The Concert Industry

As I finish this blog, I complete the last assignment of my masters program. Now that I have completed my path in higher education, I continue to educate myself in the latest trends and technologies of my industry. I have always had a strong passion for music and live shows. There is something to be said over the quality and experience of a concert but the industry itself is on the decline. Tickets get more expensive as the economy continues to decline, which proves to be a bad business model in general.

Like all entertainment industry sectors, the concert industry looks to alternative methods to raise event awareness and ticket sales. Social media, clever viral marketing, artist involvement and radio contests are all heavily utilized. Rising ticket sales have also pushed ticket buyers away. On a personal level, I have cut my attendance to larger shows back and I have started to go to more local gigs and shows.

Live Nation continues to work toprice tickets for the consumer but they are also working to turn a profit. They have struck a partnership with Groupon to sell tickets at a discounted rate for marketing promotion. Groupon has been said to be terrible for small businesses and pricing has to be strategic. Hopefully, Groupon and Livenation have found a way to balance the discounted tickets and the benefits of the deal.

This all sounds like a bleak outlook for my career now that I have graduated, but I am confident in pursuing live music. Events like the recent I Heart Radio concert by Clear Channel, SXSW in Austin, ACL in Austin, and Warped Tour bring local talent and opportunities. 

The Beginning Of My Professional Career

This past year I have been studying for my masters online through Full Sail University. The program lasted 12 months with a new class every four weeks. In all of my classes there were weekly reading assignments, class lectures, discussions, and projects.

Media Literacy and Research Methodologies

In this course we discussed different research resources and credible resources. The assignments were research papers written in APA format. This was a great class for structure and detailed analysis of information. I enjoyed finding resources that were interesting and useful to a media-centric career.

Executive Leadership

Executive Leadership was a great medium for learning different leadership styles and how to apply them. I have experience in many different styles of workplace but I did not realize that different jobs required different methods of leadership. Through this course I learned how to be an effective team leader and gained confidence in my leadership skills.

Project and Team Management

In this class we were separated into groups of about eight to ten people to plan and organize an event related to our career paths. My group launched a dinner event through a major theme park for one of our clients. We made event logos and flyers, planned financial budgets, and created a timeline for the event.

Business Storytelling and Brand Development

This course started to shape my business goals and aspirations. I learned how to develop my unique career ideas into a business. Through this class I put together a business idea and a brand strategy for my company.

Entertainment Business Finance

This was my most difficult course. I was inexperienced with financial research and planning up until this course. Once I created my plan and financial budget for my company, everything fell into place to make it a reality.

Negotiation and Deal-Making

I wish this course had been offered in my undergraduate studies. Negotiations and deal-making are very important no matter what field or profession someone is going into. In this course we paired off in different entertainment career scenarios and negotiated contracts and money.

Product and Artist Management

This was an interesting course that focused more on the entertainment side of the industry.  In this course we got to choose an artist or athlete of our choosing. I chose a band from my favorite genre and created a detailed management and marketing plan to promote them.

Advanced Entertainment Law

This course covered everything including trademarks, copyrights, and contracts. Through this course I learned how to file paperwork to maintain my rights to my company's logos and trademarks.

Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution

This was a great course to research and find new sources of media publishing. In addition to the recognized distribution outlets by iTunes, Amazon, and brick and mortar stores, I found many different boutique distribution companies available to publish my work.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing was a great resource for learning SEO and Google Analytics best practices. I was able to apply these techniques with this blog and my personal websites. There are important aspects to this coursework including ad tracking, search tags, and digital marketing techniques.

Business Plan Development

This course followed through my business plan step by step. I created a business plan based on my interests and love for media production and concerts. Every piece of my plan was laid out in this course including marketing strategies, financial budgets, and the details of how the company would work.

Final Project: Business Plan

This was the last course of the program, which followed through with the finishing details of my business plan. I refined and extended my business model and submitted it for final inspection. Currently, I am working on developing my plan into a reality.

Financing Alternatives

Recently, I have been under contract with a startup company to do some media work for them. While I cannot disclose which company, I can say that I have been exposed to some really interesting companies for startup companies looking for funding. 

One of my favorites that I have encountered is Plug and Play Tech Center. Plug and Play Tech Center is a company that joins startups together. It is a community of over 300 startup tech companies from around the world.

They bring in resources such as funding from corporate investors and venture capitalists, data centers, hiring strategies, residence programs for entrepreneurs, resources, and office space.

