The Young Guru’s That Are Changing The Music Game

I first met S.K.I.T.Z. Beatz when he was barely 17 years old. By this time he was already an accomplished urban music producer that had worked with many of the biggest names in the UK Grime scene.

When I met him, Skitz was facing another challenge. He was competing against 12 other candidates for a single job as a Music Executive at a record label I was in the process of setting up. This was a label with a difference. Established as a social enterprise, it was managed by a national charity and backed by a sizable chunk of Big Lottery funding.

Run by young people, for young people, the primary objective wasn’t to make masses of money. The aim was to nurture talent and provide real world experience of the music industry for young people at risk of drifting into drugs or crime, or those who were already involved but wanted a way out.

When we set about recruiting a small staff team to help run the label, a tiny ad in the NME for a part time Music Executive generated a massive response. We received over 250 applications. Shortlisting these down to two or three candidates based on written applications alone proved impossible. So, inspired by The Apprentice, we invited the top 12 along to our grimy office in Newham and set them a series of tests. Among the candidates was a young Skitz Beatz.

One of the challenges focused on negotiation skills. We sent the candidates out in pairs with instructions to return in an hour with the most valuable or interesting items they could retrieve from local stores. The only rules were they couldn’t pay for anything and they couldn’t steal them either.

When the teams returned, most of the items they brought back were of low value: a free cup of coffee, a sandwich, some fruit and stationary. Skitz returned with a three foot ornate antique statue that he’d talked a local furniture shop owner into letting him borrow. Needless to say, he got the job.

Learning the Hard Way

For all its good intentions, the record label never quite lived up to expectations. Although the young people involved learned valuable skills about the music industry, in many ways our approach was too old school and similar to that of the big labels.

Having received a grant to establish the enterprise, the idea was to create a sustainable business that could survive when the seed funding ran out. But when we tried to negotiate contracts with young artists that would secure future revenues, unsurprisingly many were reluctant to sign. Having a six foot three, foul mouthed, ex-football hooligan conduct the negotiations probably didn’t help, but that’s a story for another time.

After an eventful 15 months of live shows, studio recordings and a few releases, my career began taking me in a different direction, so I made the difficult decision to move on. A year or so after I left, I heard that the label had been wound up. The music industry had changed. It was a hard lesson to learn.

‘Survival of the viralist’

The talented Mr Beatz went on to work with the likes of Chipmunk, Wiley and Tinchy Stryder. In 2010 he composed music for Nike’s ‘Grid’ advertising campaign, he also became a music composer and supervisor on Eastenders: E20 – a spinoff from the main  show aimed at teenagers.

Not long ago, Skitz contacted me to let me know that he was producing an album for a young artist named Sara Silveira. I took the opportunity to ask him for his views on how the music industry has changed.

The Q&A was conducted via email (old school, I know). An edited transcript is reproduced below:

1.    Is Sara signed to a major label? If not, why not?

At this current time Sara isn’t signed to a major, this is largely due to the fact there are a plethora of lucrative ventures an independent artist can potentially exploit, if they know where to find them of course. Gone are the days of a songwriter needing to be labeled ‘major’ to get major work.

2.    How difficult is it these days for new artists to break through? How are you handling promotion?

As with any business, preparation and knowhow are essential. Also having some good people on your side whether on radio, television or online. The term ‘survival of the viralist’ sums up our promotional approach.

3.    How important are social media channels these days and which ones? You were an early adopter on MySpace, does it still have any role to play?

MySpace is a relic of the past known to many as the ‘MySpace days’. Social networks are evolving so fast that even Twitter isn’t safe. These channels are evidently disposable. Nobody would have predicted that all of their MySpace surfing time would culminate in untold wasted hours. Tom who?

4.    Who are the influencers that can make or break people these days? Is it still the A&R people at the labels, or are others now more important?

The public can make or break things. There is so much choice. This new technology savvy generation of kids cares far more for playground hysteria: YouTube views and Facebook ‘Like’ pages with a free 4 track EP rather than a billboard on the motorway.

5.    Do you see a role for brands and advertisers in promoting new artists? What are the challenges here?

The cross pollination of brands and artists is a formula that I will continue to utilise as long as there are companies willing to pay to place their product in association with an artist.

6.    Who are the people that you think have played the brand game well, and who has flopped?

I have to admire the way Dizzee Rascal has played the branding game. He successfully managed to stay in the public eye without the necessity to release music – or make a Celebrity Big Brother appearance.

Somebody I fear played the brand game wrong has to be Craig David. If he was my act, I would of ridden that ‘Bo Selecta’ wave all the way to the bank by laughing about it and not sulking about a little bit of comedy.

