Trends Affecting The Bottom Dollar: A Second Exploration Into The Industry's Blogosphere

This week I chose to explore the blogosphere and chose to engage two accredited blogs; one familiar, one not so familiar. When beginning my search for more blogs that I could engage with, I first visited where I knew I could find solid content from an endorsed author that I could interact with. I followed my Linkroll directly to Nico Ramon’s, Not Evil Music blog where I have posted before. In his entry, “Musicians, Copyright and Creative Commons,” he touched upon how free music and file sharing is affecting the business. I chose to respond with a pro-free music perspective with the suggestive belief to successfully capitalize on several different income streams that are being produced today as you will read. After this, I referred back to my Linkroll once again to Rolling Stone’s Online Blog Section. Here, author Even Serpick examined EMI’s restructuring change in his entry, “EMI Changes The Game.” In summary, EMI plans to cut some $500 million dollars in costs by “offering a failing industry a roadmap for the future.” Most of this is based off of centralization of several departments including marketing, promotion, and distribution. While his article is more or less newsworthy and unbiased, I chose to offer my opinion into EMI’s restructuring strategy heavily arguing that their A&R is failing and their vacancy of streamline producers is hurting their success. While it just may be the mood I’m in, I’m always thinking about the bottom dollar. As you read on, you will discover a theme in my writing of how the industry can foster entrepreneurial ideas to capitalize on an ever-changing industry. I look forward to hearing back from the authors.


First Response to:
Musician's, Copyrights, and Creative Commons
Not Evil Music Blog

Author: Nico Ramon

Hello again,

After reading your post regarding how free music may help or hinder an artist’s career, I have had some thoughts regarding the future business model’s that will be affected by this new age of file sharing and digital music. For instance, Prince’s first album sold out despite its steep price relative to daily wages, and then some 15 years later the same artist who has accrued millions upon millions of record sales and other streams of income since then, is now giving his CD away for free. This change within the industry is ever exciting and I feel our generation is very exclusive relative to other generations that lived through moments in time such as the compact disc revolution.

Anyhow, I feel as if there is action; there is an opposite and equal reaction. The action being a business model turned up side its head in the middle of a digital revolution, but the reaction will even out any detriments and the industry as a whole will shift and move on. From a business perspective, although the accounting and income streams will be vastly different, I feel as if a label's product is failing, something must change. Like the article said, the power is shifting from the producers and into the promoters. After researching 360 deals, I came to a realization that while the label does sign people for their exclusive recording services and puts out a CD as a product to profit from, they should deeply investigate a product switch. Because CD's and songs can be acquired for free, they almost become promotional tools versus a profitable product. Why not go where the wind takes us? Let’s use that music as promotional material, and let’s go make the bucks connecting with fans at live events, charity events, public appearances, endorsements, and so on. While record and digital download sales tabulate somewhere around the 10 billion range, and the live concert industry somewhere around 3.2 billion dollars, there is still money to be made. With a vastly different business model, a couple legislation changes, and time, I feel that those numbers could be reversed and even doubled.

Who knows? Maybe one day a decade later, we will be experiencing an influx of live performances and will feel compelled to buy their record once again. Only time will tell.

Second Response to:
EMI Changes The Game
Rolling Stone News Blog
Author: Evan Serpick

AS ALWAYS, the greedy, evil, corporate music industry is out there to make as much money as they can without spending as much as they need to. Okay, maybe not really, but I can't help but to disagree strongly with EMI's new business approach.

A&R's? Really? A&R's exist to supply the record label with new talent which the record label is then responsible for turning into the next big thing. Even if EMI's A&R department found the next Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson, she would still flop as long as she is signed to EMI, as indicated by their previous failures with these two artists.
When an athlete is traded and starts doing much better at the other team, there was obviously something wrong with the athlete's previous team. Therefore, it doesn't matter how many superstar artists the previous team procures - the team will continue doing a subpar job on the field. This team will not reach its full potential until there is a new coach, a new conditioning staff, etc.

