Stanley Enow - Caramel (Behind The Scenes) ft. Davido

Lupita Nyong’O Opens Up About Sexual Harassment by Harvey Weinstein

Amidst the piling sexual harassment accusation against American movie producer, Harvey Weinstein, Kenyan Nollywood star, Lupita Nyong’O has revealed in a trending op-ed on New York Times how the celebrated movie maker assaulted her.

Harvey Weinstein

In the detailed piece, Lupita Nyong’O gave her shocking experience especially how she felt “unsafe” and how his behavior was inappropriate. She shared:

“Harvey led me into a bedroom — his bedroom — and announced that he wanted to give me a massage,” Nyong’o wrote. “I thought he was joking at first. He was not. For the first time since I met him, I felt unsafe. I panicked a little and thought quickly to offer to give him one instead: It would allow me to be in control physically, to know exactly where his hands were at all times.”

Weinsten then told the actress that he wanted to remove his pants, which Nyong’o responded would be inappropriate. “I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable,” she wrote. ”He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that.”

“I did not know that things could change,” Nyong’o added. “I did not know that anybody wanted things to change. So my survival plan was to avoid Harvey and men like him at all costs, and I did not know that I had allies in this.”

In her final notes, Lupita Nyong’O shared: “I hope we are in a pivotal moment where a sisterhood  and brotherhood of allies — is being formed in our industry. I hope we can form a community where a woman can speak up about abuse and not suffer another abuse by not being believed and instead being ridiculed. That’s why we don’t speak up — for fear of suffering twice, and for fear of being labeled and characterized by our moment of powerlessness.”


Since the newspaper first published their expose about Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment and abuse over a three-decade period, numerous women including Cara Delevingne, Angelina Jolie and
Gwyneth Paltrow have all come forward with their own tales about the mogul.

On another occasion, Lupita was invited to dinner with Weinstein, when things once again took a turn for the worse.Before the starters arrived, he announced: 'Let's cut to the chase. I have a private room upstairs where we can have the rest of our meal,'" she wrote, adding that she declined and he then told her to leave. When she asked him if they were "good", Harvey answered: "I don't know about your career, but you'll be fine."

"I did not see Harvey again until September 2013 when I was in Toronto for the premiere of 12 Years a Slave, the first feature film I was in," Lupita continued. "He said he couldn't believe how fast I had gotten to where I was, and that he had treated me so badly in the past. He was ashamed of his actions and he promised to respect me moving forward. I said thank you and left it at that. But I made a quiet promise to myself to never ever work with Harvey Weinstein."
After Lupita won her Oscar for 12 Years a Slave, Weinstein tried to work with her again, but she refused.

AFRICA: THE NEXT GLOBAL MUSIC OPPORTUNITY

For understandable, but not necessarily justifiable reasons, Sub-Saharan Africa has been the scourge of the international recorded music industry for decades.

Africa is a vast continent that has delivered comparatively little financially in return for investments.

Copyright protection, as agreed by treaties internationally, has been almost non-existent in practice. Fiscal infrastructures for securing revenues have been constantly unpredictable.

But in the 21st century, the era of digital tech, social media marketing, mobile apps and streaming distribution, opportunities are opening up for African and international rights music holders in the region.

Many are predicting the world’s next global music star or hit could come from Sub-Saharan Africa:

South African telecom behemoth MTN Group generated a reported $70m from its pan-African subscription-funded streaming music service in the first six months of 2016 alone?

And CNBC reports that Nigeria, Africa’s biggest territory by population, releases 500 plus albums annually. With the rampant piracy market, it is difficult to know how much income sales yielded. Accountancy giant PwC predicts Nigeria’s total music sector should generate $86m by 2020.

The French division of international digital distribution outfit believe digital started offering video distribution deals to local African indie labels in 2016. The company felt confident to make that move thanks to the grow thin local-music catalogues, the gradually increasing Internet and digital media penetration, and the strong billing infrastructures setup by telecom companies delivering music content as part of their services.

Africans are among the most prolific creators and consumers of popular music:

Music is being played everyday, round-the-clock, at home and at work, at birthday parties and graduation celebrations, at schools and churches, at weddings and funerals, on the street and at corporate events.

African music is already popular worldwide:

The global fame of veterans like South Africa’s Miriam Makeba, Lady-smith Black Mambazo and Hugh Masekela, Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, Angelique Kidjo from Benin and Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi has raised international awareness of the region’s exceptional talent. Another generation of equally influential stars singing Hip Hop, R&B, Afrobeat and numerous indigenous sounds has since appeared. They include Davido, Efya, Cassper Nyovest, Sauti Sol and Lira.

