The strategy of creating music inspired by a particular concept is increasingly becoming difficult to market. Does this mean the death of the music Album? Not necessarily. Through innovative music marketing, concept albums will continue to make an impact on listeners. Thus, each song of the album has to have a marketing strategy of its own. That strategy acts as a sub-strategy to the concept album’s overall marketing plan. Simultaneously, the rest of the album serves as a restrictive agent for the single not to digress away from the album concept by overshadowing other songs from the album — thus avoiding the result of a very successful single from an unsuccessful album. What is different today is the idea that a successful single will attract listeners to discover more music from the concept album containing that successful single. This idea is no longer sustainable in today’s music market. The challenges facing music albums today are the speedy high levels of music consumption, the diversity of music released both independently and by majors labels, and the reality that everyone and their grandmother want to be a famous sensational music star. Add to all of this the speed at which world events are taking place and music competing with other artforms and entertainment. All these make it challenging to sustain listeners’ interests in a particular music album for a long time. Maintaining recurring streams for an album is particularly difficult as streamers speedily move onto the next release list, for example, #newmusicfriday. As has been proven by many of today’s artists, Fordism and the assembly line approach to music production can help artists succeed in a market dominated by high-speed music consumption. That success is in the shape of increasing artist visibility and popularity. However, the nightmare begins when artists realize that fame and popularity do not equate to financial success. In the music business, financial success is in music sync opportunities and publishing.
The recent releases of remastered tracks of Deluxe music compilation albums from many established musicians attest to the fact that profitability is in music albums in the long-run. For example, American singer Cyndi Lauper’s album “She’s So Unusual,” released in the ’80s, was rebranded and released as Cyndi Lauper She’s So Unusual A 30th Anniversary Celebration Deluxe Ed Signed CD Priced at around $149.99. The repackaging of such a product indicates that fans pay attention to details, and every bit of an artist’s memorabilia matters.
UnitedMasters singer-songwriter/musician Ali Hugo is not one to walk away from the challenges of the modern music industry. Hugo started releasing singles from his successful spiritual pop-rock album “Hope For the Meek” in 2019. The album contains 12 songs written and produced by Ali Hugo. The experience of marketing an album with perseverance in a global music market where the music singles rule is a challenge. Still, Hugo took a multidimensional approach to release music in 2020. while wrapping up the hope for the meek project, Hugo wrote and produced music for his Christmas instrumental playlist, including tracks such as “Teleportation,” a song written after Hugo developed the formula for the macroeconomics of a wormhole [LARC=U= Diseconomies of scale].
Hugo also wrote and performed on his spoken word release titled “Despair.”
By releasing singles in between promoting the Hope for the Meek album, Hugo managed to retain the audience’s interest with music unrelated to hope for the meek while sustaining listeners’ curiosity & attraction to the album’s content. At the same time, Hugo managed to attend his record labels music conference UnitedMasters #selectcon2
When asked about his music’s future, Hugo stated, “The bottom line is; I understand that profitability is in my music publishing and music sync opportunities. When I make business decisions related to adding new music to my catalogue, the basis of those decisions is what's best for the Ali Hugo estate in the long run? Today I know that what's best is having the right kind of music catalogue which can generate further profitability to the Ali Hugo estate in the form of the Ali Hugo Deluxe Music box planned for release in 2028.”

Winter Holidays are a great time to share a joyful season with friends and family. Sounds of superb, joyous music should surround festive times. Belief Records, with the support of UnitedMasters, is thrilled to curate the Ali Hugo Instrumental Playlist. The list will be your soundtrack to a memorable winter holiday. Whether shopping for presents, signing greeting cards or sharing a meal with loved ones, the Ali Hugo Instrumental playlist is the right choice of music for your winter holidays.