In the same way, EMI's focus on A&R and bringing in new talent will do nothing to help their record sales. Instead of this focus on A&R's, EMI needs to invest in top-notch producers who know exactly what the next hot sound is. Like I said in the previous post, the only reason Janet Jackson's back on the charts is because of 'Feedback', in which she sang on an electronic beat and auto-tuned her voice, which is apparently the trend in hip-hop/R&B these days (hip hip hooray for the tone-deaf singers out there)

Merging the marketing/manufacturing/distributing departments? Simply another tactic to try to save a buck or two. Downsizing to reduce inefficiency is one thing, but merging these departments and forcing a smaller number of people to do more tasks isn't going to do it. If anything, EMI needs to expand their marketing department and make consumers realize that their amazing artists are actually amazing.....not very hard to do.

Although realizing that the status quo isn't cutting it and being willing to do something about it is a good first step, EMI has not recognized the root of their problems.

New Ways Music is Being Heard: Pandora Radio and MySpace Music

According to Forrester Research, Inc, an independent technology and market research company, half of all music sold in the US will be digital in 2011 and sales of digitally downloaded music will surpass physical CD sales in 2012. With a vastly changing industry, consumers are finding new mediums to use to listen to their favorite tunes. A decade ago, we would have all gone to our local Best Buy or Circuit City each Tuesday to pick up the latest and greatest in music via purchasing the physical CD. Today, we are purchasing the same music via our computers, and transferring it to portable hard drives, or MP3 players. While a little more advanced and interactive than your traditional FM radio station, Pandora’s one-of-a-kind internet service and MySpace Transmissions are making displacing waves within the industry.

The Human Genome Project was a scientific breakthrough that worked to identify all of the approximate 20,000-25,000 genes within human DNA. From this, scientists hoped to identify certain genes and their expression qualities. Pandora, shown by a screenshot to the left, essentially accomplished the same thing with music back in 2000. As described on Pandora’s website, “A group of musicians…set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level… by assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song.” These dedicated listeners focused on every part of the song ranging from the melody, to instrumentation, orchestration, along with many others. Pandora emphasizes that its not about what the band looks like or genre they are put in by somebody else’s standards, its about the actual sound of the music you are listening to. With this new technology listeners can create a free account, accessible from any computer, which stores customizable, specific “stations” to each listener’s personal taste. For instance, by creating a Norah Jones Station, listeners are now streamed endless music that has similar “musical genomic makeup” playing artists such as Dave Matthew’s Band, Alanis Morrisette, and smaller, lesser known artist, Corinne Bailey Rae. Not only are listeners introduced to a variety of music, but the artist name, song title, and album name are displayed as well. I have found Pandora to have replaced the FM radio technology within my home that I traditionally used, but I am also able to use Pandora via my Blackberry. It is just as free as FM radio, without any commercials or annoying disc jockeys, and best of all, it has an endless catalogue extending past your repetitive weekly Top 20.

In addition to the revolutionary Music Genome Project, another popular online destination, MySpace.com, has been making waves within the industry regarding the way music is being heard and seen by consumers. Globally popular social networking giant, MySpace.com announced the launch of “MySpace Transmissions, a program [designed to] empower top recording artists with a new platform to create and distribute exclusive video content available for viral distribution and audio tracks available for purchase in the U.S.” Essentially, the millions of MySpace community members are now able to appreciate a band or artist differently by having pay-per-view access to behind the scenes in recording studio sessions or exclusive video Q&A’s with the artist. Already becoming one of the dominant communication mediums of today’s youth, MySpace has now created an intimacy level that was non-existent before.

