Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

Music streaming services have continued to add U.S. subscribers this year, according to MIDiA Research, growing by 11 million paying users from January to September, to 117.9 million. But in a potentially troubling sign for the recorded music business, the number of total streams has remained the same.

For the past four months and counting, audio music streams have averaged 17.5 billion a week. That’s up slightly from the early March pre-pandemic peak, before the lockdown cut music listening down by 13% to a year low of less than 15 billion streams, as consumers stopped commuting and obsessed over the news. Streaming gradually rebounded, increasing 15% by the end of June — but has plateaued since.

This could actually be good news for streaming services, which for the past two years have been pouring money into podcasts, which cost them less. Streaming companies don’t have to share as much revenue on podcasts — a growing number of which they own — as they do on streams of music, most of which they don’t. But for record labels, publishers, songwriters and artists, this may be the calm before the storm. In the short term, at least, the lack of growth in the number of streams won’t  impact the music industry’s aggregate streaming revenue — if subscribers are added and consumption stays flat, rights holders just make more per stream. But a move toward podcasts could cost rights holders leverage in licensing negotiations.

Apple And Dr. Dre

+Apple iPhone and iPad Apps, News and Updates and new music mogul +Dr Dre both have a new bio. Now that Apple has officially purchased Beats Music and Beats Electronics, we are left to ponder its broader meanings as the man who once rapped about gangbanging and reefer now becomes a high-profile Apple employee. I believe the deal symbolizes the possible end of an era: an end to Apple as an innovative brand, and a farewell to Dr. Dre as a music maker.

The acquisition is widely viewed as Apple playing catch-up to streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora. Apple’s own press release stressed the importance of Beats Music. As a sign of respect for the Beats brand (and lack of belief in its own), Apple will keep the subscription Beats Music intact, alongside Apple’s own iTunes Radio. Beats Music has hardly taken the world by storm as a streaming competitor to Spotify and Pandora since being launched in January 2014. But Apple Insider reports that the service has a strong conversion rate, with the vast majority of tracks being streamed by paying customers. Meantime, iTunes, which relies on a download model, has seen its sales slump as consumers latch on to streaming services. iTunes Radio, Apple’s answer to streaming, has yet to take hold.

Mark Zuckerberg was riding the momentum of a business built off one compelling idea, that as naturally social creatures, human beings would flock to a digital place where we could emulate our offline social behaviors online. But on top of the core innovation of launching Facebook, Zuckerberg’s massive wealth, and Facebook’s phenomenal growth, was built off pedestrian advertising programs and ongoing tweaks to the core product as opposed to anything newsworthy.

Today Facebook seems to be setting the pace by buying into innovation. And now Apple, having failed to capture our imagination with daring new products in the post-Jobs era, is following Facebook’s lead by doing the same. Earlier this year, Facebook announced the purchase of messenger service WhatsApp for $19 billion, thus acquiring the most popular messaging app for smartphones and a potential rival. Within weeks, Facebook announced another major acquisition, this time shelling out $2 billion for virtual reality firm Oculus. The two acquisitions were but the latest in a long list of examples of Zuckerberg using cash, not innovation from within, to grow.

Under the Tim Cook era, the Apple brand has gradually lost its luster in the innovation department, with the iPad Mini and iPhone 5 coming across as marginal product enhancements as opposed to the major breakthroughs in design and functionality that once disrupted entire industries. Meantime, Apple has complemented its product enhancements with acquisitions: PrimeSense, an Israeli 3D sensing company, Embark, a mapping company, and now Beats.

Even during the Steve Jobs glory years, Apple’s innovations were not always homegrown. For instance, Apple’s own GarageBand app was fueled by the acquisition of Nothing Real and Shake, and of course Apple purchased Jobs’s own NeXT Computer. But the acquisitions contributed to in-house innovations, whereas acquisition seems to be Apple’s sole innovation strategy today.

