Should I Move to L.A.?

Every so often I have to wrestle with an annoying question, "should I move to L.A. to pursue my music career"?

Now in my case I deal with the question of L.A. because my wife who is also a musician always brings it up in particular. But L.A. can be substituted for New York, Atlanta, Nashville, San Juan, Miami, London etc. etc.

If you're a musician living outside of one these music hubs you've probably spent some time pondering the same question.

Being a Washingtonian I know I have.

But here are my two cents in regards to moving to greener pastures;

It is utterly stupid!

If you are an independent artist then why are you trying to follow the get rich quick, 'get signed to a major' rules of the 90's?

Why would you want to leave all of the infrastructure that you currently have in place, in order to start all over again?

If you have no infrastructure.......then what the hell are you doing? Do you think that it's magically easier somewhere else?

It'll take you a couple of years just to get back what you currently have!

You see this is the big picture; there is a revolution going on now that the world is a much smaller place than it used to be. Thanks to technology there is an abundance of everything except one thing, your uniqueness.

If you were to focus on developing your skill, your sound, finding yourself at every level, embracing it, and releasing it to the world persistently. Then you my friend would have a profitable niche.

This does not happen thanks to your locality. No, it can only happen because you work really hard at it. And your smart with it. You maintain enthusiasm. And you absolutely never quit.

You see that the fact of the matter is that if there is a magical place there are also these cool things called airplanes, which allow you to be anywhere you want in a matter of hours................ so stop fooling yourself.

Put in the work.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

The Basics to Borrowing Money for an Album

This awesome little video brought to us by the good folks at
Common Craft, is a 'how to video' on getting a loan from a bank.

The uber cool part is that they use funding an album as the example.

Enjoy.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

John Lennon Songwriting Contest

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is held every year and is considered one of the major songwriting competitions in the world. This year is their biggest year ever with prizes totaling $330,000 and a grand prize 'Maxell Song of the Year' award worth $20,000 going to one talented winner.

The contest is broken into two sessions the first starting on January 15, 2009 and closing on June 15, 2009 and the second starting on June 16, 2009 and closing on December 15, 2009. There are a total of 72 finalists, 12 Lennon award winners and 1 Maxell Song of the Year winner.

A total breakdown of the prizes can be found here.

Being that this is one of the biggest songwriting contests in the world, it is also one of the priciest. It will run you $30.00 for each song you enter in the contest. Having taken that into consideration, if you have a song you believe in then enter it by going here.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

A Brief History of the Internet

In this excellent video PICOL breaks down for us how the internet came to be and how it works, allowing us to better understand one of the main tools that has made the digital music revolution possible.



History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.


Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

NIÑO Interview by LatinoHiphop.Org

We had the pleasure of sitting down with NIÑO and talking with him about his career, plans for the immediate future, and his advice to other artist's.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

Indie Musician Advice from Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers is the founder of CD Baby, and an icon within the independent music community. In this video he gives us a gem on something that we can do immediately to push our music careers forward.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

Shift Happens 2008

This amazing video captures within 5 mins. the core of the technological revolution we are currently experiencing around the world.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

The Difference Between Leadership & Management

What is the difference between leadership and management?

How do these differences apply to your career?

A few key differences are that management involves planning, organizing, and achieving the results you have set out in your mission.

Leadership on the other hand involves having a vision that becomes the overarching inspiration and driving force behind the mission.

As an independent artist you are very likely wearing both of these hats or at least one.

In leading you will find that imagination is needed in order to develop a vision for your career. It will be your belief and constant work towards your vision that will inspire others to follow you.

But in managing yourself you will need to cultivate a completely different skill set. You will face the challenge of dividing your vision into smaller achievable goals which through consistent work you accomplish. As you move forward in accomplishing the goals you've set for yourself you will be able to measure results, capitalizing on what is working.

Leading and managing, are related, intertwined, and perhaps inseparable, yet they remain fundamentally different disciplines.

Each of which you must master.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

The Cool, the Niche, and the Ugly

Cool the ability of remaining cutting edge, relevant, trendy. Continually being at the forefront of the next big thing. Having confidence, calmness, and composure.

Honestly, who doesn't want to be cool?

Niche, a segment marginalized or overlooked by the masses. As an independent artist one of the fundamental keys of long term success is to identify a niche you can build a community around. By doing this you gain the opportunity of cultivating a meaningful dialogue with them. The relationship you develop with them allows you to contribute, facilitate, and lead. If you successfully achieve this your community will grow with you, inspire you, and more importantly support you.

The ugly in this title refers to only achieving cool or niche but not both.

Without cool your niche will sooner than later move on to the next person that manages to give them cool and simultaneously satisfies their niche interest.

Without a niche you will have no one to follow your trendsetting.

With this in mind I present to you the magic formula:

COOL + NICHE = SUCCESS

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com
cristopolis.tel

Russell Simmons on Being Vegan