Highlighted Knowledge
Music Marketing
In this course, I created a marketing plan for Bleachers (for course purposes only). Further course topics include digital, word-of-mouth, and guerrilla marketing techniques; social media and mobile marketing; publicity; music licensing; live performance and tour marketing; merchandising; face-to-face selling; sales promotions; radio promotions; and sponsorships. During the course, my team and I also presented marketing tools, including Chartmetric and Hootsuite.
Touring, Tour Accounting, & Merchandising (+ Tour Marketing)
Throughout this course, I created a marketing plan, a sponsorship one-sheet, merchandising plan, artist offer sheet, and expense breakdown sheet. Course topics included, the touring process from planning to settling live performances; different tour revenue streams, such as ticket sales, sponsorship income, and merchandising; and how to maximize tour profits through effective marketing, promotion, budgeting, and monitoring.
Overview of Tour Marketing Plan for Billie Eilish
(for Course Assignment Only):
Music Publishing: A Creative & Business Perspective
This course taught the creative and business basics of music publishing. At the end of the course, a colleague and I presented how streaming has impacted artist & songwriter royalties in addition to songwriting itself (view the presentation here).
- improving an artist/band’s chances of getting seen, heard, and signed;
- how to ensure that an artist is not getting ripped off by learning United States copyright basics, copyright registration in Washington D.C., and co-writer and producer splits;
- the functions of a music publishing company: song-plugging, advances, and copyright administration;
- how to make sense of publishing deals and copyright assignment: exclusive songwriter agreements, co-publishing deals, and administration agreements;
- how to get paid for your music and master recordings: mechanical royalties, performance royalties, synch fees, master-use fees, print royalties, new electronic transmissions, and foreign sub-publishing monies;
- how and when to join important music organizations and societies: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Sound Exchange, and The Harry Fox Agency;
- how to start your own publishing company: self-publishing, music libraries, resource guides, and pitching your own music in film, TV, games, advertising, corporate videos, movie trailers, and DVD featurettes; and
- the importance of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), the Music Modernization Act (MMA), and more.
Legal & Practical Aspects of the Music Business
This music business law course covered the following topics:
- the various ways in which rights are exploited and monetized and how revenue is generated in the music business;
- the critical topics of building your artist’s brand as a business, along with the necessity of ancillary revenue streams outside of music and the cutting edge deals dealt with in the digital space;
- arrangements between record companies and artists;
- arrangements between publishing companies and artists;
- production deals, producer agreements, and other legal and business issues that arise in the recording studio;
- trademark and rights of publicity;
- agreements relating to the artist’s team of advisors;
- topics and agreements relating to music publishing rights;
- monetizing and understanding the differences between subscription and ad-supported services, as well as other digital media opportunities;
- artist fans, brands, social networking sites, and cultural communities as they affect music, copyrights, and merchandising in a global music market; and
- discussions on current events relating to the ever-changing tides of the music industry, including the ongoing legislative developments in Washington, D.C. that impact copyright reform.
Crafting Great Lyrics: A Songwriting Workshop
Throughout this course, I wrote ten songs, which I presented during the workshop for critique from fellow songwriters and a professional songwriter. To hone my songwriting skills, I completed practical songwriting exercises, which focused on storytelling and expanding on rhyming, while adding specificity, furniture, parallelism, text painting, figurative language, anaphora, and more techniques to songs. In addition, we analyzed hit songs by songwriters, such as Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Leiber & Stoller, The Beatles, Dua Lipa, Cole Porter, Ed Sheeran, H.E.R., Stevie Nicks, and more. Ultimately, each of our songs and lyrics were evaluated by the hit song formula: to entertain, to tell the truth, and to connect with our audience.
A&R: Making Music from Acquisition to Release
An in-depth analysis of an A&R professional’s functions, in collaboration with the artist and label, in the creation of recorded music in all formats from creation and acquisition to release. Topics included new artist acquisition, record deals, the role of the producer, working with personal managers and booking agents, the role of social media from the artist and executive perspectives, and independent touring. During the course, I pitched fox wild., an independent band, and Ali Barter, an independent artist.
Artist Pitches
fox wilde. Artist Pitch
Ali Barter Artist Pitch
Music Supervision for Film & Television (+ Digital Media & Marketing)
Defining the role of the music supervisor by drawing on the combined resources of the film, television, and digital media/content communities to marry music and moving images, this course is for anyone interested in the business and art of film and television music. Lectures and discussion with guest speakers present the principles and procedures of music supervision. Past guest speakers have included composers, music supervisors, filmmakers, producers, music licensing representatives, and executives.
Insider’s Guide to Music Management
Delves into the role of an artist manager and how to avoid management pitfalls. The course also discusses artist management in the digital age.
Copyright Law in the Entertainment Industry
As the ownership of intellectual property continues to be the lifeblood of the industry and the source of income for many, this course provides an overview of intellectual property rights with a focus on copyright law and its role in the film, music, and digital online industries, including related areas such as celebrity endorsements and branding. Specific topics covered include authorship and copyright ownership; fair use; how copyrights are licensed and controlled in the entertainment industry; copyright “mechanics,” such as registration and notice; copyright legislation and Congress; and duration of copyright. Also examined is the role of copyright in the entertainment industry and its interaction with other business and legal principles, key court cases, and international copyright protection.
The Record Production Process: Professional Practices
An overview of record producers’ role and their responsibility through all the stages of making a record: pre-production, recording, overdubs, editing, mixing, and mastering. Topics include how to use appropriate terminology to communicate effectively with the various members of the production team, sharpening listening skills to incorporate specific elements into production, producing for a specific artist’s genre of music, and how to get the best performance from the artist. The course also touches on arrangement techniques, as well as key vocal production techniques for main and background vocals in addition to the differences between producing a mix and engineering a mix, as well as the different style of mixes that are needed before going into the mastering phase of a project. The course covered musical, emotional, performance, and arrangement techniques designed to make music more compelling.
Music Licensing: Turning Talent Into Dollars
Develop an understanding of how the licensing process works. This course examines the business issues associated with licensing rights in the music industry. Through lectures, case studies, and discussions with notable industry guests, instruction focuses on the business and legal aspects of licensing. Topics include detailed examination of the various types of licenses that apply to the music industry, rights and clearance issues, applicable terms from publishing and record deals, typical representation arrangements, and negotiation and networking strategies. The course provides an understanding of how artists and music business professionals can make the most of the licensing opportunities available in the music business and how to avoid problems associated with those opportunities.
Rhiana S. Chickering 