Thinking About Launching A Music Startup? Enroll In UCLA Music Innovation Summer Institute
What can I do with music and my career in a changing world?
Something different. Something new.
Join us this summer at our Music Innovation Summer Institute at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
- Earn 8 units of UCLA credit while meeting innovators in music and technology.
- Learn to apply your own skills with the changing world of music, Internet, production, and technology.
- Look forward, not just back, in understanding how technology is changing how we create, collaborate, distribute, produce, enjoy live performance, and build new businesses.
Experiment. Make new contacts and build new communities. Find other like-minded students to launch new businesses and project with. We will explore digital disruption of existing models, what already is happening with/to music, and what may be happening over the next 3-10 years.
How: Register now at http://summer.ucla.edu/institutes/MusicInnovation
What: Two 4-unit Music Industry Program classes form the center of our Music Innovation Summer Institute:
- Music Disruption, Music 2020 and Building New Futures — Dr. Gigi Johnson (bio)
- Music Tech Innovation, Launching New Ventures — Dae Bogan (bio)
The Institute will include speakers, local site visits, receptions, and other programs with creative and industry leaders. The program also includes a career coaching program in partnership with iCadenza (bios) to help students think and plan their careers.
Who: We welcome undergraduates from not just music, but also computer science, marketing, pre-law, economics, music industry, journalism, film, TV, and any other field. We also welcome graduate students, high school seniors, and non-students who would like to dive deeply for 6 weeks.
Where: UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Los Angeles, California
When: Mondays-Thursdays, June 20-July 29, 2016. Registration is now live at this link and will continue until the class is full or May 1.
Cost: Cost varies by type of student. Program fees: UC undergraduate $2,925; non-UC student $3,469. Financial aid will be available for continuing UCLA students only. (FAFSA is due March 2, and Summer Aid documents are due in April.) Housing at UCLA also is available.
Additional questions? Please reach out to Gigi Johnson.
BOOK: The Economics of the Popular Music Industry
I recently learned that some of my original critical writings about the music industry has been cited multiple times in the book “The Economics of the Popular Music Industry: Modeling from Microeconomic Theory and Industrial Organization” by Chong Hyun Christie Byun, an Associate Professor of Economics at Wabash College.
Abstract: The music business appears to be (almost) the same as it ever was, with a handful of large firms maintaining control over the production and distribution of music. With significant economies of scale, it makes economic sense for these firms to use their market power to produce music efficiently and cheaply. But musical innovators have challenged the dominant paradigm and emerged as independent artists with control over their past and future works. Technology has and will continue to enable them to do so, leveling the playing field for new musicians to find better ways to distribute music. Economic theory provides the analytical tools for music consumers and producers to study the industry and understand how musical creativity endures in the business of music.
See You At SXSW 2016
SXSW (aka South by Southwest) is one of my favorite conference series where creators and technologists converge around content, innovation, and industry issues. It’s a place for discovering and being discovered, a place for inspiration, a place to conduct business, and a place to build new lasting relationships. And from the never-ending day parties, concerts, brand activations, and Austin nightlife, it’s fun as heck!
As a SXSW Mentor, I have the privilege of participating in one-on-one sessions with SXSW attendees who seek feedback on their projects/careers/startups and insight based on my areas of expertise and experience in digital media and the music industry.
This year I will be participating as a Mentor for the SXSW Interactive Conference (March 11-15) in the Startup Village track and SXSW Music Conference (March 15-20) in the Music Tech & Format Wars track. I will also be present at the SXSW Music Hackathon Championship where hackers use their programming knowledge and a collection of music-tech APIs to develop their industry-changing prototypes and compete for over $10,000 in prizes, awarded by our panel of celebrity judges.
For my mentor session schedule and to reserve a slot with me, see my schedule at http://sxsw.is/1KYDFO2.
Going to SXSW? Say “hi” @DaeBoganMusic
Tech Founders – Don’t Be A Feature Hoarder
Tech founders, don’t be a #featurehoarder.
I’ve worked with enough failed digital media startups to have identified one trend of failure: poor MVP execution.
Ambitious first-time CEOs who want to bust out of the gate with outrageous competitive differentiators…products that implode.
The keyword in MVP is not minimum; it’s viable. With relatively few features, you can identify what areas drive value and build accordingly going forward; delivering incremental value with every version release.
It’s all about compelling introductory features that uniquely address a set of needs and user feedback, which informs future milestone features that expand on those needs.
Because you can’t be everything to everyone, make your product do something great for some one(s).
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CONNECT WITH ME
Dae Bogan Music 