MUSIC BUSINESS PLAN

NORTHERN SOUTHERNERS
601 Lendall Lane, Fredericksburg V.A. 22405

2010

Prepared by Kevin English | eleetmusic.com | (347) 688-5383

 CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

The information contained in this Business Plan, and requested by the reader, is confidential and
proprietary to “Northern Southerners, Inc. (“Northern Southerners” or the “Company”). By accepting
delivery of this Business Plan, the recipient agrees that it is to be solely for his or her confidential use,
and with the express understanding that, without prior written permission of the Company, the
recipient will not release this Business Plan or any supplementary materials. The recipient may not
discuss the information contained herein, or make any reproductions or use of this Business Plan, or the
information contained herein for any purpose other than evaluating a potential business or financial
relationship with the Company. The information contained herein may change at the sole discretion of
the Company, without notice or liability to a prospective investor.

The recipient of this Business Plan, by accepting delivery of this Business Plan, agrees to promptly return
to Gladys or Ralph Perkins (President and Treasurer, respectively), this Business Plan and any other
documents or information furnished to them, upon oral or written request of the Company, or if such
party elects not to proceed further with a business or financial relationship with the Company.

Requests and inquiries regarding this Business Plan and other documents should be directed to the
attention of Gerrad Brooks, 540-220-4160, airgerr@yahoo.com at Northern Southerners.

Document Number: _______________________

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Mission Statement

The Northern Southerners, a State of Virginia “S” Corporation, spotlights unconventional music,
merchandise and entertainment typically overshadowed by mainstream ideologies. It speaks to the
shared experiences of Generation Y and The Urban Trendsetter. It provides fair compensation to its
employees, a fair return to its owners, and a fair royalty to its artists.

Goals

 Establish and grow The Company into a full service record label, merchandising and multimedia
company
 Create a steady stream of revenue from record sales, digital sales, merchandising, licensing and
live performances

Keys to Success

 Focus on creating a consistent stream of high quality songs and music related products
 Solve problems with independent marketing, promotional and advertising budgets
 Ensure products are delivered on time, financials are managed effectively, marketing and
promotional budgets are monitored, and develop successful growth strategies

 Focus on internet presence and building the foundation for a recognizable web brand

Financial Requirements

The Northern Southerners (hereafter referred to as The Company) seeks a capital infusion of $100,000
to continue building on the foundation already established by the company. This money will be used to
cover costs associated with creating a consistent stream of music related products, marketing,
promotion, and working capital necessary to establish and grow The Company into a successful
multimedia organization. We plan to repay the balance of this loan amount in the span of approximately
three years. We also plan to immediately begin repayment of the loan interest at a rate of 6% or $500
per month. Further information regarding these procedures is outlined later in this plan.

Company Description

Currently working the single “Blinded”, published originally by Bruce Springsteen these guys definitely
have something to say. Fans get excited as they admire the artistic content within the music. Exceptional
lyrics mixed with catchy original beats, blended to create an infectious hip hop sound that breaks
cultural boundaries and has major crossover appeal. Naysayers said we would never have the clearance
from Bruce Springsteen for “Blinded”, but we went to his office anyway. In April 2009 Northern
Southerners received their first ringtone deal with VIO Mobile for “Blinded”, which is now available
through all major cell phone carriers as well as Jamster.
 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Our current sources of income include but are not limited to the following list of products and services:

 Retail sales of CD’s, DVD’s and other multimedia formats

 Sales of T-Shirts, jackets, tour books and other promotional merchandise

 Royalties and fees earned from performances of recordings on radio and television, on the
Internet, in movies, and in commercial venues such as restaurants and nightclubs

 Live Performances

Recorded Music

The Northern Southerners will spend a large portion of their creative energy on writing song lyrics and
composing music. The Company commits to producing and recording a steady stream of high quality
music for public consumption to equal no less than two songs per month. The Company will sell these
CD’s and DVD’s to mom and pop stores, retail chains, at live shows and over the internet via various
online and offline distributors and aggregators. The Company will also sell digital music in the following
formats: Complete Album Downloads, Full Track Downloads, Mobile Only Full Track Downloads,
Polyphonic Ringtones, and Ringback Tones. We plan to make these items available through structured
licensing agreements with popular online retail (i.e. I Tunes, EMusic, and Rhapsody).

