music and pop culture. 

My Sworn Oath:

I as a staff, record label, and individual will stay true to myself, my beliefs, my music, and uniqueness. I shall never crossover, nor ask any of my artists, employees, or affiliates to do so either. I will do whatever is available in my power to ensure the security of my artists physically, financially, emotionally, and professionally. I by signature of my name below, swear all of the above statements to be true, and will, to the best of my ability strive to see my artists, and any other associates succeed By Any Means.

William L Dodd

Founder/CEO

Why I entered the music business

What inspired me to get involved in the music industry:

For me, believe it or not, began with poetry. In the 6th grade I learned about it in English and I quickly linked it to rap music and started to study the structure of lyrics in relation to poetry. To make a long story short, and to identify specifically what brought me into the industry were the streets. A lot of my childhood was spent witnessing violence, inside and outside of the home. This was often over senseless things. Along the way I met some pretty intelligent people, who just needed a chance to shine. I knew a 40-old O.G. who said that he only wished he could have continued his education in his youth, but had no other choice but to hustle to support his family. This lead to him being charged and unable to pursue an education due to the government not providing funding for convicts to get an education. I believe at that moment, that's when i felt that i got to help the streets strive and prosper. All the streets know is music, sports, and hustle, and not all of them are criminals in my eyes. At that point forward I knew that the music could get me away from the streets, and that if i could help others do it as well and pursue a dream and live that dream then that's what I'm destined to do.

-Real Will Dodd-

Piracy Facts: MP3 quality compared to CD Quality

With such Internet resources such as BearShare, Limewire, Frostwire, The Pirate Bay, and an endless amount of torrent sites available in the U.S. and around the world, it's no surprise that people like to pirate music. Most people feel that they listen to too many artists to purchase CDs and singles, that the CD won't be worth the investment, that they are limited on the available sources and mediums for which they get their music, or are just plain cheap. But, what most of these "pirates" don't know is that the quality for which they download this music is slim to nothing compared to the quality you get from a purchased CD or single. Let me explain:

The highest available MP3 quality available through downloaded music offline is 320 mega bits per second (Mbps). The quality of a purchased CD or single is 1,411 Kilo bytes per second (Kbps). Now, some of you may be reading this and saying to yourselves, "Who cares, the music I download is good enough for me", but for those who enjoy high-quality music and true sound such as myself, will appreciate what I'm about to explain. 

A megabit is equal to only 0.000125 kilobytes. Let me break down the math for you to make it as simple as possible, because the numbers can get very tricky if you don't pay very close attention.

1 mega bit= 0.000125 kilobytes.

320Mbps (MP3's highest quality)=0.04 kilobytes (1/2,250 of the average CD quality track)

The Math: 

Avg. CD Track quality: 90Kbps

Highest MP3 quality: 320Mbps

You simply identify that 0.04 is 4/100's of a Kilobyte.

Then you multiply this number by this number by 90 (Avg. CD track quality) and you end up with the number 2,250

These numbers state that even if you download the highest quality MP3 song available through piracy, that it still only equals 0.04 of the total available 90 Kbps of a standard CD quality song. Wait, I know what you're thinking, why did he only state 90Kbps if the CD quality is 1,441. I stated the number 90Kbps because that is 1/16 of the total CD quality available. The number 16 represents the standard number of tracks recorded on a CD. Here's the breakdown:

1CD=1,411Kbps

1,411Kbps/16 tracks= Roughly 90Kbps per track

320 Mbps X 0.000125Kbps= 0.04 (The total percentage of quality you get from a downloaded MP3 compared to that of a CD quality recording. 

My thoughts in comparison of CD quality to MP3 quality:

If you've ever purchased multiple CDs and listened to them critically you will notice the clarity of the instruments to be very crisp, clean, and detailed. Pirated music compresses the audio down to nearly nothing and cuts out a lot of the equalization and clarity of sounds recorded on professional equipment. I can write an entire article on such compression and details, but will spare you the boredom of such information. Just know that MP3s are compressed files of originally recorded and professional mastered audio. So, before you download your music for free, think about the amount of quality you're getting. You're getting a very low quality track compared to that of which you would get from a purchased CD.

