People from lables are JERKS!!!

[hummingbird]

Fry, the issue isn't that people disagree with each other. The issue is how we express that disagreement. I thought Chris's post was reasonable and respectful, he was sharing his POV based on his experience. You can choose to disregard it, it's only one person's opinion on how to have a successful career. But the sense I get is that you really aren't interested in hearing from anyone who doesn't agree with you on this issue. I don't think you are a jerk, I think you are someone who is very passionate about what they do... and you are reading the advice of other people on your career path as negatives about you as a person. No one is attacking you, in fact I think most people were agreeing that you are very talented.Throughout your career (especially if you are signed to a label) you are going to meet people who are going to make suggestions about your appearance and the way you do things, because they have invested time and money in you. IMHO we artists have to find a way to stay true to ourselves while diplomatically listening to and being seen to appreciate advice we don't always agree with, as part of the business of marketing who we are and what we do. In addition, sometimes we need to hear the advice we don't like and consider it in a detached fashion, and assess whether there is some truth to it, and if so, what we will chose to do about it.respectfully,Hummin'bird

[matthoggard]

Vikki is wise!Ive enjoyed your stuff too Fry. Keep on pushin and use all that passion and youll go far.M~

[fry112]

ok this was the problem I was having with his post..Quote:You've got 25,000 friends. Okay, that's decent, but a lot of them aren't REAL friends (ie. "FANS"). Labels can check this by looking at your comments and there aren't a lot of legit personal (not spam) comments on your page. There's a HUGE difference between that and someone with 10,000 who gets three or four legit comments per day. Guess which one you want to be??Ok first off I started the post and said I have over 100,000 registered fans, so this already pissed me off. Quote:2) NO SHOWS!!!! If you don't do shows, you are doomed. The biggest problem of most artists who ask me for advice is that they aren't doing enough showsAgain he is pulling XXXX out of his XXX!!Quote:3) Where/what are your accomplishments??? I looked all over your MySpace page and all I saw was some random guy with some good music. Well, any bozo with some vocal talent can go into the studio with me and come up with some great music and sell it on iTunes. I know that BOZO aint call me no BOZO!I couldn’t fit my accomplishments on my page if I wanted to so it’s on my main website www.jaboyfry.com again pulling things right out his XXX.Quote:Forget about being 28 and a little chubby - that was their nice way of saying, "ya ain't done sh1t yet and I'm not ready to take any kind of chance on you".[/quote]That was just a insult! Quote: Sorry for the rant, it's a tough pill to swallow, but I hope it helps. I've been in this business in so many capacities. Now I don’t like assumptions and this entire thing was just assuming things without any kind of base! Ok you have been in the business,,why in the world do you think haven’t?! I have produced for some major acts and made some good money as a artist ! but this XXXXXX felt the need to break it down to me like I was some 12 year old asking how to make it big! You can give advice with far less Arrogance. The taxi administrator left a message and it was nice and humble I read every word but this idiot lacked the class to just speak to me as if we was on the same level.

[simonparker]

May 19, 2009, 9:10am, fry112 wrote:ok this was the problem I was having with his post..Now I don’t like assumptions and this entire thing was just assuming things without any kind of base! Ok you have been in the business,,why in the world do you think haven’t?!Yes Fry, you bring up some fair points. Had the poster done some more research, he would've seen you are touring, have a larger fan base and more accomplishments than what's showing on your Myspace page.However, an A&R guy is not going to know such. If that person hears about an act, the first place one usually goes to learn about the act is Myspace until there is a website that blows it away and becomes the new music leading website. If your "coolness" is not shown at myspace, then forget it, the A&R guy has two million other things on his/her plate and will go to the next thing.It's sort of like a resume, Fry. You put together a two page resume to highlight your accomplishments, discuss your qualifications and prior experience in similar positions, and provide contact information. It's done on two pages. A job interview follows, where you can discuss more detail about who you are and the employer can get a sense of whether you are a good fit for the position. Same with your music. If your myspace leaves off whether you're touring, shows a lot of fake friends instead of your 100K registered, showcases old tunes, etc., you can't expect the A&R guy to go look elsewhere to find out about you. Same with a resume, if you don't say your qualifications, accomplishments, and prior experience, no one in human resources at an employer is going to start researching a prospective employee to find that enough to get you an interview if that info was originally missing. They go to the next resume.IMHO that's all the poster was mentioning to you. He wasn't mocking you for lack of talent or questioning your credibility with your fanbase. Again, that's how I read it. Regardless, good luck with everything.