Zimbabwean veteran Oliver Mtukudzi has sold 700,000 units in South Africa via the country’s biggest label Gallo Record Company and continues to do so from his catalogue.

There is nothing to say why more cannot be achieved in a region rich in natural resources, a youthful population, arising educated middle class, an accelerating adoption of digital media, and abundant potential for economic growth as opportunity knocks within Sub-Saharan Africa:

• After more than 20 years’ absence, the major labels are returning to Africa.
• Legally accessed streaming is gradually winning over young fans.
• Social media networks are empowering African artists and labels to reach fans directly.
• Big-name brand owners like MTN Group, Vodafone, Unilever and Coca-Cola to sponsor live music events and festivals.
• International hit makers such as Chris Brown, Travis Scott, 50 Cent, Sir Paul McCartney, Jay-Z, Ciara and Rick Ross are collaborating with African acts and linked to African ventures.

Several African countries are signatories to international copyright treaties and conventions:

These include the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, the Geneva Phonograms Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention(ParisTreaty), the TRIPs Agreement, the Rome Convention and the WIPO Copyright Treaties.

Enforcing them in the developing African markets has been almost impossible. However, anti-piracy policies have been yielding success in South Africa, where the battle against the illegal use and sale of music has been led by local collective trade association RiSA (the Recording Industry of South Africa).

Another pro-active copyright organization has been COSON(Copyright Society of Nigeria), which has been working with global trade body IFPI to pursue, collect and distribute sound-recording royalties in Nigeria.

CISAC, the Paris-based international umbrella organization for the world’s collecting societies, says it had 33 African members by May 2016.

American rapper Lil Jon builds school in Ghana

Award-winning American rapper and producer,  Lil Jon has commissioned a three unit KG Classroom block with ancillary office and washroom facilities at Abomayaw, a rural community in Asuogyaman district of the Eastern region of Ghana

He commissioned the project in memory and honour of his mother, Carrie M. Smith.

Lil Jon, who is known in real life as Jonathan Smith, commissioned the project on Thursday October 12, 2017 and was done in partnership with nonprofit organization Pencils of Promise.

According to the 46-year-old rapper who is reportedly worth $25 million, his family chose Ghana for the project because they are black Americans and thus bias for Ghana.

Ghana has embrace a lot of African American with dual nationality and it is  rea expanding community developmental and investment growth across the country .meanwhile in country like Cameroon dual nationality is consider by the imperial dictator regime as a threat to their crooked ways of leadership .
They  are so many Cameroonians in the diaspora who has the good faith to bring up start up companies that will grant job opportunities for the unemployed youths , but the foundation of doing business in Cameroon has been destroy by heavy weight mass corruption and embezzlement .

He told Starr News that “this is the first Project we've done together of this kind and it is amazing to see the community come out to support and the appreciation they are showing for us building the school and I just feel like I’m lost for words of how amazing it feels to give the community something like this school.”

He added that children in their early ages learn so many things therefore the need to get a conducive learning environment.

“Kindergarten kids at their age they keep up so much stuff so if you can provide appropriate environment for education it can make learning very easy for them and I’m glad I can help facilitate that for these kids looking at where they came from, open basically sheds outside, you can imagine the heat and the obstruction and now they have a well building if it rains.”

JOIN MIDEM, THE INTERNATIONAL B2B MUSIC MARKET 5-8 June 2018, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France

Midem is the acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale, which is organised annually in and around the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. The trade show, which is billed as the leading international business event for the music ecosystem, has been held since 1967. Several thousand musicians, producers, agents, managers, lawyers, executives, entrepreneurs and journalists from around the globe regularly attend the event, which is usually held at the end of January or early February. While delegates from recording, artist management, and publishers network, new artists showcase their material. Also live music is on show in the evenings.

The event is developing like the industry and is now focused on the core music business (labels, publishers, rights societies and more), the technology sector (startups, developers and big tech companies), and brands and the agencies that represent them (for music and brand campaigns).

Midem helps you grow your business internationally, providing you with the opportunity to reinforce and forge business connections all around the world, enable international music promotion and sign deals.

Why come to Midem?

With four days of music conferences, competitions and networking events, Midem is the leading business event for the international music industry.

Midem provides the opportunity to make significant business connections, learn how to promote music internationally, source talent and get inspired by upcoming trends in musicCarry on networking in the Online Database and join us next year from 5-8 June 2018!

http://www.midem.com

BUILDING A BRAND: GET THE FOUNDATIONS RIGHT

I think that branding, and getting it right, is important to an organizations long term success. I believe that brand values are important and should act as a foundation on which you not only build the rest of your branding, but should also inform employee behavior and mindsets. And you’ll also be aware that one of the major failings I see in most brands is not delivering on their brand promise. Building a brand has to take these two elements into consideration.

