November 30, 2008

Understanding Digital Distribution

This is a great video in which Orchard (the world's largest digital music distributor) Co-Founder Scott Cohen shares a great deal of knowledge and advice on the music industry, technology, and how they built there business from the ground up.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

November 29, 2008

Nach - Efectos Vocales

Every now and then you stumble across a song that makes you say.....damn!

Efectos Vocales by Nach an artist from Alicante, Spain made me do just that.

In the interview below he talks about his inspiration for the song and directly below the interview you'll find a link to the music video.



Watch the video here.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

November 27, 2008

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is a special time of the year because it allows us to pause for a day and be grateful.

I have been reflecting today on all that I am grateful for and all of the people who are such a blessing in my life. So much of what I do is made possible by others and I would like to give credit where it's due.

Special thank you's to:

Heather Renee for being my greatest supporter. Not only are you my muse but your own career is an incredible and consistent inspiration to me. I love you.

DJ Boom your incredible engineering and production skills are a crucial part of my sound. Your talent has truly taken my music to another level.

DJ Eboogie your musical knowledge has helped me out on so many songs over the years, for which I am truly thankful. And your talent behind the mic and behind the turntables is unparalleled. I am blessed to have you in my corner.

DJ Wanako & DJ Pelon of 97.5 FM for regularly spinning my music and for making it your own personal mission to support local Latino Hip-Hop artist's.

Cici Carmen you are truly a talented and motivated individual. Thank you for sharing the stage with me and for inspiring me with your own relentless pursuit of your dreams.

Josh Papreck you are a prodigy. Thank you for playing with me live and in the studio. You truly take my music to a higher level.

WMS for being a consistent source of hot production over the years. Thank you for top notch production time and time again.

Sabio Mero for being a good friend, an inspiration, and for hooking me up with cutting edge production. Your truly have magnificent talent champ.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

November 26, 2008

The Benefits of Being Straight Edge



There is a growing community of people who are Straight Edge.

I am part of that community and have been so for the past 2 years, it's been undoubtedly one of the best decisions of my life.

For most people straight edge means;

No alcohol.

No cigarettes.

No recreational drugs.


For me it additionally means;

No sugar.

No caffeine.


Why Straight Edge?

Well, because it's good for me. In the last 2 years I have lost weight effortlessly, I sleep better and deeper, I never have hangovers, I never have nights where I regret what I've said or done due to a drunken stupor, and my thoughts and perspective are clearer than they have ever been.

I have also found myself forced to develop dormant qualities like the long lost art of conversation, because I no longer hide behind social lubricants like alcohol. I recommend you giving it a try for a month, it'll change your life.

And your skin will look great too.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
202.730.5012

November 25, 2008

Are CD's Dead?

My new album will be a digital release only.

Why?

Well for starters it's alot less expensive. $55 to release my album on iTunes versus $1,500 in order to manufacture 1,000 physical copies.

Also there is the issue of how much space CD's take up. Having 1,000 copies of your album delivered to your door step is a great feeling but it takes up a small closet's worth of space.

Another major concern is the environment. You truly leave a much smaller footprint on our planet when all of the plastic and paper that would have been used on your release is now conveniently turned into binary code and magically stored in cyberspace.

If money, space, and the environment still do not completely persuade you perhaps being on the cutting edge of the music industry will;

There is no doubt that CD's will completely give way to MP3's in the future. Some say that it could be as soon as 2014. Meaning you will not be able to buy CD's at physical stores any more. CD's will be dead. As an independent Latino Hip-Hop artist you have the freedom to be vanguard, an early adopter, and to leaverage every technological innovation to your benefit. DiscMakers and Oasis (cd manufacturers) will continue to rave as to the benefits of still printing up CD's, but that's because they only have about 5 more years to make money off of their duplication plants before they too go the way of the dinosaur.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
202.730.5012

November 24, 2008

Myspace Vs. Facebook

I have a Myspace account and a Facebook account.

I use my Myspace account religiously, all day, every day (I even have it open as I write this blog).

I rarely use my Facebook account. I might check it once every six months, just out of curiousity.

Why am I such a big fan of Myspace and not of Facebook?

While both are incredible social networking tools, they are quite different from each other. Myspace has developed a culture that allows you to effortlessly connect with everyone within the community, never making it awkward to friend anyone who happens to catch your attention. Facebook on the other hand has developed a culture in which you only connect with people that you already know. Can you say....boring?

For alot of people this seems to be great, this is exactly what they are looking for, it is why Facebook is popular.

But the reason I believe that Myspace is still king of the hill is because not only can you connect with people that you 'really know' and make your page as private as you desire, you also have the option of meeting limitless new people and of cultivating new online relationships. As a Latino Hip-Hop artist I find this extremely important because it allows me to connect with people from around the world, creatively, as friends or as fans of what I do.

Another huge plus is that Myspace actually provides you a website with it's own unique url, accessible by anyone whether or not they are on Myspace. Facebook on the other hand keeps it's community closed, and the band pages they do offer are lame and the url's are terrible.

For example:

My Myspace url; www.myspace.com/cristopolis

My Facebook url; www.facebook.com/pages/CRISTOPOLIS/8421789342

Which do you like better?

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
202.730.5012

November 21, 2008

How to get your Music on iTunes

iTunes has without a doubt become the leader in the field of digital downloads currently controlling approximately 70% of the market, surpassing Wal-Mart and Best Buy this year to become the #1 music retailer in the United States.

This has caused Latino Hip-Hop artist's everywhere to ask themselves 'how can I get my music on there and get a piece of the action'?

Well here are two companies that can get your music on iTunes quick and easy: CDBaby.com and Tunecore.com.

Of these two companies I have used CDBaby.com since 2002 and have been very happy with them. They have great customer service (they always answer the phone), their website is easy to use, and they are inexpensive. CDBaby charges a $35 album setup fee and if you do not have a UPC barcode (which you will need in order to have your music on iTunes) they can provide it for an additional $20. The main reason I choose CDBaby over TuneCore is because they only charge a one time fee to get your music on there site and sent to iTunes along with an additional 9% of each digital down load sale.

TuneCore on the other hand charges a yearly maintenance fee of $19.98 per album, and 99 cents per song, but they take no percentage of sales. I personally prefer to pay the one time CDBaby album setup fee and 9% per download charge in order to never have to worry about yearly fees for each album I have on iTunes. But if your moving serious amounts of digital albums and song downloads (over 500 song downloads per album, per year), TuneCore would be a better option in regards to your bottom line.

Regardless of which company you choose to use, the times have changed and iTunes is today's equivalent of Tower Records. But unlike Tower Records the digital revolution has empowered independent artist's to get their music on the shelves of digital stores all by themselves.

So what are you waiting for?

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
202.730.5012

November 20, 2008

DC Latino Hip-Hop

As a tribute to DC Latino Hip-Hop I have created a website at www.dclatinohiphop.com that focuses on bringing increased recognition to a few of the most outstanding and talented Latino Hip-Hop Artist's representing the District of Columbia.

This site will be updated on a regular basis so please stop by often. If there is anyone not currently featured that you think should be added, please email me about them at hiphop@cristopolis.com, I greatly appreciate your input.


Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
202.730.5012