Hey J.Troup,
You've stated numerous times that you had to pay for your meko(?)...so what does being endorsed by open labs do for you? What do they provide you? Basically insider info? Shares of the company? Having your name be out there?
Because of the endorsement agreement that I signed, I can't say what I receive in exchange.
But what I can tell you, is that having my name attached to a company like Open Labs, and being able to point people to my profile on the site, has given me a hell of alot of credibility in the music community, both on an indie and major label.
It's like a co-sign. Alot of people fail to realize (or just refuse to accept) that the game is all about co-signs. Yeah you can be hot, and yeah someone could listen to your music and say you're hot, but if SOMEONE ELSE (that they trust) doesn't say you're hot, then you're not hot.
Yeah i know, it's fcuked up, but that's the way it is. I've actually heard that explanation come out of a very important persons mouth.
So the cosign is everything. It gives me a level of credibility not everyone else has, and gets me access to things and people not everyone can get to.
Not only that, it's the exposure. Just being up on that website, people have contacted me. In the various Open Labs events, webcasts, etc, etc, it's a hell of alot of exposure, which is great for business.
Some tangibles, but even more intangibles...which to me, in terms of my career, are equal in value.