Purcella, Author at THookz Studio

Making Money with the Music Modernization Act

Purcella — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 04:30:08 +0000

The Music Modernization Act (MMA) is a major reform of music copyright law in the United States, aimed at modernizing and streamlining the music licensing process, improving royalty payments to artists, and addressing various other issues related to music copyright. As an artist, it’s important to understand how the MMA can benefit you and how you can take advantage of its provisions to maximize your revenue and protect your rights. Here are some ways you can do that:

1. Register with the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)

The MLC is the new entity created under the MMA to administer the licensing process for digital music services and distribute royalties to rights holders. As an artist, you should register with the MLC to ensure that you receive your fair share of royalties for the use of your music on these services. You can do this by visiting the MLC website and following the registration process.

2. Ensure that your works are properly registered

Under the MMA, digital music services must obtain licenses for the use of musical works from the MLC. To ensure that you receive your fair share of royalties, it’s important to make sure that your works are properly registered with the MLC. You can do this by working with your publisher or administrator, or by registering your works directly with the MLC.

3. Take advantage of the new pre-1972 copyright protection

The CLASSICS Act, which is part of the MMA, ensures that pre-1972 recordings are eligible for protection under federal copyright law. If you have pre-1972 recordings in your catalog, this means that you can now enjoy greater protection and potential revenue from licensing and other uses of your music.

4. Consider joining a rights organization

Under the MMA, digital music services are required to make certain royalty payments to rights organizations, such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. These organizations can help ensure that you receive your fair share of royalties and can also provide other services, such as performance rights management and advocacy on behalf of creators. Consider joining a rights organization to take advantage of these benefits.

5. Stay informed about developments in music copyright law

The MMA is a major update to music copyright law, but it’s not the end of the story. There are likely to be further developments and changes in the coming years, so it’s important to stay informed and engaged with the issues. Follow industry news, attend conferences and events, and work with your team to ensure that you are up-to-date on the latest developments and opportunities.

In conclusion, the Music Modernization Act represents a significant update to music copyright law in the United States, and provides artists with new opportunities to protect their rights and maximize their revenue. By registering with the MLC, ensuring that your works are properly registered, taking advantage of the new pre-1972 copyright protection, joining a rights organization, and staying informed about developments in music copyright law, you can position yourself for success in the new digital music landscape.

If you’re an artist looking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Music Modernization Act, navigating the complexities of music copyright law can be a daunting task. THookz Productions can help you navigate this landscape and maximize your music earnings. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you in achieving your goals.

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Do we still want to be famous?

Purcella — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 03:04:18 +0000

Revisiting the reason I am where I am after it doesn't seem to matter anymore...

-The Artist Formerly Known as Purcella Tweet

Social Change and the Hollywood Fishbowl

In Marxist ideology celebrities are seen as an “ideological state apparatus” who “create false class consciousness amongst the proletariat that they too can have fame and fortune.” Whether we’re moving closer to or further from a collection of Marxist nation-states, I’ll leave up to you. But let’s adopt this thought as our lens to take a look at Hollywood. This isn’t that different from the entertainment culture today. The CIA and FBI have widely been involved in the production and altering of movies and television in Hollywood for decades.

The actors and musicians who are considered the most successful, such as U2’s frontman Bono, are bolstered by their support of government organizations like the UN and NATO. And on a funny note: I live a stone-throw away Creative Artists Agency which has forged new ground partnering with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground media company, which shows you:

- How to make global cuisine for a globalist society with a character named Waffles + Mochi. Waffles doesn’t even seem to comb his hair, given he has a waffle stuck in it.
- A comedic display of our all-encompassing federal government, which seems to grow larger in its functions with each frame.
- Michael Keaton as a coming-to-morals attorney calculating payment settlements for 911 victims’ families (!?)
- Which tax bracket you’re committed to until death with “We the People,” a cartoon indoctrination into a new America.

