As part of The Music Industry Incubator workshop series, we invited artist manager Jack Mashala (Mas Musiq) to fly in from South Africa to have a 1 on 1 conversation with Phil Chard on how best to build a brand, what managers should be aware of and what artists can do to work with their management to build a revenue-generating brand.

This week The Music Industry Incubator hosts Aurelia J. Schultz who is an international copyright expert with 15 years of experience in African Copyright. She earned her BA in Religious Studies from Carroll College and her Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville. She began her legal career at Creative Commons where she was the first Africa Regional Coordinator. Most recently, she served as Counsel for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office. She has trained artists, industry professionals and government officials around the world and enjoys collaborating with others to improve our global creative industries. What is A Music Copyright? A copyright is the legal mechanism that gives you a property right indoor creation. It changes you from a creator into an owner and that's important because property rights are alienable, which means that you can buy them and sell them, lease them, and rent them and trade them. Summary 00:51 Intro to Copyright 2:14 What is mechanical right 8:40 What is WIPO 10:15 Importance of treaties and how they affect you 16:00 As an artist who is collaborating how is copyright ownership determined 19:20 Who owns the sound recordings 24:00 How long does Copyright last 26:55 How to enforce your copyright 29:49 How to enforce your copyright 31:50 Protecting your copyright 35:00 How your copyright works across territories 40:15 How attribution works 45:01 How to protect your work 46:26 What do Public Domain and Fair Use mean 50:50 Copyrighting a sound using sheet music

This week we had artist, event promoter and content creator Game “Zeus” Bantsi to talk to us about his creative journey and how artists can come out of the pandemic with their best foot forward while also putting safeguards in place to ensure their careers are not completely derailed by unforeseen circumstances “It really breaks my heart that we have all these assets sitting in these institutions [banks] but it is not really accessible to us as creatives and other vulnerable communities” Notes 1. Understand the business of music 2. Think of your career and yourself as an business 3. Getting business loans as an artist is difficult. Your collateral assets are your Intellectual Property 4. Understand how your brand can generate revenue and refine that process 5. Learn as much across as many skillsets as possible Summary * 7:50 How he overcome Botswana’s small population to cross over regionally * 12:50 How Zeus used his education to further his career * 16:50 Understanding the business of music * 22:05 Can an artist access a business loan? * 28:50 How Zeus kept his career going during the pandemic * 38:12 Keeping the culture alive * 50:50 The importance of learning multiple tools for the creative business

The first of The Music Industry Incubator workshops kicked off on June 9 with Zimbabwean-born superstar producer Mr Kamera. In our chat, we covered a lot of topics that would be incredibly helpful to Zimbabwean musicians of all kinds. An edit of the conversation can be played and downloaded below. We also have detailed timestamped notes and resources that cover the issues we discussed that is available here https://www.musicindindustryincubator.com/blog/music-production-with-mr-kamera

Mutsai Musa has been running the creative incubator, Quiet Riot Media for 15 years. Quiet Riot Media has consulted for both international artists and large entertainment companies on intellectual property and copyright management, paying attention to protecting income streams and generating long-term revenue for creative projects. Recent clients include Apple Music Africa, Universal Music Publishing Group Africa, Sony Music Africa, Interscope Records (USA), Platoon Africa, LVRN Records (USA). In our chat with Mutsai, we discussed the various ways Zimbabwean artists can earn revenue as artists and what they can do to increase their earning potential. Summary of Earning Channels 1. Mechanical Royalties (Sales)  2. Publishing Royalties 3. Merchandise 4. Live Show Income Workshop Summary 4:35 How artists can be considered for Digital Service Provider Playlists Playlisting is the new radio and is a key part of getting your music discovered Your distributor plays a key part in getting playlisting Use UGC social media content platforms to promote your work Make sure your song is on radio 10:04 How to pitch yourself and your music  Have an EPK and marketing plan ready before you release a song That EPK should clearly state your DNA as an artist in 1 page WHO you are. WHERE you are going. WHAT information and data about you is available. 13:25 How to pitch yourself to festivals  14:11 The types of revenue available to artists Maximise show revenue when it is available Look into publishing as early as possible 23:11 How revenue is generated 26:06 The importance of working with others and building a team “Working alone is not beneficial. Would you rather have 100% of $10 or 50% of $100” Learn the fundamentals of the business 34:10 How to approach brand endorsements To get a brand endorsement you have to add value to the brand in question Brand endorsements are not a viable source of long-term revenue because brands are in business to sell products and not support artists 37:32 How to prepare your brand to become one that earns revenue Make yourself and your music easy to find. (Search Engine Optimisation) Website, Biography and press pics Market and promote yourself 41:30 The questions you need to ask a potential partner before you work with them Who have you worked with before? What do you know about the following; Distribution Publishing Sync Licensing Marketing Artist Management 43:40 How to prepare marketing and promotion budgets  49:50 TikTok presents the biggest opportunity for artists For reference here is the video from VOX that tracks the importance of TikTok