Remember the saying, "You get what you pay for"

Self-Experiment:

Search your house, car, garage, etc for a CD that you actually purchased from a retailer. Listen to a few selected tracks very carefully, preferably on high quality speakers,surround sound speakers, or high-quality headphones. If you listen carefully you'll notice that instruments such as drums, kicks (in rap), guitars, etc are crisp and full of clarity. You can feel the hard hit of the kick, the strum of each guitar note, and the rhythm of the drums. Now after you listen to that particular track(s) about three to four times, search for the song via the internet. After listening to your selected song for about 10-30 seconds, you can already hear the difference in quality. 

Thank You to all who have read this post and I hope from now on that you will purchase music not only for the quality, but for the sake of artists and the industry as a whole. 

God Bless,

William "Real Will" Dodd

Independent Artist: Is it really worth it?

Most artists today don't really care for a major record deal much like they did years ago. Mainly because they are afraid, and assume that labels will try to take advantage of them, which in most cases is true. Most artists only see a small royalty rate which is typically as little as 3% and usually contains a cap of 15% (For major selling artists).

If I were to put myself in an independent artist shoes (again, because I've been there before), I would be furious if a label only offered me 3% of my albums sales etc. This means, in numbers, that if an album sales 100,000 copies at $10/each I would only receive $30,000 (way lower than the average American income of $46,326. <http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much-does-the-average-american-make-breaking-down-the-us-household-income-numbers/> This as well as mainstream media, are the main reason most artists today want to do it themselves, and quite frankly, I don't blame them. Lets crunch some numbers here (These are slightly higher than the previous numbers and based on a major artist)

500,000 (albums) x $10 (each)= $5,000,000

Recoupment (Meaning what it cost the label to make your album, they always ensure they get it back):

Album cost (Average for majors): $500,000 (This includes hiring producers, band players, back up vocalists, mastering fees, studio time, promotion, distribution fees, artwork fees, and so forth.)

That leaves only $4,500,000 for the artist (Sounds nice don't it but wait more costs.......)

Now we have to cut out tour support average ($500,000) and then also manager commission (20%) of artist royalties ($)

Leaving: $3,900,970

Radio Promotion: $200,000

manager: $164,232

Lawyer: $200,000

Business Manager: $164,232

Manufacturing Costs: $250,000

Leaving: $3,330,776

Publishing Royalties: $750,000 (Money paid to those who wrote an artists songs)

Leaving: $2,580,776

marketing: 2 Million

Leaving: $821,164 (before manager pay) $492,700 after  for the artist.

All numbers based on <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/23482610186.shtml>

Artist (solo) royalty (let's do one for the low and high 3% and 15%)

Solo Low: $14,781 (with this kind of royalty you might as well be working at McDonalds (14,874-18,840) <http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Fast_Food_Worker/Hourly_Rate>

Solo Artist high: $123,274

For more information on artist royalty rates, statistics, recoupment costs, and so forth. Be sure to check out, or purchase a book entitled All You Need To Know About The Music Business by Donald S. Passman, I myself have read this book, and know that it gives you information on every subject about the music business from a lawyer's point of view. I hope you all enjoyed this post, and I look forward to   doing even more.

Thank You,

William Dodd

Marketing Strategies

In today's world, many people want to create and start their own business. It could be something small and simple, such as a restaurant or small retail store, or as large as an amusement park or attraction. When it comes to business, most people just want to get everything started and expect to see a profit, but business doesn't always turn out that way. It may for few, depending on their product, marketing strategy, finances, and so forth, but in all reality businesses take time to establish. When it comes to starting a business the most important factor is marketing, in other words, how well you can build your brand and get the word out about your company, and your strategies to achieve your overall goals.

In today's world of business, it's become far more complex than it has in the past, because there are far more educated individuals who seek independence and want to "be their own boss". As well as the job market slowly dwindling down, and the economy, which has opened the window of opportunity for those who seek to start a business. Throughout my years of studying business 2008-present I've learned and realized quite a bit about business and the operation and start-up of such entities. First, after you've already gotten your name registered, and finances raised to start your business, comes the marketing.

For my marketing course via Full Sail University, we were to read about John Earle, inventor of the Johnny Cupcakes clothing brand, and his marketing strategies. What I learned from that was that if you want to build your brand, you must and should always put the people first. The people, be it customers, fans of a music artist, reader's of a particular author's books, or gamers of a certain title developed by their favorite gaming company, the foundation of every successful business, in my opinion as well as John's, is to make the customer's feel unique. One thing that John does with the Johnny Cupcakes brand is to develop limited edition clothes under his name. Even if the clothes become highly popular and people still wish to buy them after they're sold out, he stands firm and makes no more than what he initially printed. This intertwines with the idea that people want to feel unique, by having something that not everybody has. 