But how do you go from those two basic pillars to fashioning a complete brand?

There’s no short cut. It takes a lot of thinking, analysis, hard work and a bit of intuition. Sure you can knock up a logo and a color palette in a few hours and slap it on your stationery, but that isn't a brand. It’s part of it, but not the whole picture. And if you've done it in a couple of hours it’s probably going to be pretty generic.

In this series of articles I’m going to look at the way Organic goes about building a brand for its customers. I’m not saying this is the only way to tackle brand design, but it’s the way I do it and it makes sense. I make no claims for originality in approach either; this is very much a case of standing on the shoulders of giants.

For this installment we’ll look at the three basic layers of brand design, and in subsequent posts we’ll delve a little deeper into each.

WHAT DOES YOUR BRAND VALUE?

This is where I believe all brand design projects should start, and that goes for building from scratch or refreshing an existing brand.

Why?

Because your values drive your behavior, and if you want customers to have an experience that is as positive as it can be then your values and behavior must be congruent.

Deciding on your brand values sounds simple, and most people will be able to rattle off a few words that they think encapsulate their business:

• Professional
• Driven
• Adventurous
• Blah
• Blah
• Blah

And the list goes on. The problem arises when people get lost focusing on values that are, really, aspirational and not ones that actually reflect the state of their business and how it operates. These values are usually the big ticket ones that sound impressive, and offer the customer the moon on a stick. Which is why they can come unstuck and negatively impact your brand.

Think about it. If a brand chooses a value such as ‘innovative’ it sounds great, and who wouldn't want to engage with an innovative brand. Problem is if you’re not actually innovative then you have a disconnect that can affect staff morale, because they quickly realize you aren't innovative and then feel like a bunch of shills. And it also negatively impacts customer relationships, because they’re expecting innovation and what you’re serving up is more of the same.

SHAPING YOUR BRAND PERSONALITY

Brands do have personalities, and the best have a brand personality that is consistent and identifiable. This doesn’t mean you have to be like Innocent (who definitely do have a personality that is all their own). Your brand’s personality should reflect its values, the people who work within it, the service or product you provide, and should connect with your customers.

Your brand personality is founded on your values, and comes across most clearly in your tone of voice and choice of imagery. So nailing down the persona of your brand, usually in a broad archetype at first, is an important stage in building a brand.

Once you have your brand personality defined, you can use that and other factors to build up a tone of voice. How we talk, the words we use and how we use them, play a major part in how people perceive our personality, and it’s the same for brands.

But words are just words, and the actions of your brand will also define its personality. So thinking carefully about how your personality is put into action by your people is crucial. We’ll explore brand personality more in a later post in this series.

CREATING A BRAND IDENTITY

So we’ve built the core of our brand, layered on top a personality and tone of voice, now we get to the part of branding that most people think is a brand: the brand identity. We’re talking name, logo, strapline, colour palettes. All that glossy, sexy stuff.

Creating a brand identity takes real skill and a fair bit of time. It’s also the place where we can get really creative with little hidden messages and foreshadowing of your brand values. You can see some great examples of logos that do a little bit more than look nice in this article by Ad Week.

Brand identity is important to future success because it is one of the most recognizable aspects of your business, and if well crafted it can stick in the mind of your audience.

Like everything else your visual identity should be informed by your brand values and personality. It should also take into account your industry, and hopefully do something a little different that makes it stand out. If you’re an accountancy firm then dark blues have a strong pull, making people feel safe and secure (especially nervous stakeholders). But how will you stand out if you’re just another navy blue logo?

When building a brand identity it’s important to think about how it will work at all scales, from a business card, to your website, to the side of a truck, or a massive billboard. I’ll stress again that each element must relate back to the core of your brand. If it doesn't then it isn't helping you create a cohesive brand that gives customers a unified experience from initial contact through to purchase and beyond.

These are the foundational elements that need consideration when building a brand. They are, of course, equally valid for doing a brand refresh but they can take potentially more work to achieve because you have to try and change ingrained assumptions and beliefs about the brand.

But knowing the components is all well and good. How do you actually go about uncovering and creating these elements? That’s one of the creative services we offer at Organic, but over the next few articles I will give a you a glimpse of what goes into building a brand from the ground up.

