UD Creative and budding journo, Angie Chan went along the final installment of the Industry Takeover monthlies to get the scoop on some money making tips and the latest acts to hit the stage. Check out what she had to say…

It was time once again for Industry Takeover and this time Rhymes 2 Riches marked the final monthly instalment this season; but only tears of joy were shed as the and accomplished guests reflected on what has been an innovative and truly bold exploration of urban music. Fear not though, as the Industry Takeover All Dayer is just around the 16th of April to your diary. It will be massive: an all-day event of film, fashion, related shopping and of course the best new sounds in town.

Getting back to this month though and boy what an info heavy seminar, including the highs and lows of money made to support music making and income gained from the beautiful sound itself. This month the panel served it straight up and likely helped to stretch the audience’s finance that little bit further!

Traditionally artists would usually receive the bulk of their royalties from selling tracks on tape or CD but today revenue is harvested more from downloads and live performances. Sometimes a track is featured in an advert or game and may even become the iconic song of a great Film. T Oyelola of Black Grape Productions paid lip service to the less well known IndigO2 venue, a smaller and cheaper venue designed to give a more exclusive feel than the 20k monster capacity O2 arena. Tee skimmed some commission from ticket and merchandise sales after booking two of his prominent acts at IndigO2 last year. Booking many small venues can be profitable and spreads financial risk better than a huge cash dump into somewhere like the O2 or Wembley arena. “Learn to gauge demand.”

Jak Frsh’s (G Frsh Ent.) talked up a raw but sober opinion about breaking into the music industry, Tee and Nick Matthews (Coda Booking) both agreed that diplomacy after talent is probably the second most important skill for an emerging artist. A sly wink from one of our panellist’s implied perhaps something much darker!? UD like to keep the discussion clean and so the talk moved along. On this occasion “playing the game” could mean anything from being nice to influential gate keepers or simply seizing whatever money making opportunity that presents itself. Although sometimes it’s more about finding a deal to match your ambitions, make too hasty a decision and risk being used as a fleeting cash cow. Oddly enough Artists may even find themselves re-releasing material that may just have been too far ahead of its time. The panel hummed and gestured in parliamentary fashion agreeing that whether you are ready or not it’s incredibly important to keep ‘creating a buzz’ on social networking sites or any other medium that pays homage to the mass fan gathering potential of the internet. Tee commented enthusiastically “Trust me, you’ll need to be making loads of friends”. “But socialising costs!” So unless your parents are rich, don’t be afraid to stack those shelves at Tesco.

The discussion moved onto obstacles even in seemingly great opportunities.

Jak Frsh described his previous work experience with mega brand Coca Cola. The huge potential for major recognition was somewhat tempered by their strict video-making policy. Hindrance of creativity is always likely to happen in large corporate entities with a reputation to protect. Often the bigger they are the more control may be challenged. Jak’s disputes eventually led to a communication breakdown with producers and managers at Coca Cola. His current role at G Frsh Entertainment allows him considerably more creative control and this to him is more important.

Tee reminisced about the opening of his own Afro-Caribbean restaurant, created partly to enhance the Black Grape name. This Venue and Gastro Bar in Tottenham, was run alongside his management company, before it closed down on December last year. Despite the fact Tee felt his expansion was premature, the restaurant got good reviews from London Tonight, Time Out and The Evening Standard. All of this was great exposure for the artists within his management company, who featured directly in the reviews.

Nick talked to audience members about the most difficult decision he made before arriving at Coda Booking Agency. The financial difficulties of keeping his own boutique booking agency running meant no other choice in the long term but bankruptcy. Nevertheless, Nick offered a pearl of wisdom on business setups. He strongly recommended consulting entrepreneurs with over 20 years of business set-up experience and not shying away from their fees.

A panellist moved from the corporate to gain more freedom and others from their own ventures to more stable choices in the form of established organisations. Big fish in a small pond or small fish in large pond?

This month the open mic was a more womanly affair – two MCs and three singers. Perhaps a previous seminar on ‘Beats, Bars & Beauty: Women in Music’ inspired more lovely ladies to the stage. Agi.com got the game going and was the first act to take on the stage. Reminiscent of maybe Estelle, she put in a solid performance. Running in clockwork fashion, the audience cheered on the next act. Angel spat in a distinguishing Cockney accent that made for a refreshing addition to the lineup. The audience seemed to quite like Teresa, a female vocalist with a smooth sultry sounding voice who made good use of the live band. The next singer was Electric, dressed in somewhat alternative fashion and expressing her want for an MTV music award. Straight after Vanessa Brown took on the cover of Outcast’s ‘Prototype’ singing the chorus and at the same time, emceeing her own lyrics. Despite the girl to boy ratio, the winner of this month’s open mic was AKA, the only male emcee. He got everybody skanking to an upbeat Bashment number. Infact It’s been a while since there had last been some bashment at the open mic and the change was definitely appreciated.

The last piece of an inspiring puzzle is just how the showcase could be described. Kicking off in the friendliest way possible, Birmingham-bred Metamore  made a b-line for the stage. His rapping sounded quite nasalised as he performed 'Let my people go' on an unnamed tune taken from the ‘Crème and crop’ mixtape. Then Jeeday Jaws freestyle rapped during the acapella to tell his story of a man disappearing from the Grime/UK Hip-Hop scene to complete his animation degree. Afterward, he performed an untitled dark-synthy Hiphop tune of his own creation. The showcase was building up to be pure hotness and by the end of his act Jeeday had to shed a couple layers of clothing, next time we’ll remember to turn up the heating ;)

Petite and colourful fashionista Dionne Reid totally blew the audience away with her Reggae-styled ‘Daddy Dear’ dedicated to her Jamaican father. ‘Angel’ was acoustic guitar oriented and performed in memory of a lost loved one. We will all loose somebody one day and the audience resonated with her to create something of a serene vibe.

Greedz, an extraordinary MC and poet, performed a snippet of his clear speaking and fast rapping-prose. Consisting of witty, controversial lyrics describing his experience as a black man and the use of political correctness. Pushing aside this political stage persona, he then got theatrical and made hips swing on dance floor with his fun funky Hip-Hop track‘Ready’.

Roses Gabor previously sang on Gorillaz’s no.1 single ‘Dare’ and put out a couple performances that really had to be heard to be understood. Her voice was as sexy as her hip swinging on both ‘Stupid’ and ‘Spend is dough’. ‘Stupid’ by the redlights and ‘spend is dough’ both featured her as a guest vocalist. A memorable winding down of the evening saw Roses jamming with the live band, playing a slowjam number, which really showed off her high-pitched vocal range. It was immense.

Limited early bird tickets of £6 tickets are available (at time of print) for the very last instalment of Industry Takeover. This special extra-long event will be jam packed with so much fun and talent, simply reading about it won’t even scratch the experience of being here! Get down, get connected and meet those with the skills and fire to take on the industry. See you there!

WORDS: Angie Chan 

LINKS:

• Check out photos from Rhymes 2 Riches here.
• Watch the footage from Rhymes 2 Riches here.