Wendy Day has negotiated hip hop deals for over twenty years.  She’s been a champion and advocate for the fair treatment of hip hop artists during her career and has been responsible for some of the biggest deals in hip hop history. Before she stepped on the landscape, no artist in the genre had ever walked away from closing a label deal with the amount of payment, rights, and ownership that she was able to secure for her artists. One of the most monumental deals was the 30 million dollar label agreement she got for Cash Money Records. A deal that also awarded them ownership of their master recordings, which was close to unheard of in hip hop at the time.
Here are just a few of Wendy’s former clients: Cash Money Records (Juvenile, BG, Lil Wayne, Hot Boyz, Big Tymers, Baby aka Birdman), Master P’s No Limit Records (Master P, C-Murder, Silkk Da Shocker, Fiend, Mia X, TRU, etc), Twista, David Banner, Eminem, Tupac and many others… To find out more about what she’s done, Google her.

I’ve been aware of Wendy’s accomplishments for years and always followed her blogs about her adventures in the music industry. So you can only imagine how excited I was about having the chance to interview her about her new book. “How to Get A Record Deal”. It’s a must have book for every hip hop artist, and is the only book right now that’s thoroughly informative about current state of the hip hop business. And you can get it on Amazon for less than $7. Check out a free excerptbof the book on her website.

This is a guest post by Stephanie Nicole Jones

This past weekend, I was presented with the great opportunity and honor to sit down with a charismatic business man-with-a-plan,  co-CEO of the independent hip hop label, Ever Ready Records, Alex “Apex” Stewart. Also founder and at the head of the label is Corey “Afinnity” Finn. These ambitious young indie hip hop execs have a well-established office in downtown Los Angeles, where I was able to chat with Apex and pick his brain about the label’s intelligent successes and how it all came to be….

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Stephanie: How was Ever Ready Records (ERR) established?

Apex: How Ever Ready started was out of my garage. It was me and my friend Corey together, co-CEO. We just wanted to make music together, we’ve been in bands and stuff together for years. So we decided we were gonna make a reggae group, where I would spit bars over it and we were doing it out of the studio at my garage, where we also used to kick it. Then I also had other friends that I’d been rapping with for years and we brought them in and people from the neighborhood that we didn’t know would (tell us) to chop it up with so-and-so…

I was going to SMC (Santa Monica College) one time and EJ (emcee Ezus Jesus) was spitting bars and there was a giant cypher around him, then, we brought EJ in. So we started off, not as a label, but just making music, but we were also putting out records so we decided we needed a name, so we can define ourselves. We chose the name “Ever Ready” and decided to call the label Ever Ready Records, because of us already putting out albums…

We then threw this really big event, and got in contact with Lush One, who put out a record with us (Every Ready label) and his records were the first to be really selling, selling, selling. That’s how we got to here today and have been doing this for about three years now.

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Stephanie: How did you come to this position as a CEO of ERR and what direction do you give to the everyone involved?

Apex: I (work as) a negotiator, I am the one who brings people in, in terms of business and records. I also help design the terms of the contracts. I bring in artists and people to do business with, I also over-see. Corey over-sees as well, but he is also more responsible for more of the aesthetics of everything.

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Stephanie: How has it been helpful to keep the label small? How do you decide on who to bring into ERR?

Apex: For awhile we had this idea where we wanted to expand a lot, because at first we weren’t thinking money, we didn’t know there was money, we were just kind of doing our thing. So we decided we wanted to expand and create our whole (own underground movement thing. But we recently realized its better to keep it tighter with fam and friends. And it’s not about how many units we’re selling but it’s about what we think of the art. So right now, we aren’t accepting “applications” lol.

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Stephanie: In what ways has the Internet been helpful for the biz? For either ERR as a whole or for individuals to take care of business?

