Friday, I received a nice letter from the College Music Society. They selected my conference proposal! Jennifer Jones Mitchell and I will be presenting at the 2016 CMS National Conference in Santa Fe. We’re excited! Our topic is “Marketing Your Music Online: A Guide to Social Media for The Musician”.
The conference will be late October at at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza, and St. Francis Auditorium in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In January and February of 2016, the College Music Society Monthly Discussion Forum focused on music and technology. The survey questions were designed by Dr. David Mitchell and a summary of the results is now available on the College Music Society website. Click on the link below to have a look.
The purpose of this survey was to learn how many schools currently offer music and technology degrees and how many schools make technology part of their degree program. The results were very interesting…
On February 18th, 2016, I presented at the College Music Society regional conference at Birmingham Southern College. My topic was How to Designing a Music and Technology Degree. I covered NASM requirements and issues to consider when designing a Music and Technology degree.
In today’s digital entertainment industry, it is more important than ever for music graduates to master digital recording techniques, in addition to their instrument. After all, digital media is the medium through which our music is most often created, found and heard. Students with the right skills can distribute their music to a global audience for commercial applications, streaming, licensing and much more. In fact, the opportunities for today’s musicians are limited only by their imagination and ability to take advantage of digital music opportunities online.
In my opinion, M and T will be the preferred degree for 21st century musicians.
Click on the Slide Share below to learn more.
Dr. David Mitchell is scheduled to present at the College Music Society Southern Conference on Designing Music and Technology Courses on February 18, 2016.
Attendees will learn about and discuss the trend away from traditional instrumental performance degrees and toward music and technology degrees that better prepare graduates for today’s job market. The discussion will include paradigm shifts in the music industry, including online streaming, digital downloads and multimedia production.
Dr. Mitchell’s original composition, “The Bells” for chorus and violin will be performed by the Campbell University Choir – featuring Lucy Greenleaf-Carter on violin – on Friday, February 19, 2016. “The Bells” was arranged and set to the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name.
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Four of Dr. David Mitchell’s original compositions are now available on Amazon.com from Dorn Publications, including:
Dr. Mitchell’s original composition The Witch’s Hex was given an Honorable Mention at the 2015 Macro Composer’s Society Conference.
My proposal to the College Music Society, Open Discussion Forum was accepted in December. It’s now live at the link below since January 01, 2016. It will remain open until the end of the month.
If your school offers music and technology classes, please take the survey and share your experience. This study will collect data on how traditional music schools are adapting their curriculum to include a greater emphasis on preparing students for music careers that include aspects of digital music composition, performance and production. This data will become part of my presentation on the same subject at the CMS conference in Alabama.
Since Apple introduced the iPod in 2001, major labels have gradually lost control of the market. They’re no longer the gatekeepers to success they once were. In fact, with the rise of social media, smartphones and streaming services, it has become unnecessary to sign a record deal.
All you have to do is follow the examples of Emma McGann and Lindsey Stirling…
According to the Mirror, Emma McGann is a 25 year old struggling singer who beat George Ezra in the charts, and she’s nipping at the heals of global superstar Ed Sheeran. She started as a local artist performing in clubs and talent shows, but she was unable to attract the attention of major labels. So, she decided to start performing online from her bedroom using a website called YouNow.com. Since October 2014, she has generated 70,000 followers and her debut hit “You Mess Me Up” has reached number 14 in the UK charts. She now makes over £2,000-a-month performing live streaming gigs from her bedroom. Amazing!
YouNow.com is a live video streaming service, which anyone can join and create a channel to discuss any topic, play music or whatever. Essentially, it’s your own broadcast channel, which anyone in the world can watch without logging in. It’s like having your own cable channel and people can tip you using bitcoin. Viewers can search topics including music channels, which feature a number of live streaming artists 24/7. It’s a huge opportunity for musicians to reach a global audience without a major label.
Lindsey Stirling is a dub step violinist who made $6 million on YouTube without a record label. According to aux, the major labels decided not to sign her in 2007. So she created her own YouTube channel. Her Wild Wild West and Game of Thrones inspired videos have built a huge online following. She makes her money through ad revenue, direct music sales, sponsorships and live performances. The major labels are desperate to sign her now.
This bottom line is, opportunities for musicians to generate revenue online are only limited by imagination and sweat equity. So grab your instrument, create a marketing plan and start making money.
Bet you didn’t know “Happy Birthday”, one of the most recognized songs in the English language, was under copyright with Warner, until last week.
Yep! In fact, it has generated significant revenue for Warner since 1988, especially in movies. The licensing fee can be as much as $1,500 to $5,000, which has inspired a number of productions to create alternative versions of the song.
Check out this video to see some examples:
According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, a federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled Warner/Chappell publishing company never had the right to charge for the use of “Happy Birthday to You”.
In 1893, Mildred and Patty Hill published it in a book entitled Song Stories for the Kindergarten. They borrowed the melody from a similar popular song of the era and changed the lyrics to “Good Morning to All”. Patty Hill, a kindergarten principal in Kentucky, encouraged her students to sing it at the beginning of school each morning. It became so popular; her students began to spontaneously sing it at birthday parties, changing the words to “ Happy Birthday to You”.
In 1935, The Clayton Summy Co. published a piano arrangement of “Happy Birthday to You” attributing the composition to Preston Orem and R. R. Forman. The copyright to this particular arrangement was eventually purchased by Warner in 1988. Warner incorrectly charged a fee for any and all versions of “Happy Birthday to You”, but they actually only owned the copyright to a specific piano arrangement. Amazing!
So you can relax. No one’s going to take half of your birthday cake, or a percentage of your birthday presents. : )
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