"Good Morning @_lgtwo, are you ready to be "hyper-interrogated?"
"LOL, Good Morning! Yes, I am ready! Thank you for taking the time to do this." I Couldn't Think Of A Better Way To Spend My Free Time, Well Other Than Jamming Out To The Dope Artists Involved With #LGTWO!
"So, mystery man behind this dope movement, what should we call you?"
"Justin or Mike aka People Of The Parallel both are my names so either or is cool with me. But the full name is Justin Michael" So I Can Stop Calling You Mr. LGTWO Guy? Sweet!
"So people see this hashtag #LGTWO hundreds of times a day from artists and creatives from all walks of life, from all over the world... Can you tell us what "LGTWO" stands for?"
"LGTWO stands for Let's Get The Word Out."
"Is that sort of like "word of mouth?"
"From a social media perspective, you could say the word of the tweet."
Haha! Word Of The Tweet! Brilliant!
"So how did this hashtag get started?"
"Well, in the beginning, I met this guy named Studious Pupil, a rap artist on Twitter. Throughout our chats, we would talk about how to find ways to grow our audience while also building relationships with the new artist. Where we could all help each other grow at the same time by sharing each other's tweets and doing something along the lines of cross-promotions. At first, it was really simple and we just went about looking for people who were already active with us and started to listen to their music. I would make the post with a flyer letting people know that I was going to tweet their whole catalog out the following day. Studious had suggested changing the way I was hashtagging the tweets because the tags were too personalized. He gave me an awesome idea that shaped the foundation of LGTWO. To create a tag that could be interpreted by the people as a community effort, not just geared towards one person. Each artist that I added to the flyer would receive a listen, follow, and save to all of their songs in their entire catalog. The following day I would post all of their work, and we would go and retweet it all. After a couple of weeks, some of the artists started responding to the promo and started to send me dm's to let me know that they liked what we were doing and thought it was cool. I would then ask if they would like to be a part of the movement. Unfortunately, not all were interested but I did end up connecting with a couple of really cool guys by the names of AyeFelon, Substance P, and Jdot. So, in the beginning, it was 5 of us. We came up with a strategy to spread the feature tweets out so they were able to reach a wider audience. The original members of LGTWO all had a major impact on the style and strategy at the inception. The hashtag used to be all lowercase and then became all capitals. Simple things like this I truly believe help overall when trying to make an impact. I never would have thought of this if it wasn't for AyeFelon. So although things changed over time I will always remember what the originals members did at the origin of all of this. Ok back to the story, LOL, things were going great and I finally decided to create a dedicated LGTWO page on Twitter. It was to be kind of like the central hub for it all. Made a Twitter page for people to drop their music links into as well. This was the collection phase. We all had a quota to meet and deposited a certain amount of artists we wanted to be featured in the following months. What was most excellent about it, was that there were so many responses, we were able to plan for almost 2 months of features after only two weeks. The features eventually became videos all with original audio, that would display the artist's Twitter handles letting them know we were going to be tweeting out their catalog the following morning. The videos were a hit and took off from the beginning. Which was fantastic. This was when the hashtag and its true purpose started to take effect."
That is Very Interesting, Justin!
"What is the mission behind the hashtag?"
"To create a community of like-minded individuals that are willing to help each other out through the means of cross-promotion. It is important to find a place to belong or individuals that are willing to help one grow, especially on social media. Social media is a really difficult place to grow if you aren't working with anyone. When you work with others and find ways to establish a healthy and professional connection, growth will come at an exponential rate. Instead of one person tweeting or retweeting it is extremely important to have a team and a place where individuals can share their work so others can help spread the word through the tools set in place by that platform. But it is not a one-way street the relationship has to be mutual. And advice for anyone reading if you have access to tools, use them. If you are involved with people that are willing to help you out, help them out. This also comes with a warning, don't expect the favor to ever be returned in any way shape, or form. This will only lead one towards a negative thought process and will inhibit your growth. One should find a way to move past it, and reconnect with their original goals as an artist."
"How is this mission being accomplished?"
"Through the use of various community support rooms and Team Member meetings every morning." Id Love To Be A Fly On The Wall In One Of Those Meetings Justin!
