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.