The Voice and The Music in Commercials Are Sometimes From The Same Man

Everyone knows that commercials use voice-over artists to speak the sales message, and musicians to create the tunes that play in the background, but one man in Los Angeles is doing both jobs.

Meet Scott G, who is recording artist THE G-MAN, whose albums are on iTunes and distributed by independent label Delvian Records.

“It is a thrill to be able to do the voice and music for these giant companies,” G says, referring to Verizon Wireless, Goodrich, and The Auto Club. His voice work and musical compositions are on 4 radio commercials for Verizon Wireless, 8 for aerospace firm Goodrich, and one for Triple-A, The Auto Club.

As the owner of G-Man Music & Radical Radio, and creator of award-winning radio commercials and music for both radio and TV spots, Scott G is very aware of the needs of ad agencies and advertising clients. “The main point of a commercial is dissemination of information,” he points out. “You want your target audience to respond by picking up the phone, clipping a coupon, ordering a product, going online, or simply remembering your product or service. The commercial has to insinuate its way into the consumer’s brain in a very short period of time.”

In addition to his ad and marketing experience, he is very involved with utilizing the web for alternative distribution of his music. Earlier this year, hundreds of websites and newspapers ran a story (“Peer-to-Peer to Launch a Career”) of how The G-Man made history by giving his music away on the Internet, encouraging P2P filesharing of his work, and even sending individual tracks to DJs and remixers so they could create new versions of his songs. This resulted in club play, airplay, an indie record deal, a publishing deal, and worldwide press attention.

Songs by The G-Man have been called “Moby meets Bowie” (by producer Pete Anderson), “Moby meets Devo” (by TV producer Paul Rich), and “The rhythm of machines with melodies of the heart” (by music writer Janis Amy). Released by Delvian Records, The G-Man’s albums are: GRIN GROOVE (2002), ELECTRO BOP (2003) and PLATINUM AGE OF THE REMIX (2004), and each has been hailed as a sonic masterpiece by reviewers. A fourth album, SONIC TONIC, is completed and currently being mastered for release in 2005.

The REMIX album features G-Man songs in dance/trance mixes by Matt Forger, who has worked with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, and features tracks that reached #1 in Russia and #5 in Europe. PLATINUM AGE is now in its third month in the top forty on the Masspool DJ Association Dance/Crossover Chart.

Scott is a member of The Recording Academy (NARAS), a creative director of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP), and writes about music for many organizations, including MusicDish and the Immedia Wire Service. The G-Man’s songs are on iTunes and Amazon as well as at the following sites:

G-Man’s music and commercial production work for clients such as PayLess Shoes, Warner Bros. Records and more may be played at:

“I love working with clients like Goodrich and Verizon Wireless,” G stated. “They want material that catches your ear without distracting from the spoken message, yet they desire the music to be inherently valuable in its own right.”

The G-Man’s music is on lots of commercials but “you often wouldn’t know it because I work in many different styles,” G states. “The tracks on my albums are electronic-pop but my commercial music is in pop, rock, jazz, electronic, hip-hop, alternative, or ambient. Whatever the project needs is what I compose, and that’s the challenge.”

G-Man Music created a polka last month, something that is about as far removed from The G-Man’s electro pop or dance/rave songs as you can get. “As I said, when it comes to music for commercials, I compose whatever it takes!”

How to Get Free Legal Music Downloads – Really!

Many people want to know how to get free legal music downloads online. The good news is that it is possible, if you know where to look.

Many people search the Internet looking for alternatives to pay legal sites. But when searching online for Rhapsody, iTunes and Napster sites, you’ll get millions of results which can become frustrating. Furthermore, when searching online for music download sites, it can be very hard to tell the difference between legal music sites and file sharing sites.

P2P file sharing sites are confusing for many people because they make clear that they provide a legal service – which is true. But although P2P file sharing networks are still considered legal, it’s how these P2P file sharing networks work that have gotten some people in serious trouble with the RIAA and MPAA.

Basically, anyone who is caught downloading or sharing copyrighted material could be sued by the RIAA or MPAA. And in more recent news, P2P file sharing companies, and individuals that encourage illegal downloads of music and movies, are now also being sued.

Few people fully understand the hidden dangers and security risks of getting free MP3 downloads using P2P file sharing networks. These risks includes; adware, spyware, viruses, hackers and online privacy risks.

So how do you get free legal music downloads online? There are a variety of legal music sites that give you free mp3 downloads of cutting edge music, Indie music and up and coming new music stars.

Free Legal Music Download Sites:

1) Epitonic.com – Epitonic works mostly with small, independent record labels. Epitonic provides high-quality music downloads and a searchable database of “Cutting Edge Music” in a variety of genres including; Rock, Folk/Acoustic, Hip Hop, Pop and Jazz.

2) Garageband.com – GarageBand.com is a top independent music distributor and they feature popular free indie music. The site has thousands of Independent songs in their database that you can listen to, download and review. GarageBand’s top songs are promoted by 1,000 radio partners and they featured music from Bo Bice (an American Idol finalist) before he was a big star.

3) eMusic.com – Although the subscription service is not free, with eMusic you can download music legally for free when you sign-up for the free eMusic download trial. Emusic features over 600,000 tracks and hi quality digital music fidelity. Emusic provides the best legal music download trial online by giving you 25 legal MP3 downloads for free.

4) Amazon.com – Although not a large selection, at Amazon you can download music legally from a few top musicians. To find the free music downloads section, just click on Amazon’s “Free Downloads” tab where you can browse some free music selections.

Because new music downloads are usually always copyrighted, the sites above will most likely not have the latest new song downloads. However these sites provide a huge variety of free legal music downloads for you to choose from.

Rap Music – The New Frontier? HipHopology 101

ROLL CALL

During the early to mid ’70s, visionaries like Kool DJ Herc introduced new ideas to the way music was played. Like some other music-loving ‘bredren and sistren’ along with myself, Kool DJ Herc was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Following the footsteps of Jamaicans that came before him, he relocated to the Bronx, NYC and took root. With a sound system like no other, there was always a party when Herc spun records. Folks from all city boroughs showed up, and brought their friends. Most of them had never experienced anything like Herc’s thunder in the clubs or at ‘block parties,’ where he was a hometown favorite. There’ll be more on these unique, social gatherings a little later. Kool DJ Herc was one of those cats that was thinking outside the box for a long time, and inspired other DJs to follow suit. Everywhere Herc touched down, he left a distinctive mark imprinted in the minds, bodies, and souls of music lovers in and around the vicinity.