Getting your music sponsored

So you want to go on tour, but you don’t have the cash or the resources to put on the stellar performance you know you are capable of? Well consider getting sponsored, so someone else can foot the bill while you concentrate on what’s most important – the music.

Go corporate

Approach local companies and present yourself and your band as a good representation of  local talent and establish with the firm that you can represent them creatively through your music. Let’s say your newest album’s name is “Black Electricity” and you have a song under the same title on the album, a good idea would be to make a proposal towards the local electrical company which states that your new single can be used as a great marketing tool for their company and can also be a great representation of their support for local music/talent. Large companies are always seeking out ways to connect with the local market and they often do so through their support of local development which often times includes the sponsorship of local music.

Governmental sponsorship

Is your music genre native to your country? Do you play any instruments in your band that originated from your country?. Then you may have an extra edge in getting sponsored by your government. Like corporations, governmental agencies like to show their support for local development, however,unlike corporations, most governments see local development as a priority and therefore, reserve special funding for such projects, which more often than not includes governmental sponsorship of local music. If you or your band fit the criteria above, you may have more of a chance of being sponsored for tours to various competitions as a representative of your country’s musical talent regionally or even worldwide!

Use Your Networks

Did you run track in high school? Do you do tattoo art at a local tattoo shop on the side? or maybe you work part-time at a local restaurant? You may be asking, well what does that have to do with your music? Well, the answer is….. everything! People usually like to look out for the people on their team so if you approach the people you know and interact with on a daily basis for sponsorship, they are more likely to give it to you rather than a stranger you have never met before. So you may say, well that was back in high school, why would they care? Well, think about how great the press would be for your high school track team, if “one of their very own” was selling out shows locally, regionally or even internationally, if you proposition your networks to sponsor you on the basis of how much good press it will bring to their track team, their tattoo shop or their restaurant, they will more likely than not help you financially with your musical endeavors.

END NOTE: Always remember, no matter who you are approaching for sponsorship, you should always ask yourself beforehand….if I were them, what is the benefit of sponsoring me? Always take a business minded approach when seeking out sponsorship, meaning, always keep in mind that their main goal is more profit, so any idea you are pitching to a company you are seeking sponsorship from should be centered around this fact. Also, keep your mind open, just because you are a musician/singer etc. doesn’t mean you should only seek sponsorship from a music related business/company, as the first example explains, you can approach even the local electricity company if you wanted, you simply have the job of explaining why they need you.

The Art of Story telling

Storytelling seems to be a dying art form in Hip Hop.  Much of the music today does not seem to stray further from the topics of; women, drugs, money, bling and cars. But it does not surprise me though that there are not that many story-tellers. Story-telling is an art form and great story-telling is a gift. A great story keeps you interested, gets you hyped, and I’m not talking about the krunk hyped or shooting up the club hyped. I’m talking about hanging on to every word, wondering where the story is going hype? The, how is it going to end hype? Metaphors and similes used in ways you never thought of before, that gets you excited, that makes you laugh, that makes you say, think and feel “oh shit,now that’s deep!”

The art of story-telling and the art of imagination go hand in hand, there can be no story which can be considered great unless it paints a vivid picture in your mind. The artful story-teller does not give you details, he gives you a sketch; a numbered coloring book in your mind and lets you paint in the images yourself.  A great story does not have an ending; but rather has multiple endings as it has multiple authors, because a great story-teller does not give you his story; he co-writes it with you. He does not tell you how you should feel about a character or even how they look or how they behave ; he gives you a dialogue and lets you determine those details yourself.

Many rappers give you words to sing; but very few give you pictures to view. What kind of rapper are you?

What is a good story? Click Play and find out.

https://youtu.be/TN_wqRJ_F1k 

How Recording Contracts Work

This article explains the basic concept of a record label contract.

Many up & coming artist’s seek out a recording contract with the mindset, that once they sign that contract, they “made it” and all the hard work they did as an unknown artist is no longer necessary. When in reality, the opposite is true. When a record deal is made between an artist and a label, this is where all the really hard work begins. For you to understand what i mean by this i will provide the following description:

Think of the record label as a bank, a music bank rather, and yourself  (the artist) as a bank customer seeking a loan (the record deal) for your music. When the bank (record label) has decided based on your assets (your music) that you qualify for the loan (record deal) they will give it to you, but only on the basis that you pay them back in full plus interest (your royalties). But, when you get the loan (record deal), it is not over, you now have to show the bank (record label), that you can keep up with your payments (royalties) by continuing to make hit records or songs. This is where the hard work comes in. If your records don’t sell or the radio does not play your songs enough so you can collect the royalties to cover your expenses i.e. the money you owe the bank (record label) you will default on your loan (record deal) and lose your recording contract.