Dre has come along way since he helped introduced American music fans to the rough, brutally violent gangsta rap genre during his days with NWA in the early 1990s. Through his own music recordings, production work, and business operations, he’s created a legacy of a hybrid artist and music mogul. He helped popularize (and shape) the music of huge hip-hop stars such as Eminem and Snoop Dogg through his studio collaborations, and in the 1990s, he released two stunning albums of his own material, The Chronic and The Chronic 2001. If his music was frequently X-rated, it was also innovative, powerful, and critically acclaimed. But in the 2000s, he released not a single album’s worth of music although he was said to be working on the long-awaited Detox, which has yet to materialize. Instead he focused on production, collaborating frequently with his alter ego Eminem, 50 Cent, and a slew of other artists.

But his biggest production occurred in 2008 with the rollout of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, a high-end, expensive product that made headphones sexy. With his focus shifting toward building the Beats brand with co-founder Jimmy Iovine, his production work diminished. Detox has become rap’s answer to Guns ‘n Roses’s Chinese Democracy: forever in production, never released. Rappers such as Game question whether Detox will ever be released.

Jay-Z Returns To Spotify Music

Rap icon Jay-Z brought his music discography back to the world’s largest streaming platform Spotify, leaving Tidal subscribers scratching their heads. The service he bought for $56 million in 2014 has struggled to gain any real market share against major players like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Is it genius marketing for the Tidal owner, or does this show he’s throwing in the streaming wars towel, as his company continues to struggle with growth?

The Breakdown You Need to Know: Even with Tidal’s exclusive music offerings and a $200 million investment from Sprint, it still doesn’t seem to be enough to keep the ship afloat, and Jay-Z may be jumping off the boat.

Also See: Sprint To Buy Parts Of Tidal

Jay-Z has been a vocal critic of tech companies in regards to the issue of compensating artists, so it’s a bit odd that he’s back in bed with them. Especially, when you consider Tidal markets itself as a “more equitable [business] model for artists” to make money while streaming their music.

In the beginning it was all good at Tidal, with artists like Beyoncé, Kanye West, Madonna and Chris Martin to name a few, who all had an ownership stake in the company. Each of the artists reportedly were given 3% equity in the platform, with Jay-Z holding the remaining stake.

The onset of streaming has poured new life into the music industry, with revenue hitting $5.4 billion earlier this year, $4.3 billion just from streaming services. Apple Music and Spotify boasts 113 million and 60 million subscribers respectively, which is massively hard for Tidal’s 2016 self-reported 3 million subscribers to compete with.

Also See: Tidal CEO Steps Down

Tidal’s offering is the most expensive option on the market at $20 per month. Amazon Music and Apple Music come in at $14.99 and $9.99 respectively, just another reason subscribers have been few and far between for Jay-Z’s company. They have tried other ways to grow subscribers by heavily discounting its subscription service for first responders. So if you consider yourself to be a hero, the company was offering a 40% discount for its Premium and Hi-Fi plans.

Jay-Z seems to be taking a “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach to music streaming and social advocacy. Let’s not forget he has now partnered with the NFL on it’s social justice mission, while also curating their halftime show.

Streaming Music Has Sold More Than CDs

I have not heard a soul in this world that say they dislike +Spotify. Even artist can +Get Your Music On Spotify now and days. The music industry is changing, with music streaming earning more money than the sale of CDs for the first time ever in 2014. According to the RIAA, music streaming earned a total of $1.87 billion in 2014, while CDs generated $1.85 billion, with the entire industry earning $6.97 billion overall, which was slightly down from their numbers in 2013.

Though these numbers are close, it’s clear that streaming is on the upswing while CDs are becoming a thing of the past, especially with Spotify records already getting shattered by Kendrick Lamar and Drake just three months into the year. Now all music streaming services needs is for Taylor Swift to get on board, and it’s a wrap.

(Click Here) To Go To Spotify.com

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Jay Z Talks Tidal, Jimmy Iovine, And Rewriting The Music Rulebook

Jay Z doesn’t give many interviews. In conversation, he often pauses mid-sentence, considers, rewinds, slices and reshapes his answer, choosing a more appropriate word or analogy that draws a finer point before revealing it to the interviewer. What’s commonly assumed is a mistrust of the press may just be that unlike his work in the studio or onstage, Jay Z doesn’t ultimately control the final result of an interview, and therefore treads more carefully while giving one.

Investors Put $2.4 Billion Into Music

In the 57 investment deals totaling over $2.4 billion tracked by Billboard, nearly 9 in 10 dollars invested went to a traditional music company, an EDM concert promoter or a company that streams music. Most of the investments were made in small, digital startups. Some are trying to improve how people discover concerts. A handful of them are changing how people create music.