Afrika Bambaataa was homegrown in the Bronx. He is best-known for taking the radical, independent factions of the Hip-Hop lifestyle and organizing it all into an urban music society…and for being the first rapper, ever. In 1984, he worked on the song “Unity” with the recently departed Godfather of Soul, James Brown. (We’re gonna miss ya, ‘Soul Brother #1.’) By mixing block parties with DJs and break-dancers, he synergized all the varying entities of Hip-Hop through his Zulu Nation. The Zulus educated inner-city youth about their history and empowered them to be productive citizens. His ears were open to all types of music as he became a catalyst for blending rhythmic styles from Africa with Funk, Go-Go, Jazz, Reggae, Rock, Salsa and Soca for the first time in music history.

Bambaataa’s affiliations included the Rock Steady Crew and Double Dutch Girls. There was also a spray-painting graffiti artist who parlayed his love for ‘visual art’ into being the host of a popular show that engaged the minds of America’s Black and White youth. It ended up changing Rap music history all over the world. Now with a ‘retired’ can of spray paint, Yo MTV Raps’ Fab 5 Freddy was also a key player in the classic film, “New Jack City.” There’ll be more on that captured moment in time a little later, after we finish up with Afrika Bambaataa (& friends), and dig further into the chapter: there’s some real meat in thar! That’s what’s up.

Afrika Bambaataa became a major music producer in his own right. He spent a lot of time logged in at Tommy Boy Records between 1982 and 2017. While there, he produced a huge hit for the New York club and radio scene, 1982’s “Funky Sensation.” To me, that song defined a new era of music for both myself and the City of New York. “Funky Sensation” helped to establish a path that many dance music producers followed, well into the new millennium. Another historical Rap label that Bambaataa put some time in with was Profile Records.

Profile was the home of a trio that made music history: Run-DMC and the late Jam Master Jay. Their chronicles defined the next wave of Hip-Hop and fashion by way of brimmed Fedoras, leather pants, blues jeans, and unlaced, Adidas sneakers. During the winter, they sported snorkels with fur around the hood. In New York winters of the 70s, we sported hats like Kangols (still popular) and ‘Robin Hoods'(with side feathers) on the dome. Some folks liked toboggins and ski caps for their ‘masking’ feature. Brooklyn later picked up a pseudonym–Crooklyn. Our 70s fashion also consisted of colorful silk shirts (Versace predecessors), polyester pants with stitched pleats running down the sides called Swedish Knits, and bell-bottom blue jeans with zippers at the foot.

Squares (L-7’s) wore no name ‘rejects,’ but our popular footwear included Converse All-Stars, red, black and green Pro Keds, Pumas (my favorite were rust-colored), PONY’s, and shell-toe Adidas. We had interesting acronyms for the latter two brands. “I could tell you, but…” you know the story. Looking back now, I notice that Adidas kept the same body style longer than the Ford Explorer did! My New York winter-wear included snorkels, sheepskins, leathers, ‘Maxie’ and ‘Cortefiel’ coats with soft fur on the collar; they were the rage. People got stuck up (ganked) for them, too. I once witnessed someone grab a friend’s hat right off his head – as the train doors closed (this guy was quick!)

Some of my ‘classic’ garments are still intact: a black Robin Hood hat with a now-wilted side feather, a colorful, winged (big collar) polyester shirt with a Disco theme on the front, my sky-blue high school graduation three-piece suit, ‘Mack’ full-length Maxie coat (it looked good; mom made it), and black Cortefiel coat are all stashed somewhere around Area 51. Don’t ask me what I’m going to do with them, but my coats still have fur around the collar. Does “E.T.W.” (Extra Terrestrial Wear) sound catchy to you? Let’s check in with ‘Rush’ (Phat Farms), ‘P-D’ (Sean John), ‘J to the Z’ and ‘Double D’ (RocaWear), ‘Fiddy’ (G-Unit), and WTC (Wu Wear) for the final answer.

I’m being told to nix the trip down memory lane and stick to the script, so it’s back to the original ‘bad boys’ of 80s Rap. Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay opened up Pandora’s box with their classic hit “Rock Box.” I got a premonition of what was around the corner for Rock and Rap early on: sampled ‘guitar crunches’ fused with ‘dem phat Hip-Hop beats, boyee!’ Then the crystal ball revealed something else to me – up jumped Def Jam Recordings, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, all using overdriven guitar sounds riding along with the big, deep 808 beat that caused car trunks (and the inside of your body) to vibrate.

Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay un-laced their Adidas and went on to re-make Rock group Aerosmith’s classic “Walk This Way,” then invited the original rockers to get in on it. Along the way, Run-DMC sold a ‘few million’ records. In the background was one Russell Simmons, pushing buttons on his remote control. Then he got a cellphone. But before groups like Run-DMC made it to the game, there was one of the first major league rappers–Afrika Bambaataa. Oh yeah; along with his group The Soulsonic Force, Bambaataa fired off a ground-breaking shot remembered as being ‘most strategically launched’ from the annals of New York’s urban jungle.

When the classic “Planet Rock” hit Billboard’s charts (it hit the year 1982 in a BIG way too), the song considerably changed music history. It used a similar robotic, vocoder-like sound as the one found in Kraftwerk’s smash “Trans-Europe Express.” “Planet Rock” was a smorgasbord of cool electronic sounds and Hip-Hop beats. Meshed together with samples from other records, it captured the attention of music lovers caught dancing to the non-stop, funky sensation of this incredible new beat. Afrika Bambaataa’s Electro-Funk style went on to influence the sound of music styles like Dance, Electronic, House, and Techno. If a sound system exists anywhere in the galaxy, I predict that “Planet Rock” will rock it. In the meantime, you can listen out for this classic hit on Internet radio, satellite radio, broadcast radio, clubs and dance parties everywhere. ‘Nuff said–next!

Creative minds of legendary pioneers such as Russell “Rush” Simmons, Eddie Cheeba, Spoonie G, Lovebug Starski, The Juice Crew, Marley Marl, MC Shan and D.J. Hollywood are also among those credited as being key leaders in the surge that brought Rap music and Hip-Hop culture to mainstream society. Many people may think the Sugar Hill Gang was one of a few initiating forces in Rap, but there were actually many other hot acts out there grinding to earn their dues
–like those affiliated with Rush Productions. Rush was building a name for itself as a music promotion company to be noticed. I’ll expound upon the meteoric rise of the dynamic institution which followed this event shortly thereafter.

