My First Year In Hollywood

January 24, 2011

It’s been about a year since I arrived in Hollywood.

And what a year it was.

I thought now would be a great time for us to look back and take stock of our accomplishments over the last 12 months.

By “us” I mean you and me. Because let’s face it, I can barely tie my shoes by myself let along move half a million mixtapes. Make no mistake – we did this together.

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100,000 Downloads!

August 19, 2010

On Monday, something happened I didn’t think was possible.

The mixtape we released, Young Broke & Fameless, has officially been downloaded more than 100,000 times.

You read that correctly: One-Hundred-Thousand times.

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Meeting Cisco Adler

March 11, 2010

Some people just emanate cool. Like its falling out of their pockets.

Snoop Dogg, George Clooney, Cisco Adler — these guys wear cool like the rest of us wear cologne.

Son of legendary music producer Lou Adler, Cisco could have comfortably spent the entirety of his young adult life cavorting about the Hollywood Hills ad infinitum, enjoying illicit substances and poolside orgies in the obtrusive daylight hours between celebutante club appearances.

But he didn’t.

He went to work — hard work, writing and producing music non-stop for virtually every up-and-coming artist you’ve ever heard of.

Oh, and in between gold records, he found time to tour the planet with his platinum-selling band, Shwayze.

If you can’t respect that… find a way to.

“Can you be here to meet Cisco by 10? He heard your song and he digs it.”
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2Pac Has Sold 72 Million More Albums Than Me

November 22, 2009

One of these 3 buildings is a gold record factory

From the outside, Atlantic’s Paramount Studio isn’t quite what I imagined.

The nondescript storefront tucked inconspicuously between California Surplus Mart and an empty parking lot doesn’t exactly scream, “I’M A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR RECORDING STUDIO.”

But everything changes when the door opens.

Stepping inside is like stepping into an Egyptian tomb. Cool, inset lights illuminate thick stone walls dripping with history. From the lobby reaches an expansive, dimly-lit hallway tattooed with platinum records.

It turns out each record is from a band that’s recorded here. And the list is the opposite of totally unimpressive:

Zeppelin. Hendrix. Ice Cube. 2Pac. Coolio.

Yeah. Coolio, bitches.

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What Record Labels Can Learn From Startups (Part 1)

October 14, 2009

What's wrong with this picture? Answer below.

Last week, I met for a second time with Luke Wood, head of A&R at Interscope Records.

During our first sit down, Luke shared with me some of the problems he’s facing running a label.

One of these problems struck me as really odd: according to Luke, it’s always been hard to let people know when an artist’s album is coming out.

Apparently, even with TV, radio, and rappers incessantly blathering, “YO NEW ALBUM IN STORES, BITCHES!” consumers continue to languish in confusion.

Baffling.

I say baffling, because while I don’t know when the new Weezer album is dropping, I know EVERY TIME one of my friends uploads a picture of me on Facebook… or tweets, or adds me on MySpace, or uploads a video on YouTube.

So what are startups good at that labels aren’t?

Getting your contact information… and using it.

In fact, record labels don’t even seem to try. Instead of going for your digits, they market their products like this:

Ok. Maybe a passerby sees it; maybe he likes it; maybe he remembers the date; maybe he buys the album.

That’s a lot of maybes. And worse, there’s no way to know if the poster worked or not.

But what if that poster looked like this:

Now the poster isn’t just noise – it’s a CALL TO ACTION.

Text us your e-mail address, and we’ll send you a link for a free mp3. Good trade?

And now, we know your E-MAIL, your PHONE NUMBER, your LOCATION, and your MUSICAL TASTES.

So we can contact you directly next time to let you know Katy Perry’s album is out… or that she’s playing a show near you… or that she wants to hear your wildest fantasies for $9.99/minute…

Kinda feel like something Netflix would do?

Though record labels aren’t doing things like this now, I got the feeling from Luke that they could be on the way.

But while a startup can make the decision to launch a new project in 10 minutes, record labels are substantially larger animals with deep organizational barriers to changing their behavior. And labels don’t have a historically strong track record for change.

I was impressed at the way Luke seemed to openly acknowledge this.

Unlike many industry executives I’ve met so far in LA, I got the same feeling talking with Luke as I do talking with tech execs back in Silicon Valley — the sense of a strong vision, intense passion, and urgency to develop a new way of doing things.

Among my friends, I’m in the minority believing it’s not too late for record labels to adapt. But I stand with most in thinking it’s about time they did.

And I’m excited to learn there are some in the industry who agree.

Universal Is Built Like A Prison

October 13, 2009

Universal headquarters is built like a prison.

A prison that’s really hard to break into… in Santa Monica… with superior interior decorating.

I’m here to meet Luke Wood, head of A&R for Interscope records. We’ve had a meeting set up for about a week, and I honestly have no idea what to expect.

I park in the underground garage and take the elevator to the first floor. Immediately, I’m greeted/accosted by the building’s first officiant of corporate defense – a semi-friendly, semi-attractive female receptionist. “What’s your name and who are you here for?”

“Paz, for Luke Wood”

Clickety clickety clack goes the keyboard.

I am pointed to a door behind me. I stroll through it and across a promenade to a second lobby. I am greeted by desk-bound Receptionist #2. She is slightly friendlier, and slightly more attractive.

“Hi! Your name?”

“Paz.”

“Taz?”

“Paz.”

“What?”

I scribble my name on a corporate memopad and slide my driver’s license across the table. A name tag is printed with FLOOR 5 and AREA B I’m allowed to visit in GIANT BOLD CAPS. I’m directed to the elevator, defended menacingly by an arms-folded, green-blazered security guard with a mustache vaguely resembling Mike Ditka.

I press 5 and the button blinks. Ditka Green Blazer saunters in, shoots me a look and swipes his card over the sensor. Doors close.

Ding. FLOOR 5. Doors open and I am face to face with another green blazer – this one behind a podium. Dick Butkus mustache.

“You’re here to see…”

“Luke.”

At this point, I pause for reflection.  I’ve visited a few fairly secure places in my day – Google, Skywalker Ranch, The White House, that hipster club in SoHo where the doorman is like “Your jeans aren’t nearly skinny enough to get in here.” None have involved as many checkpoints packed so closely together as Universal Music.

The only reason I can guess for this bizarre level of security is that after enough demo-packing wannabe rockstars faked their way upstairs with a “Singing telegram for Mr. Iovine…” the executives said, okay, let’s put a couple more guys with green blazers and 70’s-era NFL mustaches between us and the front door.

To their credit, it worked. Because I have an appointment and still feel like a Soviet spy.

Picture this guy with an uzi and a phalynx of dobermans. Welcome to Universal.

I turn left towards where Luke’s office may or may not be and meet Receptionist #3. I must be getting warmer, because #3 is exponentially friendlier and hotter than 1 and 2 put together. There is something logarithmic going on here.

“Hi, how are you! Who are you here to see? Would you like something to drink while you wait? Taz? Paz? What? OK. ” I’m directed to an adjacent waiting area with comfy couches and plasma screens.

An energetic little guy in a black leather jacket, white v-neck-T, and impossibly skinny jeans materializes from a behind a doorway and offers me water.

“Hey man, how are you! Luke’s wrapping up, shouldn’t be more than a minute!”

20 minutes later, I am summoned. “Taz? Luke will see you now.”

Luke emerges from his inner sanctum, I stand to meet him…

[TO BE CONTINUED…]