Link to Playlist: https://unitedmasters.com/m/happyholidays

The team at Belief Records has been busy building strategic plans for promoting Ali Hugo’s upcoming Swahili EP “Afrodisiac.” The group started by collecting fans’ responses on their preferences for streaming Ali Hugo’s music and accessing Ali Hugo related content, news and information with the launch of the Afrodisiac survey. Next, the team reviewed past successful strategies and how we could recycle them into the new project. “One of the fundamentals of working on any new recording project is managing the project budget,” said Touba Alam, the Digital Marketing specialist at Belief Records. “I know that I’m on a budget, and I need to invest funds to generate the maximum amount of exposure for Ali Hugo,” stated Alam. In the past, we have spent quite a bit of money promoting Ali Hugo on various social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, which helped Hugo build a good fanbase. However, none of those accomplishments come near to what we were able to accomplish with Tik Tok. By posting just one video titled “Ancient Dance” on Tik Tok, which generated 4437 views in the first hour after it was released, this rocked the foundation of our marketing plans. We could achieve for free on Tik Tok what We could not accomplish on other networks through paid advertising. Without a doubt, we now envision a whole new world of endless opportunities for Ali Hugo to stay connected to his fans and reach a new audience.
So What does Hugo’s chances of going viral on Tik Tok mean for the Belief Records team?
Touba Alam responded by saying, “the team has been taking a keen interest in Microsoft’s bid to acquire TikTok in the states, we were disappointed when that deal did not go through. On the other hand, we were glad that Oracle won that bid because the team at Belief Records are experienced users of Oracle software”. “It is great to work with Ali Hugo because he is such a hands-on musician and financial engineer who uses Oracle software for generating all sorts of reports and integrating them into Excel to create KPI,” said Alam.

“So what this means for Belief Records and Ali Hugo is that we are familiar with the Oracle culture, which will help us integrate it to create art that will complement Tik Tok USA,” Alam enthusiastically confirmed.

American Actress Madonna recently spoke about her rise to fame when exposure platforms such as Youtube were non-existent. The eighties and nineties were an exciting time for artists in the music business. Major artists had awakened to the endless possibilities for furthering their success and gaining more riches than what they were earning from the record labels by taking control of their music density. Except for Madonna, the three top earners of those decades, George Michael, Prince, and Michael Jackson, had engaged their record labels in public disputes with both Prince and George Michael wanting out of the recording contracts they had signed in their teens.
Prince wanted to gain ownership of the masters for the music he recorded while signed to Warner Bros Music. Those came to be known as the “Slave years”, which saw Prince change his name to an unpronounceable symbol.
After the changes that enveloped the music business landscape, Prince signed an exclusive deal with Tidal, the platform owned by Jay Z.
UnitedMasters artist Ali Hugo discussed the importance of musicians owning the master recordings of their releases. “ I’m lucky to be a cusp between generation X and the Millennials.” What makes Hugo different, is that he has the strong foundation and know-how from generation X music industry as well as the cutting edge skills needed to succeed in today’s landscape, while also working on accurately forecasting and strategically planning for tomorrow.”
Possessing this adroitness is what made Ali Hugo sign with UnitedMasters. “Besides the fact that I get to keep 100% of the royalties from my upcoming catalogue, the agreement with UnitedMasters allows me to retain ownership of the master recordings of my releases and giving me access to endless sync & distribution opportunities.” “Having witnessed the “Slave years”, today; I understand the financial gains which can accrue from owning my masters’. “ it is all about believing in the value of my catalogue, which is the best financial investment I’ve made for myself and the future of the Ali Hugo estate.”
Hugo’s is currently working on “Afrodisiac,” which will be his first release with UnitedMasters.