These showbiz pieces are reflective of the fishbowl that is the Hollywood scene. Government intertwines with agent and pop star, and the sirens of medical strangers picking up those you may have known never stops. It fits somehow with the back-and-forth of the clack of the pickle ball hitting the court. It all makes for a mess, sometimes beautiful, always heartbreaking. Those of us who keep going on the “scene,” whether in the forefront of the Met Ball or the background of the expensive editing computers, we never know quite why we do. It just seems too hard to go back.

I’ve noticed while I don’t have the same conception of fame and “making it,” Hollywood has still made me quite full of myself. My personality has changed in unexpected ways throughout the last year. For example, when people hurl insults or criticism at me online I find myself going into diatribes about how important my Art is and how I need a supportive community around me in order to help “nurture” it. None of that is untrue, but I’ve surprised myself at how easily I’ve started to look at myself as a “brand” and a “product.” While I used to make fun of celebrities who showed these elements of self-aggrandizement, I found the attitude (once I adopted it myself) to be extremely helpful. Could Ye have made all of his great art, music, fashion, iconic sneakers, sound and stage designs, interiors, and more without it? I don’t think so. Even if these very traits are the ones that get artists in trouble in terms of political correctness or even life mismanagement (my poor decisions reflect the most in how I treat myself), they are intrinsically an element of what makes the artist push past the boundaries as required to make great art.

What does fame mean when you can internet-famous?

For this point, most people say some crap about the internet revolution and how it’s changed everything. As someone who has had an inside view of “the internet phenomenon,” I can honestly tell you it is overblown in a lot of ways. What I mean is the revolution is often poorly organized and involves unnecessary org changes. When you apply this false glossy finish to internet fame, you see a lot of similarities.

You can gain a lot of followers and get offered some pretty sweet deals from companies looking to partner with your fanbase, but it’s hard to deny those public figures who are featured on mainstream media outlets and worshipped by Conde Nast have an easier time gaining online traction. There was talk of the internet celebrity overtaking traditional media. No such luck! In many ways, traditional press is still king or queen.

Swimming in the Hollywood Fishbowl

Nonetheless, we all have to figure it out. After all, I ran all the way across the desert to the Beverly and Hollywood Hills, and all I found was myself staring back at myself in a strange city— all my hopes, all my dreams, all my estimated opportunity, and just one place to go: up, wherever that may be.

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Hip Hop’s Trump Relationship

Purcella — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 20:58:41 +0000

If you’ve wanted to have a bad Thanksgiving throughout the past seven years, you pretty much know you could just mention Trump at the celebration table. The MAGA movement has created a MEGA stir, and the shiz is really hitting the fan now that Trump is the only former or sitting President to be indicted. As a side note, I want to thank all of the Twitter “experts” who called me a “Maggot” while researching this blog post. Wow, American discourse has really gotten special.

The mainstream media has repeatedly, since the run-up to the 2016 election, tried to neatly remind Americans of the dividing lines regarding race and party. The story goes like this: Black Americans have stayed loyal to their Democratic Party roots, while white Americans broke out like a group of lunatics (according to MSNBC and CNN) to do a white-people-gone-wild MAGA movement aimed at world domination and… we can’t forget… a resurgence of racism.

This narrative has started to fracture in a major way the last few years, however. Anecdotally, more TicToks have gone viral lately with Americans raging out against Democrats’ theft of money and resources in the inner-cities, or anywhere near the cities they run for that matter.

Statistically, even NBC news is starting to recognize the black coalition the Democrats have depended on for decades is bending more towards Trump¹. Why? Well, Americans are fed up. We’re on the brink of World War III, inflation is eating away at our lives, and the current President seems to only be interested in ice cream (which he says he keeps in his refrigerator, for some reason).

Plus, remember all those Trump shout-outs in great classic hip hop videos? It’s good to remember that where the black community goes from here remains in the hands of the black community (not the white political “leaders” who enjoyed calling inner-city children “superpredators” in the 90’s– you can look that one up and thank me later).

