Business Plan Experts

For this post I reviewed two industry experts on business plans from the cluster2020live.eu. The first expert is Tanja Kufner the Academy Director at the company WYRA – Germany. WYRA is the global accelerator of Telefonica. Tanja’s job is to find and recruit the finest digital talent that Germany has to offer by getting them to join the WYRA Academy. For about 9 months they will provide accelerated coaching, development, and mentoring that will prepare companies for funding. Some of the critical & key components that Tanja referenced were making sure your business plan has a solid financial plan, make sure you understand the numbers, and make sure that your assumptions are correct. The next industry expert is Helga Henry and she is the Director at Creative Shift. Creative Shift helps others businesses specifically a creative and cultural business grow and develop. Helga mentioned that your business plan should be realistic and concise. I agree with Tanja that a business plan should not have to be almost thirty pages and that you should be able to expand on your investor presentation in a Keynote or PowerPoint that is only about ten to twelve slides. Helga also stated it is a great idea to have a short document. These are considered some key points due to investors wanting clear concise straight to the point synopsis of what your business has to offer. I am considering using both of their suggesting in reference to my business plan. I believe that is very important that you provide clear direct information to investors. The financials and the marketing plans should definitely be solid to avoid any mishaps for yourself or the loss of potential investors. Cluster 2020 live is a very informing business support website that has provided me with some effective tools current industry experts. http://www.cluster2020live.eu/business-plans/   

What The Lyrics Really Mean?

The first half of 2016 has started out as the come back year for several artist including Beyoncé, Drake, Fantasia, and Maxwell just to name a few. To jump start the year Beyoncé’ released her latest first single “Formation” that started a lot of commotion. The “Formation” video was released the day before the Super Bowl 50 game. During the Super Bowl 50 half time show, she made a guest appearance along side Bruno Mars plus Cold Play and she gave a stunning performance that was dedicated to the memory of the Black Panthers. The performance and video stirred a lot of commotion due to Beyoncé going back to her roots and bringing light to a lot of the injustice that has been increasing surrounding African American men and women in America. This only fueled even more anticipation for her latest visual album release “Lemonade” on April 23. The album visual was very personal and was presumed by many as dirty laundry being aired out to the world.  Every song on the album charted the hits list, but the one that had everybody attention was the single “Sorry”. The song clearly threw a flag on infidelity with lines stating “I ain’t thinking about you; Sorry, I ain’t sorry” and the infamous line “he better call Becky with the good hair” which alleges that maybe JAY-Z cheated with a white girl. This of course had the beehive going crazy and ripping one individual to shreds who was suspected of the Queen B’s pain.  But since the release of the album Beyoncé nor Jay-Z has truly acknowledge if there was really any truth to the accusation that the albums seem to display. On the other hand, a couple of the songwriters who worked on “Sorry” and “Love Drought” have recently come to the light to acknowledge that the songs had nothing to do with Beyoncé’s relationship at all. On Aug 2. Diana Gordon, the lead writer of the song “Sorry”, cleared the air in an Entertainment Weekly interview stating that the line “Becky with the good hair” is not about anyone in particular. Another songwriter Ingrid, a childhood friend of Beyoncé, who is signed to her Parkwood Entertainment Label, co-wrote “Love Drought”, also did an interview. She explained that the song was written about Beyoncé’s label, due to them lying to her about song submissions. One thing that always holds true to lyrics in a song is the meaning behind the writer’s initial emotions. A song written with real emotion will always produce a hit.  

Negotiations and Deal Making with Grammy Award Winning Artist Mýa

For my interview on negotiations and deal making in the entertainment industry I reached out to Grammy Award Winning Artist Mýa. I took a risk in contacting her via Twitter (as I always do inquiring about her music and its influence within my life and my culture) to see if she didn’t mind answering questions for my assignment and she graciously accepted. Mýa has managed to achieve a lot of success in entertainment (including international success) as a singer/songwriter, dancer, and actress in which that only touches the surface of what she has accomplished. Mýa is also a businesswoman and started her own independent label Planet 9 and entertainment company Hue Entertainment in late 2007.  Through Planet 9, Mya has released several studio projects of great R&B music, including her most recent 2016 album release Smoove Jones that helps fill the void of what authentic R&B music use to sound and feel like. Mýa has her own playlist in heavy rotation on my iPod. I chose Mýa for this interview based on her credibility and knowledge of the industry as an Artist and her transition into establishing her own independent label. There is no better perspective than that of someone who has experienced all sides of entertainment music and she was the perfect person. Here is what Mýa had to say when questioned about making deals and negotiations in the entertainment industry:

1a.) How do you separate the people from the problem when you are negotiating? 