A similar company hoping to disrupt the recorded music market is Beats Music, a subscription service that launched Jan. 21. An offshoot of Beats Electronics, the maker of the popular Beats By Dr. Dre headphones, Beats Music raised $60 million from Access Industries, the owner of Warner Music Group. (A year earlier, Access placed $130 million in Deezer, a competitor of Spotify and Beats Music.)

Warner Music Group’s acquisition of Parlophone Label Group was the biggest single investment in music in 2013. The $765 million deal, representing nearly a third of the year’s music investments, gave Warner not only Parlophone and Chrysalis but EMI’s operations in a handful of European countries. Also in this category was the acquisition of Nettwerk Music Group for $10.3 million in April.

Investors in streaming music were attracted to scale, potential and momentum rather than profitability. Services that provide on-demand streaming either audio or video raised $406.5 million. The largest deal was a $250 million investment in Spotify, an unprofitable company that’s a category leader and has 24 million active users — not all of them paying customers — across 55 countries.

SFX Entertainment accounted for the next-largest bucket, concert promotion, worth $480 million. The EDM-focused company’s initial public stock offering in October raised $260 million. It also acquired three EDM promoters: ID&T for $130 million, i-Motion for $21 million and Totem OneLove Group for $69.1 million.

In spite of a reputation for difficult business models and costly licensing fees, services that use licensed music attracted $838.8 million, or 49% of all investments. Four deals landed by Internet radio companies raised $443.3 million. Following Pandora’s $393.3-million secondary stock offering were smaller venture capital rounds by TuneIn ($25 million), DeliRadio ($9.4 million) and Songza ($4.7 million). There is a catch: TuneIn is merely an aggregator of Internet radio streams and doesn’t itself pay any royalties.

Investors backed numerous companies that help consumers find music they like. The smallest investment was $100,000 in Bop.fm, an online tool that aggregates songs from various digital music services. Two other startups that offer aggregation tools, Songdrop and MFiveLabs, received funding. Investors also backed numerous companies that help people discovery music or concerts. Most such deals were small, but music identification app Shazam received a $40-million investment from the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim.

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• 2013 Saw $2.4 Billion Go To Investing In Music
• Warner Music Buys Parlophone [Cold Play, Pink Floyd, David Guetta] For $765 Million
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Apple Buys Musicmetric

Apple has acquired a London music startup. The tech giant has bought the company behind music analytics service Musicmetric, Musically reports. 

Musicmetric owner Semetric changed its registered address to 100 New Bridge Street in London, home of Apple Europe Ltd. On the same day, it also filed documents to detail the appointment of a new director. He’s called Gene Daniel Levoff and up until now has been based at Apple’s global HQ.

Apple told Musically that it “buys smaller technology companies from time to time,” adding that it doesn’t “generally discuss our purpose or plan”. Semetric also declined to comment.

It’s speculated that Apple’s latest purchase could pave the way for the company to expand its music services. Apple wants to better tune its music arms: iTunes will likely be overhauled. But it’s Beats Music that stands to benefit most. Apple is going to relaunch the platform this year and there’s talk it could come pre-installed on iPhones and iPads.

Musicmetric launched in 2008 and allows music industry clients to track social and sales analytics through a dashboard, Musically writes — it also offers data streaming. In Jan. 2013 it received $4.8 million in funding.

Musicmetric says it’s about “turning big data into big opportunities”, and continues: “Whether you’re planning your first album launch or a global tour, on the lookout for new talent or after some killer intelligence to help pick your next brand ambassador, the Musicmetric dashboard will quickly and simply tell you all you need to know.”

How Apple chooses to use and develop Musicmetric remains to be seen, but one certainty is the implications the acquisition has for other streaming companies such as Spotify and Next Big Sound.

Here’s what Musically says:

Spotify has a partnership with Musicmetric to pipe in streaming data for labels to access via the latter’s dashboard.

Just as rival streaming services ended their partnerships with music/tech firm The Echo Nest firm when Spotify bought it last year, so Spotify is unlikely to be too keen on providing a firehose of its data to an Apple subsidiary.