It is very important that you understand these points before you sign that recording contract. Many music artists are under the impression that a record label’s job is to give out multi-million dollar contracts and make them rich and famous, when it is truly, like any other business, seeking to make the greatest profit with very little expense. Multi-million dollar contracts are usually only given out to artists who have shown themselves capable of making more profit than the original expense spent by the label. Every time a record label signs a contract with an artist, it is an investment by the label in the artist. However, through sales royalties (money from the sale of your music throughout albums) etc. the label quickly recoups that investment plus interest. The record label always recoups their expenses eg. cost of production of your albums, cost of distribution, promotion and any upfront payments,covering the personal expenses of the artist, usually called advance against royalties before the artist gets paid.

Now you may ask, so what’s the point of scoring a recording contract if they get paid before i do? Well, simply put, many record labels, have the resources to reach and market, you and your music, to millions of people worldwide, which can expand your fanbase and as a result increase your album sales, making more money for both you and the label. A label is equipped to handle all the major business dealings of an artist’s career, such as the collection of royalties and the copyright protection of the artist’s compositions while he/she concentrates on their music. If you are interested in marketing your musical talent on your own there are now many resources to do so, to find out who they are and what they cost as well as a more in- depth look at the different types of music royalties see our previously posted articles:

American Rapper Birdman Announces His Intended Visit To Nigeria Ghana Gambia kenya tanzania

American rapper and record producer, Bryan Christopher Williams, popularly known as Birdman has announced that he will tour Ghana and other African countries in February 2018.

The co-founder and public face of Cash Money Records who is wealth $110 Million posted on Instagram that he will be touring Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Gambia and Ghana.
In an Instagram post he wrote: “Shout to Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Gambia and Ghana for showing love. I’ll be touring over there February 2018”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaS1f8sl3_2/

Birdman is the co-founder and public face of Cash Money Records. He is also one half of the hip hop duo the Big Tymers with producer Mannie Fresh.

Birdman has also made his name by contributing to the making of YMCMB (Young Money Cash Money Billionaires), a combination of the former’s “Cash Money” and Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment imprint under the label.

Ace Liberian Blogger, Berenice Mulubah Shares Experience at Revolt Music Conference 2017

Ace Liberian entertainment blogger, Berenice Mulubah was recently at the Pdiddy hosted, Revolt Music Conference 2017 held in Miami, Florida. Her story is quite the compelling tale of determination to succeed despite odds and a great way to start your day. See story:

“From the moment I made up my mind, December of 2013, that I wanted to blog about entertainment, I have made it my business to add to the knowledge I have about the industry. From buying books on the subject, going back to school for Mass Communication, and constantly goggling new information about the industry, I've been on it.

When I heard about P Diddy Revolt Music Conference 2017, in Miami, I had to jumped right on, even though, the price was high. You must invest in yourself and your career.

It has been four days of wealth. Getting pure knowledge about the music industry from legends and experts.

On the first day, King Combs, 21 Savage and French Montana had the room on fire. The Conference is loaded with executes from the American Music industry and artists. The highlight of the night was Miami Mayor, Philip Levine awarding P Diddy with Miami 100 years coin and French Montana. You can check out some videos from the night on my Instagram. Of course, there was the educational panels, sharing their knowledge.

Day 2: Artists, activists and writers came together to ​dialogue on how to impact change and challenge the political system​.​​​ The panel, which was brilliantly moderated by Jeff Johnson, the CEO of JIJ Communications, was comprised of ten individuals who continue to utilize their platforms with the utmost urgency and responsibility, tirelessly advocating for social justice, challenging oppression and denouncing the malevolent actions of the current administration. During the passionate dialogue, artist/activists Mysonne, Joey Bada$$ and T.I. were joined by the Rev. Shane R. Smith, President, National Action Network San Diego; Datwon Thomas, Editor in Chief, Vibe; Rob Kenner, Executive Editor, Mass Appeal; Vanessa Satten, Editor in Chief, XXL; Karen Civil, Author, Media Maven, Brand Curator; and Shaheem Reid, Host/ Writer/ Producer, REVOLT TV.

The day continued with more educational panels and ended with a Gala Dinner.

The dinner was is a beautiful celebration to honor Queen Latifah.  She received the 2017 REVOLT Icon Award.

The conference ends today.  There is a film festival going on for the rest of the day. It has been a great experience so far.  May God presents me with opportunities to impact the Liberian Entertainment Industry with the knowledge acquired.

