Dancehall pinoeers - is music just a business?

What dancehall has taught hip hop, r n b and urban artists, smart remixing pushes their brand/ sorry artist
When dancehall made an impact 2001/2002 it emphasised what many artists lose out on, getting your name out there and the small thing... loving the music you create.
Dancehall creates two things, a great production and the ability that artists can jump on the same beat and take the track in a different direction.
A number of riddims created a hype, big artists had to ride the beat, Sean Paul, Vybez Kartel get on the hottest beats which would lead the up and coming rappers to collab and create more hype. Big US artists in turn jumped on it and end up remixed and released to the main stream, through the mixtapes market and big radio play.
This has now been introduced into the mainstream (aka the crazy world of hip hop). Its not new of course but happens alot more regularly and allowing artists the chance to collab on a track which record labels would never allow previously.
From a marketing prospective this has helped artists such as Lil Wayne to jump on tracks, release mixtapes and making him the hottest property in urban music. Other popular mainstream hip hop artists such as TI and T Pain have also had great success.
What is also interesting is that artists such as Akon become a mix of an artists, producer and label owner. Giving him almost complete control. The music industry is ever evolving, developing talents, releasing when its best for one the label and arguably second for the talent. Learning from Dr Dre dropping Eminem was one of the best moves in modern business, same with em dropping 50 and then leading to slim records, clothing ranges, record labels for his recording artists (G Unit records) and even computer games.

Danny Denhard
http://www.last.fm/home

Albums you have to have this year

1. Tha Carter 3 - Lil Wayne's year! Deluxe album is hot
2. Paper Trial - TI - definitely his tightest album - clever collaborations and diverse production
3. Only by the night - Kings of Leon - could release every song on the album. Closer has to be released next
4. The making of a man - Jaheim - Never fails to impress, awesome slow jamz
5. Riot - Paramore - Released last year but definitely the best 37 minutes music experience
6. 808 and heartbreak - Kayne West - nothing like you have ever heard before, Robocop and Amazing alternative hip hop at its best, might not be his best selling album - hip hop heads will stay away
7. 140 grime street - Kano - Uk's finest without a shadow of a doubt, he blew up o2 wireless festival! Biggest MC on road
8. The Cool - Lupe Fiasco - Deep
9. Something else - Robin Thicke - Sit back and enjoy

Danny Denhard

Last FM

Last.fm (www.last.fm) is one of those sites which does not come along very often. It has such a cool core idea it supplies a great free alternative to your own music library.

If you are a hip hop fan for instance, search for your favourite artist and you can listen to select tunes or listen to their radio, basically this is where you listen to anything by the artist or artists with similar tags, so it could like a specially made hip hop playlist for you. So if you like artists like Notorious BIG, it will play artists like Jay Z, 2 Pac, Nas etc. 

My personal favourite at the moment is the jagged edge radio which has blends neo-soul, r n b and slow jams from the last 15 years. This is much better than my minimal iTunes library on my personal PC.

If you dislike any song you can ban it from the list and it will not play again, simple but definitely a bonus!

It offers you the chance to purchase the music or stream online. If I was apple I would honestly consider “borrowing” the idea

You can also create your own playlists or radio; this isn’t the newest concept (www.mystrands.com or www.pandora.com) but definitely the best and easiest interface around. And as it is online, you have the ability to listen worldwide, unlike any playlist you may have without a remote connection or being a geek.

In short, get yourself onto last.fm and create yourself a playlist and enjoy! It is just class 

Btw when I wrote this I was listening to fall out boy radio so just shows you how musically diverse the site is and me of course ;-)

Danny Denhard

http://www.last.fm/user/dannydenhard