About

WHAT IS SMKA?
SMKA is a music venture – with a dream – centered around a core group of talented musicians, producers and business minded individuals. SMKA was founded in August 2008 by Blake “808 Blake” German, Kyle “7King” King & Mike Walbert. When we founded SMKA, and became involved the music business, we entered the industry while it was (and still is) in a transitional period of confusion and doubt. Our goals were, and still are, to develop a new, sustainable business model while maintaining our focus on creating beautiful music.

WHO IS SMKA?
Mike Walbert – All Things Business, Marketing & Management
808 Blake – Producer
7King – Guitar / Audio Engineer / Producer
Artist Sensey – Producer / Audio Engineer

SO WHAT DO WE DO?
Currently, we keep our passion, making music we like, at the fore front of what we do. While at the same time we offer a variety of services focused on: Music Production, Artists Branding & Consulting, Project Conception and Management, Event Production…for a FULL-LIST of services please visit “Services” (top right).

WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO WE PRODUCE?
To date, a majority of the music we have produced is Hip-Hop/Rap. However, we have produced: Rock, Funk, R&B, Soul, Alternative & Pop. We enjoy music from all genres.

SMKA ON THE ALBUM
Unfortunately, music – in many ways – has become a FREE product… especially in hip-hop. Artists continue to release FREE music daily, and music that is not released for free is usually stolen (that part stings). The # of consumers (people who actually purchase music) is dropping while supply continues to grow. Anyone who has taken Econ 101 can tell you that when supply goes up and demand goes down…the price drops! In the case of music, it’s a significant drop. So it’s up to the artist to “Add Value” to their product. People buy music (and art) they enjoy, appreciate and respect. Selling an album is more complicated than making music, putting it on a CD, packaging it in a jewel case and putting it on the internet, or iTunes. An album (bundling songs together) involves carefully crafting: Music, Visuals, Multi-Media, a Live Stage Shows and a story worth sharing. All of these elements are important to the success of an album.

SMKA ON THE ARTIST
An artist is a brand, so treat it like one. What are the feel, sound and image of your brand? Make sure to be consistent and control quality. Every popular brand in the world goes to great lengths to make sure their product, quality and brand is intact, artists should do the same. If you cheapen your music, product or anything else you do, you devalue your brand and lose credibility. When you lose credibility, you lose fans. Unfortunately, your only real value as an artists is fans. It’s also important to explore all possible revenue streams in addition to album sales. Though music may not sell as it once did, music is still a powerful tool that reaches lots of consumers and influences people & pop culture. Who is your demographic? How large is your reach? Where are they? Aside from CD sales, how else can you monetize that value? There is no such thing as “selling out,” as long as it coincides with your original brand.

SMKA ON SMKA?
• Have fun
• Work hard
• Continue to experiment with music
• Never rest on our success
• Be open to explore music outside of our comfort zone
• Build relationship w/ fans and make lasting connection
• Surround ourselves with like-minded and talented people
• We also like being from, and living in, Atlanta, GA

WE ARE NOT A RECORD LABEL, BUT…
Record labels were much more significant when radio and major distribution were the only viable ways to make money in the music business.

Good News, Rap Dudes: Those days are over. Best Buy & Wal-Mart are the 2 biggest CD outlets followed by a few struggling independent shops left. As CD sales shrink, so does the amount of floor space for CD’s, and number of independent outlets. Radio is struggling to pay the bills and is losing listeners to internet, MP3s and XM/Satellite.

Fast Forward 10 Years: Independent CD retailers are all but extinct. You will need a mega hit to get your CD into Best Buy or Wal-Mart, and a magnifying glass to find the CD section. Electronics and cars won’t be manufactured with FM radio (give or take 10 years). Internet is EVERYWHERE. Listeners are broken up into segmented groups who listen to specific stations tailored to their likes/dislikes. It will be 100X harder to have a “Hit” song, and almost impossible for record labels to control consumer taste. No More Mass Market? So… let’s be ahead of the game. It’s time to get thinner and focus on a core group of fans.

The traditional record label is no longer a profitable business model. In short, we are NOT an independent record label, but… some of the services we offer are similar to a traditional record label and are a necessity in Music: Production, Marketing, A&R, Sales, New Media, and Management.