Ali Hugo has signed with UnitedMasters. The Canadian singer-songwriter known for creating concept music is basking in the success of his “Hope for the Meek” album. At the same time, Hugo has already started producing his next project, titled “Afrodisiac.” Afrodisiac is Hugo’s highly anticipated Swahili music EP which takes Hugo to uncharted waters. “We created a communication video to let the fans known about the possibility of initiating the Afrodisiac project. That video went viral, and it put pressure on us to start the recording of the project as soon as possible,” Hugo explained. Initially, we thought of creating a dance record suitable for the many seasonal dance festivals that take place across Africa, for example, the Full Moon party, which takes place yearly in the archipelago of Zanzibar. However, after analyzing the stats of a survey we conducted with the fans, it became clear to us that “Afrodisiac” has to be a holiday music EP. Wheres, we promoted my previous Time Machine EP as the music that would take listeners to the sounds of “Back in the Day.” The survey showed us that “Afrodisiac” should be marketed as the music that takes you on a “Getaway” or Escapade. However, that's just the concept; the music itself will be straight-up radio-friendly Pop music,” Hugo Confirmed. When asked how fans of Hugo’s spiritual music from Hope from the Meek are going to receive the secular “Aphrodisiac” pop music? Hugo responds with “despite the name, the idea behind aphrodisiac is seduction, which leads to Kosher intimate relations”. When we were mapping out the promotion action plan for “Afrodisiac,” we considered “Heart in Motion” by Amy Grant as an exemplary record for making a successful transition from Christian music to a successful secular pop album.
The promotional home base for “Hope for the Meek” was the UK. However, with Afrodisiac, Hugo decided to move that base to Germany. Along with a new Homebase, Hugo signed with UnitedMasters a digital music organization formed by Steve Stoute an industry veteran with impressive credentials as President of Urban Music at both Sony Music and Executive Vice President at Interscope in the ’90s.

"Signing up with UnitedMasters is an exciting change of direction for me. In any new business relationship, the expectations have to be realistic, but I’m convinced that UnitedMasters is a step forward in taking my career to the next level." Hugo reassured his fans.

With every new technological development which enhances music makers' abilities to take ownership of their career via the DIY approach, the prevalent belief that the destiny of an artist’s success is in one’s own hands gains wider ground. Without a doubt, the tools given to music artists to encourage those artists to follow the DIY pathway has transformed the music business and the common understanding is that artists stand to benefit more from the way the music business operates today than the old record business model pioneered by the likes of Clive Davis & David Geffen. However, is this true? Has the record business really made a shift from the old politics to an equal opportunity industry? Have musicians globally, if they only use the correct marketing strategies, work hard, and preserver been given access to the “American Dream”? There is one debate that states that the DIY approach to making and marketing music has led to the democratization of the record industry. On the other hand, others have the understanding that the cosmetic transformation of the record industry is just that and that the ball is still being squashed in the same court it has always been.

Canadian singer-songwriter and indie artist Ali Hugo known for writing Islamic country songs was recently interviewed by the Nigerian Musicology podcast where Hugo talked about some of the challenges of being an indie DIY artist in today’s music industry and Hugo expressed that industry accountability is still a concern for many artists. On the other hand, music manager Rick Barker who played a role in the success of Taylor Swift’s career runs a successful business that is based on the assumption that the right digital marketing know-how can certainly lead DIY to success.

So how has digital marketing transformed the music industry? Does the surgically altered face of the music industry today express that there is less collusion between industry establishments to achieve common goals of mutual interests? Well, for one thing, the burden of marketing and promoting content has been shifted to the content creator through the “share” culture. This is having a noticeable impact on the marketing budgets of many record labels. In addition to this, the new face of the music industry has extended a lifeline to the careers of specialists like Rick Barker who have digitized their many years of experience in the music industry into a successful online business. Like Barker, there are the online vocal coaches, virtual music managers, and many more services available for the DIY musician. However, the question which puzzles most is how much value can be added by virtual managers from the Atari age to musicians born in the play-station and Xbox age? Does the new music industry give equal opportunities to a Japanese manager in Tokyo who has superior digital marketing skills to launch a successful virtual music management career?
source: https://alihugo.co.uk.statscrop.com/