If your company is specializing a media production and technology focus, you might consider joining Plug and Play Tech Center.

Rogers Ventures is a leading venture capital company out of Toronto that features media companies and technology. They have helped launch companies like ScribbleLive and Thora as part of a digital media strive for better news and live note taking. While they may be based in Canada, you may find that your neighborhood has more funding sources like this venture capitalist company with resources and support your company needs. Companies like Rogers Ventures want to hear your ideas and innovation, so seek them out.

One place to seek companies out would be to checkout DEMO, a seasonally held event to launch startup companies and products. Investors and creators from around the world will be at these events. This is a place where highly regarded employees from companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Microsoft, Dell, HP and more will be in attendance.

You will also find funding sources and other resources that will help your company succeed.  Check out the sources page on the DEMO website for a list of companies that you might be able to work with. 

Business Plan Experts Part 2

In my previous post I mentioned two industry experts, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, and listed a few of the characteristics that I consider to be the basis for why their companies are so successful. That was three weeks ago and now a few major changes have hit both companies since then. Steve Jobs has stepped down as Apple CEO and Facebook has adopted privacy settings similar to rival Google+.

This may not be the first time that Jobs has stepped down from Apple, but it is the first time that he will leave while Apple continues to increase in success. While Jobs' health may be questionable, some like John Dvorak have theorized that Jobs stepped down so that Tim Cook could take his place. Dvorak also Cook has been "acting" CEO for months and if Jobs had not stepped down, then his CEO position could have been up for grabs (Dvorak).

This is a great example of knowing how to use leadership skills to best support your company. Jobs will still have a hand in some of Apple's dealings and he also made sure that Apple would not stumble if something were to happen to his health. It is also an example of how focused Jobs is on Apple. As I stated in my previous blog, there is not much Apple leaves to chance with it's products. Every item is researched, tested and designed to exact specifications (Kahney, 2008) and I do not think that Jobs would ultimately allow someone without that vision to take over when something does go wrong with his health. I want to incorporate a similar approach in my company, but I also want to be open to change when it is best for my company.

My company is small and for now does not need to be anything larger than a basic sole proprietorship but I am considering a partnership when I can no longer handle the responsibilities and need to expand. This will allow someone else to handle the affairs of the company should anything happen to me. The most important section of my business plan is my financial plan. Investors will want to see how quickly we can turn a profit and if our start-up can grow as fast as the others here in the greater Seattle area.


Dvorak, J. "Contrarian view of Steve Jobs’s decision ." Market Watch. Wall Street Journal, 25 Aug 2011. Web. 28 Aug 2011. .

Kahney, Leader. (2008, March 18). How apple got everything right by doing everything wrong . Wired , 16(04), Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_apple

Business Plan Experts

When I think about the new media industry and the people who dominate the attention of news sites I think of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg and Apple founder, Steve Jobs. Both have been highly scrutinized in the media for their involvement in the development of our creative society and businesses. Apple is always in the media for it's new services and products and Facebook is on the front of social media users. These companies thrive on a perceived image and reputation of the people who use services provided by these companies.

Steve Jobs has done a great job at keeping Apple in the news in a popular light while maintaining a strict design that was distinct to his company. Wired magazine put it like this, "No product escapes Cupertino without meeting Jobs' exacting standards, which are said to cover such esoteric details as the number of screws on the bottom of a laptop and the curve of a monitor's corners. "He would scrutinize everything, down to the pixel level," says Cordell Ratzlaff, a former manager charged with creating the OS X interface"(Kahney, 2008). Jobs not only runs his company, but he has a strong hand in it's design and development. This kind of involvement shows dedication toward a quality product and investors are reassured of the ability to sell more product.

Mark Zuckerberg only recently developed a plan for his company. He let Facebook become it's own powerhouse before taking back the reins of control. Facebook has been highly experimental with design and features for its users, the most recent has been the development of Facebook for Business, a page dedicated toward bringing in businesses to use Facebook as for their target markets ("Facebook for business," 2011). This flexibility has enabled Facebook to adapt to new scenarios in which the old models of Facebook would no longer serve it's purpose.

Both of these companies have a common enemy, Google. Google has proven to be a successful opponent in both the computing software world and the social media world. Google+ has 18 million followers (Simon, 2010), but there has been little to no news to how Google+ will be utilized as a information source to advertisers.


