November 28, 2009: UMG Showcase for Kevin Morgan presented by King Ryan Events

Kevin Morgan of the Universal Music Group started the evening’s showcase by stating he was looking for something unique and original. Three hours later, Kevin stated how excited he was with the acts he’d seen thus far. The event’s producer, King Ryan of King Ryan Events noted how eclectic the performers were.

A rock band, rappers, singer songwriters, R & B, pop and hip hop groups participated in the Universal Music Group A & R Showcase for Kevin Morgan presented by King Ryan Events at the Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills, CA this past Saturday, November 28th. The twenty performers performing this night were selected by King Ryan Events from the hundreds that submitted their music websites, and MySpace Music pages for review in response to listings on Craigslist.

At past showcases staged by King Ryan Events, according to King Ryan dozens of performers “…have been signed to record labels, management contracts…booked on tours, television shows [plus have] met producers and networked with other people to launch their careers…”

Tonight all present were trying to impress Universal Music Group’s [UMG] Kevin Morgan. UMG is the world’s leading company recording and publishing music. UMG discovers, develops, markets and distributes music through a diverse array of labels including but not limited to A&M/Octone, Polydor Records, Mercury Records, Disa, ECM and Island Def Jam Music Group representing some of the biggest performers in the industry. Just small samplings of those artists are as follows: Kanye West, 3 Doors Down, Beck, Rihanna, Nelly, Shania Twain, Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge, and Lionel Richie.

During the performances, Kevin was listening, taking notes, and keeping score. At the end of all performances, Kevin selected four of the twenty performers for encores. These four were Flo from San Francisco, Jeda’Voice from Riverside, Brooke Ashlie of LA, and Simone Battle also of LA. Two others who also stood out, but weren’t what Kevin Morgan was looking for this evening, were The Soma Tree from San Diego, and Logan of LA. Other performers came from as far away as Orlando, Minnesota, and England.

Just before the last few performances, King Ryan also introduced Nick Love CO-CEO of Dropyourtalent.com who offered sage advice to all the aspiring performers present noting to get signed by a label, performers must have management, a trackable fan base (eg. Myspace hits), and a great promo kit package (PKG) put together. The importance of having a fan base was reiterated by King Ryan, and again by Nick, when Nick conveyed a brief anecdote about a meeting with a record label executive, who loved his sound, but was not impressed because, at the time of this meeting, Nick had no fan base. Dropyourtalent.com is a new online networking community for performers, producers, managers, and others in the entertainment industries.

King Ryan's next showcase is this Saturday, December 5th @ Level 3 nightclub in Hollywood, King Ryan is holding a Hip Hop competition and the winner of the competition will get signed to Violator Management & Dipset West Records. Violator manages P. Diddy, Mariah Cary, Busta Rhymes, & 50 Cent among others.