Merchandising

The Company will manufacture and produce a large variety of merchandise at the lowest possible costs.
Every piece of merchandise, once sold, becomes a living piece of advertising for our projects, creating a
dual benefit for our company and its consumers. These items will include but are not limited to the
following: T-Shirts, CDs, Posters, Sweatshirts, Hats, Jackets and other collectibles.

Live Performance

The Company will focus on live performance venues and the relationships with booking agents as a
marketing and advertising supplement to drive record and merchandising sales.

Licensing

As the owner of the masters and the publisher of our own catalogue of songs, The Company is
guaranteed a certain bundle of rights by law. Because we own all the rights, anyone who wishes to use
our song must first obtain your permission. A film or TV show needs to borrow only two of these rights:
the right to use the actual recording (our master), and the right to use the underlying composition that
the master is based on (our song). The permission we give them to use the master is tendered in the
form of a contract called a master-use license. The permission we give them to use the song itself is
tendered in the form of another contract called a synchronization license. Both these licenses can be
combined into one agreement if the publisher and master owner are one in the same.

MARKETING PLAN

The Company’s marketing will revolve around 4 basic online and offline mediums: Radio, Reviews, Road
and Retail. The Northern Southerners will use the strategies of this plan to attack all four principles
simultaneously over the course of the next three years. This will determine the true value of The
Company’s music and validity of our business. To get the most of these 4 mediums we must first prepare
a polished and professional press kit and update our online presence. The Company explains in more
detail below. The costs for these items are listed in the Start up Cost spreadsheet in the Financial
Statement.

Professional Press Kit Includes:

 Biography – A professional one page biography will be written to provide press, radio and fans
with a complete concise story behind the music of The Company.

 Photo Shoot – A full service digital photo shoot will be performed to provide high resolution
images for The Company’s MySpace Page, Blog and Press Kits; both online and offline.

 Electronic Press Kit –An online version of The Company’s press kit will be created and
maintained to allow for easy access to bloggers, journalist and other press outlets to cover its
music.

 Download Cards – Similar to iTunes, this plastic or recycled cardboard business card sized gift
cards come with a unique download code to be entered on the web that will collect data about
the fan downloading (i.e. email, address, zip code, age, etc.)

 CD Manufacturing – Professionally manufactured CD’s will be created to provide radio and print
publications a physical copy of The Company’s latest releases.

Online Presence

 Customized MySpace Layout - A new layout will be designed and published at

http://www.myspace.com/northernsoutherners to maximize fan experience and brand
exposure on the #1 music discovery destinations on the web.

 The Northern Southerners Blog – A new blog layout will be designed and published to
www.northernsoutherners.com. The blog will be updated weekly with mp3’s, pictures, video
and commentary from The Company. The blog will serve as a two way communication between
The Company its fans and stakeholders.
Once the professional press kit and updated online presence is complete, The Company will move
forward in presenting The Company’s products to the mediums that are illustrated and outlined in detail
on the following pages.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Figure 1: The 4 R's (Reviews, Radio, Road, Retail)

Reviews

The Company will do as much as it can to effectively promote ourselves in the press; however we
anticipate the need for a full time publicist.

 The Company will pay a full time professional publicist at a rate of $500 per month to secure
interviews and reviews in both online and offline publications.

The first step in assisting the publicists is to compile a list of appropriate press accounts (i.e. outlets) in
our target market-- college press, local magazines and newspapers, fanzines, online press and media,
etc. Note that our list will include press that is not primarily focused on music, but which music fans
read-- for example, fashion or auto magazines. Evaluation of our press and publicity efforts will include
the monitoring and tracking of single, album and concert reviews, as well as interviews and features
regarding our label and its acts.

Radio

The Company will do as much as we can to effectively promote our record ourselves to commercial and
college radio; however we anticipate the need for an independent radio promoter.

 The Company will pay a professional college radio promoter at a rate of $500 per month to
secure radio spins on BDS/CMJ tracked radio stations.

 In addition, The Company plans to use highly influential online services to market its music to
radio. These services will be paid at a rate of $1,000 per month.
We will assist the efforts of the radio promoter by creating a comprehensive list of station information.
Servicing radio involves providing the MD, PD, DJ’s and Promotions/Marketing Director with full-length
CDs and singles, and updating appropriate radio personnel with information on our acts and
developments with our label (new releases, upcoming concerts to add to the concert calendar, special
promotions in the area, T-shirts, posters, flyers, etc.). Evaluation of our radio promotion efforts will
include the monitoring and tracking of ads, level of rotation and overall chart statistics (Billboard, BDS,
and College Music Journal).