According to accounts from several Liberians especially in the entertainment industry, Berenice Mulubah has been criticized oftentimes for being tough but her message of ‘artiste empowerment and improvement’ has undoubtedly resonated with industry players and helped shape the Liberian Entertainment Industry.

BERENICE MULUBAH REVOLT MUSIC CONFERENCE 2017

Larissa Tcheukam from (237 )Cameroon was crowned Miss Africa Great Britain 2017

The Miss Africa GB pageant (Formerly Black Africa UK pageant) was founded in 2011. The pageant was formed with the sole purpose of giving young African girls born or living in the United Kingdom a platform to showcase not only their beauty but most importantly their culture, talent and creativity. The pageant is highly competitive and seeks to bring out those leadership qualities in women. The winner becomes a goodwill ambassador for Miss Africa GB, charged with designing and implementing a charity program based on her Pageant Platform.

Student and health practitioner, Larissa Tcheukam from Cameroon has been crowned Miss Africa Great Britain 2017. The Grand Finale took place at the Royal Regency Hall, London on Saturday, the 8th of October 2017.

Larissa beat 25 other beautiful finalists to clinch the crown and was crowned by her predecessor, Sarah Jegede of Nigeria. Ayan Said from Somaliland was 1st Runner Up and Anta Wilkins representing Senegal was crowned 2nd Runner Up.
According to Miss Africa Director Mr Dele Onabowu from Nigeria, the competition was extremely close and any of the girls was worthy of the crown on the night.

The winner becomes a goodwill ambassador for Miss Africa GB, charged with designing and implementing a charity program based on her Pageant Platform

Miss Africa supports the winner in executing their platform in serving humanity and making our world a better place. Over the last six years, their Queens have devoted their time to charity work in the UK and Africa.
Larissa is an advocate for Child Education for underprivileged children and promises to dedicate her reign to this cause.
She will now be the ambassador for the Queens 4 A Reason Charity and embark on a charity mission to Cameroon.

RIAA Lists Top Music Pirate Sites, YouTube MP3 Rippers

The RIAA has submitted its annual list of "notorious" music piracy websites to the U.S. Government. The report his heavily populated with YouTube MP3 ripping sites, but also includes many the usual suspects, including The Pirate Bay and Rapidgator.

Stream-Ripping Sites

– Mp3juices.cc

– Convert2mp3.net

– Savefrom.net

– Ytmp3.cc

– Convertmp3.io

– Flvto.biz

– 2conv.com.

Search-and-Download Sites

– Newalbumreleases.net

– Rnbxclusive.top

– DNJ.to

BitTorrent Indexing and Tracker Sites

– Thepiratebay.org

– Torrentdownloads.me

– Rarbg.to

– 1337x.to

Cyberlockers

– 4shared.com

– Uploaded.net

– Zippyshare.com

– Rapidgator.net

– Dopefile.pk

– Chomikuj.pl

Unlicensed Pay-for-Download Sites

– Mp3va.com

– Mp3fiesta.com

Elizabeth Kendall,

Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation and Intellectual Property

Office of the United States Trade Representative

600 17th Street NW

Washington, DC 20508

In re: Docket No. USTR-2017-0015

Dear Ms. Kendall:

Attached please find RIAA’s submission in response to your request for comments

identifying Internet and physical markets based outside the United States that should be

included in forthcoming Notorious Markets List (List). The online and physical markets

identified in our comments are harming American creators, businesses, and the American

economy. We were pleased that last year’s Notorious Markets review included stream ripping 

as an issue of special focus. Our submission this year highlights the growing complexity of this 

problem.

The U.S. music industry is highly dependent on the Internet and, in turn fuels various social

media, e-commerce services and similar internet companies, as well as mobile and broadband 

penetration generally. In the first half of 2017, approximately 80% of U.S. record label 

revenue came from a wide array of digital sources, with 62% of our revenue coming from 

digital streaming sources. The growth in streaming and digital services has resulted in a 

major step in our economic recovery, with a 17% year over year growth in retail revenues

in the first half of 2017.

 Our members continue to invest heavily in discovering, nurturing

and promoting artists. In 2015, record labels invested over $4.5 billion globally in such

activities. Today, RIAA members license their music globally, and more than 400 licensed

music platforms operate around the world, with new services added constantly. This

contributes significantly to the U.S. digital trade services surplus.

While this recovery is promising, it is fragile, and continues to be threatened by online

marketplaces that infringe our members’ music, as well as by sales of counterfeit products

over ecommerce platforms, outdated and abused laws, and lack of proper enforcement

mechanisms.