"So, There's a lot of people involved in "Getting The Word Out?"
"Yes, I would say there are a lot of people getting the word out." Very Cool!
"How does one become part of this important mission, and can anyone use the hashtag, or join the collective?"
"Well just reaching out sometimes is enough. But more of reaching out with a purpose makes more sense in my opinion concerning productivity and accomplishment of a certain objective. Small talk or just someone dropping a link and saying listen will never get the job done. The small talk and link drops are more appropriate after some sort of connection is established. But someone that drops a link and retweets your pin definitely will achieve their goal concerning me and checking out their work. This is my idea of mutual respect. 80% of people that say they are down to help or be a part don't follow through and think the name is supposed to take care of them. The movement works as a unit. If people aren't willing to help each other out it doesn't work. People have and will continue to experience growth when they are present in a productive environment. it is as simple as that. You have two people, one that holds the door for others and one that just walks through and never thinks twice about the person behind them. When you hold the door open for others you can see and do more, not just for yourself but for a wider audience as well. The moral of the story is that one is ultimately able to make that many more connections and accomplish a great deal of work when there is mutual respect. Yes, anyone can use the hashtag or join the movement. But the movement only works if support is mutual. One can't just show up thinking they get auto respect because they think they are the best in the world or don't have any time to contribute. They need to take the time to build a relationship. So I know I have gone on quite a bit of a rant in this section but basically if one is optimistic and open-minded then it is an easy and most productive process when involved in cross-promotion and social media growth."
"Are You Bored Yet?"
"LOL, no never. I am passionate about all of this so I could go on for days on end about this stuff." Great!
"Ok, So I know #LGTWO is much more than a hashtag, can you give us a little insight into what LGTWO is as a brand? Like, what services you offer, and in what creative ways you promote?"
"Going forward 2021 LGTWO will mainly be focused on Production, Mixing, and Mastering. The promotion is and will be exclusive to the artist and projects we have and will have worked on. Also, more focus on the Blogging aspect of the website is going to be a major focal point. There will be LGTWO merchandise, Sample-based loop libraries, and the website will remain in a state where people can submit their artist information for free real estate on the LGTWO website all they have to do is ask for the link. This is probably the best and easiest way to reach out concerning your question relative to becoming part of the movement. Creative ways we promote and the most effective one has been the creation of a collaborative playlist. Over the past year we have kept track of what works the best and what we have noticed is that when everyone is included or has the choice to be included the effort is less strenuous and a lot more can get accomplished." I'm Going To Link One Of Your Collaborative Lists At The End Of This
"What was the inspiration behind the name and the hashtag?"
"The inspiration behind the name was making it so everyone could be involved "Let's" meaning all of us together not "I'' get the word out. Strength in numbers regardless of the genre. I listen to and work with almost every genre so the target audience was never a factor in all of this. The target audience has always been people that enjoy music and individuals that support the essence of it. So there are a plethora of fantastic individuals and artists to work without out there. Some may disagree with this but it was never my intention to get people to agree with me or the ideas behind what we chose to establish from day 1. We simply found a hole in the market and decided to fill it. Anyone can find LGTWO all they have to do is look it up."
☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝ This Is Why I Love You Brother! 🤜🔥🤛
"Tell us about the LGTWO website"
"The website is all original design and we decided early on to not use templates or anything that looks like another website. We have an Artist section where artists that have submitted their profiles can be seen. It includes an artist menu section and an artist page where the visitor can read their bio and link to either Spotify, YouTube, or Twitter.
