House of Blues Music Forward Foundation’s Bringing Down the House Seeks Young Emerging Artists
Another Online Music Industry Entrepreneurship Course?
I’ve been considering developing a series of online courses around entrepreneurship and innovation within the music industry, including and expanding on what I’ve taught in music industry and marketing undergraduate programs at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and Emerson College, in the music business graduate program at California State University, Northridge, in the business module of the advanced audio engineering program at SAE Institute Los Angeles, and in my workshops at USC Marshall School of Business, Los Angeles Recording School and College of the Canyons, but I’m starting to reconsider this.
I’ve seen dozens of online courses developed by so-called marketing, business, and entrepreneurship experts that promise to take your business from stagnant to 7 figures in just a few weeks. Often times these experts only verifiable accomplishments tend to be their ability to get others to sign-up for their online courses. Or, at best, they’ve had one lucky break and somehow parlayed that into a facade of serial success, from which real strategy and knowledge can be shared.
We’ve all heard the saying that “those who can’t do teach.” I do not agree with this ugly notion as a generalization, but I do believe that it is actually quite easy to take bits and pieces of advice, common sense, and lessons from others’ case studies and weave these concepts into curriculum padded with superficial “proven strategies” and outdated yet widely adopted business modeling techniques, which the instructor has never put into practice himself, and charge naive entrepreneurs hundreds of dollars to access this material as a life-changing course.
And we wonder why there is such a high rate of failure amongst students who’ve completed these courses.
I enjoy teaching. And I am honored to have been acknowledged in Billboard “15 Top Music Business Schools of 2017” and have been reviewed highly among the students in the programs in which I currently teach.
But even more thrilling, I enjoy doing.
I enjoy transforming business ideas into investible businesses within the music industry; especially when those ideas create real value for its target customers — music creators, music industry professionals, and music fans. And I enjoy helping entrepreneurs do this for themselves.
I don’t know if it makes sense for me to create a standalone online course.
I believe entrepreneurs who seek help seek mentorship and an open channel of communication. I provide this in the classroom where the ability to ask a question can unlock meaningful insight for an entrepreneur struggling with a decision or a challenge. Nuance matters. Nuance is what makes the difference between reading a lecture and experiencing a lecture. I also provide this through consulting and mentorship.
Over the last 7 years, I’ve had the pleasure of being a consultant, advisor, or mentor to nearly 50 founders of music, tech and digital media start-ups, including current clients Baserock (achieved over 300% Kickstarter launch goal), Weeshing (has earned over $10M in revenue), RoadNation (has helped indie artists raise tens of thousands of dollars to fund touring) and mydiveo (acquired for over $7.4M after my consultation to develop a go-to-market strategy and intellectual property compliance strategy).
I’ve provided mentorship and coaching through programs such as SXSW Music, Capitol360 gBeta MusicTech Accelerator, recommendations for founders to attend Project Music Nashville and Techstars Music Los Angeles, and will be continuing this work in 2019 at The Rattle Los Angeles and 2112 Chicago.
Over the last 2 years, I’ve contributed to the acquisition of or investment in 5 music tech startups including 3 companies that I founded.
I don’t know if any of this work could have been achieved by uploading 10 course videos and some downloadable worksheets. If so, I highly doubt the success rate would be very high. I do believe there is some perfect balance and that is what I am setting out to achieve in 2019.
In the meantime, if you’re an entrepreneur struggling to get your music industry businesss idea off the ground, reach out to me for a free consultation to see how me and my team can help.
http://www.rightsdepartment.com
Dae Bogan To Provide Mentorship To Music Makers And Tech Founders At The Rattle Los Angeles
RattleCCPitch2018 from The Rattle on Vimeo.
Apple To Recruit College Students For Apple Music From UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
I am pleased to announce that Apple has selected my Billboard-recognized class, Music Industry Entrepreneurship and Innovation, at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as a preferred source to recruit aspiring music industry professionals into its college internship programs at Apple Music.
Upon successful completion of an internship and graduation from UCLA, recent grads may become eligible for full-time employment at Apple music divisions.