I am greatly moved when introduced to the chemistry of a band, their life stories, and other intimate facets of artists that may not otherwise be available via compact disc or just listening to their music elsewhere. The band pictured to the right, Sublime, released a video/DVD called, “Stories, Lies, Tales & Exaggerations” which is a documentary comprised of hours of home footage and personal testimonials from each of the band members describing their strife and struggles as well as their career development. This new found personal intimacy created a lifelong Sublime fan out of me and has given me a greater understanding and appreciation for their music. This is what MySpace Transmissions is attempting to capture from their enormous, online community. In fact, recording artist James Blunt, who was one of the first artists to be featured by MySpace Transmissions said, “[It] allows me the great opportunity to connect directly with my fans. Playing my new songs with the guys in the band and having fans able to hear them in a new and unique way is always what I am looking for. I am excited to be the first to launch this with MySpace.” All and all, Transmissions represents a new medium for music to be seen and heard, but above all, it is using “Unique music programming [combined with] new business models that benefit labels, bands, and fans.”

Only a mere seven years ago, the revolutionary iPod was introduced from Apple which changed the way we all will store and listen to our music forever. Within those seven years however, musical mediums such as Pandora and MySpace Transmissions have surfaced and opened up the industry’s ears allowing us to hear and see our favorite artists, past and present a little differently. As an avid musical enthusiast, I am getting chills down my back writing this looking forward to the next seven years to come and the exciting technologies that will emerge.

The Latest and Greatest: A Guide to My Linkroll Part II

After my initial probe into the depths of the internet for content-rich, reputable websites that meet IMSA as well as Webby Award criteria, I have recently discovered ten additional websites that serve as excellent resources for Music Industry enthusiasts. To begin, Music-News.com is an industry wide, newsworthy source that contains a plethora of different styles of reviews including live, single, and album reviews plus more. Besides Music-News.com, American Songwriter is the monthly publication’s website, in its 24th year—continuing to cover every aspect of the craft and art of songwriting, from how and why writers give birth to their songs, to engaging and informative assessments of songwriting culture as a whole. To protect and profit from such songwriting talents, a songwriter/musician may join ASCAP, a membership association of more than 315,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. Furthermore, BMI and SESAC are another membership-style PRO, or Public Rights Organization, similar to ASCAP and serve the same function with often times overlapping demographics. In light of performing, make sure to check out Live Nation, one of the leaders in concert information and ticket sales. If you aren’t familiar with Copyright law, or are simply slightly out of date due to the ever changing litigation within the industry, I suggest you visit the U.S. Copyright Official Site. Here you will learn the basics of what a copyright is and how it may be applied to music and other related fields. After a piece of work is created and embodies all adequate copyright properties, an artist now has the ability to distribute his or her work which requires mechanical licensees by United States Law. By properly licensing cover tunes, the Artist ensures that the publisher that represents the songwriter who wrote the composition gets paid. This is all regulated by the Harry Fox Agency. To track record sales however, industry professionals will refer to Soundscan. Soundscan is responsible for collecting sales data weekly from “point-of-sale cash registers from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant, and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets.” Lastly, for any musicians out there, the Musicians' Union and the American Federation of Musicians are organizations of thirty-thousand plus musicians of all ages which is responsible for the negotiations that take place among major employers within the industry. All and all, this newly updated guide serves merely as a window of brief explanations as I encourage you to visit my linkroll and follow the links from there.

360 Deals: A New Business Model

Rolling Stone magazine said, "Record sales are down twenty-five percent since 2000." While digital sales are on the rise, both the artist and the label are quickly looking for different, profitable income streams. Instead of an artist being signed exclusively for their recording services and being viewed solely as an artist, they are now being viewed as well-rounded products that can be marketed, distributed, and sold similar to any other product hitting the shelves this spring. This is made possible by the evolution of the 360 deal, which is also known as a multiple rights deal. Emo-punk rock group, Paramore along with superstar talent Madonna have popularized deals such that Madonna signed a 10-year pact with concert promoter Live Nation for an astounding $120 million dollars, not just for her exclusive recording services like a normal recording contract would entail, but for a rich mix of cash and stock in exchange for the rights to sell three studio albums, promote concert tours, sell merchandise and license her name. While newer business models may raise a few eyebrows and concerns, thus far the multiple rights deal has shared success among the artist and the label.