Munya Chanetsa is a well-known music executive and founder of M.O.T.I with more than 10 years of A&R and licensing experience. He has worked with mobile operators, CAPASSO and Sony Music Publishing amongst others. He has also been a featured presenter on music copyright at leading forums and conferences in South Africa, Angola, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. In this workshop, we cover the basics of publishing, how important it is for all songwriters and what avenues they can use to exploit their publishing to earn revenue. Summary Workshop Summary 1:15 The role of a publisher  Facilitate collaborations Place/exploit existing songs Sync mood music to movies, games, apps etc 6:30 What is a music library 8:40 How terms for Sync Licenses are used practically 9:01 Self Publishing versus signing with a publisher  Pros of self-publishing You retain 100% of your rights 100% of the revenue Cons of self-publishing More administrative work No help with A&R Have to sell yourself to collaborators 14:30 The Collective Management Organisations available to Zimbabwean artists and how licensing worst 17:25 What artists need to get a licensing deal

RayDizz is one of Zimbabwe's leading DJs and performers who has graced the stages of The Ministry of Sound, Marquee Las Vegas, Big Brother Africa, Vic Falls Carnival, HIFA and opened up for some of Africa's biggest stars. In this conversation he shares his advice on how young DJs can get started in the industry, build a brand, what equipment to use and where to legally source music. 4:45 How To prepare for a set 11:40 What are tone and pitch plays when DJ’ing 12:35 What equipment a new DJ needs Controllers versus CDJs 16:18 Reinvesting in equipment and the need to budget  21:20 The importance of management and booking agents 23:50 The viability of collaborations  27:20 RayDizz advice for upcoming DJs 37:05 How to get on a show promoter’s radar 40:40 The importance of YouTube as a teaching and promotional tool 39:55 The use of Record Pools and other legal purchasing platforms

In this episode of the AHHB Podcast we speak to South African DJ, Producer, rapper and accomplished IT Consultant Trompie aka Beatmochini aka Bleksperm. In our chat Beatmochini speaks to us about his career that has spanned almost 2 decades. From starting out in Pretoria to working with Khuli Chana on a SAMA winning album, getting his first gold plaque and travelling the world. Trompie also gives Phil some professional advice on how to delete porn from his PC and sheds some light on the issues surrounding his collaboration with Fifi Cooper just before her Ambitiouz exit. The producer also speaks to us about his upcoming March 10 EP which was sparked after he was challenged to make a 6 track collaborative project with only new artists by by Osmic. "6 joints? I can do that in my sleep" he boasted "In a week I was already done" Subscribe to the AHHB Podcast on; Website: https://goo.gl/SBzy1y iTunes: http://apple.co/29Tl7Rv Stitcher: http://bit.ly/2b3tgph Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2b5FR8x YouTube: https://goo.gl/FmX9bJ TuneIn: http://goo.gl/p4kR9h AHHB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/africanhhb

In the first episode of the relaunched AHHB Podcast Phil Chard speaks to South African director Kyle Lewis. Read the full feature articie, here : https://wp.me/p3OahZ-6MS

Welcome back to the African Hip Hop Blog podcast. In what is possibly our biggest episode to date we have interviews with Solo, Riky Rick, Cassper Nyovest and Nasty C! Yes all four artists on 1 incredible 2 hour long episode. Sit back recharge your data and enjoy as we discussed Solo's album Dreams.B.Plenty before Cassper discusses his journey, filling up Orlando stadium and his fight for radio relevance. Riky speaks to us a bit his incredible fashion sense and the hit making formula he has cracked. Nasty C shares details of his meteoric rise to fame and the response to his new album Bad Hair. We also talk about the upcoming MTV Africa Music Awards. Enjoy