With affiliations everywhere and credits that include the timely debut of Hip-Hop players like Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Scott La Rock, DJ Red Alert, and countless other faces hidden in the trenches, Rush was on a mission to conquer the world. The first-generation of Rap and Hip-Hop spawned a godfather, Russell Simmons, in addition to all these other creative talents. Collectively and in unison, they helped to centralize the cultural origins and sound of this music for an evolving world. The second-generation leaders of this new movement would include Russell’s little brother Joseph, who along with Darryl McDaniels and the late Jason Mizell, made up Run-DMC: the first artists of their kind to go platinum by selling a million Rap records on Profile Records. This was just the beginning; Def Jam Recordings was on the way.

Now let’s connect the dots with Sugar Hill: Back in 1957, a group called Mickey & Sylvia recorded a Bo Diddley song, “Love Is Strange.” Guitarist Mickey Baker and a vocalist named Sylvia Vanderpool established themselves in the music market as a potential hit-making duo. In 1964, Sylvia married a man named Joe Robinson. Their union led to the formation of a legacy that wouldn’t play itself fully out until the Rap craze hit. In 1973, Sylvia rolled the dice and released a huge hit, “Pillow Talk.” This song established a format that would be followed straight into the Disco heydays. Originally written for Al Green, his pass became Sylvia’s score when it tallied up a #1 R&B and #3 Pop hit. “Pillow Talk” was a sexy song that featured lots of heavy breathing, whispers, sighs and moans. It’s reminiscent of Donna Summer’s classic hit, “Love to Love You Baby.”

Sylvia Robinson synergized her abilities as a singer, musician, producer, and record executive to take her whole game to another level. As a key player at All Platinum Records, she had a hand in Shirley & Company’s 1975 hit “Shame Shame Shame.” This became a top dance song, and hit #12 on the Pop charts. By 1979, Englewood, New Jersey’s Sugar Hill Gang busted a big move by releasing a classic, “Rapper’s Delight.” In the background were Sylvia, Joe, and their Sugar Hill Record label. Passing their genes on to son Joey, Sugar Hill’s West Street Mob went on to release hits like “Ooh Baby” and “Sing A Simple Song/Another Muther For Ya.” Other aces in the deck included groups called The Sequence and The Funky 4+1. They scored a few hits with “Funk You Up,” “Simon Says,” and “That’s the Joint,” which used a nice sample from my girl Cheryl Lynn’s song “Got To Be Real.” We’ll be taking her song apart and putting it back together again in another chapter of this book series, “What Is A Song.”

Using finance money from Roulette Records chief Morris Levy (you can find out more about this guy in the book “Hit Men”–a highly-recommended favorite of mine. “I could tell you more, but…” You know the drill. As Sugar Hill grew, so did its artist roster, with the addition of Grandmaster Flash and his collective unit, The Furious Five. Although the Sugar Hill owners paid up a big balance and purchased the remaining interest in their company by the early 80’s, things began to sour for them: a deal with MCA Records died and a fire toasted their legendary studio. The label eventually shut it doors by 1986.

Almost 10 years later, retail-friendly Rhino Records picked up the Sugar Hill catalog and resuscitated the masters in the same way that they’ve done with many other lost or obscure masters. Through creative re-packaging, Rhino went on to revitalize the music (and some careers) of artists that were probably still waiting on royalties from the previous owners of their master recordings. The Sugar Hill Gang, West Street Mob and Sequence all have been released on various Sugar Hill compilations. An interesting occurrence after the Sugar Hill assault was the massive availability of the sequencer, drum machine, synthesizer, sampler and MIDI around the early 80s.

‘Creatives’ and ‘infamists’ among the likes of Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, The Bomb Squad and producer Marley Marl locked themselves up in ‘Big Apple laboratories’ coming up with the next lethal mix of sound. When released, Def Jam and the ‘Sound of Marl’ quickly put music listeners into a ‘yoke’ as concoctions they whipped up became highly potent chemicals on the proverbial ‘periodic music table of elements’ upon hitting the airwaves; through radio station, mobile and club DJs. I cannot over-emphasize it enough: ‘BIG UPS’ to these guys! After the creative synergy of vocalists, musicians and producers, DJs are credited as being one of the most direct pipelines to exciting new music. You should take note that “DJ” makes up the initials of Def Jam. Now let’s keep the record playing; teacher’s not through with today’s lesson yet…

Independent labels like Profile, Sugar Hill, Priority, 4th. & Broadway and Tommy Boy scooped up young, talented Hip-Hop artists. Major labels like Columbia, Epic, MCA, Mercury and Warner Brothers got an early jump on the game as they formed alliances with Rap labels and artists. Moves like these were executed through street-savvy labels like Def Jam. It grew into the premier, multi-faceted music conglomerate of the century. Started in a college dorm room, Def Jam is now managed from a corporate boardroom, and worth hundreds of millions.

Founder Russell Simmons parted from his share of the company in 1999, after the Universal Music Group made him a $100 million offer that he couldn’t refuse. We’re not talking pesos here, folks! Let’s breeze through a few landmark events regarding Def Jam Recordings: In 1983, the company was founded by Russell, who was called “Rush” when he was business partners with one Rick Rubin. Before this form of osmosis occurred, Simmons ‘did the business’ behind pioneers like Kurtis Blow, the first Rap artist with a major record deal. He signed on with Mercury Records; it was a part of the PolyGram distribution machine. The label went on to forge a long-lasting relationship with Kurtis Blow, Russell ‘Rush’ Simmons, and his growing company.

In spring of 1984, I began a two season internship with Def Jam’s distributor. By fall quarter, I was a college rep. During Def Jam’s first decade, I marketed and promoted every record released through the pipeline. This included music by the distributor’s affiliated Epic label. Epic was born to CBS Records (a division of CBS, Inc.) during the early 50s. It was a cute little Classical/Jazz label and grew to be a strong, healthy major label with many active body parts (Rock, R&B, Country). Epic picked up other siblings. One of them was T-Neck Records. An influential Soul/R&B/Funk collective of the 50s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond the new millennium terrain, The Isley Brothers ran a music empire tucked inside this fully-functional sibling unit’s clothes. And bank account–let’s call it a budget.

Another sibling was Portrait Records. By the 80’s, Portrait had sold millions of records by major stars like Cyndi Lauper, Sade and Stanley Clarke. Since Epic was the oldest kid, it acquired a firm place in history as the foundation that supported the throne of none other than the King of Pop music, Michael Jackson. As a matter of fact, the former lead singer of Motown’s Jackson Five actively participated (along with wildly colorful CBS Records group president Walter Yetnikoff) in the disbursement of CBS’ unwanted offspring (CBS Records, Inc.) to the Sony Corporation in 1988. By 2004, Sony Music Entertainment had consolidated its monster Columbia and Epic labels, then merged with another major record label: BMG. On the Internet, iTunes was selling millions of digital downloads. But that’s a story for later. Stay tuned.