Secondly, he takes tours around the U.S., and at one point the U.K., to particular stores he has opened to speak and interact with his customers one-on-one. This is what I feel that most businesses lack today, especially in the music business (my area of interest). But I'll speak more on that at a later time, in another blog. This is an excellent marketing strategy because it allows him to interact, and receive new ideas from customer's based on their interests in his brand and their own unique opinions. 

 Lastly, he does everything on his own. He does not sell his brand to other stores or companies, doesn't seek investors, or look for others to help him create the basis of his business. In business today, people often look to outside investments, but fail to realize that anyone who "invests" in your company feels that they have a say so in what the company does with their money. Now, not all investors are bad, and try to run your company, but there are those that will try to alter your image, and vision to suit their own. I wouldn't recommend seeking an investor, such as John said in his interview, but if you do be sure you talk face to face with that person and lay out some guidelines, in a contract, that specifically states your agreement on what is done with the money in your company. 

If you wish to start a business of your own, these are great marketing strategies to get you started and to get your foundation established, in reference to marketing. There are a million possibilities out there, but those who have a better chance of success, follow certain guidelines, a few of which I've outlined above, think about it. Without customers, fans, readers, etc., where would any business be? The old saying may seem broad, but in all simplicity "heads the nail on the head", by stating the obvious and most unrealized concept that "the customer is always right", because when it boils down to it, their opinion matters most in your success. Now, just as a note, so that I may not be viewed as biased and such, one customer's opinion doesn't mean your business is a failure or success, you have to identify the majority customers opinions and build your brand based on it. For example, an artist posts their new video on YouTube, and they have 10,000 likes and 500 dislikes, does this mean the song is a failure, no, it only means that their are people that dislike it, but the majority does like it, so according to numbers you're song is still a success.

As always thank you for reading, until next time

William Dodd

Introduction

Hello everyone as you may already know by viewing my profile that my name is William Dodd, and I've been deeply involved in music since an early age. This first blog is an introduction explaining what the purpose of my blog is, explaining my target audience/market, and my own reflection on why blogs are valuable in marketing and business today.

The purpose of my blog is to interact and discuss music with those who are also interested and involved  in music on a higher level other than, "I like that song", "The song is good because it's new"etc. etc. and express a professional attitude towards music. Also, the purpose of my blog is to express my opinions on the industry, artists, labels, and so forth as well, backing my statements with sufficient information I've found online through reliable sources. Finally, my blog was created to influence interaction and collaboration between artists, producers, fellow bloggers, and so forth.

The target market or audience of my blog will contain mostly Rap, not hip-hop (there is a difference) listeners ages 16-30. I've decide this age group because most people, at least hopefully, by the age of 16 have developed some sort of professionalism within themselves, up to age thirty because at that age, those individuals have been around since the beginning of rap music itself which became popular in the 90s with artists such as Tupac, Biggie Smalls, and so forth. All races, genders, and geographical locations are welcome to express their opinion, but the vast variety of people I am aiming for in this blog are those from the "Dirty South" region and are most likely African-American/Caucasian males. For those who don't know what the "Dirty South" is, and there are some, this is a region which contains the states SC, NC, GA, AL, TN, and FL, as well as TX, the creators of chopped and screwed music.

To elaborate on my opinion of blogs and how they are useful to individuals, companies, and marketeers (as I like to call them) are simple: Blogs, when done correctly and professionally, can provide individuals with information that may take them hours to find online due to the vast number of "hits" they may receive on a related topic. For companies, it will help them strategize and alter their way of doing things based on information they  may find on a particular person's blog. This may seem, in a way, as a negative, but truth be told, is the complete opposite. Let me explain: Competition, in any area of business, is good. If companies can stay on the same page, but have different ways of doing particular things, it can be good for everyone. By this I mean there may be two label companies A & B. A & B both share the same prices for their services, due to competition, but may provide different services to the customers (i.e. different style instrumentals). The same strategy can apply to marketers, they may find something that one company or individual does, like it, and attempt to apply it to what they do, but still maintain their companies image, or their own individuality as marketers.