I sent an email blast about some slots we had left in our upcoming issue and got a reply from an artist that had been receiving our emails for years and was a frequent visitor to the site. In short, the message stated that she loved the magazine and really wanted to be in our next issue but her budget was extremely tight at the moment. She knew our cheapest ad was $75 but wanted to know if there were any promotional opportunity she could take advantage of in the $25 range.  She didn’t ask for anything free. She didn’t even ask for a discount. She was just straight up about her situation and asked what opportunities there were within her budget. Reading her email I began to think of how I could help not just her but other artists in a similar situation. I went for a jog and while checking a DM on my blackberry inspiration struck me. With so many people on Twitter and Myspace randomly sending messages in hopes of just being heard. I figured there had to be a way we could do something similar and more effective in the magazine. Over the next 24 hours this idea grew into The Makin’ It Magazine Talent Directory. In this new section, we give Artists, Producers, DJs and Songwriters the opportunity to put there information in front of over 127,000 readers that are looking to network for just $25.  We’ll giving this new section a test run in our BET Hip Hop Awards Issue and if it does well we’ll keep it in the line up. Listing will include Name, What you do, Website, Phone Number and Market. Leave us your comments and let us know what you think.

Click HERE to reserve your spot.

Limited slots available!

Example Listing:

July 8th Andre Harrell (@IAmAndreHarrell) hosted a Tweet & Greet at the offices of Atlantic Records in Downtown Atlanta.  An excellent networking event that brought out some of the city’s top movers and shakers. Big shout-out to Yancey (@Mryancey) and Moses (@MosesDavis) !

Video blog posting talking about the difference between being a business man and being a hustler. Weighing out the pros and cons to both and the importance of both to be successful in any industry. Hope you enjoy the video. I appreciate all the feedback that I’ve been getting but please leave a comment on the page instead of emailing. It helps me keep my inbox clean, Thank you.

95% of the music I receive is deleted without ever being listened to. Why? Outside of the fact that I  get 300-700 records sent to me each week via Email, Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Its just impossible for me to listen to every song I receive and still find time for my family and work. In an effort to increase the amount of material I listen to I have outlined “15 Reasons I didn’t listen to your music” in hopes that you will shape up

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Every month I find myself in a barbershop, record store, or club parking lot listening to artists claiming that record labels will sign just about anybody these days. I hear them complain about radio stations not playing their songs. I hear them talk about the lack of opportunities for artists with real talent to get heard. I’ve listened to many different versions of these same complaints for over five years as an artist, a manager, a studio owner, and a consultant. These complaints were the exact reason that I put together “The Beat Game: $5000 Rap Contest.” My whole purpose was to provide a level playing field where artists could showcase their talent and get some much needed exposure regardless of where they came from. The funny thing is, when I mention the contest to those same artists, half of them turn their nose up because they feel they are too good to be participating in such a contest while the other half will ask for more information. I’ll talk to them and explain the details but once I tell them there is a $35 entry fee all but a few will loose complete interest. I’ve had artists tell me everything from “I don’t pay to rap…” to “You should be paying us to participate…” I laugh it off because these are the same artists that sit around complaining about their situation, which brings me to the title of this article, “Why wack artist get deals!”

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