Def Jam product began flowing through shortly after I jumped in the big game to see if I could swim. I witnessed the music of many groundbreaking artists ‘rushed’ through the system. Notable executives like Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles entered the fold, as promoters like Wes Johnson and Johnnie Walker locked down efforts to turn the airwaves into ‘Def Jam radio.’ Def Jam became one of the hottest commodities in distribution by the other major label within a major label.

This record company made its mark by using a red trademark on the product it manufactured. Columbia Records was the big brother of Def Jam: the hottest Rap label in the Hip-Hop market. Def Jam had million-selling acts like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, and later arrivals like DMX, then Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records. Columbia, also known as “Big Red,” was owned by music giant CBS Records. By 1991, CBS Records was purchased by the Sony Corporation for some $2 billion that I’ll say came out of the ‘petty cash fund’ (they had OLD money, and plenty of it). CBS Records later became Sony Music Entertainment. If you haven’t guessed already (where’ve you been?), here’s a prediction: you’ll read about more adventures with ‘the firm’ as we move along.

Between all of this ‘promoting’ (as a college rep), I managed getting an introduction to Russell Simmons at a Jack The Rapper convention in Atlanta by Columbia’s national director of Black music promotion, Miss Mike Bernardo, who is such a sweet lady. At this time, she was next in line to the vice-president of Columbia’s national promotion department: Vernon Slaughter and Mike Bernardo were responsible for the overall performance of Columbia’s Black radio and club promotion department. Vernon later became one of Atlanta’s top power brokers. He was LaFace Record’s first general manager, personally signing artists like Toni Braxton to the label. He later became a key player at a law firm headed up by powerhouse entertainment lawyer Joel Katz, and was the legal muscle behind many artist deals, movie soundtracks and no telling what else!

As vice-president and national director respectively, Vernon and Mike implemented the national strategies set forth by Columbia. The staff consisted of dozens of regional promotion people strategically placed in key American cities. Throughout my career at the label Vernon, Mike, and the promotion people I knew showed me plenty of love, and were first-class players in the game, too. Not long after Def Jam’s arrival, I became an account service rep, then a Black music marketing rep for Sony’s southeast regional branch in Atlanta. I doubt if there was any connection. Anyway, Def Jam left Sony for PolyGram in 1994 (also the year that I parted company with Sony and launched a recording studio); that same year, PolyGram purchased 50% of Sony’s holdings in Def Jam.

By 1996, PolyGram bought another 10%, and in 1998 the Universal Music Group (UMG) acquired PolyGram Group Distribution (PGD) to become the world’s biggest record label. After a series of major operational changes, longtime staffers Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles severed ties with Def Jam, which by now had grown to include other hot labels like Atlanta-based Def Jam South (headed up by The Geto Boys’ Mr. Scarface), Disturbing Tha Peace (Ludacris), Def Soul, Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Roc-A-Fella. Though DMX’s product was released through Def Jam, his Ruff Ryders crew got a label deal with Interscope. In the post Cohen/Liles era, former LaFace/Arista big-wig L.A. Reid re-appeared at the helm of the big ship. Then, multi-platinum rapper Jay-Z became the new chief of Def Jam (now part of Island Def Jam Music Group), proving that he too, could do what Rap music guru Russell Simmons’ legendary rapper Kurtis Blow said he wanted to do: ‘Rule The World.’

The future of Def Jam included plans for more affiliations with labels like Atlanta’s Slip-N-Slide Records (Ying Yang Twins). Atlanta was now a city on the move, and Simmons made it a frequent stop on his international itinerary. From Rush Productions and Kurtis Blow to Def Jam, OBR and Rush Associated Labels, to Rush Communications and Phat Farms, the Visa ‘Rush Card,’ a beautiful model-wife and kids, to astronomic amounts of future cash flow, Russell Simmons demonstrated his ability to serve as the Rap game’s foremost guiding hand…and ‘head of the household,’ too. He was the proverbial captain of a ship, navigating through those often-bumpy waters of the constantly shifting Rap/Hip-Hop industry. Def Jam Recordings became an extraordinary multimedia company because of a determined visionary’s ability to reach out and touch people– through the power of Rap music and the Hip-Hop culture. Simply put, none of these entities could be spoken of without mention of the great and powerful, “Mr. Rush.”

Jazz: The Growth of Contemporary Jazz Music

Born in the early 20th century in African American cultures, jazz is a musical style that has developed and evolved all different genres of music. Dating from early 1910s to the 1990s, jazz has contributed to the growth of music. Sparking a rise to a variety of music styles, the spread of jazz across the world influenced trends from early New Orleans Dixieland styles to Latin Afro-Cuban even playing a part in the development of funk and hip hop in the 1990s.

Aside from playing a part in the growth of sub-genres, jazz within itself has been influenced by a variety of musical genres. Most commonly the trends of R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles helped shape jazz fusion into what we know to be smooth jazz. With tracks of encoded rhythms and down-tempo beats, smooth jazz is often confused with styling of contemporary(urban) jazz music. A modern growth is urban jazz, which slot in aspects of hip-hop; which is intended for listeners who would normally listen to radio stations that play an assortment of hip-hop and R&B. While smooth jazz is soft and mellow is content; contemporary jazz music is blunter and grabs the attention of its listeners.

Among the players who commonly perform this style of jazz are Dave Koz, Boney James, Paul Jackson Jr., Nick Colionne, Bobby Perry, Urban Jazz Coalition, Streetwize, and Tha’ Hot Club. As well as other contemporary jazz artists such as Bob Baldwin, Michael Lington, Brian Bromberg, David Lanz, Bobby Ricketts, Kim Waters, Daniele Caprelli, Ken Navarro, Walter Beasley, and Peter White. As popularity for late night radio airplay throughout the years grew; doors where open for contemporary jazz music artist like Kenny G, David Sanborn, the late George Howard, George Benson, Marc Antoine, Bradley Joseph and contemporary jazz flautist Najee. These jazz musicians had a tendency to play their instruments in at such a harmonious frequency that it was rare for the measures to go un-noticeable.

The contemporary jazz radio arrangement, which commonly played fifteen-minute sets involving instrumentals wrapping a vocal song or two continued to grow and flourish over the 1990s and early 2000s. In the late 2000s, most markets began losing contemporary jazz stations and in a variety of media markets, this arrangement does no longer exist over the air except online or on HD Radio.

By 2017, as contemporary jazz remained on its persistent decline on the syndicated radio airwaves, an increasing number of non-commercial stations have grown an interest in the music and began to add it to their programming.

More recently contemporary jazz music downloads, in opposition to radio, has been at high volumes on iTunes. If you find these artist to be of interest, Richard Brown is must have in your collection.

