Al Branch Creates Marketing Strategies For Hip Hop Artists
Al Branch is the Chief Marketing Officer & Partner of the powerhouse management group, The Blueprint Group & Maverick Artist Management. He sits down with Alyssa Julya Smith in LA to talk about how the brings artists like Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy and Drake to the next level in their careers.
Branch talks about his lifelong passion for hip-hop which has defined his style as a manager and marketing executive for over two decades. He talks about the importance of bringing together brands around musical acts and worked to landed the Sprite deal for Drake, which allowed his to cross over early in his career.
Branch also talks about how they helped bring G-Eazy from an independent darling to a bona fide multiplatinum superstar by 2015. Branch is currently working on projects for Cyhi, G-Eazy, Marc E. Bassy and looking forward to the new Nicki Minaj album.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.