An Apple Worldwide Recruiting representative will visit my class in January 2019 to promote their internship program to my students and answer any questions that students might have.
I am pleased with Apple’s decision to partner with universities and educators that deliver best-in-class education and experiences to students who may become tomorrow’s music industry leaders.
In reviewing my class students have shown great appreciation for the course and the speaker series that I curate throughout the quarter:
Hi Dae, Just wanted to thank you for an awesome class. This was one of the few classes at UCLA where I felt I was taught skills, not just about the subject matter but in how to go about achieving my career goals, that were applicable to my endeavors and will be used for the rest of my life. I got more out of it than I had with any other course here and I would highly recommend your class to to anyone interested in a music industry career.
– Student testimonial, Winter Quarter 2018
Without a doubt one of the most useful classes I have taken in my undergraduate career at UCLA. Professor Bogan has so much real world knowledge and knows how to convey that knowledge in a classroom setting immensely well. All the course material was invaluable to my progression and aspirations of being in the music industry. Every lecture was extremely well-prepared, with amazing guest speakers and information that I will be using for the rest of my life. Professor Bogan did a phenomenal job and I will be recommending this class to all my friends interested in music or starting their own company. Can’t say enough good things about this class.
– Student testimonal, Winter Quarter 2018
In addition to the relationship with Apple, I am excited to announce that I’ve established a relationship with music tech start-up accelerator Techstars Music that allows me to recommend student and alumni owned start-ups for consideration to receive seed investment and to participate in its accelerator program.
I look forward to continuing to add value to my course to offer students one of the best experiences in their academic careers at UCLA.
A Curated List Of My Thoughts On The Music Modernization Act (And Related Topics)
I am a very vocal music creators’ rights advocate and copyright purist. Often, I have the opportunity to share my *opinions* on topics within and circling the music industry that impact the ways in which music creators — especially DIY musicians — navigate and thrive in the United States.
Over the last ten months I have been especially vocal about the Music Modernization Act. I’ve been quoted in Billboard, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Digital Media News. I’ve been invited to panel discussions at music industry conferences and keynotes at universities. And I have written several think pieces (and rants) on the bill, which is now law, and related issues.
Still, I am asked what my thoughts are on the MMA.
I’ll summarize my thoughts by saying that I believe the intent of the MMA is good and admirable on its surface — that is, to improve the way rightsholders are accounted to and paid for the use of their music. I believe there is some good stuff in the MMA; particularly, the entirety of Title 2 (The CLASSICS Act) and Title 3 (The AMP Act). However, I feel that there is still work to be done. I also feel that some compromises, at the expense of DIY music creators, were made too easily (this is partially based on private discussions that I’ve had with individuals with privileged knowledge of the negotiations and dealings that took place during the drafting and subsequent amending of the MMA). That being said, I also believe that the soon to be formed Mechanical Licensing Collective has the opportunity to prove to songwriters that this law was truly about them.
Only time will tell.
Here’s a 2018 curated list of my “thoughts” on the Music Modernization Act (and related topics):
- (Oct 16, 2018) Here Are 10 Ways That The Music Licensing Collective (MLC) Can Set The Bar As A Collective Licensing Organization In The 21st Century – https://bit.ly/2RW9kW2
- (Sep 14th, 2018 in Pitchfork) Why So Many Hip-Hop Producers Are Putting Business Before Beats – https://bit.ly/2PEsi1x
- (Aug 19th, 2018) Another Music Modernization Act Opinion Piece – https://bit.ly/2NLp9LC
- (Aug 15th, 2018 in Rolling Stone) Why More Pop Songwriters Are Stepping Into the Spotlight – https://bit.ly/2ClAuAc
- (Jul 24th, 2018) Songwriters Are Owed Nearly $2B In Unclaimed Royalties!!! — Maybe More — I’ve Been Saying This For Some Time Now (Against Pushback), But Finally The Press Has Confirmed It – https://bit.ly/2CMR6Sp
- (May 15th, 2018 in Billboard) Black Box Royalties Myths, Common Misconceptions Debunked at Music Biz 2018 – https://bit.ly/2q4dhLD
- (May 7th, 2018 in Digital Music News) Is the Music Modernization Act Enabling ‘Legal Theft’ Against Smaller Artists? – https://bit.ly/2IugrCS
- (Apr 25th, 2018) 5 Ways The Music Modernization Act Could Be Fairer To ALL Music Creators – https://bit.ly/2Jzn1tb
- (Apr 20th, 2018) I Was Interviewed By The Congressional Budget Office Regarding The Music Modernization Act, And Now I’m Even More Concerned For DIY Musicians – https://bit.ly/2AdwpN0
- (Jan 17th, 2018) – My Thoughts On The MMA In Light Of The CRB Mechanical License Rate Decision – https://bit.ly/2P6bT98
Where do you stand on the MMA?