How To Get Unlimited Music MP3 Downloads Instantly

Ever wondered how to get unlimited music MP3 downloads? Music lovers probably have asked the same question many times. There are of course dozens of websites that talk about them but not everyone has the luxury to find out and look through the tons of information. The aim of this article is to show you how to find unlimited MP3 downloads and yet do so affordably in the simplest way possible. You will also discover more hot tips about MP3 music downloads.

Unlimited music MP3 downloads can be found at online music stores like iTunes for iPod, and other stores like HMV, Walmart and more. These are music giants and have some of the largest offerings in the world. Though they do not exactly have unlimited music MP3s, their collection often go in the range of millions of songs, music videos, sound tracks, music etc. Normally, it would cost you about 99 cents or below to download per music or song.

Nowadays, some music stores have taken the level of competition a bit further by offering monthly or even yearly memberships. Several offer a limited number of music MP3 downloads while others let you download unlimited number of music MP3 files. This move has totally revolutionized the way music downloads are previously handled. Needless to say, when you can access millions of music MP3 downloads for a small one-time fee, you would be downloading music online whenever you are free. You also need not think twice whether you should download this song or that since you can download both and all.

Everyday, it is estimated that tens of millions of music MP3 downloads take place around the world from these music download sites. Now that we know that there are places to download music MP3s for a lifetime fee, it is best that we also learn how to find a great site to download. There are a few important questions you need to ask before you decide.

1. How many different music genres does the music MP3 download site have?

If I were you, I would subscribe for a music MP3 download site with as many music genres as possible. Your taste for music may change with time. Today, you might like J-pop, tomorrow, it could be hip hop or even classical instrument pieces.

2. How much does it cost to get unlimited music MP3 downloads?

There are music sites that offer lifetime memberships for a one-time price. With this choice, there is no need to go with monthly plans. But even for one-time fee, never go for anything above $50. In fact, the rates nowadays are so reasonable that you can easily grab one that costs you below $40.

3. What are the usage rights for the songs you download?

Not all sites are the same for unlimited music MP3 downloads. Several membership sites allow you to download and burn the music onto CD to be played on other devices while there are others which restrict you to downloading onto your digital player only. Save the trouble by joining sites that give you no-restriction rights.

Once these three questions are properly answered, you would have found the ideal site for unlimited music MP3 downloads. To quicken the whole process, visit my music blog and see for yourself which are the best places for unlimited music MP3 downloads.

Rocking Out With Your Wireless Phone

If you’re like many people, your cell phone doesn’t just ring, it sings. In fact, thousands of people download musical ringtones to their cell phones each day-but what many of them don’t know is that they can listen to actual tunes right on their handsets.

Sound like music to your ears? You’re not alone. In fact, recent RadioShack survey found that nearly 60 percent of young adults said they want their wireless phones to have the ability to play music. Try these tips for getting music on your cell phone from the wireless experts at RadioShack.

The Satellite Radio Connection

The latest multimedia wireless phones from Sprint let you listen to SIRIUS satellite radio from your handset. For instance, RadioShack carries number of satellite radio-enabled phones, including the A900 by Samsung and the 8300 by Sanyo. The phones have stereo-quality speakers and come with headphones. Available satellite channels include:

o Sirius Hits 1: Today’s Top 40 Hits

o The Pulse: Pop and rock from the ’90s until now

o ’60s Vibrations: The musical revolution of the ’60s and early ’70s

o Totally ’70s: The most popular music from the ’70s

o Big ’80s: The hit music of the ’80s

o Classic Vinyl: Classic rock of the ’60s and ’70s

o Alt Nation: The best alt-rock of the ’90s and today

o Hot Jamz: Today’s hip-hop and R&B hits.

Tuning In

iTunes users can check out the Motorola ROKR from Cingular Wireless. The phone lets you listen to your favorite songs while text messaging, taking pictures or checking e-mail. If an incoming call comes while the music’s on, you can just hit “pause” and talk away. Here’s how to use the phone:

o Install the included iTunes desktop software.

o Connect the phone to your PC or MAC.

o Drag and drop up to 100 songs-pick the songs you want or let iTunes do it for you.

o Use the iTunes key on your phone to access your music.

o Shuffle songs or select song, artist or playlist-just like iTunes.

Album art accompanies the menu interface, allowing users to scroll through playlists and shuffle songs from the main menu.

Advertainment is Sneaking Into Music, Movies, TV and More

The very name “advertainment” sends thrilling vibrations up the spine of anyone with marketing in their blood or communication in their genes. And it produces a strong shiver of disgust from many of my colleagues in the music industry.

“I don’t want my songs to be involved in advertising,” they say, forgetting entirely that by wearing branded running shoes, a t-shirt hawking Fender guitars and a baseball cap emblazoned with the Peavey logo, their very lives are involved in advertising. Plus, if they attend an awards show, they happily state the brand and designer names of everything they’re wearing.

They further ignore the fact that radio itself is a form of advertainment. What gets played has little to do with musical accomplishment or artistic merit, but is directly related to the backing of large corporate distributors. I have been told to budget anywhere from a quarter of a million dollars to $350,000 in promotional costs to obtain national radio play on (the appropriately-named) commercial radio stations. Is it any wonder that corporations are seeking ways to build a little brand awareness into the songs?

Turn on any rap, urban or hip hop station and you can start counting the product mentions in the lyrics, some paid-for, some just happenstance. In the electronic-pop field, I have done it myself. On my “Electro Bop” album are songs such as “Paranormal Radio” (which begins as a documentary about American Technology Corporation’s HyperSonic Sound system), “Sheena Sez” (about talk radio host Sheena Metal), and “Check the Tech” (about the joys of watching the TechTV channel).

Has this advertisement hurt acceptance of the album? Not that I’ve noticed. Many e-mails from around the world cite “Paranormal Radio” as their favorite track. Not one person has complained about the ad messages, I assume because the audience for my dance-oriented music is pleased to receive information about technology and a far-out rock-talk jock such as Ms. Metal.

Ads and entertainment go hand-in-wallet in many other ways, some pretty strange. In music alone, we have all wondered about Bob Dylan’s “Love Sick” in Victoria’s Secret commercials (not to mention Mr. D himself smirking between shots of the lovely bodies wearing the lingerie). But don’t overlook Keith Richards in the “Cover Girl” ad while “Honky Tonk Women” plays, or Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger” in the Herbal Essence spot, or Iggy Pop’s liquor/drug/sex-soaked “Lust for Life” blasting throughout the Royal Caribbean commercials. (Love to work with the Account Executive who was able to sell that concept!) By contrast, Sting crooning from the back seat of a Jaguar seems a very model of demographic compatibility.