Africa's finest Hip Hop Podcast is back again with another incredible episode filled with 65 minutes of quality content from across the continent. This week Phil discusses Nasty C's album release and it's implications. He also speaks to Cap City's PDotO who shares an exclusive announcement about his much anticipated and repeatedly delayed debut album Devilz Playground. Phil also catches up with Lil Trix to discuss his career and why the young artist seemed to lose a step after releasing his impressive project Colour Me Bad. We also discuss the 2016 MAMAs, project releases from Davido, Reminisce, E.L, Anatii, Maraza, DJ Sliqe and many more as well as new music.

The African Hip Hop Blog Podcast is back with another episode that was custom made to satiate the hunger of our true Hip Hop head fans. This week Phil speaks to Ghanaian rapper M.anifest for an in conversation focusing on his new 14 track album Nowhere Cool. Phil and M dot chop it up about the creative process behind the album, the production and the overall arc of the lyrics before we play out with a snippet of Hand Dey Go, Hand Dey Come featuring Worlasi Look out for a full review on the album dropping on http://africanhhb.com/

The African Hip Hop Blog Podcast is back once again with 60 minutes of some of the best news, music and interviews from the African continent, and this week is a special show. Just know, just know. SPECIAL EPISODE ALERT! (Khaled voice). This week Phil discusses Yung6ix getting shot at, Reminisce’s management situation, the 2016 MTV Awards and The AFRIMAs as well the best content from www.africanhhb.com. He also interviews our #FeatureFridays winner Ayat to discover that he's not that new of an artist after all as well interviewing his personal Hip Hop hero - none other than the African rapper number 1, M.I Abaga. M.I is currently in South Africa preparing for his first major showcase and Phil suppressed his screams long enough to discuss M.I’s plans for new music and collabs as well as his outlook on African Hip Hop.

Fresh out the oven here is another episode if the best Hip Hop podcast in Africa. This week Phil sits down with our #FeatureFridays winner Miikah , a 17 year old rapper who educates Phil on the meaning of big words such as nihilism, entropy and compendium while also discussing how messing around on Fruity Loops helped birth his NegativeXero EP. Phil also gets hold of Angolan-South African Priddy Ugly for an engaged and insightful conversation about the rapper’s 10 year career, being signed by every major label and dance battles with his girlfriend.

We might be slightly delayed but the African Hip Hop Blog podcast is back with another incredible episode. I can assure you that we are getting pretty damn good at the podcasting thing. This week Phil interviews our #FeatureFridays winner Kweiks, who shares details of his career and how he overcome a life threatening accident to pursue his musical dream. He then crosses over to Kenya to hear about the type of music made by Kagwe Mungai and why his mother is happy that he chose to pursue music and finally we hear from Zimbabwe’s Takura who just dropped his 5 track EP Stripped. We play Ricky Tyler’s new remix for Swerve featuring Tshego and Doto from Kweiks as well a brief discussion onto the serious accusations made by Julius Malema against South Africa’s Mabala Noise label. Enjoy !

The best African Podcast is back again with another incredible episode highlighting some of the best content on the continent. In this week’s episode I share an interview that I did with Yanga earlier in the year where we discuss his highly anticipated Touch Is A Move EP and his early days as a video director and editor for none other than Slikour and Studio Space Pictures. I also play music from E.L., Nyashinki, DJ Towers, and a tonne of Ugandan artists for the End Of The Weak Cypher. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on our various platforms below. iTunes Sticher Tune In Also follow us on twitter @AfricanHHB @PhilChard

The best podcast relating to all matters African of the Hip Hop variety has returned once again. This week Phil gets hold of a true Hip Hop OG - Mr. Rushay Booysen of South Africa to discuss the state of the rap nation and track how far things have progressed over the years. Phil also speaks to 2 #FeatureFridays winners GZE and Phlow. Where the former shares details of his upcoming album Hustlemania abs the latter shares the details of her introduction into Hip Hop. We also have music from MarazA, KLY, Flo Dee, YCEE, Ice Prince, Jnr Brown and Well$ Be sure to like and comments on the podcast via soundcloud or iTunes.