Young Guru’s Changing the Game

Although not as well known to the general public as Jay-Z, his producer Young Guru is an equally savvy operator. The video embedded below is worth watching, as he echoes Skitz’s comments and goes further, describing how some artists get enslaved by music labels, but how a new generation of acts like Jay-Z are turning the tables.

Nobody’s Slave

Years ago, getting signed was the only game in town, as the major labels held the keys to fame and fortune. For contestants on the X-Factor, little has changed. But Hip-Hop moguls and young guru’s are rewriting the rules, creating more direct relationships with fans and brands.

As digital technology continues to disrupt traditional business models, the ‘survival of the viralist’ will inevitably lead to more evolution in the music industry. It’s not yet clear who the winners will be, but whatever happens, watch out for Skitz Beatz.

Are we all Urban now?

‘Urban’ is a word that has risen in popularity over the last few years. As the author of The Urban Mashup blog I guess I should be pleased about this, but when I recently noticed that CBS Outdoor had adopted the new end line: ‘Outdoor by Name, Urban by Nature’ I was left wondering if we are all urban now.

A quick scan of Wikipedia is enough to highlight that ‘urban’ can be used in many contexts. Most of us will have heard an urban legend, used the Urban Dictionary, or possibly even studied urban theory covering topics such as urbanization, urban decay and urban regeneration.

The dictionary defines ‘urban’ as: 1) a characteristic of a city or town; 2) popular dance music of black origin, or 3) popular black culture in general. However, the brand that can probably claim most credit for popularizing the word is Urban Outfitters. Originally launched in 1970 as ‘The Free People’s Store’ in Philadelphia, it now operates a worldwide franchise in 140 countries and is valued at over $4 billion.

I’ve been using the term since the late 1980’s when, alongside my brother and a few friends, I founded a sound system called Urban Sounds Inc. We spent a good few years DJing in house parties and clubs across London. The music we played was of black origin, but back then the term urban wasn’t in common usage in this context.

Scroll forward 15 years or so and Choice FM went from being ‘The Home of Hip-Hop and R&B’ to ‘London’s No. 1 Urban Music Station’. This appropriation of urban has extended to other areas. We now have ‘Urban Explorers’ and a popular Tumblr site proudly defines itself as ‘We The Urban’.

The ambiguity surrounding the word seems to be part of its appeal. Urban feels more inclusive and less confrontational than Black. It is often used to convey a street attitude without mentioning the problematic issue of race. With CBS Outdoor adopting ‘Urban by Nature’ as its brand positioning, it seems the word has finally crossed over into the mainstream.

The Tanning Of America

Steve Stoute, founder of the marketing agency Translation has documented a similar trend in the US.  He refers to this in his recent book The Tanning Of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture that Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy.

Forbes outlines his argument that ‘hip-hop has established a new, pan-ethnic sort of cool – one with an appeal that reaches far beyond the sort of demographics that Madison Avenue old-timers might expect.’

However, it seems the Mad Men are paying attention. Last year Ogilvy announced the launch of Ogilvy Culture, a new cross-cultural offering to help clients ‘anticipate and prepare for new ways to market to an ever changing consumer population’. Meanwhile agencies such as Noise in New York (part of Engine USA) are setting out to transform the way companies engage young adults.

Urban by name – suburban by nature

All of this should give me cause to celebrate, but despite the increased recognition of the importance of urban culture, brands and agencies in the UK remain ambivalent.

Although many campaigns try to increase their cool credentials by engaging urban celebrities and audiences (with varying degrees of success), the underlying composition of the creative communications industry is still largely anything but urban. With only a few exceptions, our industry has a woeful track record in this regard, preferring to talk urban rather than walk it. (After all, the streets can be dangerous).

The good news is that almost everyone in the industry agrees this is a problem. The bad news is they’ve been agreeing on this point for a number of years and outside of small-scale initiatives such as The Ideas Foundation (with which I am involved), precious little has been done about it.

Ten years ago Professor Richard Florida drew attention to ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’, highlighting the positive economic performance of cities that are characterized by having diverse, tolerant and creative cultures. Hopefully it won’t take another 10 years for brands and agencies to realize the implications of this and fully embrace what it means to truly be urban by nature.

The above image is taken from the 1972 campaign, aimed at the British public, to raise awareness of the racial discrimination preventing the non-white community from finding employment. Source D&AD

This post was originally published on Campaign Live

Urban Explorers – The Pursuit of Cool Goes Underground

The pursuit of cool is nothing new. The fashion, music, and entertainment industries all trade off our desire to be in on the latest trends. While brands use their agencies, cool hunters, and increasingly social media monitoring to keep up, the purveyors of cool do their best to stay one step ahead.