There are certain musicians who are skeptical about the rewards which can be reaped by the DIY approach and the idea that the ownership of the old music model has completely reached the end of its lifeline. Canadian Musician Ali Hugo’s team at belief records have frequently bragged about being known for successfully marketing Hugo’s music online, yet this does not explain the strange move by Hugo’s team at belief records to replace a premium owned website worth $12,000 and one which attracts 900 visitors a day with a free WordPress site. When asked to comment about this Hugo stated that the last thing any industry needs is another whiner. The team at belief records looked at the response from the fan mail coming in and that response did not match the performance stats being provided to belief records by some of its online service providers. Digital marketing is largely based on statistics and if we can’t depend on the data being given to us by our services providers, our team cannot strategies our next effective marketing moves which will take Hugo’s career to the next level. Resorting to a free WordPress site has many perks including accurate realtime statistics and associating the sites Ali Hugo content with Wordpress adds. The Ali Hugo team views this as a collaboration where the team will provide the content and WordPress can push the contention with sponsored adds to the mainstream and in this way, we have the assurance that the Ali Hugo music message reaches a wider audience and at the same time we avoid depending on phony numbers. Hugo also mentioned the need for cost-cutting. “cost-cutting for the Ali Hugo teams is not only about terminating a relationship with a website host thus relieving belief records from paying premium services fees, but it also means more dependence on organic growth rather than paid promotions. This leads to managing better relations which translate into Good Will on our end of year financial statements. An example of this type of relationship is the one the Ali Hugo team has with the Shift Radio and Television station based in Manchester UK. Our relationship with Shift has been fruitful. Sure there is a symbolic fee to it but the harvest includes access for Ali Hugo to a wide network of shifts music connections, for example, the Shift cafe, The music revolution, Shifts UK, and US talent seekers network.

Is There Hope for The Meek?

Despite the traditional music models and its oligarchies fighting to the death to live on, the hope for many indie artists is on the new innovative technology and new players in the industry. For example, TikTok has completely revolutionized the game where a person in Pakistan can gain instant celebrity status based on the equal opportunities provided for the content being published on TikTok. The team at belief records responded to opportunities provided by the likes of TikTok and other new players “well it's astonishing! the numbers speak for themselves.” Our video content was able to reach a wider audience for free with higher realtime statistic figures in a short period of time than what we achieved through paid promotions on some well-known digital platforms."

So, does this mean that experience has no value in this new music industry, “it certainly does not” was belief records response, there is no room for the old biases and equal opportunity is non-optional. However, it might take Alibaba’s digital music platform a long time to reach the kind of success achieved by Amazon Prime and the Amazon digital music market. This may also be an impossibility if Amazon continues its ability to support its music streaming and download services with cutting edge technology which benefits all DIY musicians.

"Musicology is a podcast broadcasted from Lagos Nigeria. The show interviews musicians from all over the world about the changing face of the music industry. In this Episode show host, John Ngarimo talks to successful Canadian singer-songwriter Ali Hugo about his success as an indie artist and the challenges of the digital music industry" 

Click below to Listen:- 

https://ethnocloud.com/Ali_Hugo/?song=12623&b=7743

Music lovers are all too aware of the music industry charts which may or may not have an impact on an artist’s career. When assessing the sway established charts like Billboard have on influencing listener’s choices in music, and whether or not those listeners will end up spending money on buying an artist’s music, just because that artist has made it onto the billboard’s top 20, a question should pop into any music strategist mind, and that is, how relevant are the mainstream charts today? In a world where musicians have to keep track of the numbers of Spotify streams, FaceBook likes, Instagram follows and YouTube subscriptions, is topping the mainstream charts still viewed as a major accomplishment in comparison to getting 2M views on TikTok? Many would still answer with a resounding yes. British charts like Top of the Pops are no longer a reflection of record sales and popularity rather, it is a cultural institution equivalent to what American Bandstand and Soul Train used to be in the US. However, it’s worth mentioning that whereas shows like Soul Train, American Bandstand and Pop in Germany which was once a major force in the European music scene have all ran out of steam along time ago. TOTP has survived through the years because of its dynamic transformation capabilities and being able to keep up with the latest music trends. Facts such as Robbie Williams securing a Christmas number 1 album in the UK this year which was knocked off by Rod Stewart who became the oldest person in the UK to have a Number 1 Christmas album still grabs the attention of headlines. Nevertheless, there is another world that exists. A world of ethnocentric music, indie artists and DIY musician. Welcome to the world of Indie charts. First, there is the Ethnocloud Indie charts, these charts are categorized by the different regions of the globe and their musical influences. The charts are divided into audio and video charts. For example, there are the North American top 40 and also the West European Top 40 Ethnocloud audio and video charts. In this world of indie charts having a number 1 Christmas song on the N1M Canadian Christian pop charts is very much a celebrated accomplishment. The same goes for being in the top 10 of the Canadian Latin Pop charts and the easy listening Indie Music charts. Although many of the artists on these indie charts are undervalued by mainstream music buyers, there can be no doubt that technological progress and factors such as globalization are increasingly bridging the divide between artists featured on mainstream charts like Billboard and those artist featured on Indie charts. In addition to this, established musicians like Nile Rodgers are gaining new followers by collaborating with other musicians featured on these indie charts. Known for giving Madonna her success with the Like a Virgin album and remixing George Michael’s first posthumous single, Nile who is estimated by celebrity networth.com to have accumulated a net worth of 70 Million Dollars still has clout in the international music industry with royalty cheques still rolling in from the disco era and Studio 54 heydays. However, what remains to be seen is the rising of a breakthrough artist who achieves iconic status as a result of successfully dominating the Indie charts.