The AHHB podcast is back once again with what is undoubtedly our best episode to date, no really I mean it this time. We have interviews with the world record holding DJ Obi to discuss his gruelling 10 day marathon set, we speak to Youngsta who is currently on tour in Europe having interesting encounters with groupies, we also speak to E.L about his two new singles and his BAR III release and finally we also speak to Poe about his new single I Want You. In between all these incredible interviews we also have music from Kagwe Mungai and DJ Switch’s massive Now Or Never Remix that features Ginger Trill, Proveb, Proddy Ugly, Zakwe, Blaklez, BigStar Johnson, Pro, Reason, Siya Shezi, Shane Eagle, Kid Tini and Youngsta. Follow us on Twitter @africanhhb @philchard

The AHHB podcast is back once again with another incredible episode filled with news and music from across the continent. This week we plat music from Sarkodie and M.anifest as their lyrical back and forth heats up as well as music from Yung Swiss, Truey Donatello, Poe. The podcast also features an interview with our #FeatureFridays winners King Dizo after we discuss Cassper Nyovest’s appearance on Sway In The Morning in the USA

This week on The African hip Hop Blog Podcast we switch u it up a little and I sit down with the winner of our recently launched #FreatureFridays competition – Zimbabwean born rapper Karizma. During our hour long chat we discuss his new single and video for Shisha Pipe as well as his plans for No Guts No Glory 3 before we delve into a discussion about the current scene in Zimbabwe and why Hip Hop is struggling to take off in the Southern African nation. As always don’t forget to like and comment with feedback and please follow us on twitter @africanhhb & @PhilChard

Welcome back to the African Hip Hop Blog Podcast for another incredible and potent dose of high grade African Hip Hop music and news. This week we play music from R2Bees, VENGEmuzik, King Dizo, Blayze, Assessa, BETR Gang and Reason. We also have throwback interviews with Kwesta, Rouge, and Solo, while also sharing news about album release dates, slap happy DJs, and ghost writing accusations. Be sure to hit us on twitter and Facebook with your feedback @africanhhb @PhilChard

After taking a week off due to unforeseen circumstances (the movers bundling my equipment with the “stuff I don’t really need” box) we are back with another episode of the AHHB Podcast. This week we have another highly entertaining episode featuring music from Kiss Daniel, Gemini Major, Akan, Worlasi, Phyno, N’veigh, Blaklez, PDotO, Ras, V-Way, Rosah-Joy, AY, Diamond Platnumz, Emtee and more. We also have interviews with Anathi and Ice Prince and discuss all the latest news from across the continent, including million dollar lawsuits, bad contracts, The SAMA awards and much more. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter @africanhhb & @PhilChard. PS: I apologise for the acoustics of the episode, I am still setting up the studio at the new place. Americana - Aspiring by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200092 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

The African Hip Hop Blog podcast returns with another incredibly entertaining episode lined up with news, interviews and music for the AHHB faithful. This week Phil plays music from Cassper Nyovest, Stanley Enow, C-Real, Boolz & Ricky Rick. He also digs into the vast AHHB vault and plays interviews with Kid X, Mr. Beef and BK Kid X speaks to us about his SAMA nominated mixtape ¾ Pace, Mr. Beef shares a brief introduction into his history and release plans, while BK who was recently signed by Sony Music tell us about her long and storied relationship with the music industry. The rapper/vocalist/producer also shares her plans for her mixtape, EP and eventual album release. Major shout out to Ts’eliso Monaheng (Nemesis Republik) who can be heard as the second interviewer during the BK interviewer, Ts’eliso has assisted countless times with gathering AHHB content. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @africanhhb & @philchard