Historically, artists have been recruited into major labels for their “exclusive recording services." From this, incomes and specific percentages are derived from record sales only. The same contract provisions that money be paid to the artist in the form of an advance for recoupable expenses such as touring support and independent promotion. While this is happening, record companies such as EMI, Universal, Def Jam, and others are putting fourth millions of marketing dollars to enhance the image and name of the artist in hopes to increase such record sales. Logically, it would only make sense that the record company be the sole beneficiary from such investments. However, since the artist signed a contract for his or her "exclusive recording services," he or she has no right or obligation to share any other streams of income such as the merchandising revenue they accrue while on tour. At the same time, the label is putting money fourth for the artist to be seen and heard, or marketed, the artist is able to collect nearly 100% of merchandising and endorsement profits without the record company seeing a dime from such sales. This is where there has recently become discrepancy amongst the label and the artist as well as its solution; The 360 deal.

360 deals, profit deals, or also known as multiple rights deals, are an attempt to unify revenue streams that the artist and label accrue. Aside from Madonna’s popular deal with Live Nation, Paramore has shown us what a 360 deal does for a band starting from scratch that does not have twenty six Grammy nominations, countless lifetime achievement awards, and world notoriety. According to the New York Times, “Music executives and talent managers cite Paramore as a promising example of a rising new model for developing talent, one in which artists share not just revenue from their album sales but concert, merchandise and other earnings with their label in exchange for more comprehensive career support.” The article goes on to explain, after three years of touring in and out of clubs and festivals, the band sold more than 350,000 records, doubling the sales of their debut and is now selling out theaters on its biggest tour to date. It is my belief that by fostering young talent from the very start with a 360 approach, like Paramore, the labels are able to take full advantage of the profit deal. Here, they can construct the band from the ground up as a product, tailoring it to the current and future markets trends and demands for maximum profitization for both parties.

If it is so successful, the question may be asked, “If Paramore can do it from the ground up, why isn’t everybody signing these kinds of deals?” While the number of artists and bands currently signed to 360 deals is difficult to accurately estimate, not everybody seems like they could be a winner. For example, we see hip hop artists like Soulja Boy come out with a single that rocks the industry and charts for an extended period of time. Young, talented, and widely accepted, it almost seems like common sense to capitalize on such success with a profit deal. Conversely however, it seems as if hip hop artists may be at a disadvantage to the multiple rights deal. While the costs of a hip hop record may vary, generally hip hop acts are not touring successes. A hip hop show is more effective for the artist throughout smaller venues and nightclubs versus a performance at a large venue. Without that kind of outreach that a larger venue allows them to have, it is almost impossible for them to move merchandise and create different revenue streams. If 360 degrees of revenue cannot be generated from the artist, the multiple rights deal becomes obsolete.

Traditionally, merchandising, touring, endorsement, songwriting, and publishing incomes are all standard, additional revenue streams for the artist looking to profit from beyond record sales. In addition, recently the cell phone industry has opened up a new playing field in the world of music sales. Donald Passman, a well-established author and music lawyer believes that "Cell phones may change the future of the industry" Aside from the instant, downloadable access via cellular technology that may be upon us in the near future, ring tones and ring backs are currently a thriving business. Built on the foundation of being a fashion statement, customized ring tone features have provided over 3.5 billion dollars in revenue this past year. With these new types of income streams available, the industry may be headed towards capitalizing on them by using the 360 deal.

All in all, with new age, becomes new technologies and advancements. The multiple rights deal embraces the new age by awarding the artist with a better compensated career and the label with rightfully earned revenue from the artist they fathered from the beginning. It has been shown that while the 360 deal may look savvy, it isn't for every artist. The profit deals' versatility however, does and will help new talent develop by allowing the record company and the artist to work more cohesively as shown by Paramore's continuing success.