Apex: We definitely have (specific) people who take care of our Social Networks and then we have our Web Designer. Corey (co-CEO) is the one who designs the whole aesthetic of the site, like what’s the text, where the logo is, where the header is, all that type of stuff. Lush helps us push the [ERR] name out a lot. We use “Grind Time” (on YouTube) to help generate traffic.

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Stephanie: Could speak a little bit about the networking happening outside of ERR and how you guys make an effort to keep connections?

Apex: We are friends with other labels, but we don’t work with other labels too much. Hellfyre (Hellfyre Club) and us will both have our eyes on the same artists sometimes, also with Machina Muerte (Records), who started off as a crew and expanded into a record label. So, we’ve done some business with them, they’ve done the digital distribution side and we’ve done the physical, such as created aesthetics, in terms of music videos and stuff like that.

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Stephanie: the quick successes of ERR are quite evident. What aspects of running ERR as a business accredits towards this success?

Apex: The thing is its a lot more responsibility than working a 9-5 because everything is fully on you. What you do can really screw other people over. The only person you’re answering to is yourself, so you have to be disciplined and responsible.

But, every department has someone in charge of it: merchandise, web, social media, videos…etc.

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Stephanie: What business moves does ERR hope to make in the next year or so?

Apex: I’d like to be in a bigger office than this, so we can have a little bit more people working with us and have places to put them. Also, I’d really like a good distribution deal that’s really getting the records out there.  I’d like to just make a lot of music to put out there for people to relate to, to make music that speaks for people that haven’t yet had a voice. That’s why a lot of Ever Ready is from West LA–we bring out that culture that hasn’t really been brought out before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4VJVMxDhoQ

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The earnest desire to, “make a lot of music…for people to relate to…that speaks for people that haven’t yet had a voice,” is what  admirably keeps this label independently successful. There are a lot labels who are established with the sole idea of making money and end up unsuccessful, with no support, and no money coming in. Why? Because from the very beginning, they are solely concerned with the cash, the units sold, and not the music itself. Any person as fond of hip hop as I am, as a listener and follower, will realize this reasoning for ERR’s success. Any music-obsessed follower can realize this as much as any music-maker (emcee, deejay, producer) who is equally as passionate about it can see this.

Take, for example, one of the up and coming crews affiliated with Ever Ready Records, Two Blunts and a Gent. With an original and inviting style already at the forefront of their recent, first-ever mixtape, The Carmix, Two Blunts has the brand-name and support of Ever Ready Records, which is given, without a doubt, to all the artists and talent behind-the-scenes with the label. The networking and support between everyone is what allows ERR to run as smoothly as they do and keep strong the ERR signature name and style.

Two Blunts, along with other super-talented and involved artists, The Alumni, and emcee Pistol McFly, among others of ERR such as Lush One (as Apex mentions above), of whom have the skillful abilities for musical production and networking knowing that when they need support, financially and musically, that ERR, Apex, and Corey, are behind them 100%. The teamwork and solid foundation of authentication and encouragement on both ends is of utmost importance and what works towards success.

Independent artists Two Blunts and a Gent, The Alumni, and Pistol McFly are all fresh new examples in the indie hip hop world of this indie hip hop label’s success. Most definitely will there be promising futures and a strong following while following this business path. Keep your eyes open and ears peeled if you haven’t already! Nonetheless, what attributes to success all around the table is the artists’ contributions to Ever Ready Records team, the label’s CEO’s disciplined sense in making business choices, and networking with the right people while staying true to the art of making music that has proved success for all.

http://www.everreadyrecords.com/

Stephanie Nicole Jones
hip hop enthusiast/writer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iknKqnpcATg

Lupe Fiasco speaks at Drexel University about the trappings of being under a major label and the future of hip hop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGl5POy3xMg

In this video sited at Hypebot, Lupe Fiasco reveals some of the absurdities he’s had to endure while trying to get his music released under his label, Atlantic.

Meanwhile, in this post sited at Fakeshore Drive, the Cool Kids are just recovering from a nasty court battle with their label, Chocolate Industries.