We have a Meet The Team section with a majority of the LGTWO key players involved on the inside. Featured videos are artists we have featured in the past when we first started LGTWO. ItzAWrap Yo! is dedicated to an awesome YouTube reactor by the name of Rob Detlor. The playlist section requires a massive update LOL cause there are so many that haven't been uploaded to the site yet. The Spotify and YouTube bar is kind of an experiment and not sure if they will stay in 2021. It is a place where you can access everyone on the website and follow them all at one time. The blog section will more than likely be the center point in 2021 there is a lot in the works concerning tips tricks advice and artists reviews so we are excited. The promo section is to be changed to mixing and mastering which we will offer affordable mixing and mastering packages with promo attached to all of the orders. All client's work will be handled by certified industry professionals that have graduated from the Conservatory Of Recording Arts & Sciences. There will also be a list of examples from past work concerning before and afters, so potential clients can see what we are offering if they choose to work with us. The contact section is just for people that may just be reaching out or wanting more information about material concerning the website. About us section LOL, while this should be the very first thing anyone does when building a website we have not made it public yet due to the constantly changing outlook on what we plan on offering as a Service/Brand. For now, it is as simple as this, we support independent and mainstream music. Lastly will be the gift shop where anyone can purchase LGTWO merchandise like shirts, hats, cups, magnets, and sample-based loop libraries." My Favorite Spots On The Site, And The Most Unique Of Any Website Out Here, Are The Spotify And YouTube Bars! And I Cant Wait For The Gift Shop To Be Available!
"Do you have any advice for artists struggling to be heard?"
"Don't expect anything from anyone."
"Be willing and prepared to go the distance."
"Mutual contributions are key."
"Use the tools social media offers. Don't just present the page as all about you. If you are genre-specific, then use the pin function to the top of your page. No one wants to see pictures or tweets of the same thing every day. Be creative and mix it up. Tweeting out your friends or retweeting their work is a great way to generate curiosity in what you are doing, believe it or not."
"Develop a team with five or more like-minded individuals willing to share your work with their followers, and you share theirs with yours. It won't happen all alone, and if you aren't willing to step outside of the box and show love getting heard will be virtually impossible."
"Don't be sensitive. If you are an artist, chances are you are doing something in a way that may be the same or different from everyone else. So people will always be more than willing to give their opinion on what it is that you do. Be prepared to accept it and move forward. If your material is lacking in quality accept it. Move forward and always be willing to reinvent yourself. The only way to grow is by absorbing what is happening around you and learning from it. Bouncing it back into the other direction where it came from will eventually prove to be extremely ineffective.
"Do your best to create a quality product to the best of your ability. If you cant pay someone to do it, then do your research and analyze what it will take for you to produce something great with the tools that you already have."
"Say Thank You and Your Welcome. It could be an emoji, retweet, and even a heart. Social media allows multiple ways for users to show appreciation for something someone has done for you. So it is important not to forget how and when to use them."
"Keep it simple."
"People will have on days and off days be willing to understand and not hold a grudge. Find common ground with everyone you are working with and respect those boundaries."
"Recognize that the wins will be, spread out not all in one chunk or just one place." Great Advice! I Know From My Own SM Experiences That These Are Key Factors In Gaining And Retaining A Loyal Audience/Following!
"In your opinion and from your experience, can you give us your best marketing tip?"
"Measure twice, so you only have to cut once." I Try To Apply This Tip To Everyday Life, Something My Old Man Used To Tell Me All The Time
"Do you have any long term goals set for #LGTWO? Any changes or implementations that will drive your mission further?"
"The long-term goals would be way too long to share here, but we have plans on massive development into ultimately maturing into a label. First and foremost is to secure a comfortable place in the market. This will enable us to consistently offer artists something of value. Being able to provide the artist with opportunities that will warrant personal growth and monetary gain is the objective. And to be honest, this admittedly will take some time. But willing to go the distance is my number 2 on the list, so this ok with me. The hashtag will prevail as it is, and to put it simply, it will endure a searchable way for people to unite and encourage each other."
"Well, that's extremely dope! Now that we learned a little about LGTWO, I want to give some of your followers a chance to ask a few questions.
Are you cool with that?"
"I don't have enough time left. LOL"
That's too bad because they've already asked!!
"Ok, let's do it."
"Oh, you are! Dope! Let's do this!!"
"Thanks! So are you! And yes, let's get to it!"
DJ Brad @Royaltyproduc on Twitter asked;
"Do you feel that female artists get equal representation or, are they overshadowed by male artists, being the bigger demographic?"
