February 28, 2009

What is WAMA?



The Washington Area Music Association, better known as WAMA is an umbrella organization uniting musicians, concert promoters, entertainment lawyers, recording engineers, managers, graphic artists, and others working within the DC music industry.

Among WAMA's programs and benefits they are probably best known for their annual Wammies music ceremony, in which awards are given (in all genre's) to WAMA members, who are nominated and voted on by WAMA members.

WAMA also put's together and distributes a membership directory, WAMA Pages, sends out frequent e-newsletters, and provides you with a membership card.

The annual cost to become a WAMA member is $35.

In order to attend the Wammies there is an additional $30 cost per attendee. But in my opinion the money you dish out is well worth the networking.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 27, 2009

The Power of Consistency

Creating positive productive habits and remaining steadfast in them is one of the keys of long term success.

Write 2 to 4 bars everyday and you will have a new song every month; a solid album every year.

Work out every day, even if it's just for 30 mins. and you well remain fit.

Never drink and you will completely avoid hangover's and the many mistakes people make when intoxicated.

So, who do you want to be?

Now create the habits that will take you there.

Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 26, 2009

Latinos Unidos

Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia (aka the DMV), has long been recognized within the music industry for the amount of noteworthy talent it has managed to give the world. Artist's such as Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, Tori Amos, Timbaland, and most recently Optimo and Fuego have all had their starts in the Capital City.

Continuing this trend of cutting edge remarkable talent, I have organized an Urban Latino Showcase for March 14, 2009 which features some of the DMV's best talent. This is a show not to be missed.





Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 17, 2009

Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity & Writing

Elizabeth Gilbert recently gave this talk on our cultures perception of creativity and the struggles that artist's go through.

This incredible talk was given at the TED Conference.



Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 16, 2009

Del' Patio Live in DC

Del' Patio is a group from NYC that has been infusing rhythms from there native Dominican Republic with Latino Hip-Hop, creating an upbeat original sound that has been generating them alot of attention within the Latino Hip-Hop community.

Next Saturday, Feb. 21st, 2009 they will be performing in Washington, DC.

I hope to see you there.





Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 10, 2009

Latin DMV's Finest Vol. 2

This Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 DJ Cabezon will be unveiling his second installment of Latin DMV's Finest. If you're in the DC metropolitan area stop by to say what's up. I'll be there celebrating the release with DJ Cabezon.




Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 7, 2009

Seth Godin on Tribes, Purple Cows, and 1,000 True Fans

In this video Seth Godin, best selling author and writer of the #1 marketing blog in world, shares with us some of his insights.




Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

February 4, 2009

Media Futurist - Gerd Leonhard

Gerd Leonhard is truly inspiring in his knowledge and vision of what is to come in the near future for the music business.

I believe he has his finger on the pulse of what is to come.

Enjoy.






Wishing you continued success!

Cristopolis Dieguez
latinohiphop.org
cristopolis.com

January 29, 2009

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

January 28, 2009

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