The best African hip Hop podcast is back with what could be our best episode to date. In this episode Phil features music from Reminisce, Alikiba & MI, Ice Prince and DJ Switch. Phil also speaks to Jabba Man fka HHP in an open conversation where Jabba shares his frustrations and his new outlook on life. Look out for the full interview to be in a documentary that we are doing on HHP dropping soon. While at Back To The City The African Hip Hop Blog partnered with Siphiwe Zwane aka S Dot to interview a number of artists regarding the significance of the festival and Hip Hop’s place in social movements. We play two interviews that were done with Shane Eagle & Flex Boogie Phil also interviews Wiseman Ngubo from CAPASSO who discusses the SABC’s new 90% content rule and how this will affect the South African music industry. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @africanhhb @philchard

In this week’s episode of the African Hip Hop Blog podcast I sit down with South African rapper Blayze, for a live review of his new offering The Ladies Night EP. We discuss what went into the making of the project, the emotional roller coasters that inspired it, industry politics and Caitlyn Jenner. In the news rundown we also discuss Da L.E.S, Nasty C and our search for new members of the AHHB Team.

After going back to the drawing board and spending countless hours in a dimly lit room combing over a multitude of permutations, the African Hip Hop Blog Podcast is finally back and better than ever. This week Phil Chard shares music from AKA, M.anifest, E.L, Runtown, Priddy Ugly and Jnr Brown. He also interviews Reason to find out what its like t have performed at 10 Back To The City Festivals, DJ Capital on his new song, The Hustle winner Big Star Johnson and Lebohang Rasethaba about his documentary The People Vs The Rainbow Nation. You can subscribe to the podcast RSS feed here Thanks to Philo for his assistance in producing the introduction and transitions. Credit to The Militia for Production of all background instrumentals .

Fresh off the release of her new single BUA The African Hip Hop Blog sat down with Pretoria's Rouge to discuss her career thus far and her plans for the future

The African Hip Hop Blog recently down with South African rapper Gigi LaMayne to discuss her new single Jungle Fever and the controversy surrounding its release which resulted in a heated call in to YFM a few weeks back. We also discuss her upcoming album which is set to drop in early 2016. She also shares how she linked up with Shayzar and how her career has changed since winning the Jack Scouts competition and signing with Dreamteam Talent.

While Kwesta was putting the finishing touches on his third album, DAKAR II – the AHHB caught up with the K1 rapper in studio while he as recording to listen to the unreleased material and talk about the album. In the interview Kwesta also discusses his first single Nomayini , the infamous open letter to 5FM, chasing success, and his plans for his birthday celebration.

Last week I got a chance to sit down with Reason a day after he released his extremely controversial “Reazus Christ” image on social media and two days before he dropped the bare-all track The Realest Verse Ever. In our almost thirty minute chat we discussed the reasoning behind the use of the image and how Reason now handles such outrage now that he has become of one South African Hip Hop’s “A listers”. We also speak about his latest album Audio HD and his plan to re-release the album with new music including an upcoming track titled Yippee Ki-Yay with Khuli Chana and AKA before we touch o his involvement in the Sprite Uncontainable competition.

Yanga has enjoyed an incredible rise into South Africa’s Hip Hop mainstream over the last 12 months. After introducing himself as skilled writer and director to the masses on AKA’s Run Jozi, the Eastern Cape native has gone from strength to strength. In our sit down interview we discussed how he entered South Africa’s Hip Hop scene. To my surprise I discovered that Yanga has been directing and editing music videos for close to a decade. After teaching himself how to edit and direct Yanga had stints working for Slikour and Studio Space Production before he stepped out on his own to focus on his music before starting Young Legend Films. We also discuss his upcoming releases and his plans for 2015

The African Hip Hop Blog got a chance to sit down with Reason to discuss his controversial Reazus Christ image, "The Realest Verse Ever", Audio High Definition and how he has handled his increasing reach and fame.

The African Hip Hop Blog sits down with South African DJ Ms Cosmo to find out why she left a steady job to become a DJ, her thoughts on the industry and much more

The African Hip Hop Blog sat down with UK reggae and Hip Hop legend Rodney P, Marques (Zimbabwe) & Mile(Zimbabwe) after their impressive performance at Shoko 2014

In the first ever AHHB podcast we talk about Sarkdie's assive win at the recently held MTV MAMAs, Cassper Nyovest and E.L.

The African Hip Hop Blog sat down with Hip Hop Pantsula before his Shoko 2014 performance to discuss his music, African language and culture and much more.