Make A Fun Island: The Biz of Creativity: Recent Episodes
Derek Hoiem
Let's talk about music, artistry, technology, and business. I interview artists, technologists, and business leaders to find out about their journeys, how they do their magic, how they get better at their craft, and how they survive. My concept of "Making Your Own Fun Island" is a way for independent creators to leverage their networks to create movements.
I've been in technology and music business for 30 years, doing product design and artist management. I've financed the careers of many artists you may know, and regularly coach artists of all kinds. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/makeafunisland/support
Music streaming has reached a dead end of revenue generating power. What's next for music artists? Where do we turn for revenue growth? The music tech space is exploding with new ideas. I make suggestions on new platforms to try, and I'll have many more to suggest in the future! Here I give you the rundown on the platforms and what they do and how they can make you money.
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C.Y. Lee is an entrepreneur, and tech product manager who has worked for Microsoft, Amazon, and RealNetworks. His current effort musicnerd.xyz is creating a "Yahoo!" style directory of artists and collectors of music NFTs to help jumpstart the ecosystem. We cover a wide range of topics including how music artists should approach NFTs, what companies in the music tech space are doing interesting web3 products, and how we as collectors and fans can help support artists directly.
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Kevin McNeese is the entrepreneur behind NewReleaseToday.com the web's biggest site for Christian and Gospel music, having millions of visitors per year. Kevin has worked with major label artists and independent artists for 20+ years doing marketing and running promotions. He is a wealth of knowledge on how to build brands for artists and content creators.
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Even though #crypto and #NFTs are synonomous with "scam" in many people's minds, they are still transformational technologies that will continue to radically change how #artists and #fans connect and create value for each other. This talk was live from my event "NFT West Coast" in Venice, California in January 2023.
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Vaults are places where creators can post exclusive content, — music, videos, photos, messages, VIP invitations, and more — that can only be unlocked by the holders of a key. The VAULT platform makes it easy for a creator to build their vault and sell keys that are fully tradable NFTs. When a fan buys a key, they get access to all the content in the vault (unless, of course, they sell the key).
The VAULT founders grew their previous company, the fantasy sports platform FanDuel, into a multi-billion-dollar business by understanding the power of engaged communities. Backed by top-tier VCs, they are now bringing the same community-focused approach to the creator economy.
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Megan Tibbits is a singer and songwriter of inspirational music. Michigan born, she was raised in a very musical family, traveling and performing in the family band called ‘Living Truth’. Megan toured around the country with the group for over ten years, singing on stage by age three, recording harmony vocals by age six, writing songs on guitar by age twelve, and learning piano, harp, oboe, and saxophone along the way. After graduating with a Music Education degree from Cornerstone University, Megan joined the performance company “The Young Americans” and spent two year performing and teaching music in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and the United States. She then made the move from her hometown of Caro, Michigan to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. Upon moving to LA, Megan appeared before a national TV audience on ABC’s Rising Star, advancing to the top 12, and released her debut album ‘Until I Fly’ soon after. Since then, Megan has worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Jonathan McReynolds, Danny Gokey, Brandon Heath & Marvin Winans Jr., and her videos have gotten the attention of artists such as Alicia Keys, Tauren Wells, etc. Most recently, Megan appeared as “The Harpist” on FOX’s I Can See Your Voice, and is soon to go on tour with author Bob Goff. Megan resides in LA, performing, writing, leading worship, and speaking around the country.
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Gabriel Patillo is not a newcomer to the entertainment industry. He began honing his skills at the young age of 10, dancing for multi-GRAMMY winning and multi-Platinum selling act DCTalk. In addition, Gabriel also performed in multiple videos for Brentwood Music, as well as working as a theater kid at Opryland, in Nashville, TN, in their Christmas productions all before his 15th birthday. With his father in the entertainment industry, Gabriel continued to have the desire to perform and make others smile while being part of the greater team. He’s filled out his adult career with award-winning artist TobyMac as part of Diverse City singing background vocals, choreographing, dancing, and co-producing tours. He’s appeared on national shows like ABC’s The View as well as a live performance in Times Square. Most recently and naturally, he’s taken his talents into the voiceover world working with powerhouses like Square Inc., Budweiser, ESPN, and Under Armour. It’s with these voiceover jobs that he is able to scratch that acting and creative itch in a new way.
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Zach Norman is a music producer and designer based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Seen on stage as a backing member of the Passion worship band, and collaborating with the ground-breaking pop and hip-hop producer GAWVI, Zach Z Norman’s musical and producing abilities cross many genres, including chill music through his o-jaī collective. Norman’s home turf is writing mainstream pop, but he’s also done innovative initiatives, like offering NFT’s with breakout Los Angeles visual artist Daniel Allen Cohen. Norman cares passionately about mental and spiritual health. Currently launching his own non-profit Wave Initiative Worldwide, he is dedicated to supporting artists’ mental health needs and serves as the organization’s Founder & Executive Director. Wave Initiative will focus on serving artists through certified brain health coaching & artist development. Serving as Wave’s first artist ambassador, Norman is utilizing his own ZZN Collection; an immersive NFT collection of music, art & design, showing people what is possible for artists when being mentored & thriving in this ecosystem.