Facebook for business. (2011, August 7). Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/business

Kahney, Leader. (2008, March 18). How apple got everything right by doing everything wrong . Wired , 16(04), Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_apple

Simon, Saavedra. (2010, August 7). Google plus hits 18m, suggests facebook users ready to migrate? poll. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/google-plus-hits-18m-suggests-facebook-users-ready-to-migrate-poll-52582/

Google Plus Artists Equals....?

Google+ has been the latest trend tested early adopters of social media. While many Internet users may not know quite what to do with Google+ yet, there are many who have found ways to using Google+ in their social media strategies.

What can Google+ do for artists? Google+ is still in a testing phase, but for personal pages the amount of information that is available in one place is incredible. The profile page allows the users to write in-depth about themselves without much restriction and includes links to other sites the user may have setup. Pictures and videos are easily included and the android app is incredibly intuitive to GPS notifications for check-ins and media uploads sent as soon as the pictures or video are taken.

One of the most outspoken artists on Google+ is Mark Hoppus the bassist of Blink-182.  All three members of Blink-182 have used Facebook and Twitter to reach out to fans. Rarely does someone who is not a member of Blink-182 make posts to the official pages. The posts are usually an-inclusive and provide exclusive content such as videos of recording sessions or pictures while one tour.

When Hoppus first joined Google+, he tested out the hangout feature, which allows up to ten people to video chat simultaneously.  The lucky few who were able to join the hangout responded positively to the event with Hoppus and there continues to be requests on other posts by Hoppus begging him to do it again soon.

Recently, Hoppus used his Google+ account to launch the latest single of the new album. While I have not found any reason that this spiked membership to Google+, it certainly did not affect the fan's reaction to the latest single negatively or dash the hopes of the new album.

For now, I think Google+ is more of an accent piece to the current platforms of social media, but in time I believe it will be a stronger tool for networking and sharing than the usual sites we have been using these last few years. 

ISP Companies Join The Fight Against Piracy

Bloomberg reported Thursday that Internet service providers are volunteering to send notifications to suspected piracy users. ISP providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast have joined with music and movie groups to help curb piracy in the industry and possibly put off stronger legislation against ISP companies.

What this means for those of us that are working hard to break into the industry is that ISP companies are starting to have our backs when it comes to piracy. They have access to information that could lead to significant piracy rings and they are going to use it. For now it is just an email scare tactic but volunteering the information is just one step closer to stronger enforcement.

There is no doubt in my mind that piracy affects big labels and big picture companies, but I have been of the belief that there are stronger side effects to piracy than a cut in profits. For independent artists, piracy means that your music is being spread almost virally to people who may have never heard your music before.

Even if it's free illegally, these pirates may become fans that purchase merchandise at shows. For a larger artist, merchandise is treated almost as important as the disk sale. An independent artist might find that the most important thing to their survival and profits is merchandise.

The LA Times has reported a large amount of negative feedback from readers on Friday, after the news had broke out.

What the ISP and entertainment community should focus on is why people pirate in the first place and recognize that pirates will find new ways to obtain illegal materials. Is it possible for the industry to lead into a market with free material? Is it worth the advertisements and endorsements in movies and music to allow pirating to affect the profits of the industry? I think that for our industry, it is too subjective to predict the future but something must be done to continue to produce higher quality material.  

Alternative Distribution

I think that the way to saving the music industry is to use inspiring content and distribute them in creative ways. One of my favorite methods is deploying them in video games, specifically Rock Band. Last.fm is also a great way to integrate music with social media with the focus being on music and not necessarily communicating with your peers. CD Baby is a tried and true method but it has a surprising resource that may be valuable.


Rock Band has created the Rock Band Network, which allows users to upload, customize, and distribute their music into the game. Not only does the consumer listen to the music, but they also feel and play the music by themselves or with their friends and family. They can purchase the mp3s for listening on the go or use the artist's avatar in their game for their own playable character. The artist's profile is directly linked with the artists site and linked with social media.


Last.FM is available online and as a mobile app for online radio. It connects and streams artists to users instead of a downloadable feature. It has intuitive music recommendation ability and it updates users with concert information. Fans can connect with other fans and share links to the artists with others. Music is also available for purchase on the website by Amazon.


