By now if your truly an artist with some kind of determination, you've tried your hand at shopping for a major recording contract. How'd it go? (Laughing) Not as you would have hoped but probably just as you expected. First off, you deserve a standing ovation just because you were able to get an appointment. But even as hard as that was to obtain the worst is yet to come. You see, the record industry of today is the same as always... "simon says". Anytime someone is "hot", majors go open heartedly & open wallets with the "it must be something in the water" mentality. Consequently we the artist, producers, and audience are forced to basically relocate. Audibly and creatively. Now I'm all for opening the market place to a new demographic, but where does it say that when this is done, you have to close others? As artists you know exactly what I'm talking about. You are different. You are dope. You are NOT what their looking for!!!!

I could go on and on about this forever but it would do no good. So instead, I'm here to offer a few suggestions. Nothing is guaranteed. But hey, everything is worth a shot.

First off, I've gotta say A&R's hate hearing beats they know all to well. Let me say it again. A&R's hate hearing beats they've heard millions of times. Hell, listeners hate hearing beats they've heard millions of times. Unless you're the artist who's beat it is and that's the song they love to hear. If not, the "I love this song! Why did 'so & so' mess it up" switch is turned on and everything else is turned off! FIND ORIGINAL BEATS! Peak your listeners interest. Once they're feeling your beat they're vibing with you and they want to hear what you have to say. This is where you win.

Have you ever heard a woman, child, or any person you know recite a MOBB DEEP song without any idea what the lyrics meant? A JEEZY verse? A M.O.P. hook? A sultry love song or a provocative pop tune? I guarantee you the beat is what captured their attention. After they loved that, everything else came naturally. Before they knew it, they knew the whole song. A lot of times people don't even agree with its content. By the time they realized that, they already know it and like the song. Get my point?! Artist and producers aren't the only ones that love a good beat. The same way you can't wait to spit, sing, or write a song over the instrumental of the latest banger. They can't wait to hear that same latest banger. Statistics show that DJ's and listeners give a song about 30 seconds before they decide whether to stay tuned or go to another record. Essentially, if they can't knock with you. They are NOT with you!

The next thing is creating the perfect hook for your music. As I said earlier, people will sing a song about anything all day long, never knowing what it means if the beat they love has a hook that works seamlessly with that beat. But that's next months lesson boys and girls. Till' then just try to apply what you've read. I'm sure you'll be closer to a hit record. I guarantee more people will listen and be able to tell you what you said.

-Dave Pinch