Here Are 10 Ways That The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) Can Set The Bar As A Collective Management Organization In The 21st Century
Title 1 of the MMA, also called Music Modernization Act, sets out provisions and guidance for the formation of a collective mechanical licensing body to be called the Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). The MLC will administer a safe harbor blanket license for the streaming of musical works, collect licensee fees from licensees, prepare and remit statements of earnings to songwriters and music publishers, and make royalty payments to the same.
The MLC will join the ranks of SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC in the sense that it will become a powerful representative of the collective rights of thousands of music creators and rights-holders in the United States. However, unlike its counterparts, The MLC will be born in the 21st century. And as a 21st century collective licensing organization, The MLC has the unique opportunity to implement, at inception, 21st century business practices utilizing 21st century best practices and technologies.
Demystifying TuneRegistry And The Concept Of Subscription-Based Self-Publishing Administration
Music 2020: The Next Era of Innovation in the Music Industry
Wednesday night, at California State University – Northridge (CSUN), I conducted my latest workshop, “Music 2020: The Next Era of Innovation in the Music Industry,” in Professor Andrew L. Surmani’s class for his M.A., Music Industry Administration students.
In this workshop, we explore the art and process of ideation; discuss the differences between invention, disruption, and innovation; and profile a number of developing innovations within the music industry including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain and crypotcurrency. The presentation ends with a design thinking exercise where students break out into groups to work through the fundamental design thinking process of developing a minimum viable product to solve a vetted problem in the music industry.
The students seemed to like the workshop:
Dae, you were fantastic and the CSUN MIA students thoroughly enjoyed your very organized, insightful and forward thinking presentation. That was evident in the line of students waiting to talk to you at the break. Thank you again for coming to talk to our graduate music industry students.
– Andrew Surmani, Associate Professor of Music Industry Studies, California State University – Northridge
I’m looking forward to conducting this workshop next week at the College of the Canyons.
How Blockchain And Cryptocurrency Can Speed Up Spotify International Publishing Royalty Payments To US Songwriters
There’s been a lot of talk about applications of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency payments in the music industry. In fact, there isn’t a single major music industry conference that doesn’t dedicate some programming to related topics. There are several projects and startups currently underway to address licensing, discovery, attribution, remuneration and more with blockchain, smart contracts, and cryptocurrency.
For those of us who aren’t blockchain developers, simply keeping up with the many applications of blockchain in the music industry is the closest we’ll get actually knowing how this all (could) works.
I’ve been thinking about how blockchain and cryptocurrency could speed up the process of paying U.S. songwriters, who wait upwards of 1.5 years to get paid for the use of their songs on Spotify outside the U.S.
The current state of the flow of international publishing income to U.S. Independent Songwriters who own their publishing and use traditional publishing administrators to collect in the U.S. is quite depressing.
As an example, Tommy released a song on Spotify in January 2018. In the United Kingdom, the song earned $100 “publisher share” Spotify UK digital public performance royalties.
Here’s the breakdown:
START: $100 “publisher share” of Spotify UK digital performance royalties in January 2018.