Ali Hugo is a recognizable name in the indie music circles, one which increasingly needs no introduction. Hugo has been back in the music scene since 2015 and in that time, Hugo has been able to achieve 3 number one hit singles in the North American indie charts and “This Love Is True” became a number #1 Global hit single in the Global indie charts. Recently Hugo has been working on a new album titled “Hope for the Meek”. The album is a blend of Christian Rock, Gospel Music, Jewish Hymns and Islamic Qasidah. This new work is a radical departure from Hugo’s 2018 Gold-certified “Time Machine” EP. With “Hope for the Meek”, Hugo is inspired by the commonalities in the three monolithic faiths which trace their roots to the prophet Abraham, they are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although the lyrical content of Hope for The Meek is spiritual, the music is radio-friendly straight-up pop music. The album is being released on Hugo’s Belief Records label. The first single from the album “Marching Saints” was supposed to be released this Christmas Eve, however, Phoenix FM in the UK picked it up early and prompted Belief Records to make the single available for streaming on various platforms before the official release date. So how does “Hope for the Meek” differ from the previous [Time Machine]? For one thing, there is a commonality between both records and that is they are both based on Hugo’s personal experiences. As far as “Hope for the Meek” is concerned, in 2000 AD Hugo picked up Karen Armstrong’s A History of God, a book that has had a lasting impact on Hugo. “What really struck me was the fact that many people view the three religions as being very different from each other instead of focusing on how the three are revealed by the very same source” “What Armstrong put across to me is the sequential theological progression of understanding the almighty through history’ ” As an artist, the book has definitely had an inspirational impact on the subject matters I want to write music about” is what Hugo conveyed when talking about “Hope for the Meek.”  Hugo affirmed that “Hope for the Meek” is certainly not the soundtrack of any theological book. “I’m sure that there are better musicians out there who are more qualified at undertaking the task of creating a soundtrack to a theological or historical book” “Hope for the Meek, is just my way of saying I’m fully committed to praising Adonai, Jehovah and Allah” “Hope for the Meek” highlights what I’ve learned from A History of God which is “He is the one same God with many names”. “Quite frankly, I wouldn’t even attempt trying to write a soundtrack to any book let alone a book which deals with the themes of theology. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before, I remember reading Kenny Loggins book “The Unimaginable life” while at the same time listening to the book’s soundtrack. I was quite impressed at how Kenny was able to do well on that project what he has done for movie soundtracks. At the same time, I remember reading somewhere what a challenge it was for Kenny to get the book publisher and the record company to agree on anything ”The market of “Hope for the Meek” is of a different segment, whereas “Time Machine” was targeting audiences of “80’s & 90’s retro radio shows” along with stations that play contemporary Music. “Hope for the Meek” is taking the approach of gaining airplay on Gospel and Christian music radio stations and stations that also play contemporary music. Judging from the popularity Hugo has already gained from the first single of the album ‘Marching Saints’ which is currently getting extensive airplay in the UK, “Hope for the Meek” is likely to achieve more success than “Time Machine”. Whereas Canada was the home base for [Time Machine], The UK is the home base for “Hope for the Meek”. Hugo’s first single from the album will be available on YouTube Music by Dec 23rd.

