Industry legend and Independent Hip Hop Power Broker, Wendy Day stopped by this weeks Microphone Masters Radio Show. For those unfamiliar with Wendy, she is responsible for such deals as the historic Cash Money Records/Universal deal and instrumental in Eminem’s trajectory.
As stated on her website, she is an accomplished consultant to independent artists and labels and helps them grow while teaching them the essentials to success in the music business. The devil is in the details after all.
“I spend a lot of time on the road with my artists teaching them how to do promo tours. Going into different cities and very much like politics you want to go in and kiss babies and shake hands…”
Wendy doesn’t call the shots from afar. She told J-Luv of Microphone Masters that it is imperative that she be hands on during this process.
“I travel with them for the first three or four weeks so that they really have an understanding of how to do it well. And I think that is the difference between my clients and other artists. They really have an understanding of what it takes to win and are willing to go that extra mile. They are willing to outwork everybody.”
Many aspiring Hip Hop artists bemoan that despite quality projects or exciting stage shows they receive no accolades from their hometowns. These same artists find that when they leave their hometown to travel to the next county, city or state that they are more likely to be embraced. When asked if Wendy found this to be true not only with her clients but within Hip Hop Ms. Day had this to say, “It’s not only true, it is one of my marketing principles.”
Not one to speak in absolutes, Wendy did note that Atlanta, New England, Chicago and New York are apt to accept hometown artists without making them earn their Hip Hop stripes outside of city limits. She goes on to say that this approach is more cost effective especially when the artist hails from a larger metropolitan area like Miami where the barrier of entry is expensive. Additionally, DJs in these markets tend to shy away from local talent.
“…the DJs that exist there (in the bigger cities) are awesome, awesome DJs but it is rare that they break local artists there because they want to play the more national, recognizable music in the clubs.”
Her approach is an effective one and allows her to make this claim about her strategy,
“If I can get an artist bubbling outside of their home market and then come back into their home market we can usually own the home market.”
Peep out the entire conversation on Episode 89 of Microphone Masters Radio Show .
Wendy Day on Microphone Masters Radio Episode 89 (04-15-15) (Stream/Download)
