3 Artists MAD Dragon Should Sign

1. Jake Snider: First off, Jake happens to be a friend of mine - above all though, he is an extremely talented pianist and songwriter. He writes great piano/jazzy/singer/songwritery tunes and already has a pretty decent fan base of friends and randoms. He's a perfect fit for MAD Dragon. Check him out at http://www.snidercreative.com/ .

2. Ari Hest: Like I said before, he's awesome. He's currently releasing under his own "Project 4 Records." I think we could work wonders with him...just sayin. www.arihest.com

3. Pete Francis: I think he's self releasing under "Scrapper Records," but Pete was first established as the Bass/Guitar player for Dispatch back when they were around. His newest release as of May 2010 would have been great for us to put out - maybe we can snag him after the Dispatch tour in 2011 when they get hyped up again, that is, if Dispatch doesn't stay together. Then we should sign Dispatch along with their current label, Bomber Records. www.petefrancis.com

Godin vs. Gladwell

Godin's speech on marketing was much broader than Gladwell's in the sense that he included many more examples of how to create a product that people want and talk about. I liked that Godin gave so many examples, because it showed the audience that there's more to life than just Tomato Sauce. The moral of his speech was that you need to make something worth talking about - that making something different is not alone enough - it must be remarkable.

Gladwell, rather, said that you have to make something different that is what the people want. Extra Chunky Tomato Sauce was his product of choice, noting how even though Prego was a better quality sauce than Ragu, Ragu got the praise because it was what they were used to. When Prego proceeded with testing different tomato sauces, they found that 1/3 of testers wanted their tomato sauce with some extra chunk, yet no company had done that yet. They were the first, and thus, their company became superior over Ragu.

In conclusion, you must be different, what the people want, and worth talking about. If you have a product like that - you're probably on the right track.

Mario the Dragon

Mario is Drexel's main man and mascot. You'll see him at special events, basketball games, and sometimes just wandering the streets of Philadelphia looking for a good cheesesteak. Mario leads the students in school spirit and is always up for spontaneous dancing and long walks on the beach under the moon. He's no shy dragon, but I've always wondered what he would say if he could talk......

The Boss

Springsteen is back on the radar with the highly anticipated upcomingrelease of "The Promise: The Making of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' ". The project consists of a 3 DVD (or Bluray) and 3 CD set. The DVD's contain a documentary aboutthe making of the "Darkness" album as well as a ton of archived studio footage from the beginning to the end of the album, and the CD's are jam-packed with alternate takes and b-sides from the record, which according to the documentary, there were a lot of them.70 songs were recorded in full for "Darkness," but only 10 made the cut to what was Springsteen's first "working man" themed album. Also in the pack is a notebook with copies of Bruce's handwritten lyrics, photos, and other fan-worthy memorabilia. The documentary airs on October 7th on HBO at 9 PM, and it is set for public release on November 16th. Here's a short excerpt from the documentary. The song they sing here made it to the next record, "The River".

Bruce Springsteen - "The Promise: The Making of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'" Sneak Peek from Columbia Records on Vimeo.

Kuf Knotz

With Medusa-esque dreadlocks wrapped high on his head and the baggiest pants you'll ever see, Kuf Knotz (pronounced Koof Knots) is a hard man to miss. Kufie's been active in the Philadelphia hip-hop scene for years - he's even been signed to Jazzy Jeff's label.

Recently while Kuf was sleeping, he had dream about a fire-breathing dragon - a mad, angry, pissed off one at that. Searching through the internet to find the meaning to his vision with the keywords "mad dragon," Kuf stumbled upon the Myspace page for MAD Dragon Records. It was a clear sign. After setting up a meeting to pitch himself to the students and faculty, Kuf Knotz was officially on the label.**

He recorded his new record (which kicks MAJOR ass) called "Boombox Logic" and plans to release it on October 26th with a release party ten days prior (October 16th) at World Café Live. You can check out/stream/download a track off the record called "Sunny Philadelphia" at www.MADphilly.com. The record is an eclectic mix of full-band old/new school hip-hop. Featured on the record is Philly's own Garrett Dutton - better known by his alias G. Love. Garrett lays down the second verse vocals as well as guitar on the rest of the track. Possible appearance by G. Love at the record release show.

Remember to check out www.MADphilly.com to download "Sunny Philadelphia."

**Please note that the statements in starred paragraph may or may not be full truths, BUT, Kuf is now on MAD Dragon Records, and that was the point of the story. Peace for now.

MAD Dragon Records

For those of you who don't know, Drexel University is home to the greatest student run and operated record label called MAD Dragon Records. Hosting a myriad of great Philadelphia musicians, MAD Dragon Records allows for students to be in control and apart of every aspect regarding regular day-to-day operations of a record label.

Artists include Hoots and Hellmouth, Matt Duke (one of my personal favorites), Andrew Lipke, Toy Soldiers, and Kuf Knotz.

Check out MDR @ www.myspace.com/maddragonrecords

MAD Dragon Records logo (c) Music Industry Program Entities 2010

Drexel University

Another September means another school year and lots of learning to do. Last night, the fraternities and sororities on campus had their annual pre-rush event called "Night On The Row." 34th street was POPPIN' all night long with DJ's, free food, and ice cold (non-alcoholic, of course) beverages. This year at Drexel is shaping up to be a great one with lots of improvements coming underway, plus the South St bridge is reopening which means traffic on Market & Chestnut Streets will be drastically diminished and safer for all students and faculty when walking around during the evening rush.

Hello Blogosphere

I'm Dave Eisner and I'm a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia. I started this blog for a class that I'm taking to give updates on the state of the music industry and about what I'm doing in said class.

Peace yo.

P.S. My major is music industry with a business concentration.