Peep the tweets from Chuck Inglish and Sir Michael Rocks

Last but certainly not least, Nas wrote a searing letter to his label Def Jam, telling them in essence, to stop fucking with his creativity and “Put [his] Shit Out!”

In a recent article on Tunecore’s blog, founder Jeff Price made the point that you could not trust Neilsen Soundscan reports on the number of independent releases and how successful they were. The major and most obvious reason for this is because a huge percentage of independent releases are not registered with Soundscan, making them impossible to track. The article was a direct response to Tommy Boy Records CEO, Tommy Silverman’s, recent statement that breaking music from do-it-yourself artists required luck and/or the kind of money a label could provide to be successful. I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Silverman at length about independent music during his New Music Seminar.  You can see the video interview in it’s entirety here.

Jeff posted the number of tracks sold by some of Tunecore’s most successful independent artists to further prove his point.

Kelly sold over 2,000,000 million tracks
William Fitzsimmons sold over 150,000 tracks
Soulja Boy sold over 200,000 tracks
Boyce Avenue sold over 1,200,000 tracks
Ron Pope sold over 250,000 tracks
Colt Ford sold over 300,000 tracks
Secondhand Serenade sold over 250,000 tracks
Tapes N Tapes sold over 200,000 tracks
Nevershoutnever sold over 1,000,000 tracks
Drake sold over 300,000 tracks
MGMT sold over 225,000 tracks
The Medic Droid sold over 150,00 tracks
Nickasaur sold over 150,000 tracks
Harry and the Potters sold over 200,000 tracks

Running a successful independent record label takes lots of hard work.  A good business plan, good talent and proper management are essential to making this possible. Here are 7 things to you should avoid when running your independent hip hop label.

1. Choosing a name for your record label before you check to see if it’s already been trademarked: Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen. Someone chooses a label name, puts out CDs under it, and then carpets the office with the logo and name dead in the center, only to find out that someone else legally owns the name. I’ve even seen loyal artists get the label name tattooed on their bodies and cut in their hair. Damn! Oh well, at least the hair grows back.

2.  No paperwork on your artists: This is a big-time FAIL. I don’t care how cool you think that artist is, things usually get crazy once the potential for making money  comes into play. Paperwork not only protects the label, but it protects the rights of the artist as well.  Nothing is worse then spending a shit-load of money and time on an artist, only to have them bounce out on on you when they get upset or see a better opportunity available. “I thought we was homies“, doesn’t fly too well in a courtroom.

3.  No marketing plan: You press up 2,000 CD’s, get the company van wrapped with your face on it, and plan a lavish record release party. You ballin’, G! But you have no idea how you’re going to move those units.  In fact, you still have boxes of product from the last project you released. Get a marketing plan, test it, and work a single before you go broke by spending unwisely.

4.  Ugly-ass logo: This one is pretty self-explanatory. I’ve seen some company logos that look like a 4-year-old designed it and I can’t make out the letters or the image. Spend a little money and hire a graphic designer. Here’s a good test: see if your logo looks just as good without color. There will be times when you won’t be able to put your full colored logo on promo stuff.

5.  Releasing a compilation of unknown artists:This is the first thing most start-up hip hop labels do. They neglect to put out a single and go all in on the compilation CD. They want to show the world their full roster of artists. The problem is, no one cares about them. Usually this is done in hopes that it will increase the chances of one of the artists on the label becoming successful. This seldom happens. It’s always better to concentrate on the strongest artist on the label first.

6. No website: If you’re trying to be a big-shot CEO of a label, you can’t use Myspace as your company website. Secure you’re label domain name and eventually invest in creating your own website. People will take you more seriously.

7.  Trying to take on too many artists: It may be cool to have a deep clique, but signing or taking on more artists than you can afford only puts a financial strain your company and breeds frustration from artists waiting for their turn.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKg6wiACoVM

In this video, Krs-One and Buckshot share their thoughts in Independence Day and the contrast or lack there of between independent and major labels.

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