And that’s the point: ads and public relations are routinely dismissed as silly, annoying, intrusive or a waste of time right up to the moment when they are delivering facts the reader or listener wants. Then, suddenly, the sponsored message is viewed as helpful and instructive. Therefore, the trick is to achieve the right match between audience and message.

One problem is choosing your media. Just listing advertising outlets can be daunting: TV, radio, outdoor, newspapers, magazines, transit, direct mail, Internet banner. Many of these have subsets: paid inserts (advertorial) in newspapers and magazines, sponsored “newsbreaks” and infomercials on broadcast media, static or animated announcements at stadia, those dreaded ‘Net pop-ups, brand names on sports uniforms and equipment (can you say NASCAR?), etc.

One of the most enjoyable categories for producers of both music and advertising is viral ‘Net marketing, which has had some notable success stories such as BMW Films, the Seinfeld AmEx campaign, and of course, Burger King’s Subservient Chicken.

We haven’t even considered cooperative advertising, which can be anything from myriad logos at the bottom of an event poster to the branded music tones and flashing-light Intel trademark that ends every other commercial for someone else’s computer products.

But it extends further. Consider: Magazines that sell cover stories; product placement in movies and TV (and yes, live theater); branded clothing; bumper stickers; even fliers stuck on parked cars. There are ad messages on private automobiles (and those anti-humanistic trucks that some insist are called SUVs). Pull up behind a vehicle in traffic and you can read an ad for the car dealership on the license plate frame, plus another piece of public relations for the state on the plate itself. (Come on, you don’t think it’s hype to put “Land of enchantment” on every vehicle licensed in the state of New Mexico?)

You might think that this plethora of options makes it easier for firms to get their messages across to their targeted demographics, but a good case can be made for the opposite view. TV audiences are turning to Tivo and pay-per-view. Radio audiences are discovering XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. Newspaper readership is becoming an oxymoron. Motion picture audiences can be heard groaning, mocking or booing the pre-feature commercials.

This means there are a lot of people working on new ways to get the product benefits into the brains of the consumers. I do it with humorous radio scripts and subliminally seductive music, but there are going to be some innovations in our industry, and at the risk of appearing foolish, I’m going to make a few predictions. Within the next few years, we’ll see:

* Debit card scanners in TV sets, so you can order during a commercial with the flick of your remote.

* Barcodes in songs, so you can download from iTunes by swiping your XM or Sirius player with your Visa or MasterCard.

* Credit cards built into wristwatches, so your “plastic money” is always close at hand.

* Links to product sites in every scene of DVD movies or computer games. Do you want the shoes in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater game? Click-click-click and they’re on their way to you via FedEx (note product placement for the big competitor to United Parcel Service).

* Broadcasts of infotainment and advertisement will pop up everywhere: in public restrooms, at the Starbucks, at traffic signals, at the gas pump, on your mailbox, in the packages you purchase, in the parcels that arrive at your door, etc.

* Captive broadcasts. Just as you can preview the music on packaged CDs (available in EU now, but coming soon to the USA), the product benefits, price points and warranty information will play as soon as you lift up a product in the store.

* Digitized logo placement in the rebroadcasts of syndicated TV shows (“Hey, we can sell the product placement another three times!”)

* Branded ingredient lists on menus.

* Corporate artwork that takes you on a virtual tour of the company.

* Interactive ads, where you get to play Jerry Seinfeld and/or Superman (or the driver of the BMW) in a five-minute escape from reality (and from reality TV).

* Holographic projections of commercials from postage stamps, car and house keys, magazine covers and ad pages, etc.

And these are just the changes we’ll be seeing in the next few years. We’re not even discussing the opportunities for advertisement once we move beyond traditional broadcast methodology; when microchips are embedded under your skin, YOU will be the receiver for TV, radio, satellite, telephone, and global positioning system signals. And at that point, the possibilities for marketing communication via advertisement are going to become truly mind-boggling.

Are these prospects exciting, frightening, or both? My view is positive. After all, a lot of these new forms of communication are going to need my scripts and my music.

How to Market and Sell Your Beats

Selling beats and licensing music can be a very lucrative business for someone with a significant amount a tracks. The problem that many composer and producers face is that not enough of the right people are hearing your music. Most beat selling website of are mainly used by other producers trying to sell their beats. Stock music and production sites have thousands of composers and producers that you have to compete with to be heard. Even if you get heard you have to give up half of your earning if you sell anything. These sites will present you with different promotion techniques that are designed to make them money not you. All of the promotion you have to do on beat selling and stock music sites you can do it yourself from your own website. This does not mean that you should not use beat selling sites. The more places you have your beats the more likely you are to sell them.

You have to look at your beats as a product. Software companies have their own websites but they sell their software in as many places as they can. This the way you should sell your beats. Here are a few tips for marketing your beat site.

1. Make hot beats, this has to be said because some producers just don’t get it.

2. Post as many YouTube videos as you can, post your music on any website that allows individuals to view your music.

3. Blog, blogging with leave backlinks to your site and will establish you as an expert.

4. Release instrumental albums, many producers do not understand that there is a huge market for instrumental music. Particularly new age and jazz. But many electronic musicians and some hip hop artist can release instrumental albums because DJs love them. Just go through a digital distributor and you can have your music on iTunes in no time.

5. Participate in forums, please do not try to sell your beats on the forums it will be considered spam. Stay on the topic and leave a link to your website. If you appear knowledgeable people will click on your link. Forums will also leave backlinks to your website.

6. Use social networking sites such as face book, my space and tweeter. These sites have hundreds of millions of users and will in able to you to develop a following.

7. Use site like Yahoo groups, participate in groups and start your own. This will allow to you communicate with artist, leave backlinks to your site and show your level of knowledge.

There are many ways to market you beats and your website, these are just a few to tips to get you

The Secret to Using Social Media to Build a Massive Fan Base

Technology has had a huge impact on the music industry. According to a 2017 Music Think Tank survey, over 40% of people consume music via social media. A&R’s start their workday by checking the most popular social media websites. Justin Bieber, Soulja Boy, Avery and Alyssa Bernal were all discovered on the internet. In fact, Russell Simmons, Brian Robbins (Film Director) and Steve Rifkind (Founder of Loud Records) just announced the launch of All Def Music, a joint venture solely dedicated to developing talent discovered online.

Young independent musicians are told to use the internet to “create a buzz” and to “build a following.” This advice has led to a oversaturated market, with most unsigned musicians marketing their music the exact same way! Technology has made it so easy for anyone to record and upload their music. An artist can even create a music video with their cellular phone. Many of these hopeful superstars have not devoted much time to perfecting their craft. So how do you market your music in a way that stands out? Here are my 5 TIPS on Using Social Media to Build a Massive Fan Base.

