The Current State of the Music Industry

The most sought after recognition in the commercial realm of music is to receive a GRAMMY Award. The GRAMMY’s are both hosted and decided by The Recording Academy, also known as The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (“NARAS”). NARAS is an organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other recording professionals.  Other than the notion of popularity as it pertains to commercialism, they are meant and assumed to be an agnostic establishment that chooses nominations based on industry and artistic merit.  This club of so-called industry elites decide the “only peer-presented award to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency, …

Beats by Dre: A Tale of Marketing Genius

Let me get this out of the way up front- I’m no audiophile. I’ve spent more time with my cheap $7 earbuds in my ears than I’d really care to admit. But as an unofficial Velocity Agency Music Snob, I’ve also spent my fair share of time with professional quality headphones, listening to music on top-of-the-line studio monitors, and have spent enough time in recording studios to make Axl Rose cringe. And all of that time and knowledge has led me to my most important realization yet- that Beats by Dre are horrible. Maybe not horrible by all counts- I believe …