The Latest and Greatest: A Guide to My Linkroll

This week I probed the Web for superlative music industry resources. In my search for sites that comply with IMSA Criteria, I found it to be rather difficult to gather ten well-written, structured, content rich, attractively designed websites. More often then not, it was almost inevitable to find sites infested with generic, non integrated pop-ups and advertising, which indicated that the sites were not reputable. However, I did recover ten sites throughout my inquisitive investigating that are wonderful music industry related resources that offer a variety of current news and information. The first resource I chose to cite was Apple's iTunes site. Apple, with its iTunes program, has innovated the way that people receive their music and entertainment. With a 7 year decline in physical CD sales, Apple has innovated an industry-wide change and continues to do so as the leading online distributor of music and digital entertainment. If people aren’t buying their music through iTunes, they are listening to Pandora Internet Radio. The creators of what is known as “The Music Genome Project” explain Pandora Internet Radio as, “captur(ing) the essence of music at the most fundamental level. (They) ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony.” Pandora’s simplistic functionality and interactive advertising makes for a wonderful resource I recommend to any music enthusiast. MySpace Music is another website that has revolutionized the way music is distributed. Here, users from around the world are opened up to a phenomenal music portal that has unique interactivity, decent visual design, but most notably, an endless catalogue of content. Along with the legal distribution of music, there is a growing concern amongst the industry of piracy. To police such crimes, the Recording Industry Association of America’s mission is, “to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' (record companies) creative and financial vitality.” This site contains a vast amount of recent, up-to-date information about the ever changing legal issues of the industry. More personally however, Not Evil Music is a blog that is a free resource for all musicians, who want to learn about online music marketing, music business and the future of music industry. I can personally attest to the interactivity of this well-kept, attractive blog after receiving a response from the webmaster only a short seven hours after a post I made on an article he recently wrote. Less interactive, yet one of the better designed sites, Billboard Music Charts is a diverse music resource for industry news, but especially, it’s numerous charts that help industry professionals and other enthusiasts track who’s selling and who’s not. If the charts don’t tell all, Rolling Stone Magazine will. I find this a great website for its strong content depth which is easily accessible through its smooth structure and navigation. Similar to Apple, Clear Channel Communications is also a large corporation that has substantial influence on the music industry whose site contains a fair amount of content but particularly, its superb functionality. The last two resources I gathered, The Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame and VH1’s Save The Music, both have outstanding interactivity but could use a touch-up on their functionality since it took me marginally more time to navigate both sites.

Music 2.0: Entreprenurial Exposure

In exploring the blogosphre within the realm of the music industry, I faced several challenges. Most notably, several blogs became gossip discussion boards, or marketing propaganda for bands. Being an entrepreneurial business student and always concerned with the bottom line, this spurred the idea of exploring the relationship between intimacy that bands have with their fans and the exposure effect it has on income streams for artists. Potentially pursuing a managerial or agency position among the music industry, I began to explore what was out there.

The first blog I found was HypeBot. This site chronicles music, technology and the merging new music industry. It was named to cNet News.com's top Blog 100. I began to explore the vast site and landed upon a tag named “Music 2.0 Posts”. This tag had several posts related to the frontier of digital music and the direction of the industry as a whole. I stumbled across an incredible, set of posts titled, “A Guide to the Music Industry in China”. Comprised of three separate sections, author Ed Peto shares his insights as a resident of Beijing and as a local promoter/music consultant. Here I engaged in the potential revenue that can be drawn in the 90% pirated industry suggesting a few different income stream potentials.

The second blog I chose was named Not Evil Music, by Nico Ramon. This Finish site, according to BlogCatalog.com, is a free resource for all musicians, who want to learn about online music marketing, music business and the future of music industry. They also offer online music marketing services for bands and musicians, who don’t have the know-how or the time to create their own website/blog, create profiles on social networking websites or market their music on the Internet. They have the know-how and time, and can maximize the musician’s visibility on the Internet. I chose to engage a recent post, “Facebook Marketing Tactics” touching on increasing such visibility by using the social networking tool Facebook. Here I offered recommendations as well as a reference to my fellow college’s recent marketing post in her blog.

