[From CNN.com]
For years, there has been talk that the music industry is in decline. The increase of Internet music piracy and the decrease of consumers' attention spans have been two of the factors blamed for for lackluster sales. So it's no surprise that music stars have sought other streams of income outside royalties, concert dates and merchandising sales throughout the years.
For years, there has been talk that the music industry is in decline. The increase of Internet music piracy and the decrease of consumers' attention spans have been two of the factors blamed for for lackluster sales. So it's no surprise that music stars have sought other streams of income outside royalties, concert dates and merchandising sales throughout the years.
Some, like Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani and Queen Latifah, are the faces of major cosmetic brands, while others, like Jennifer Hudson, Janet Jackson, Marie Osmond and Mariah Carey, offer up their images to popular weight-loss systems.
Even in hip-hop, rap moguls Diddy, Jay-Z and The Williams Brothers diversify their portfolios with liquor brands (Ciroc), nightclubs (40/40) and book publishing imprints (Cash Money Books), respectively. Former pop music chart-toppers Jennifer Lopez, Paula Abdul, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera seem to have hit pay dirt by morphing themselves into judges on television talent competitions. But they aren't the only ones. Record label honchos such as Jimmy Iovine, Mathew Knowles, Ron Fair and Antonio "LA" Reid are also moonlighting on unscripted TV shows. A chieftain at Interscope, Iovine had a stable of hitmakers on his roster, including Lady Gaga, will.i.am, LMFAO, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent, when he assumed the position of being an in-house mentor on "American Idol."...
...Mona Scott-Young is a former hip-hop dancer who later managed hit-making producers Trackmasters before becoming one of the most influential women in music, overseeing the careers of Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Maxwell and Fantasia at Violator Management. These days she seems to have found a new groove in reality TV with her "Love & Hip Hop" franchise on VH1.
"I think what's been happening in music within the last few years and with it changing so drastically, I think that everyone has had to expand their horizons," she said. "Not from just a business model for an economical standpoint but also in being able to tap into every medium and every resource that's available in the pursuit in building their brand or even promoting their projects and their artists. So television is a very natural medium."
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