 Mýa - In business, negotiations are not necessarily linked to any particular problem, but more so a necessary process in moving forward in securing a deal.  In business, entertainment to be exact, a deal or an agreement is defined as a written, legally binding document between two or more parties.  The types of deals or agreements can vary from artist/label contracts, artist/management contracts to production agreements (artist/producer compositions), brand partnership contracts, publishing deals (production & songwriting), standard performance contracts (agents, buyers, performers) and confidentiality agreements (privacy agreement upon hiring crew members, independent contractors) etc. just to name a few. All agreements vary in language, agendas, points & clauses but are essential in conducting business for legal protection and concrete documentation, so that all parties are aware of terms, expectations and obligations holding every entity involved liable in the execution of services and delivery agreed upon. 

1b.) What tips do you have for new negotiators who are trying to do this?

Mýa - In conducting business, I’ve learned that the first step to any negotiation is to gather all facts of an offer or deal and/or create the template of realistic standards pertaining to the basis of each opportunity, whether you are on the approaching end or receiving end. For example, in regards to presenting an offer from a performance buyer/purchaser, to Artist, Artist’s management, agent or lawyer, I have developed a template crafted to gather as many specifics possible. I have labeled this particular template the General Booking Form (see attached) which requests a buyer/purchaser interested in booking the Artist for an event or show to fill out over 45 questions.  Once all facts are gathered, an assessment of the offer is made. Everything from quality of offer, to time and money necessary to invest to execute the offer, to profitability and/or the value of the experience are all taken into consideration.  If desirable, a budget is then crafted by the business manager allowing Artist to understand all expenses necessary to produce the contracted expectations in addition to what the artist might profit.  When all facts are gathered and examined, a wise business decision can be made on whether to pass or move forward with offer.  If Artist accepts, legal negotiations then take place via email or phone.  The final step is implementing all approved points into a written agreement which I’ve labeled as the Performance Agreement (see attached) in which each page must be initialed & dated and signature page signed and dated by contracted parties.  Verbal or email negotiations are not concrete and do not serve as a solid means of protection or reference.  My tip in negotiations is to always secure a paper trail with written agreements that provide a concrete reference and clarity on all deal points.  This procedure holds all contracted parties liable and serves as a means of protection, should anyone dishonor or breach the agreement.

3) How do you handle positional bargaining tactics?

Mýa - In the entertainment business, any investment is a risk. The value of a product or brand is usually measured by both past/current accolades and numbers (i.e. charts, sales, profits, followers). This often dictates influence that translates into sales and profitability for the purchasing or engaging party. Understanding the value of your existing brand as it pertains to what is being entertained or offered determines the positioning of your brand and what can justifiably be requested in short term or long term stakes and interest in a deal.  Defining the value of any brand in a digital deck or EPK (Electronic Press Kit) including all endeavors in progress, is quite helpful in elevating the brand which then creates even more value in     negotiations and bargaining power as it pertains to requesting or demanding a greater upfront fee or a greater share on backend profits.  This process can pertain to any business negotiation, as the goal of all parties is to always give by making an initial investment, to then break even with return on the investment through recoupment & in hopes to then begin to profit tenfold.

4) Can you give me an example of how you worked toward mutual benefit when you were negotiating a deal?

Mýa - Understanding each player’s position, purpose and value is very important when negotiating.  In good business, the goal is for all parties to benefit from a deal.  For example, a “Purchaser” for an engagement must make profit from an event in which the artist is engaged/contracted to perform, as does the Artist.  In a standard performance agreement, a Purchaser often must cover travel expenses associated with Artist’s presence i.e. round-trip flights, hotel, ground transportation, visas if international, plus technical rider (sound & lighting with technicians included), venue liability insurance, hospitality rider, etc.  The Artist must also make sure that he/she is not in the red zone and that the event is lucrative and profitable after standard expenses (i.e., luggage fees associated with air travel, rehearsal expenses, equipment rentals, per diems, outbound, airport parking for crew, rehearsals fees, salaries & per diems for crew, wardrobe, hair, make up, nails expenses, etc.) to name a few.  All factors (i.e. venue capacity, admission, marketing outreach, radio advertisement, etc, high season vs. low season, weekday vs. weekend, holiday, event week vs. non-event week, major city vs. minor city etc.) must be examined prior to moving forward in performance deals as they play a part in factoring the appropriate estimate of ticket sales & projected profits.  It is then that numbers are calculated and fair deal points are crafted based on workload and financial responsibility each party must adhere to in producing event and fulfilling contractual obligations.  I find that presenting a budget of necessary expenses incurred by the contracted party to the purchasing party often helps to put things in perspective as to how much the engaged party must make in order to secure their presence for the proposed engagement or deal.  If applicable, this allows understanding of what must be provided to move forward and creates room for negotiation on a justified basis. From experience, I believe that fair, transparent business will keep all parties engaged and respectful of each other, which allows the business relationship to develop into one of longevity and prosperity on both sides.  Operating with ethicality is priceless.

In the entertainment industry making negotiations and deals have to be very specific to avoid any surprises. The deals being made can easily go from simple to complex with no structure of expectation. Thanks to Mýa and her insight on what is expected as an artist and the

businesswoman.