Road

We plan to join The National Association of Campus Activities to maximize the number of paid gigs per
year. These shows easily become multi media events including co operative ad buys, album/concert
reviews in print, radio interviews and a place to sell CD’s and other merchandise.

 The membership rate for the NACA is $750 as described in the start section in the financial plan.

 The Company will also use online booking agencies to find high profile, paid gig. We will pay
those services a total of $500 per month.

Retail Marketing

While no one element of our marketing mix is more important than the other, we will tie as much of our
marketing efforts into retail as possible. The first step will be to build a comprehensive list of music blogs
that make sense for The Company. Secondly, we will service the online record stores (i.e. iTunes,
Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon mp3, Lala and more) with current releases, promotional material, and point
of purchase advertising.

 The cost of distributing The Company’s product will be at a rate of $100 per month.

Online vs. Offline

The Straddle is a term coined by professor/blogger George Howard to explain the difference between
online and offline market. The balance act necessary to leverage both worlds is something that is not so
often talked about, but one that most successful acts are already doing.

 The cost of online and offline advertisement will cost the company $1500 per month

For independent artists, this concept is even more important to grasp. MySpace and other social
networks have given rise to a generation of musicians who think they can become an instant success
from their laptops. Truth is, if you fail to create a real connection with the fans or friends you make
online, you will ultimately loose them all offline.

Our Street Team

The street team is an integral part of The Company’s marketing plans, and a significant portion of every
artist’s marketing budget is dedicated to manufacturing promotional items for street team use. The
street team will be an extra set of several “arms and legs” scattered across the country supplementing
the efforts of our publicist, radio promoter and general managers.

 The cost to properly fund our street team will be $300 per month

MANAGEMENT PLAN
Gladys Perkins – President & Ralph Perkins- Treasurer/Secretary

Gladys and Ralph run a successful minority owned business called NetConnix, a Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner providing advanced systems integration services on a global scale. With consultants located
throughout the United States, NetConnix offers on-site Active Directory & Exchange migration services,
Microsoft Systems Architecture & Engineering Services and IT Strategy consulting services to Fortune
500 enterprises as well as State & Federal Government organizations throughout the world

Gerrad Brooks (aka “Rush”) - VP Operations

He is the eldest of 4 children and was raised in a single family home by his mother. His responsibilities,
at times, seemed overwhelming in comparison to others his age. His hard knock life bestowed him with
a "make it happen now" attitude. Life hasn't always been beneficial for him, but deep, perspective
thinking and speaking it real is truly evident in his music. Gerrad began music just by making a rhyme for
fun in the 12th grade. He had the desire but never divulged until one night at the underground.
Once the crowd heard my rhyme, they went wild and I received such an adrenaline rush hence the name
“Rush”.

Ralph Kay (aka Picasso) – VP of Sales

Picasso, the eldest of 3 children, was part of one of the only African American families in the area that
had both parents living in the same household. Although a two parent household might sound normal to
many people, Ralph understood that it wasn't at all a normal occurrence. Because of his secure
environment, he grew up with a care free, "all is right with the world" attitude. Nothing seemed to
concern or worry him much, still doesn’t. This fosters his ability to paint beautiful pictures with words
and use his witty humor along the way.

Kevin English – Product Manager

Kevin English began his musical career as a student of Classical Voice at the prestigious, Mason Gross
School of the Arts in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1996, he made a transition into the music business
while serving in the marketing and promotion departments of various major labels, including Atlantic
and Universal Records. He has worked with Tori Amos, Bebe Winnans, Hootie & the Blowfish, Eryka
Badu, Matchbox 20, The Lost Boyz, Sugar Ray and Busta Rhymes. Kevin also consults the independent
artist community through his new media marketing firm, Eleet Music. 

Scott H. Kapp - Attorney

Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 77 West Wacker Drive | Suite 3100 | Chicago, IL 60601
Tel 312.456.1061 | Fax 312.899.0419 | Cell 773.218.0505 kapps@gtlaw.com | www.gtlaw.com

About the Author

Kevin English is a marketer and student of the arts, who blogs about the skills and
strategies necessary to get the most out of your musical career at
http://eleetmusic.comand on Twitter @eleetmusic.

His awards in this field include Winner of Prudential’s National Business Plan
Competition and NFTE’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.