“A Guide to the Music Industry in China”

Comment:

First I would like to thank you for such an insightful post. Your first hand experience in the Chinese music market is invaluable which is reflected within your writing. Your three part series, “A Guide to the Music Industry in China”, was incredibly insightful. I enjoyed the format in which you set up your guide although I would like to share some comments.

First, it sure sounds like physical product in China is pretty much dead. I strongly agree with that statement. Here in the United States, we are under a seven year, ongoing decline in CD sales. With media mediums such as iTunes and Napster successfully emerging in distributing digital entertainment, it seems that it is only a matter of time before physical product essentially becomes obsolete.

Furthermore, I believe one of the stronger points you brought up was the problem with the state-run radio programming. Radio, one of the fundamental marketing tools for music, is necessary for the outreach of new artists and the continued success of superstar artists. If governments continue to monitor the airwaves with such clout, it seems to erect an impossible barrier to entry for any prospective, music-related business attempting to successfully market its products.

So if we can’t sell physical product, digital distribution seems almost just as pirated if not more than the physical product, and we have little to no influence over the FM waves, where is the money in such a lucrative and flourishing business economy such as China? Well, if a new show such as SuperGirl airs in front of 400 million people, who not only watch the programming but also interact through mobile voting, I feel as if the industry may succeed and be able to capitalize on such appeal. Similar to the Superbowl, which according to CNN.com charged an average of $2.7 million dollars for a thirty-second television advertisement spot, China’s music industry could benefit from such advertising revenues. Alongside advertising revenues, such interaction from viewers creates even more steams of revenue. According to a press release made by Cingular Wireless regarding American Idol voting, “If Fox would have offered this service as a premium SMS service, charging a voter 50 cents per vote, the gross revenue could have been $38 million, or $3.2 million per episode, which would probably taken care of the entire production budget for the show.”

All in all, I thoroughly appreciate your expertise and knowledge and look forward to reading more posts from you looking into the future of music.

“Facebook Marketing Tactics”

Comment:

First I would like to thank you for putting together such an interesting, and attractive blog. I must commend you on the simplicity of the layout design; it was very easy to find an article to engage in. With that said, I found your post about using Facebook as an online marketing tool for a musician very insightful. You not only laid out the foundations and basics of what makes an attractive Facebook display, but more importantly, displayed how it can be directly applied to today’s current marketing tactics for up and coming musicians.

Personally, the only online social network that I actively engage in is Facebook. Facebook to me, the collegiate business student from the University of Southern California, has been and continues to be the most efficient way to keep in touch with people I frequently interact with along with past acquaintances. I find it very simple to directly interact, either publicly or privately, among several people in the most efficient manner.

This intimacy among users I believe is the next cornerstone towards marketing musical talent to the mass market. As you stated, the news feed function provides real-time feed to what the band or artist is doing, where they are performing, or even personal pictures being posted up. Contacts may see the artist’s “status”, they may read personal interests, look into posts from other contacts, and post themselves on the bands site. This type of exposure and interaction provides unique marketing strengths with little-to-none overhead spent against the artist’s recoupable marketing budget.

With heightened, intimate exposure, an artist can capitalize on several income opportunities. For instance, with the iLike function, they provide direct links to iTunes stores where an artist can sell legitimized, non-pirated music encouraging a healthy and booming digital download industry. They also can advertise other endorsement plans from several sponsors i.e. apparel which is often heavily associated among several superstar hip hop artists such as P. Diddy (Sean Jean Clothing) and 50 Cent (G-Unit Apparel).

Facebook among other advertising and exposure mediums such as television, radio, and touring all work together to create a synergy with intention to more heavily influence consumers, in contrast to advertising among one or two mediums. In fact, a colleague, and good friend of mine wrote a very interesting and thoughtful article reflecting the strength of such advertising synergies. This can be found at here. Such theories can be applied to enhance the exposure of artists by utilizing such mediums as the television commercial.

All in all, I look forward to reading more posts in the future and thank you again for your efforts to spreading the word.

Kanye West: Savior of Hip Hop?