This is because what’s cool is often what’s underground. When something breaks into the glare of the mainstream, it’s time to move on.

A love of the underground is particularly true of urban explorers. As the name suggests, these are people who enjoy exploring restricted urban areas such as abandonments, tunnels, roofs and construction sites.

Although generally illegal, urban exploration (also known as ‘building infiltration’ or ‘place hacking’) is hardly new. From Enid Blyton’s Famous Five to Hergé’s Tintin, exploring is part of our culture and DNA. In recent years however, this hobby has been steadily growing in popularity across the globe. Fueled by the Internet, there are now numerous websites, Flickr groups, forums and a dedicated social network.

The unwritten rule of urban exploring is “take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.”  This is an admirable principle and the images taken by explorers are often stunning. But as I watched the first in a series of documentaries entitled ‘Crack The Surface’ I found a few things about this trend troubling.

For a start, the film itself feels a bit like watching Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop as it features characters that you’re never sure whether to take seriously.

An urban explorer from France compares the experience to that of being like a Super Hero in real life. Another interviewee says: “It’s not particularly dangerous…. Yeah, the authorities will always say it’s dangerous because essentially it is.” Undisturbed by the contradiction, he continues: “Common sense prevails usually…” “People aren’t going to pop a manhole and go down a sewer when there’s a horrendous thunderstorm outside.” But a couple of minutes later, he describes doing exactly this in Canada, nearly killing himself in the process.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not the inherent risks involved that trouble me. Youth culture is often about transgressing boundaries and graffiti artists have been running around these spaces for years. My problem is with the types of people that appear to be attracted to this pursuit.

The French interviewee in ‘Crack The Surface’ explains that some of the explorers are people who “…have a lot of money and are bored because their money cannot purchase the experience of doing something exciting.”

He describes one of the explorers in Paris as “a CEO of a very big company.” He continues: “There’s also a lot of people that are middle class. There are lawyers, there are project managers as well as people working on constructions sites or being teachers.”

In a moment of self awareness, one urban explorer says: “If you’re poor enough to live in a situation that resembles an abandoned building, why the hell would you go and explore another abandoned building?”

This insight lies at the heart of my problem. Unlike the original graffiti artists who explored these forbidden spaces, it seems to me that many of today’s urban explorers are just bored middle-class males living out their boyhood fantasies.

Why does this matter? Well for once I find myself sympathizing with the poor security guards having to chase after all the lawyers, project managers and CEO’s that decide to escape their mundane corporate lives and explore the illicit urban landscape instead.

And what happens when big brands get involved? Consider Parkour (also known as Freerunning). This started out as a niche urban subcultural activity for the brave and foolhardy, but before long it was being featured in adverts, a James Bond movie, and corporate sponsored displays on the South Bank.  Needless to say, it never really took off after that.

Recent years have seen an increase in outdoor experiential events such as 3D building mapping projections that have become ever more elaborate and dramatic. It’s not a great creative leap to move from projecting on the side of a building to doing so in a space underneath it.

Meanwhile the concept of Gamification continues to entice marketers with brands such as NIKE taking the concept to new levels with the launch of the Nike+ Fuelband.

All of this suggests that urban exploration could provide opportunities for brands seeking to increase their cool credentials.  The Urban Tour by ASOS is a step in this direction. Some longstanding participants are already asking: “Has the Urban Exploring scene in the UK imploded?”

If the trend continues to creep towards the mainstream, I suspect things may really go down the drain.

Think of me as Evil or Do No Evil?

The one that got away

In the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential there is a scene in which Kevin Spacey’s character, Sergeant Edmund Exley, recounts the tale of ‘Rollo Tomasi’, the name he gave to the unidentified street criminal who killed his father. In the film, Rollo Tomasi becomes synonymous with the idea of the one that got away.

I was reminded of this when reading ‘Think of me as Evil: Opening the Ethical Debates in Advertising’ published last month by the Public Interest Research Centre and WWF-UK.

The report takes as its starting point a typically hyperbolic comment by my friend Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, in which he states that he “would rather be thought of as evil than useless.”

I couldn’t help but think that a more accurate subtitle for the report would have been ‘Reopening the Ethical Debates in Advertising’, because as the authors Jon Alexander, Tom Crompton and Guy Shrubsole acknowledge, these issues have been discussed over the last 50 years ever since Vance Packard published his famous critique of advertising, The Hidden Persuaders.

In this latest contribution to the debate, the authors argue that ‘modern advertising’s impact on British culture is likely to be detrimental to our wellbeing, and may well exacerbate the social and environmental problems that we collectively confront.’