(Tip #5) Create a Unique Name (Moniker or Pseudonym)

How important is a name? Vince McMahon built a billion dollar empire by effectively using great names. He developed a great name for his company and developed great monikers for his wrestlers. Now take a look at the music industry. Observe each genre’s greatest period of growth, from jazz to rock to hip hop. You will notice that their musicians had great pseudonyms. When you first heard the names Aerosmith, Sid Vicious, 2pac or Herbie Hancock, was there ever a chance you would forget them? They were so unique yet simple that they are instantly branded in a person’s mind.

Hip Hop artists in the ’80’s and ’90’s had creative, simple and brilliant stage names; Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, N.W.A, Wu Tang Clan, OutKast, LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James), Snoop Doggy Dog, and Nasty Nas. Russell Simmons was a marketing genius and he made sure his artists had great names before he would market them. In the early 1980’s, Russell Simmons agreed to manage Easy D and his friend. He thought the group needed a simple, memorable and totally unique stage name. The group absolutely hated the name Russell proposed and thought their careers would be destroyed. Mr. Simmons convinced them to give the new name a chance. He understood marketing from his experience as a party and concert promoter. In 1983, he rebranded and marketed the group. Twenty six years later, Easy D and his partner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the pseudonym… RUN DMC. If this concept (creating a great moniker that is sticks in people’s minds) was important before the internet age, how much more important is it today (with the market being overstated)?

Here is a personal story that illustrates the impact of a great name. Two years ago I started a page to help artists, musicians and poets the New England states. In the beginning, things were slow. Some people did not accept my friend’s requests and my privileges were suspended. I thought about the basic rules of marketing and decided to change the name. I wanted a name that would grab a people’s ATTENTION; create INTEREST, DESIRE and ACTION. I decided to change the name to New England’s Best Artists. Hours after the name change, I was flooded with friend’s requests. I have not sent a friends request since the name change and went from 200 friends to 5,000 in about two months. The buzz generated from the new name reached people all across the world. The page has even received friend’s request from some of the richest music moguls in the industry.

Many independent musicians completely underestimate the value of creating a great moniker. If a person attended a concert and several independent artists performed, would your band’s name be hard to forget? A memorable, unique and simple pseudonym can be the different between your band’s music being discovered or lost amongst the millions of other bands who have also uploaded their music. Your name should be simple so your youngest fans can spell it without confusing you with another band or musician. If you market your music like every other artist, your album cover is like every other artist and your name is similar to every other artist, why would fans assume your music sounds different?

(Tip #4) Understand the power of pictures and colors.

Have you even been to the mixtape website, datpiff, what caught your eye? What grabs your attention when you are overwhelmed with choices? ANSWER… great artwork with vibrant colors! Colors convoy certain messages. There is a reason why companies invest so much time and money in developing colorful logos to attract people’s attention. Look at Run DMC’s logo, thirty years later; it still grabs people’s attention. Research the words: colors and marketing. You will discover why black is used to market luxury items (e.g. Jaguar’s marketing campaign, AMEX’s Black Card).The color black usually represents authority, boldness, power, strength and elegance. Black “attract a specific target market of individuals who… earn a higher income, and have a higher level of education”-Alden Morris. The color also attracts the attention of intelligent people who enjoy Classical music, Jazz, R&B and Indie music.

Some colors attract the attention of one gender and turn off the other gender. Some colors (green and blue) attract the attention of both genders. Some colors (red and blue) work well on the “click” button online and can increase the conversion rate as much as 40%. Understand your target audience and use colors to gain their attention. An independent hip hop performer should consider using great artwork with vibrant colors and incorporate the color black as well. There are millions of other musicians trying to get people to notice them, there are advertisements on the left side of the screen and there are popups vying for an individual’s attention. Using colors effectively is an advantage that will help your music stand out. If the internet is saturated with artists, shouldn’t you do something that helps you stand out? Why invest so much time into making a great product (your music, art or poetry) if it’s not going to get noticed?

(Tip #3) Look at the NUMBERS and market to the right people.

If you were a country artist, which option would you choose? (A) Sale or pass out your cd at a country music club with 3,000 people attending (B) Sale or pass your music at a hip hop open mic with 50 people attending. The choice is clear-cut. On social media a lot of artists commonly make this mistake. Do you know the fourteen different ways people discover new music? Does your marketing plan address the various ways people discover new music? Are you aware that “people 21-34 are the core digital music audience” -Neilson Music. Running an online marketing campaign and targeting the “core audience” will yield greater results than just marketing to everyone. Narrow your audience to music lovers of your particular genre. This will be more cost-effective and allow you to spend that money in other areas.

Do you know which social networking websites are the busiest? Do you know the busiest days and time of day? Why spend 90% of your time on new site if less than 1% of social networking is done there? Some people love certain new websites and devote a lot of attention to them. If 80% of social networking is done on website X, where should you have a detailed, focused marketing campaign? ANSWER… website X. Every artist should have an account on the five busiest social networking websites. “If you use YouTube a lot along with other social networks, then, you could easily connect it to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts to automatically share your YouTube videos and activities on them.”-Guidingtech.com. I’ve discovered the best days to post on social networking sites is Monday through Thursday. Wednesday is the busiest. The best time to post on free classifieds is Saturday through Monday. Monday is the busiest. You will discover which day is best based on trial and error. You can find an updated list at Alexa. You can find data on music trends at Nielsen-Music and Midem. Understand the demographics, market and interact with your fans.

(Tip #2) Understand the value of music blogs.

How did you discover new music as a teenager? My parents had their favorite DJ who broke new hits. Corporations discovered this was a great way advertise products and the role of a commercial DJ changed. A commercial radio campaign for an independent artist today is extremely difficult and expensive. During my teenage years, I looked to Kennedy on MTV’s, Alternative Nation and Fab Five Feddy on Yo MTV Raps, to discover new music. This is still a popular way to discover new music but it’s not through television anymore. Teenagers today discover new music on the internet; they visit their favorite blogs and websites like FameTube because the administrators have already sorted through the clutter.

I am amazed at how many independent artists overlook music blogs. A few years ago, I posted a number of videos on my personal account. A few friends, who operate blogs, saw the artist’s videos and featured the artist on their blog. When the independent artist released his album on iTunes, it quickly rose to #1. I believe blogs had a lot to do this occurring. Blogs are a tool that can significantly increase your fan base and help you gain exposure.

