Its Now or Never

I've been intending to put my thoughts down for years.  After several aborted starts, I've committed myself to sitting at this computer daily, and really pushing this agenda forward.  

Some background is appropriate.  I am a former attorney who has been in the entertainment/media/technology space for as long as I can remember.  In my youth, I used to hang out backstage at concerts with Nas, Biz Markie, Mary  J. Blige, Special Ed, A Tribe Called Quest, and countless others.  I'm sure none of these people, if pressed would have recalled meeting or even seeing me at any of the D.C. haunts, where they made their bones before hitting superstardom, but that's not my point.

I've worked on cybersquatting cases, filed a lawsuit against Funkmaster Flex, beta tested Russell Simmons' Global Grind, developed media delivery kiosks with Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center and created digital distribution platforms with software developers from Australia (and this is really a top-of-the-dome recollection of some of the things I have done or been involved with).

I offer that to show that my opinions (and those I will offer in the future) are grounded in experience.  A lot of bloggers, reporters (and really  people generally) will give their two-cents from a particularly detached perspective, leaving the reader no wiser.  My hope is that anyone reading my blog or anything else published by me is singularly informed, and can practically apply what they read about.

Most of what you'll read here will be about things that I am actually doing (to the extent that its not covered by some oppressive NDA), and/or things that are of particular interest to me.  You'll find, though, that I regularly interact with some of the most influential (and/or up-and-coming) personalities and businesses in the digital, technology and new media spaces.  Sometimes you'll know who I'm talking about, sometimes you won't.  But I'll always try to put whatever it is that I'm doing or writing about into some practical perspective.

What will I be talking about?  The iPhone, iTunes, iPods, DOT.TUNES, the Marksmen, Capitol Records, mobile phones and computing, recording artists, record labels, digital distribution, ringtones, the state of the music industry and why the RIAA is dying (or already dead), Live Nation, 360 deals, Gino Green, Omar Jermain, Selwyn Hinds, Russell Simmons, Global Grind, software, hardware, CEOs and CTO, virtually anything and everything relevant to the Digital Black Experience.

Oh yeah.  Why did I call this the Digital Black Experience?  Well, for starters, I wanted a name that I was certain people wouldn't forget.  I also wanted something that sounded great and had some brand appeal.  Since I am a person of color, I also wanted to be able to play with words, but not pigeon-hole myself into being perceived as a "black" blogger (although I do not eschew the association).  In the final analysis, I really wanted to call it 'digital black' full stop.  But that url was taken, so I decided upon the next best thing.