CD Baby is great for mp3 and CD distribution but what you may not realize is that they also press vinyl. Vinyl records have become increasingly popular among audiophiles and music lovers as they provide a consistent high quality audio source that many mp3s can lack after ripping from compact disks. Digital files are also easily traded and copied to friends or pirated. Vinyl records are a solid piece of audio that will most likely not be copied or reformatted. They can be traded and resold but most likely will be collectable pieces for a collection. They can be included in bundles with other merchandise and mp3s.
 

If You Build It, They Will Come

Over the last year I have had the opportunity to go to Recording Academy events on a regular basis. One of the most reoccurring topic is the continuing relevance of Myspace as an outlet to musicians. Most musicians who are savvy with social media shy away from acknowledging Myspace altogether. Even though its popularity with users is down, many well-known users such as Lady Gaga and Green Day keep their Myspace pages updated and current.

The weaknesses of Myspace for musicians are many. There is little security preventing users to download mp3s and video.  Those who use facebook and twitter frequently may connect their feeds to post onto Myspace and vice versa. This cuts off the ability for users who see this to use one platform to communicate to the artist using another. If the musician posts from Facebook and connects it to Myspace, users who comment on Myspace may not be heard from, as their comments are not fed back into Facebook. Since Myspace is not as popular as Twitter and Facebook, fans move to these other sites. Twitter has created a more direct contact to artists like Billie Joe Armstrong, Fat Mike, Gavin Rossdale and others with it's popularity with fans.

Myspace can be a creative outlet for musicians with interactive artwork and those who feel free to post music on the site. The ability to completely customize a Myspace page that is enjoyable can be compared to the cut and dry pages on Facebook. Myspace has an all-around inclusive site for videos, music, and commentary. A large amount of fans could help show that you have a strong enough following to be signed to a label.  

Though there are strong cons to using Myspace as an outlet for music, it still is a tool available. Would it hurt to have one more site, one more page, one more listing in search engines that bumps your name up in your own search for popularity?

Law Podcasts and Our Future

This week I have researched and listened to three podcasts from three different sources on three very different topics that media professionals should all be aware of.

The first podcast is hosted by Colette Vogele Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast. She interviews Alex Curtis, the Director of Policy and New Media at Public Knowledge. They discuss the topic of Orphan Works, which has become a problem for copyright law in Congress. Orphan Works occur when the owners of copyrighted materials cannot be found. Some organizations believe that laws should be put into place so that there would be proof that someone who wanted to use an Orphan Work had tried to find the copyright owner in order to ask for permission. Those of us who find great materials such as old photographs and sound recordings might not be able to use them in our own materials with the expanding copyrights terms that are available today. 

The next topic I have listened to comes from TED and covers the problems and challenges of copyright in fashion. Johanna Blakley opens with a scene where a woman discovers a unique piece of clothing and not only tells her friend she is going to buy the jacket, she is going to replicate it. In the fashion industry, copyrights are not available to clothing and fashion. Trademarks and logos are protected but the design and craftsmanship are not. She says that the reason for this is that the "courts decided long ago that the apparel is too utilitarian to qualify for copyright protection. They didn't want a handful of designers owning the seminal building blocks of our clothing". Having a creative field without the pressures and restrictions creates two things, dilution and creativity. Trends grow and expand but once they have reached their peak, it's time for something new to take over. 

The final topic I have listened to covers Design Patent Infringement and Gohram Vs. White - How one Man's Spoon Revolutionized Design Law from Suffolk University's intellectual property law series. Christopher V. Cariani describes Gorham Mfg. Company's created a design for a spoon handle that was patented in 1861. Leroy S. White was accused of patent infringement when he tried to patent his own spoon handle designs. The lower court ruled that there was no infringement as the ordinary observer test but the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gorham and declared infringement on the other designs. This is the only time that the Supreme Court has ruled on a design patent case. They ruled that if the design were to be very similar to the common person but enough that it would force the consumer to choose one over the other, then it was infringing on the original patent. 

Celebrity Troubles

In the entertainment industry there can be many setbacks as you try  to start and grow your business. Here are three current event examples to review and learn from.

On Monday, CNET published an article revealing a lawsuit that accuses high ranking companies of fixing worker pay. The lawsuit suggests that "senior executives from Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar 'entered into an interconnected web of express agreements to eliminate competition among them for skilled labor'" and that those affected should be compensated. For those of us starting and growing our companies, money can be tight but we need to make sure that our employees are compensated for their creativity and involvement fairly.

