I A M WELCOMES Ernest Manigo , Jr .
How are things ! What ’ s new in Music ?
Hey ! Everything is great ! Can ’ t complain ... What ’ s new ? Well , for months I ’ ve been working on a couple of albums ; one featuring a young lady from NJ name Grace ; she ’ s Jersey Shore ’ s Mary J Blige ... Strong soulful vocals and a fresh sexy look ! And the other is band called Focus , kind of today ’ s version of Mint Condition with a younger more urban vibe ... Hip hop flava in live music always goes hot !
Good ! So tell me more about your plans ...
Well , I never thought things would slow down in music so drastically , but as you know , most katz are not paying for their music anymore ... I really believe in the movement the future of music coalition started in 2006 ... Ad supported free music ! Funny thing though , I ’ ve been preaching this since 1999 when I first heard of Napster ! I simply mentioned to Rodney Jerkins that I think the new focus in music business should be with Advertising Agencies partnering with labels and producers ! I even took him to a huge ad agency in NY in 2005 Young and Rubicam to forge a partnership with Darkchild Independent Records , but nothing came of it ... Bottom line , I ’ ve lost faith in Consumer to Business aspect in music biz and am now focused on finally forming my Business to Business model ! My current acts may not wind up as my debut business to business labels fully operating on ad support first acts , but it ’ s coming ...
So what about your current acts ? What will you do if not the ad supported model ?
I figure since my company isn ’ t fully launched ( it ’ ll be ready likely next year unless a couple of irons in the fire just happen to hit big this summer ) I would want my current acts to have to wait ! They have great first singles and I ’ m not going to sit on them ! I will do a deal with a label or distributor the “ old ” way just to get them started ... I and my team are pretty saavy with regard to marketing so I believe we ’ ll still have great success ... My team is on the money !
So tell us about your column with IAM Magazine
This is a great opportunity ! Many publications are only online but the fact that IAM is online and on stands allows me to reach a broader audience ! My column will primarily focus on sharing advice and information related to the entertainment industry on various subjects in film , music , technology , marketing ,... I want to also evolve the column to include a Q and A ... I will answer questions from all our readers but publish a couple each month ... So you see a segment of my advice or information and then a segment of Q and A following ... I also will do a film and music critics column where I ’ d rate and critique current box office releases in film and current album and single releases ... That ’ s later on down the line
Wow , our readers will love that !
Yes , I hope I can help IAM develop a connection with it ’ s readers with regard to satisfying their entertainment information needs ! But I won ’ t do news or gossip ! I leave that up to your experts in that category !
What ’ s next ?
I hope to one day soon finally produce and market my first musical play which I wrote entitled “ Soulspell ”... But I ’ ll that for our next interview someday !
Well there you have it ! Ernest Manigo Jr . Has joined the IAM family and we look forward to hearing more from him !
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