In this submission, we have identified some of the major online actors that threaten our

industry’s recovery and jeopardize the U.S. competitive advantage in digital trade. Simply

put, the prosperity of the music industry and America’s cultural production, which

contributes significantly to the U.S. services trade surplus, is greatly undermined by

distortions in the marketplace that flow from what is essentially illegal trafficking in stolen

goods – our sound recordings. The weight of the academic literature acknowledges that

such online pirate services cause significant economic harm to the music industry.

In addition, we have also identified physical markets that are flooding eCommerce

platforms with high quality counterfeit CDs that unwitting buyers are purchasing at full

retail price. These counterfeits result in a one-for-one displacement of legitimate sales.

We hope you find this information useful, and we look forward to continuing to work with

the U.S. government to find solutions to these problems.

Sincerely yours,

George York

Senior Vice President, International Policy

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) 

2017 SPECIAL 301 OUT-OF-CYCLE REVIEW OF NOTORIOUS MARKETS

ONLINE MARKETPLACES

he following is a list of online markets based outside the United States that engage in the

unlicensed sale, streaming and/or distribution/downloading of sound recordings that

significantly damage the rights of U.S. companies that we request to be included on the 2017 

Notorious Markets List.

These services harm U.S. artists, record labels, and music publishing companies by (i)

disseminating music without authorization and without providing any compensation to the

creators and owners of the music, and (ii) artificially distorting the market value of the

music, thereby reducing the compensation to the creators and owners from licensed

services. The cost of such music piracy is potentially enormous. One recent study

quantified the commercial value of music digital piracy in 2015 at $29 billion worldwide,

and estimated that it could grow to $53-$117 billion in 2022 

1  

As noted in that study, the 

weight of academic research notes that this piracy imposes significant economic harm on 

legitimate music revenues.

2

Many of the services in this year’s submission unfortunately have been included in the

past. However, this year several major services have been removed, particularly in two key

areas.

First, there has been a significant turnover with respect to sites engaged in stream-ripping,

an area of piracy that the USTR highlighted in last year’s Notorious Market Report. The

most popular YouTube ripping site, youtube-mp3.org, based in Germany and included in

last year’s list of notorious market, recently shut down in response to a civil action brought

by major record labels. In addition, either following the complaint filed against youtube mp3.org

or following the stipulated judgement against youtube-mp3.org, several other

illegal stream ripping services named in our filing last year no longer permit the conversion

and download of music videos on YouTube. Unfortunately, several other stream-ripping

sites have “doubled down” and carry on in this illegal behavior, continuing to make this

form of theft a major concern for the music industry. 

The Definition of a ‘Professional Blogger’ or ‘Full Time Blogger’

One of the comments and questions that I’m getting a lot is what I mean when I say ‘Professional Blogger‘.There are a number of differing viewpoints and not one of them is necessarily incorrect; in fact, anyone has the full right to call themselves a ‘Full Time Blogger‘ or ‘Professional Blogger’ regardless of any outside opinion. But, there seems to be an understanding, both cultural and nuanced, about what it means to be ‘Pro.’

Just think about it for a moment, especially as it relates to professions and jobs in other areas – What do you think of when you say that so and so is a Professional? You probably assume a number of things, right?

So, let’s start with a classic example and something much more familiar, shall we? Let’s talk about Professional Athletes for a moment. When you think about them you probably have a number of ideas in your head, all of them being correct and varied in your perspective.

So let’s start there.Definition of a Professional Athlete:

A True Professional at His Craft

When you think of a professional athlete you most likely think of a person who:

• Is exceptionally talented, skilled, or competent. Most likely they are naturally gifted with both the mental and physical requirements to be the best.
• They have achieved a “top” ranking or standing within their particular sport of choice.
• They have had a number of personal and culturally understood accolades attached to their name.
• They train a lot. Every day and all year round. They spend most of their physical time every day playing their sport.
• I would argue that it is also what they mentally train for as well; I can imagine they think about their sport passionately and incessantly.
• They are competitive and play to win. They want to be the best at what they do.
• They have a long history of experience in their field most likely starting at a very young age.
• They have also received coaching, education, and mentoring within their field. Constant improvement is just as important as executing well and winning.
• They make a living (or a significant source of income) through their sports activity both directly (salary) and/or indirectly (endorsements, promotions, etc.). They receive payment for their performance.

And the list could go on and on. For the above example I’m trying to cover as much as possible but you always want to find the get to the most simple and most accepted definition possible.

So, the bottom line is probably best summed up with this definition of a Professional Athlete: They make a living playing sports and/or activities related to their sport.