To its credit, the report sets out the evidence in a reasonably balanced way, but what I found striking was the fact that the entire discussion failed to make any reference to the world’s largest advertising company. This is a company that claims to do no evil, but has grown several times larger than WPP by creating what is possibly the most efficient advertising model ever. Of course I’m talking about Google.

You could argue that Google doesn’t deserve this distinction because it is not the creator of the vast amount of advertising it serves to us everyday as we search the web, but that would be to miss the point. Google has revolutionised the advertising industry by democratising it.

In the world before Google, in order to reach customers, a business had little choice but to engage an advertising or marketing agency of some description. This was (and remains) a costly business best suited for those with deep pockets.  Google changed all this by providing businesses with a direct means of targeting potential customers very precisely and quickly, for as little or as much as that business was prepared to pay.

The net result is that Google’s technology has generated far more adverts than any ad agency on the planet, netting billions of dollars in profits for itself in the process.

Yet the word ‘Google’ doesn’t appear on any of the report’s 60 plus pages and there is only a passing reference to the impact of ‘Online search engine technologies and the information stored by social networking sites and webmail services’.  This is a testament to Google’s ability to act as a Hidden Persuader. It presents itself as a technology business with a mission to provide free access to information, but as someone once wisely said, “if you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”

The genius of the Google is not just its ability to serve ads based on search queries. The Pay Per Click (PPC) model effectively sells users to advertisers. Unlike Spotify, there is no ad-free model on Google search.

Google is by no means alone. Its model is now the industry standard for online businesses and is being replicated by Facebook and Twitter among others. But the fact that Google has escaped being tarnished by the same brush as the advertising industry demonstrates that for now at least, it really is Rollo Tomasi – the one that got away.

Footnote:

On 24 November the RSA hosts an Advertising Association Debate - ‘Advertising in society: what’s the deal?’  Unsurprisingly, Google is not represented on the panel.  

Who’s been sleeping in my Tumblr?

The brands that are missing out on the emerging social network

October 21^st 2011 was a big day for Tumblr. It became the first blogging platform to host President Obama’s blog, launching his social media campaign for re-election in 2012.

Obama’s choice (clearly influenced by socially savvy members of his campaign team) brought Tumblr to the attention of the world’s media, including those who had not previously come across the network or had assumed it was only a place to share funny photos of cats. However this attention is long overdue.

In June of this year the network founded in 2007 by David Karp surpassed WordPress in the total number of blogs, breaking through the 20 million mark. It now has over 33 million and rising.

Nielsen’s State of the Media report on Social Media for Q3 2011 highlights Tumblr as the ‘Emerging Social Network’ citing the trebling of its US audience over the last year.

In the UK its growth has been impressive too with 7.5m unique visitors, 5.4m of whom visit in an average month. London in particular seems to be in love with Tumblr.  Its residents make 1.6m visits to sites in the network. Only San Paulo in Brazil has more Tumblr fans.

Given that Tumblr’s UK audience is more female (52%) than male (48%) and many of its users are in the much coveted demographic of 18-24 year olds, it’s not hard to see why some brands, particularly in fashion and publishing, have been quick to jump onto the network.

Vogue, Life and Vice have all developed Tumblr sites as have many fashion brands. DKNY is a notable example having recently ported their ‘Notes on a City’ to Tumblr following on from the success of their ‘DKNY PR Girl’ site.

The Economist, The Washington Post and IBM have set up Tumblr blogs too, presumably hoping to earn kudos from a younger ‘edgier’ audience than they might usually attract. I’ve even set one up (for much the same reasons).

What is more surprising is the number of brands that haven’t caught on to it yet. I was pleased to see that Bing (a client of mine) has a fully functional Tumblr site, but was amazed to find that Google.tumblr.com is a blank holding page that appears to have nothing to do with the company itself.

Google is by no means alone. A search for many of the world’s top brands using their .Tumblr.com addresses brings up some surprising and sometimes shocking results. Nike, Adidas, Microsoft, Samsung, and Apple all appear to have people sleeping on their Tumblr’s. I find it hard to believe that any of the brand custodians or legal departments would be pleased about this. In the case of Coca-Cola, I imagine they would be horrified to see what is being displayed in their name. I can therefore only assume that these brands haven’t woken up to Tumblr yet. Like the proverbial bears in the story of Goldilocks, I don’t think they’ll be too happy when they do.

Although some brands are rushing to snap up their own top level brand domain names despite the costs involved, it seems extraordinary that so many have failed to register their own name on Tumblr, which is free and is fast becoming the social network to watch.

I expect this will change in the coming months, particularly if Tumblr continues its growth trajectory and builds insight tools for brands and marketers. When this happens, I imagine a few heads will tumble.