With a wealth of diversity in influences & outlets such as alternative, punk, hardcore, CCM, R&B & hip hop, Norman’s influences has served his collaborations well. From the start of Norman's career, he has achieved both breadth & depth in the realm of artistry, performance, writing, & music production.
From 2018-2021, based out of Los Angeles, Norman continued to travel, consult, and perform for various events across most of the U.S.; Sacramento, San Francisco, Orange County, Indianapolis, New York, Knoxville, Nashville, Atlanta, Orlando & more. He has partnerships, song placements, or production credits with artists such as international Latin artist Evan Craft (holds #1CCM single ‘Be Alright’), GAWVI (Award-Winning hip-hop Artist/Producer), Pat Barrett (#1 song artist in CCM ‘Good Good Father’), & Daniel Allen Cohen (ABC, Malibu Times, Hypebeast, Forbes) with whom he released a cutting-edge NFT, featured in Forbes alongside one of hip hop’s top producers, Scott Storch. Through Atrium Music Licensing, Norman has placed music on TV & film, such as USA Network. As a singer with Tim Davis Vocals, he has done various work as a principle actor/singer such as the prime time show ‘The Goldbergs’. As a leader, creative director, artist, & music producer, it is raw passion, a desire for excellence & determination that pours love & creativity into all of Norman's work.
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Michelle and Natalie Smith are the hosts of the Force of Light Entertainment YouTube channel that covers movies and pop culture. Michelle has a Ph.D. in Theology from Regent University. Michelle and her sister's approach to commentary is light and friendly and highly interactive, as they regularly interact with fans on livestreams and Twitter. I catch up with Michelle about why she launched the channel and we talk Star Wars and the genius of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.
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Jess Pillay is an independent singer/songwriter, pianist, and guitarist from Seattle, Washington. Known for her soulful alto voice and her moody, introspective songwriting style, Jess uses music to wrestle with themes like faith, doubt, hope, loss, and the ever-changing, messy nature of relationships. Jess is the daughter of Indo-Fijian immigrant parents and is deeply passionate about using music and the arts to give voice to those who might otherwise feel voiceless — especially other women of color creatives.
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Michael Brillantes is a Creative Director, Content Creator, Filmmaker, Business Developer, Defi Investor, Metaverse Experience Creator, and NFT builder. We talk about his event NFT drop and event with celebrity and fashion photographers Josh Ryan and Mark Squires for Metaverse Fashion Week which is happening March 24-27, 2022 in decentraland.org
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GMA Dove Award nominated powerhouse female vocalist Kerrie Roberts is best known for her hit CCM pop songs “No Matter What,” “Outcast,” and “What Are You Afraid Of.” She is a uniquely gifted singer/songwriter with a big voice which is memorable and dynamic yet intimate. She is a uniquely emotive and soulful vocalist. In her songs she addresses themes of empowerment, strength, encouragement and joy delivered on waves of vibrant and contagious music ranging from high-energy pop to signature ballads beautifully expressed through tender, undeniable vocal performances. Her songs are inspiring and great reminders to have faith and to allow God to use you, no matter what. Kerrie pours her heart out in every single song and demonstrates how she is living out Matthew 11:29: “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace,” by singing what God wants her to sing, letting God speak to her and by using her gifts for His glory.
I talk with Kerrie about being signed a major label, going independent, being an artist and mom, finding those who really support you, and finding your true purpose.
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I answer the common questions "Aren't NFTs just a fad?" and "Are they a good investment?" and I put NFTs into a historical context of other technological innovations over the last 40 years, and how this all fits into the development of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.
Also, check out this very important discussion about crypto and how money works from Tom Bilyeu's YouTube channel in his discussion with Dr. Saifedean Ammous https://youtu.be/Gbr_Uz_NdZ4
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Pedro Latorre is a new personality at EntreLeadership at Ramsey Solutions. Pedro has been an aspiring baseball player, a touring drummer (KJ-52, Group1Crew), a pitch-person for charities (CharityWater, Compassion International), and a motivational speaker on leadership and finding your purpose. Join us as we talk about pleasing a father, overcoming life obstacles, and investing in your family to become a stronger leader.
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Learn about the purpose of this podcast and the concept of making a fun island.
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Join me on a journey to mint my first NFT. I go over the basics of NFTs: What is an NFT, how does cryptocurrency work, what is the blockchain, when should you create an NFT, what artists should offer NFTs, what are the benefits of NFTs to fans and artists alike?
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Join me on a journey to mint my first NFT. In this episode, we go over choosing a wallet. I take a look at Coinbase, Metamask, and Ledger and talk about how cold and hot storage work. This series is targeted to artists and businesses who are new to the crypto space and want to walk through the process together.
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