Twitter has proven to be a useful social media tool, but despite it's professional uses others have found the entertainment value in creating false accounts. When I first joined Twitter in 2009, I ran a general search for Green Day, my favorite band. After a drawn out search I realized Green Day did not have their own twitter account but there were many accounts claiming to be. There is a new California bill being put into place to prevent false accounts like these and could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face a fine up to $1,000 and up to one year in prison. While everyone should be mindful of their own social media accounts, a law such as this one could help you recover a domain or username that infringes on your brand.

This week has been an interesting week for copyright infringement suits as Jay-Z has been accused of infringement in his 2000 hit "Big Pimpin'". His accuser is Osama Ahmed Fahmy whose father Baligh Hamdy wrote the original composition for the 1960 Egyptian film Fata Ahlami. Though Jay-Z and others say they obtained the proper licenses, it appears it was only for the unaltered sample and not a "mutilated" sample. This is a reminder that we must be aware and diligent of the copyrights and licenses we borrow from others. Be careful what you consider your own intellectual property, great minds do think alike.

Managing Family

As a member of Grammy U, the student membership of the Recording Academy, I have been through many workshops dealing with managing and artist. Most of the workshops come from the artists perspective, one of the most frequent topics from the band's perspective is family. Should a band use and hire family to run their business?


There are plenty of artists who have had a positive experience with family management such as Beyonce and Ozzy Osborne. There are others like Lindsey Lohan that have had a hard time with parents for managers.


As an artist, there are many things to consider. A manager has to be experienced, dependable, trustworthy, and easy to work with. For a new artist there can be a lot of responsibilities that they must either take upon themselves or delegate power money to others. It can be convenient to have a relative that has had experience, any experience managing finances or contracts.


Think about it in the managers perspective. Is it a good idea to get involved in the business of family? What kind of outcome would occur if the artist does not succeed? Or, on the other hand, what if the artist does well? These are things to consider.


Personally, I think there are much more 'what if' scenarios with family than with strangers. It can be much easier to be professional with a  client than with a brother or sister.

Media Design and Music Culture

I have been interested in web design since GeoCities offered free web hosting. Laugh if you must, but because of this interest, I spent most of my undergraduate studies learning best practices in web design, social media, and media editing. There are a few music artists that have successfully mastered the art of best practice and way too many who have not. One band that tries to balance this line is Green Day.

When you first visit the official web site, greenday.com, you are redirected to an ad page for their latest live album. This page is decorated with the album artworkI have been interested in web design since GeoCities offered free web hosting. Laugh if you must, but because of this interest, I spent most of my undergraduate studies learning best practices in web design, social media, and media editing. There are a few music artists that have successfully mastered the art of best practice and I believe one of them is Green Day.

Greenday.com initially redirects you to an ad page for the band's latest live album. I think that the most important information is laid out in a great way to present video, international stores, the bundle package and track information. Take notice how everything is grouped in boxes lined up. The lines match up and everything is in the same artwork as the advertised album. There is also a link at the to to redirect you back to the home page. To be nit-picky, also notice that the ad page is not www.greenday.com but instead is http://greenday.com/cigsvaltn_splash/index.html and the actual home page is http://www.greenday.com/site/homepage.php. This allows you to book mark the actual, permanent url for the home page instead of always being redirected.

The home page has a lot of content to take in. One of the first and most important features of a web site is its navigation. I think this is one place where the web site could make a few changes. An important feature of the design is that the user should never feel like they are taken to another page while accessing information from the same web site. There are a few things like the fan club, the Broadway show, and the Rock Band game that require a redirect to different sites. I think that the navigation should be rearranged to fit the average users needs and not the promotions needs. I think that tour info, music, pics and videos and the store should be listed first, since these are the most sought after details from fans and these are the pages that are actually under the same domain name and look like the homepage.

Also on the home page, there is a flash player with slides for the latest live album, American Idiot on Broadway information, current news and images. It is good to put these things up on the home page so that people who are just browsing do not have to dig too deep to find quick information.

One thing that the home page lacks is information about Green Day's social media. This information can be found in the Extras section, which I think is a big mistake. This information should not be buried under a miscellaneous title. Instead, either put icons on the home page or make a tab in the navigation for these accounts. I think that since the home page is busy enough, so an additional tab should suffice.

Also, if the lead singer has a twitter, post it somewhere. Anywhere. Everywhere.

Not all of this information is perfect but I believe there are some brilliant design elements currently in place but there are always room for improvements. Continue to look at other artist web sites and take note of their good and bad points as these are often frequently done.