"Yes, the data says so. Even though the word overshadowed sounds more nefarious, I don't believe what is occurring to females in connection to equal representation is being done intentionally, just because they are females. I think worldwide business is dominated by males so herein lies the concerns. Once the investments backed by capital or acquired assets come from an equal playing field and the board consists of 50% male and 50% female there will, unfortunately, remain an unhealthy balance. Their future projections will more than likely be based on the Profit and Loss statements from the years previous. This won't make room for new ideas and strategies to help females establish a bigger impact in the music industry until there is a huge shift in who is managing it all at the top. Males will continue to dominate the market and invest more time, money, and energy into something that is relatable to them as males and this is valid across all levels of business. is it right? No, it is extremely unfair and creates a never-ending biased environment. Is it unfortunate? Yes. Now look forward years into the future I believe that the market will eventually level itself out gender-wise, and it will through a lot of work become a more balanced environment where the opportunities offered can and will become equal. I think women will end up dominating the entire music industry."
HunterFoxzAC @HunterFoxzAC on Twitter asked;
"Why should I, as an indie artist, CARE if I am a part of this group of artists?"
"One should care because it is a place where one receives support. It may not always be consistent, it may not be in the millions, thousands, or even hundreds, but it is better than having nothing at all. It is awesome to have a place you know you will receive some kind of support, regardless of the type or even the amount of it. Especially when and if you are busy in the other aspects of your life. These groups are great because they help one get an immediate result on one's self-promotional efforts."
Howie Dillard @DillardHowie on Twitter asked;
"How do you deal with negativity?"
"The first step is that I acknowledge and accept that negativity exists. The second step is, when I face it because I know that it exists, I become aware that I don't have to engage with it or even entertain it. Negativity can have a real impact on how you perceive the world you are in and even the people that surround you. So sometimes, I have to step outside of myself and collect my thoughts. Once I do this, I realize that the best strategy is to not engage in dealing with negativity on social media. Eventually, after some time, they will go away and find something else to do. Unfortunately, 9x out of 10 individuals of this nature that like to cause friction and create problems for others are doing it only to gain attention. So knowing these things and taking note of them helps to deal with negative situations when they present themselves."
God$on @beckman_jay on Twitter asked;
"As an artist/engineer, do you spend more time creating music or connecting with fans and other artists?"
"I would have to say it is a 50/50 balance throughout most of the year."
People Of The Parallel @potparallel on Twitter asked;
"Do you ever want to quit?"
"LOL, The question I ask myself to answer myself. Yes, every day I have felt like I want to quit. This is the element that keeps me extremely pragmatic and to not get mentally too big for my britches. I believe to have a strong balance of both positive and negative emotions is important in all aspects of development. You can't have more than the other. When one should have to face adversity, it will be tough to manage and develop an effective strategy to move forward if the balance is off. So there is an equal amount of positive and an equal amount of negative that I embrace. The negative outlook keeps me grounded and realistic. The positive outlook allows me to set the bar high and dream big." I Can Relate To That 100% As A Creative Interacting With Thousands Of Other Creatives Daily I Experience Fluid Amounts Of Negative And Positive Energy All The Time, Sometimes The Negative Gets Overwhelming And I Feel Like Giving Up, But, Something Or Someone Always Throws Just Enough Positive Energy Into The Universe To Help Me Balance The Two And I Remember My Mission, Which Will Fail If I Give In To The Negative. So I'm Starting To Understand The Actual Need For Both, And I'm Learning To Embrace Both As A driving Force In The Overall Mission. Thank You For Personally Helping Me Understand This 👊 Justin, This Is Really Helping Us To Understand What #LGTWO Is And The Mission Behind The Hashtag! Now WE Know It's Not As Cut And Dry As Just Hashtagging A Tweet To Be Retweeted, There's A Purpose To It, Providing A Support Tool For Creatives, And Also Driving The Brand's Growth, Which Not Only Continues To Gain Reach, But Also Developing Itself Into A BRAND! You Give Artists Hope, No Matter How Unknown Or Known Every Artist That Gets Involved Can Benefit, Exponentially, From The Tools And Services Provided! I'm Extremely Proud And Humbled At The Same Time To Be A Part Of This Important Movement! Thank You For What You've Created, And Thank You For Letting Me Pry Into Your Life A Little Bit! Click Play On The Player Below To Preview One Of #LGTWO's Collaborative Playlists! #LGTWO Collaborative Playlist No.9 👇👇👇👇