Universal Music Group Shuts Down Apple Music Exclusives

(The Wrap-Up Magazine) Apple’s iTunes, Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group and widely regarded as the most powerful executive in the music industry, has reportedly ordered the company’s labels to stop the practice of making “exclusive” distribution deals with streaming services.

According to Bob Lefsetz, author of an influential music industry newsletter, Grainge sent out a company-wide email on Monday. UMG, which boasted seven of 2015’s 10 best-selling albums and 38.5% of the year’s recorded-music sales, will be the first major label to ban the practice, which many feel has begun to diminish rather than enhance the way music is distributed and consumed.

The directive will affect dozens of bands under the UMG umbrella, including all five of this year’s album of the year Grammy nominees: Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Chris Stapleton and Alabama Shakes.

The practice of artists offering exclusives to competing streaming and download services, including Apple and Tidal, has been gaining traction this year. Both Beyoncé and Rihanna launched their recent albums through Tidal, the streaming service part-owned by Beyoncé’s husband, Jay Z.

Inside The Mind Of The Underground King of Hip Hop (Part 1)

The underground music scene is wide open right now as the music industry is evolving into it's next phase. Every since the days of Myspace.com and Google+, ways for unsigned artist has changed dramatically.

The Wrap-Up Magazine.com conducted a interview with one of the biggest underground pr's Gansta Marcus of Lima, Ohio to hear his thoughts on how emerging artist are changing the entertainment  industry.

Also See: Why Fans Once Loved Gansta Marcus

Before we begin, you must understand who Gansta Marcus is and why he is the King of the Underground. Most artist these days do not take time out to connect with other artist to help get there brand out.

Not only that, most do not think of creating there own platform to push out new content. But this artist/pr/producer has took various turns switching lane to lane that help him to stay relevant in the music industry.

Gansta Marcus represented a new form of music that had a sound that clashed with music fans from the beginning. Before the sounds of Migos and A$AP Rocky, Gansta Marcus and his crew was already turning up the music scene with hot hits like 'Million Dollar Swag' and radio's favorite '#1 Fan.'

[Single] H.B Almighty ‘Yours’

Artist AJ Henry goes by the stage name of H.B Almighty and was raised in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York. Ever since he was a young boy, he has had a passion for music and Having the musical background makes him play many instruments along with the spiritual ability to be in the church at one point, AJ made it no secret that music was always around him growing up. It was something that he fell in love with all his life. It was pretty much like breathing to me, he recalls in an interview with a newspaper.

Growing up in The Church

In his mind, church was more of a place to go and do something good with your time than an event that was going to change your life forever. He didn’t feel the need to give up everything in order to serve God, he only felt the need to make himself better in any way possible because he knew deep down that it would be beneficial in the long run. 

His Musical Background

He grew up playing the organ in church. His mom was the music director, so He was always around music.He has also played the drums, bass, keyboard, and guitar. With the musical background he has and having the ability to play many instruments in the church, it allowed him to travel and create networks with other talented gospel artists like himself . His grandmother is her inspiration . She’s one of his biggest fans. In 2019, his grandma passed away and he wanted the best for her.

Choosing a Stage Name

When he first started making music, he had no idea what he wanted the stage name to be. He knew that he wanted something that would represent his faith and his love for music, so he eventually settled on H.B. Almighty. H stands for Heavenly Father, B stands for Best Believe, and Almighty is in reference to God’s almighty power. The heavenly and blessed portions of the name show his faith while the latter part of the name shows how much he truly enjoys playing music.

Covid Time

It was during the pandemic that H.B. caught Covid and it allowed him the space to think and build his brand on what he loves most – music. He had a group of longtime friends that would call him HB as a childhood nickname. He told himself he would recover from COVID, expand his talents, and make his family and Grand Mother proud.  That’s when he took his first steps towards becoming a church-raised, independent artist with a love for music. Those days, he can be found in studios around the city working on new songs or performing live at various venues.