Music blogs provide you with the opportunity to reach a lot of potential fans. Being featured on a blog is easier than you think! Take some time and learn how HYPEM.com works. Start with newer or least popular blogs first and work your way up the more popular blogs. I know A&R’s that start their day by searching their favorite blog. Independent artists that are creating a buzz (e.g. Mac Miller, Chris Webby and Moufy) use blogs as part of their marketing campaign. Chris Webby has over 45 million video views and over 315,000 followers and fans on social media. Boston MC, Moufy has over 34,000 fans the most popular social media networking website. His single, Boston Lights has over 462,000 views on YouTube. During an interview with Indie Ambassador, Moufy credits blogs for the increase in his fan base and exposure.

The key to gaining more fans through a blog marketing campaign is to have great music with great video content. Only send your very best work to a blog. Your music is your resume and the album artwork is your cover letter. You would not send in a resume that is not typed, written in crayon and contains a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. Don’t submit music that reflects badly on you and shows the blog administrator you don’t value his or her time. Building relationships in this business depends on always putting your best work out. Have your music reviewed on reverbnation, soundout or blaktrak FIRST! Some blogs receive over two thousand submissions a week. Do not waste a blogger’s time with music that has not be reviewed by an outside (not friends or family members) source. Blogs can either help your career or hurt it. Always submit great quality music!

Most people discover music by video (17%) so have a YouTube account with good video content! If a potential fan discovers your music on a blog (6%) and likes your music, he wants to share it on Facebook (12%) and twitter (4%) with his friends and family (12%). Putting together a blog campaign and having a YouTube account, with good content, will address how 51% of people discover new music. In a recent international poll conducted by Music Think Tank, people who discover music via blogs (6%) was only one percentage point behind people who discover new via commercial radio (7%). Having your music featured on a blog can lead to your music being shared by others on social media and discovered on video websites. Don’t overlook this valuable tool!

(Tip #1) Make your music easy for fans to find.

How many musicians have a different name on each of the top five social networking website? Have you thought about how that effects building your band. Imagine potential fans, an A&R and a blogger attending a concert and hearing a hot independent. They wake up the next day and Google your name. They find hundreds of thousands of artists with a similar name. They narrow it down and find a website. There are no links to any music on YouTube or Vimeo (one of the most popular ways people discover new music). You have music there but another artist already registered under that name. You decided to use a different variation of your name.

Do you really think a potential fan is going to go through so much research? What happens when a potential fan types in your and a thousand other artists pop up with the same name? If your music isn’t easy to find than a potential fan will just move on to something else. You have just eliminated any chance of that person becoming a fan and SHARING your music with their family and friends! Have your music listed on all major sites under one name and provide links. When you visit a corporation’s website you see a link to their page on other websites. Follow their lead and do the same. It’s hard for artists to separate the art of making music and the business aspect of music industry. This is a business so promote and market your music like a business!

John Clayton Mayer

John Clayton Mayer was born on October 16, 1977 at Bridgeport, Connecticut to Margaret and Richard Mayer. The middle child of three siblings, his two brothers are named Ben and Carl. He attended Fairfield Warde High School and Brien McMahon High school in Norwalk, Connecticut. For his junior year, he wanted something more in his life. Thus enrolling in the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High school where he was sent to Japan as an exchange student. There he learned about their culture and language.

As a child, Mayer wasn’t into music. He can play the clarinet but making a career was far from his mind. But watching Michael J. Fox perform “Johnny Be Goode” in the movie “Back to the Future”, he soon began to appreciate music. His next door neighbour lends him various jazz and blues tapes and one from Stevie Ray Vaughn which he began listening over and over. Soon enough, he was able to learn and play the guitar at the tender age of 13. By 16, John Mayer was performing at clubs. In his senior year, he joined a band called Villanova Junction. But he did not stay for long.

Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston after High school but dropped out after a year feeling that his classes no longer challenged him. He’d rather play and write music, not study them. He chose to cut his studies short and move to Atlanta, Georgia where he started playing at local clubs and started making demos and sending out copies. He was starting to build a fan base in Atlanta in clubs such as Eddie’s Attic.

John Mayer released his first EP in 1999 entitled, “Inside Wants Out”. A year later his breakthrough CD was released. “Room for Squares” featured smash hits including “No Such Thing” (which spawned from a conversation he had with his mom!). By 2000, John was signed with Columbia Records, which re-released “Room for Squares” and made him a multi-platinum artist.

In 2003, he won his first ever Grammy for “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance” for his ever popular “Your Body is a Wonderland”. He also released his first concert DVD “Any Given Thursday” that same year. The concert was recorded at the Oak Amphitheatre in Birmingham, Alabama.

On September 9th 2003, he released his second much anticipated album called “Heavier Things” and on 2005, bagged him the “Song of the Year” Grammy for his song “Daughters” beating contenders such as Kanye West and Alicia Keys. He also won “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance” for the second time.

John Mayer has done a number of collaborations. Rubbing elbows with music big hits such as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, BB King, and John Scofield. He was even lucky enough to tour with Herbie Hancock for a show at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. To date, John Mayer is on of the most respected guitarists of our time and many musicians look up to him, old and young alike. He even gained respect from hip-hop artists like Kayne West. Everyone wants a piece of this incredible talent.

In the spring of 2004, he formed the John Mayer Trio with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, two of the most respected musicians in the industry, Jordan being a legendary producer and Palladino as one of the band members of The Who. The trio plays a combination of Rock and Blues music. They released their live album called TRY! in November 2005 and began touring in sold out concert venues around the country. The album includes songs such as “Vultures” and “Who Did You Think I Was?” which made a statement that this band is serious in their blues and rock roots. Though the trio is now defunct after announcing the end of their performance in the Tempe Music Festival in March 2006, their music will still be remembered as one of the best.

For his new album “Continuum”, Mayer promises a different approach to his music, and producer Steve Jordan adds it will still be in the lines of their trio style which combines signature pop, with the feel, sound and groove of blues music. Mayer’s album release is set on September 12th. His first single, “Waiting on the World to Change” debuted on his website on MySpace last July 11th. The song was the most downloadable single on iTunes that week and ranked number 25 in the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, proving that he still has it after a long hiatus from recording this album.”Continuum” was released in September 12, 2017.

John Mayer also enjoys blogging. A hobby he picked up after creating a profile page in MySpace. He updates this regularly and shares his thoughts to all his fans and enjoys promoting other artists he likes listening to. He also revamped his website and now it’s the flagship version.  You can also see his latest posts in the blog section.

As of press time, John Mayer is touring the US and across the globe to promote his latest album and spreading the good music of Blues in his own point of view. The tour kicks off this year in January 25th in Jacksonville, Florida.