[coachdebra]

Right/wrong/real/true - whatever. Is your anger justified? Who cares! Fry - I think what people are trying to communicate to you (and I don't think you're quite getting) is that your strong emotional reaction, whether it's to the "suits" or to the comments on this thread, is working against you.Your anger is working against you - it's in your way of communicating, getting support and most importantly getting the results you want. And it's in the way of your listening, learning and growing.If your anger is justified - it's just as much in your way. What's more important to you - being right or being successful?Go ahead - get angry at me, too - does that serve you? Bring you closer to the life of your dreams? Or does it just keep you stuck...Your coach,Debra

[fry112]

Thanks ! and because of u guys post I hired a myspace designer and everything will look perfect! the only reason I abandoned Myspace is because it sucks ! I was ounce a Featured artist! but now it seems like I get over 70 spam emails and even more junk thats its hard to sift through the fan comments. But Yo Im gonna start my updating today and even design a new look!!

[coachdebra]

Quote:Thanks ! and because of u guys post I hired a myspace designer and everything will look perfect! Awesome - that's exactly what I'm talkin' about!Debra

[fry112]

May 19, 2009, 11:16am, coachdebra wrote:Right/wrong/real/true - whatever. Is your anger justified? Who cares! Fry - I think what people are trying to communicate to you (and I don't think you're quite getting) is that your strong emotional reaction, whether it's to the "suits" or to the comments on this thread, is working against you.Your anger is working against you - it's in your way of communicating, getting support and most importantly getting the results you want. And it's in the way of your listening, learning and growing.If your anger is justified - it's just as much in your way. What's more important to you - being right or being successful?Go ahead - get angry at me, too - does that serve you? Bring you closer to the life of your dreams? Or does it just keep you stuck...Your coach,DebraThat was good advice! you'r picture reminds me of the President, on this season of 24!.. I agree with you. But again you got my entire flow messed up Im not a XXXXXXX, XXXX my entire goal is to make it big so I can put my money in the youth of Africa and Get my people out of these compressed slums. My entire message is "Hope" But with that hope I want people to realize that you don’t have to sell out to get ur message across. for me to let someone speak to me however they want would be me selling out, now with that I can count my enemies on one hand so it’s not like its working against me. If I died today I would die a happy man filled with my accomplishments, last year I performed a march for “Megan Williams” with Al Sharpton, Malik Shabazz, Martin Luther king III all of the greats, and when I got my email that they were interested they “stated it was because so many Big-time artist who claim to be a part of the new Civil Rights on their records claim they couldn’t perform because of various excuses”. I remember guys like 2pac that would actually be in the XXXXtiest party instead of a Hollywood gathering, to me that’s what my life is supposed to be like , even if I never make it I inspired someone to not water down themselves. God gave me this temper and I tend to use it!, Fuel it! And make some money. And never sell out .. Anyone interested in making some hits holla at me ! Got some downtime as my people begin promoting this new album.

[che]

May 19, 2009, 11:17am, fry112 wrote: ;the only reason I abandoned Myspace is because it sucks ! AGREE 100 % MySpace is not real user friendly, accumulates fake fans and spammers and just overall sucks (especially if you like control of your info , sorry, type A personality in this area). Luckily my son's a producer and not an artist so the steaks are different. He doesn't need gigs, a huge # of fans etc...This whole conversation made him at least try and update his MySpace page....even though he HATES it, so in case someone happens across it, it's not stale. He likes Facebook and Ourstage better as far as layout and bit more accurate fan response. It's evident that the frustration you feel is real.....it's just that sometimes the way things come across can totally devalue a valid message. Good luck and I'll try to give a listen to some of your stuff when I get off this crappy laptop that won't play any music.Tricia

[stephen]

Well you all have a point about myspace. I recently updated and try to keep all my info there current. However a lot of folks who request your friendship really don't care about your music, they're just looking for another avenue to market themselves i.e. fake fans. With that said it's still a tool and we should use it. I personally find Reverbnation and sites like Imeem and last fm better than myspace. I have pages there and I think I get genuine request and responses to my music. Ourstage is good too. At the end of the day these things are just tools that help to create hype and give everyday folks and easy way to find us if they want to. We indies just have to use all the resources before which include taking both good and bad criticism with a pinch of salt, make the adjustments that will improve of creditability which will=$$$$ in the long run.