Some say hip hop is dead, some say that hip hop is alive. Just recently, I have begun to unravel this phenomenon of a declining hip hop industry. After attending the 50th Annual Grammy Awards last night, my perspective and opinions directly changed. Artist, songwriter, producer, and more importantly, hip hop ambassador, Kanye West has revived this industry through not only his intelligent and political lyrics but through true passion and perseverance. After being nominated eight times in six different categories, Kanye West is here to stay and show us that hip hop was never dead, in fact, it has never been more alive.

According to Kanye's official website, Kanye Omari West was born in Atlanta Georgia and raised throughout his childhood in the suburbs of Chicago. His career took off when he was heavily featured on Jay-Z’s critically-acclaimed Blueprint in 2001. When originally signed as a producer, the label didn’t see him as a performer or an MC because he didn’t portray the “street image”. Ironically however, this “street image” was the very root of what hip hop was, not where it was going. The “Louis Vuitton Don”, with his pitched-up vocal samples and various collaborations among many established artists such as Janet Jackson, Common, and Jay-Z, Kanye West has given hip hop a face lift. Often found wearing fine clothing such as Polo or Burberry, a diamond encrusted pennant hung by a platinum necklace, and a pair of simple white tennis shoes, West has completely flipped the industry norm on its head.

Just a short seven years ago, West was critically injured in a near-fatal car accident. While a very unfortunate event in his life then, this spawned the faith that fills his records today. Despite recording the song while his jaw was sewn shut, his electrifying passion in “Through the Wire” showed us that there was something very special about this artist whether we knew it or not. In later albums, songs such as “Jesus Walks”, “Diamonds from Sierra Lione”, and “Mama”, clearly exemplify West’s unique fervor and drive to become number one.

Having personally seen West perform in Minnesota at the Target Center as well as a very personal performance at the Los Angeles Coliseum, I thought I’d seen it all. On the evening of February 10th, I was opened up to a breath taking spectacle from West that aroused a variety of emotions from the audience. Most of the performers, even pianist Alicia Keys, tended to perform amongst musicians, dancers, and other band members. West however, began his performance with no DJ or backup signers. Dressed in a light-up jacket and electrifying shades, he started performing his 2007 hit “Stronger” which samples French-native, techno duo Daft Punk. To the audience’s surprise, midway through his set, he ran off as the large, glowing pyramid behind him came into the foreground. The top opened, and the world-renowned Daft Punk, appeared with their widely recognized, neon illuminated jump suits. While this may have appeared to be one of Kanye’s many unique collaborations, Daft punk not only is considered to be musically "inactive" but even more shockingly, they have never made a television performance over their fifteen-year career. By the end of the performance, the entire Staples Center was on their feet dancing and grooving to the sounds of the mysterious “human robots”.

Directly after this adrenaline packed performance, the lights cut off and one spot light directed Kanye to the front of the stage where he performed an acapella version of his song “Mama”. “Mama” is a musical tribute to his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who recently passed in an unfortunate plastic surgery tragedy. West performed as if his mother was right next to him, just the two of them in the spotlight. Near tears, Kanye ended his song to a standing ovation from all types of people from every corner of the industry.

If this one-of-a-kind performance didn’t show the audience and music enthusiasts around the world Kanye West’s passion, his acceptance speech did. According to MTV.com news, West made the most of his time on the podium. In accepting the best rap album award, West spoke for nearly two full minutes, touching on the decline of the music industry and the state of hip hop even as the house music threatened to drown him out. With the word Mama shaved in his hair, he promised to make his late mother proud. “I know you wouldn’t want me to stop,” he said, addressing his mom, Donda West, “I know you want me to be the number one artist in the world, and Mama, all I’m gonna do is keep making you proud.”

All in all, after an amazing night of performances from legends such as Aretha Franklin, I left the building filled with excitement and hope thinking to myself, "Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger." It took me seven years of following and appreciating West’s many talents, but it only took one night to show me that there is hope that hip hop is alive.