Finding his Sound and record a label

AJ Henry record label called it Heart breaker label and eventually decided to turn his nickname into a career. All of his buddies help him and founded and contributed to his first release. He  decide to take this nickname and soon start his own record label. He have a vision to show his talents to the world and bring something new to the industry along with a fresh face and a fresh sound. He want  the market with his youthful appearance, musical taste, and innovation. He has already been releasing music on all platforms such as Take A Minute, Overtime, Dear Journal Part 1 EP. , which is available on all streaming services like Spotify. As he is very talented His promising future and limitless talent is going to have the industry on their guard because H.B. Almighty will come after EVERYTHING!

https://open.spotify.com/track/3j3dz6jt56MpNvrxGTl3r2?si=ASDcvIlkRfm8r8s7Y40YsA

Instagram: @al.miiighty 

Twitter: @Hb_almighty21

US Senate Passes New Music Act

The Senate has passed legislation that aims to strengthen music copyright and improve royalty rates for artists in the streaming era. The upper chamber voted unanimously in favor of the bill, titled the Music Modernization Act.

Among the proposed changes, the legislation codifies producers and engineers as copyright holders, meaning both would receive digital royalties when songs are played on streaming services. Currently, producers are not included in copyright law and must negotiate their own payment deals.

For hip-hop producers, especially, the current setup often results in a flat-rate purchase fee, leaving the producer without any claim to future streaming revenue. When producers do negotiate royalty deals, they're typically taking a cut from the performer's own royalties.

The Music Modernization Act also creates a new music licensing organization, run by publishers and songwriters, that will identify a song's copyright holders and manage royalty payouts. That work is currently handled by digital platforms themselves, who have frequently been sued over unpaid royalties. The bill also extends copyright protections for pre-1972 recordings.

Stream Your Music In Kuack Media Group

Learn about distributing your music to Kuack Media Group - the new streaming service offered to mobile providers in the Caribbeans. By adding your music to Kuack, you can get your music heard on millions of mobile devices across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Kuack powers the streaming services set up by some of the biggest mobile carriers and other big brands in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Digicel, Kolbi Costa Rica, Viva Bolivia, and Virgin Mobile Colombia, Peru and Dominican Republic.

They offer Premium and “Top Chart” subscription tiers, both with access to unlimited streaming, playlists, conditional downloads, and social networks. They also offer curated content with an emphasis on featuring independent and local artists.

(CLICK HERE) TO JOIN AND SUBMIT YOUR MUSIC

#NowPlaying Sean-Toure’- Garveyite @SeanToure

On Juneteenth 2020 Baltimore Music Producer/Emcee Sean-Toure’s new song "Garveyite" made its debut on all music streaming platforms. The energetic song laced with incredible music production and powerful lyrics promotes Black pride, self-love, and unity.

The track about empowerment and resilience centers on the recent protests, uprisings, and gentrification taking place in America. The powerful lyrics, elaborately produced soulful-beat, and awesomely catchy hook make this song one of the best Hip Hop singles of 2020.

Best Digital Media Apps To Have Your Music On

The Wrap-Up Magazine.com has been looking for the hottest digital media websites online for artist to promote their music. Digital media are any media that are encoded in a machine-readable format.

Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on computers and androids. Take a look at some of these websites below to submit your content to today. Find Out How!

Kool Kev (@therealkoolkev) - "Bout Dem Bucks"

Kevin Rashad Lynch, known professionally as Kool Kev, is one of the most promising rappers coming out of Florida. He's building a supreme fan-base with an endless stream of quality sound, music, and music videos. Kool Kev delivers vivid colorful hood visuals with a saucey, kool, and singy cadence. One of the South’s most Koolest up-and-comers, Kev is doing his thang above a triumphant trap beat. Delving into the unsavory details about the street life, he's creating a massive amount of new music and ready to break out in a big way. The latest track from Kool Kev, "Bout Dem Bucks" prod by Gitt Fai is all about "getting money and puttin' on for my city", Tampa FL. On this track, "bucks" is a reference to money, and Tampa Bay Bucs Football team. You can hear it now on all music streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Youtube.

Best Buy Shut Down Music Department

As of July 1st, Best Buy officially ceased sales of physical CDs at all stores nationwide. The electronics retail giant will no longer offer compact discs due to a major decrease in sales. According to ABC, sales decreased by 18.5% in 2017, which is a perfect example of the growing power of streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, among others, at work.