 

By Belief Records PR Machine

In the winter of 2017 Canadian Indie singer-songwriter, Ali Hugo released his Indie EP “Time Machine”. The EP gained huge success prompting Hugo’s Canadian Indie label Mirage Records to award Hugo a Gold record in recognition of total downloads and streams of the EP’s singles. Hugo had designed a unique strategy for the promotion of “Time Machine” which appealed to music listeners yearning for the nostalgic sounds of the ’70s 80’s and ’90s. Hugo even went as far as producing a Rockumentary titled “Time Machine” which was selected as a finalist for a Movie Festival in Carey North Carolina. However, “Time Machine” wasn’t without its critics as one indie music blog stated “Hugo Needs to Record new songs” in reference to the nostalgic content of the “Time Machine” EP which was recorded during Hugo’s Teens in the 90’s. Never the less, the last single of “Time Machine; Rhythm of Love” was released on Valentine’s Day in 2019 right after releasing a limited edition CD of the EP. The deadline set for ending [Time Machine] promotional efforts was May 2019. Hugo took time out to vacation in the Indian Ocean Archipelago of Zanzibar where Hugo traces his ancestry. ‘The Idea was for Hugo to recuperate and come back refreshed to plan-out a new strategy for the new record” says Jeremiah Keys a fellow musician and collaborator in some of the tracks on Hugo upcoming projects. By June 2019, Hugo announced “Hope for the Meek” his upcoming album of spiritual music and started an online diary to update his fans on the production process of “Hope for The Meek’. However, what both Hugo and Mirage Records didn’t have a full comprehension of was the lifeline which was extended to “Time Machine” as singles from the EP re-entered the top ten of various North American indie charts, due to popular demand by Ali Hugo Fans. This prompted popular radio shows like Oklahoma’s “Nick & Bootsy Basement Tape Show” to pick up Hugo’s country single “You’ll find love” while “Rhythm of Love” has been released On RNB hits radio and Urban radio. The forecast right now looks like another year of “Time Machine” will be in effect. “I Think where we went wrong was that we got caught up in all of this digital hoopla and needing to do things differently” was Hugo’s comment. “Essentially what the digital music age has allowed us to do, is use strategies employed by the record industry in the 70’s, where an albums lifeline and its promotion could last up to 6 years” that was certainly the case back then with records by industry veterans such as The Eagles and Santana. Hugo added “Now we’ve re-examined our strategy and took into accounts not only on-demand streams but also podcasts and streams supported by blogs content. We’ve also come up with innovative ways to repackage the songs, for example, creating secret playlists available exclusively on Hugo’s official website. In addition to this, “We’re negotiating with a few of the Chinese Music streaming service providers, to see what types of opportunities will be given to “Time Machine”, to help it crack the Chinese Music Market. “Quite frankly, I don’t think this would have worked with just any other record. The concept of Time Machine makes it a timeless classic that has taken a life of its own, by really time traveling listeners to those wonderful musical decades of the past” “ I truly believe that I’ve struck a gold mine with Time Machine and that it will take me to double-platinum stratosphere in the long run” Hugo pointed out. So What about “Hope for the Meek”? “It would be logical to view any new Ali Hugo release as a threat to Time Machine’s product lifecycle. But I disagree with that point of view, I think because the Ali Hugo content available online is limited to the hit singles of my first Album NGF and those of Time Machine, there is plenty of room for more Ali Hugo Music in the market” Hugo reassured. This disagreement has led Hugo to plan the release of “Hope for the Meek” on his own indie label Belief Records distributed by Universal Music.
“I keep reminding myself that I’m only human and this DIY approach has its limits, I mean; I’m still obligated to promote “Time Machine” especially now that it is picking up in Honduras, Turkey and Japan but I’m also receiving pressure from my hardcore fans to announce the expected date for the release of “Hope for the Meek”, and that’s why my team and I decided that we should at least have the first single out by this Christmas” Hugo promised.