Right?

With that in mind I’m going to jump into what it means to be a Professional Blogger‘:

A Few Understood or Assumed Characteristics:

Just like the example of a professional athlete above our internet culture has crafted a number of assumed characteristics that allow a blogger to hold the title of ‘Professional’ or ‘Pro.’

Here are a few that may come to mind:

• A blogger who has an exceptional amount of “engagement” on their property, either in the form of comments, pingbacks, retweets via Twitter, or submissions to social sharing websites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious, and more.
• A blogger who has a lot of traffic to their blog, much more than the average blogger.
• A blogger who has a large fan base and community. Typically this results in visible engagement, as listed above, but it also can be seen in other ways such as the number of Twitter followers, RSS subscribers, email subscriptions, and more.
• A blogger who blogs consistently and who typically posts more than once a day (but not necessarily required).
• A blogger who has been blogging for a while and who has a lot of blog posts published. In other words, they have a pedigree and history within this profession.
• A blogger who has been able to move from the blogging and online medium to offline media. For example, a blogger who now hosts a TV show or Radio spot and/or is physically present at events for speaking, panels, and more.
• A blogger who is culturally seen as a thought-leader and a “guru” in their space. They are sought after for wisdom, education, and general leadership within their particular niche.
• A blogger who makes a living (or a significant source of income) through their blog both directly (salary) and/or indirectly (endorsements, promotions, etc.). They receive payment for their performance.

And again, the list of characteristics go on and some of these may ring more true than others for you and your perspective but most of them can be seen as part and parcel with being a professional blogger

The Definition of a Professional Blogger:

So where does this leave us? You’ll notice that the last bullet point in both list of assumptions for the Professional Athlete and the Professional Blogger is the same. I think this just makes sense and is a common denominator for many of those that find themselves in the professional space and I feel confident using that as the foundation for my definition and how I use the terms.

A Professional Blogger is a person who blogs for a living.

Just like a professional athlete, a professional blogger is one who can support themselves and their family with the income generated through their online properties and their blog(s).

This is the definition that I’m the most comfortable with and is what I mean whenever I use the term ‘Professional Blogger,’ ‘Full Time Blogger,’ and other such combinations thereof.

It’s Not a Perfect Definition!

Now, before you throw rocks at me I understand that my definition excludes a number of bloggers who I consider to be shining examples of what it means to be ‘Pro’ but may not necessarily (at first glance) appear to make any money through their blogging (but they do).

For example, Seth Godin‘s blog does not appear to make any money from his blogging efforts (no explicit advertisements) but he is, without question, a Professional Blogger because he exemplifies nearly all of the characteristics above.

And Seth’s a marketer and uses his blog to promote his books (which he sells in boat-loads). His blog is his channel and platform for his income as an indirect source of revenue. In fact, he’s even said himselfthat his last book would be the last book he sells through a traditional publisher; his blog (and other online outlets) will be the primary channel of sales.

Another great example is a long-time favorite, Leo Babauta, who runs Zen Habits. His blog is one of the top 25 blogs in the world with a reported reader-base of over 200,000. I believe it’s much more north of this reported figure.

Again, Leo’s blog doesn’t appear to have any direct channel of income. In fact, he even states it explicitly on his site:

I love how this works and how he’s’ able to earn an income in other ways, through books, affiliates, speaking, and more.

Finally, there are countless examples of Professional Bloggers who really do not make any money and simply enjoy the experience, exercise, and activity of blogging. This list is just as extensive and long as those who claim to be ‘Pro.’

But here’s the bottom line:

• You can call yourself a ‘Professional Blogger’ and that’s well within your right, but there appears to be some culturally understood characteristics that provide clarity to the definition, just like a Professional Athlete. My 4 year old daughter can call herself a ‘Pro’ (and I let her!) but she is definitely not a Professional Athlete by any stretch of the imagination (yet…).
• A Professional Blogger spends their most valuable resource blogging. This resource is simply their time. They could be doing more with their time but they are not, and most of them strategically convert this time into a financial return, but not always.

Finally, just as culture dictates and guides us to a solid definition it is ultimately culture and community that helps firm up the definition as it characterizes the individual. In other words, someone may call himself/herself a Professional Blogger but it’s the community that ultimately supports that self-proclaimed title.

It’s saying something if no one shows up, right?

Are You Pro if No One Shows?

What Am I Missing?

This definition is most definitely a “working” definition but it will at least establish a foundational understanding as how I use it on blogger.com

What do you say? What am I missing? What do you think about my definition?

[This is part of the Blogging Foundations Starter Kit Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?