ARTIST	SONG	QUOTE
Waka Flocka Flame	"Everything A Go" (2012)	"So much money in my house I'm having cold sweats, throwing bands in the house, im getting death threats. Donald trump, bank account, you can call it that"
Nas	"Money Is My Bitch" (1996)	"Niggas always expect to see us two together, stable/The best couple they seen since Trump and Marla Maple."
Jeezy featuring Birdman	"Trump" (2011)	"Richest nigga in my hood, call me Donald Trump/The type of nigga to count my money while I smoke a blunt."
Raekwon	"Incarcerated Scarfaces" (1995)	"Poisonous sting, which thumps up and act chumps/Rae's a heavy generator, but yo, guess who's the Black Trump?"
Ludacris	"Hip Hop Quotables" (2003)	"I buy cars with straight cash, have meetings with Donald Trump/Y'all meet with Honda, no payments for 12 months."
T.I.	"I Need Dollas" (2012)	"I'm way up front, stop playing, don't front/Used to want dough like Jay Z but now I'm thinking Donald Trump."
Lil Wayne	"Racks on Racks" (2011)	"Get money like Donald Trump, Double barrel on that pump."
Kendrick Lamar featuring Ash Riser	"Determined" (2009)	"Homies on the block can say whatever they want/I don't wanna be a dealer, I wanna be a Trump—Donald that is."
Diddy featuring Jack Knight	"We Gon' Make It" (2006)	“I spend absurd money, private bird money/That Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Bloomberg money.”
Meek Mill featuring Rick Ross	"Off the Corner" (2014)	“Going Donald Trump numbers on the corner/I made a million on that corner.”
Big Sean featuring Pharrell	"Get It (DT)" (2011)	"I'm tryna stuff em until I can't fit no more, I'm talking Donald Trump level."
J. Cole	"Song for the Ville" (2010)	"Too much spinach to eat for niggas beefin', so I'm out here trick or treatin'/Can my niggas comprehend? Bill Gates, Donald Trump, motherfucker let me in."
Cypress Hill	"Can I Live" (2001)	"We tryna get money so we can be livin' like Trump/You can't slap that cuz you fall into a slump."
Lil Wayne featuring Birdman	"Get Down" (2004)	"Throw my weight like Sherman Klump/I gotta hold up my estate like Donald Trump."
Fat Joe featuring OZ and T-Pain	"Put Ya in Da Game" (2009)	"Now she lookin past y'all, cause your boy's in a slump/I took her out of the 'jects, the top floor of the Trump."
Yung Joc	"It's Goin' Down" (2006)	"Time to flip the work, make the block bump/Boys from the hood call me black Donald Trump

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A&R and Music Automation

Purcella — Mon, 23 May 2022 18:14:20 +0000

Artificial Intelligence is helping the music industry in A&R (Artist and Reputation) discovery, combing through the music to spot the next breakthrough stars.

The traditional A&R role can be grueling. Scouting talent and keeping on top of industry trends is a 24/7 job. Music AI is an emerging market featuring tools which enable smart tracking of music trends, as well as machine learning-based index, analysis, categorization and scoring of potential signees and partners. Whether you’re a small label or an enterprise studio, your teams can benefit from the productive gains related to this technology.

Imagine this scenario: It’s 8am on a Monday morning, and the A&R rep is just getting settled in at their desk. They’re excited to get started on their new project, but first they check their email. As they scroll through their inbox, they see an interesting message from our talent scout software, SuperStar^TM. The email includes a curated list of talented artists, complete with bios and contact info. But what’s even more impressive is that each artist has been assigned a genre category, and each line displays a score that encapsulates how likely the talent is to be successful in the market monetarily based on current music trends.

The A&R rep is amazed by this technology and wonders how it works. All of this technological assistance seems like magic, and is intendedly so. On the back-end exists a complicated process of indexing, computations, and formulaic displays.

If you’re curious about how AI is changing the music industry and would like to learn more, contact us below. Our team of experts will be happy to discuss how AI can benefit your business and help you discover the next big thing in music.

1 votes, 5 avg

Created on May 23, 2022

Music A&R Automation

What are some of the key features you'd like to see in a music automation tool geared towards A&R professionals?

1 / 1

What key feature do you find most critical to music A&R software?

Machine learning scanning of wide pools of artists/tracks into a single list

Contact management workflow to aid in contacting potential signees

Please rate this quiz

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