While CDs have begun to become a thing of the past throughout the last several years, vinyl copies of songs and albums will still remain on Best Buy shelves for at least a couple more years, as they continue to quench the nostalgia of music lovers. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyl sales were up 3% in 2016. The RIAA has also reported that in 2016, streaming alone generated more revenue in the United States music business than all other formats combined for the first time ever. Target is expected to be the second retail giant to begin selling fewer amounts of CDs in upcoming months.

Growing Your #Spotify Presence With #Streambeet

This means that musicians need to be sure to enhance their presence on Spotify, and that’s what Streambeet is here to help you with. Their organic Spotify promotion services seek to get you organic Spotify plays, Spotify followers, grow your Spotify monthly listeners and overall organic Spotify promotion. They also help get you featured on genre-specific Spotify playlists, allowing listeners to discover your tracks amidst other similar tracks from your musical niche.

Streambeet is a cost-effective service which help artists grow their Spotify plays and Spotify followers in exchange for a very reasonable fee. They have pricing structures that differ depending on the size of promotion you desire. Their service will continue promoting you until your numbers are reached or will continually run until you acquire the amount of Spotify plays, Spotify followers or Spotify monthly listeners you paid for.

The music industry is continually changing, with CDs taking over from tapes, iTunes taking over from CDs, and now Spotify taking over from iTunes. Streaming platforms such as Spotify allow users to stream your tracks without technically owning a copy of them, making the music-listening experience more affordable, easy, and enjoyable for everyone.

Album: Keontae Norm - "Metrius 3"

Southern hype, Keontae Norm, shares with us his long-awaited debut album, Metrius 3.

The ingenuous new tape showcases Keontae's clever lyricism as he touches on the topics of his ongoing trials and tribulations and his fast-paced lifestyle.

With raw lyrics on every track, Keontae Norm delivers a handful of motivating anthems with this project and we're excited to see what's to come for him in 2019.

Stream the official, Metruis 3, project below and listen to more music from Keontae Norm via SoundCloud.

Listen to, Metrius 3, via all major music streaming services:

Spotify 

Apple Music 

Band Camp 

Amazon Music 

YouTube

Twitter: 
@keontaenorm

Kobalt Collects $75M In Artist Royalties

Kobalt, the European startup that has built technology and a platform to collect music royalties by tracking when even a sample of a song is played across multiple platforms, has raised another $75 million in funding.

The investment was made at a post-money valuation of $775 million. It will be used to continue expanding Kobalt’s platform to cover more streaming sources, and to add more artists and labels to the list it represents, he said in an interview.

Today that list is already pretty extensive. It covers 25,000 songwriters, 600 publishers and 20,000 independent artists — working out to about 40 percent of the top 100 songs and albums in the U.S. and U.K.

Big names on the list include The Chainsmokers, Kelly Clarkson, Miles Davis, Dave Grohl, Dr Luke, Zayn Malik, Max Martin, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Pitbull, Elvis Presley, Skrillex and Sam Smith.

While services like Spotify, Pandora and SoundCloud have been developing their own analytics services for artists to monitor how their music is being consumed on those individual platforms, another unique selling point for Kobalt is that it’s providing this kind of tracking in real time across a number of proprietary services, and it’s doing so not just for full tracks, but for samples and other fragments that get played.

Today, the company tracks music plays in twenty of the top digital streaming providing platforms globally, including services like Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud. The plan is to add another 20 sources in the next six months.

Kobalt does not disclose just how much an artist — be it a blockbuster name or a smaller player — can make using its platform, but it notes that it provides revenue uplifts of 25 percent compared to industry standards, simply from being able to track when a something is played.

Co Owner of Real List Magazine "Lil $hawtyy's" Write Up For "The Wrap Up Magazine"

Lil Shawtyy

Only The Strong Will Survive

Hello world  Lil $hawtyy is here to tell you the history behind my music and what I’ve been through in my life that has formed me to be who I am today as a person and an artist. 

I grew up in the streets had to hustle to survive because I come from a poor family who resorted to the life of crime just to keep food on the table. I have witnessed some hell on my journey through this life I had to witness my husband of 20 years hang by a rope tried to save him but with no hope and I just couldn’t cope so I resorted to the studio my second home where I found my outlet. I’m a survivor of violence and tyrants who abused me and beat me down but I kept coming back up swinging.