1. PRS collects Tommy’s publishing income in the UK ($100) in January 2018.
2. PRS retains 10% admin fee and remits the balance ($90) to ASCAP in October 2018.
3. ASCAP retains 12% admin fee and remits the balance ($79.20) to the Publishing Administrator in February 2019.
4. Publishing Administrator retains 20% admin fee and pays Tommy ($63.36) in July 2019.
END: Tommy is paid $63.36 for his Spotify UK “publisher share” income (earned $100) after waiting 1.5 years and experiencing a reduction of 37% of his royalties. Imagine $1,000 reduced to $633.60 or $10,000 reduced to $6,336.00.
Had Spotify used blockchain technology to dynamically identify Tommy as the rightsholder in his song and paid him instantly at the close of the month with cryptocurrency, Tommy would have already spent his $100 on studio time!
Dae Bogan To Join Association of Independent Music Publishers’ Panel Event “UNCONVENTIONAL MONEY: Royalty Sources You Might Not Think Of”
Dae Bogan (Founder & Executive Consultant, Rights Department) joins Landon Austin (Co-Founder and President, Noisely), Larry Mills (Co-President, Tresóna Multi-Media) and Mitch Rubin (VP Label & Publisher Services, Dubset Media) on a panel to be moderated by Michael Eames (President, PEN Music Group / AIMP President) at the Association of Independent Music Publishers‘ panel event:
UNCONVENTIONAL MONEY: Royalty Sources You Might Not Think Of To license your music is to monetize your music.
Whether it be via marching band, show choir, orchestra rentals, iPhone apps, online games and uses, wedding videos, photograph montages – the possibilities are endless. Join us for an exploration of non-traditional outlets and how the variety of them just might surprise you.
Date: September 27, 2018
Time: 11:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Register: https://www.aimp.org/events/register/922
Reservation Cutoff: September 26, 2018
Place: View Map
Lawry’s The Prime Rib
100 N. La Cienega Blvd. (near Wilshire)
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Entrees:
- Lawry’s Roasted Prime Ribs Of Beef (Cutoff: September 26, 2018)
- Crispy Chicken w/Lemon Butter Glaze, Mashed Potatoes & Vegetables (Cutoff: September 26, 2018)
- Blackened Salmon w/Black Bean Pineapple Salsa, Mashed Potatoes & Vegetables (Cutoff: September 26, 2018)
- Roasted Vegetables with Quinoa (vegan) (Cutoff: September 26, 2018)
Cost:
AIMP Members – $44.00 per person
AIMP Non-Members – $57.00 per person
Our banking sponsor for this event is:
Parking: Self-parking is available on site at no additional charge.
Reservations accepted online at www.aimp.org or by telephone at 818-771-7301 until Wednesday, September 26th at noon. Advance registration deadline with entree choice also ends on Wednesday, September 26th at noon. Premier Members and/or groups of 5 or more who have RSVP’d and paid online may request reserved seating by e-mail or phone, 818-771-7301. We will do our best to accommodate late reservations made the day before the event, but please be advised that entrée selection and space may be limited. Online reservations can be paid online by credit card. Payment at the door is by cash, check or credit card (with a $5 surcharge). Those who walk up without a reservation will be served whatever is available, but most likely prime rib, and may have to wait at entry.
Full-time students with a current student I.D. – $47.00 per person*
*Qualifying students must reserve by phone and pay in advance by check or at the door. There are no online reservation or payment services for this discounted rate.
NOTE TO BERKLEE ALUMNI: If you are inquiring in response to a special offer via the Berklee Newsletter, please email LAinfo@aimp.org for registration instructions.
Attention Students! The AIMP has launched its education initiative at Lawry’s. What this means is that up to 8 students are allowed to attend each panel for $20 per person. The fee does not include food. This is a great opportunity to learn about music publishing and network. You must RSVP and pay in advance via e-mail or by calling 818-771-7301.
Attention attorneys: this activity has been approved for 1.0 hour of Minimum Continuing Legal Education Credit by the State Bar of California. Attorneys wishing to register for MCLE credit should bring their state bar number with them for the sign in sheet.
[Pick up your certificate at the luncheon – AIMP cannot issue certificates after-the-fact.]
Additional Speaker Information
Landon Austin is the co-founder and President of Noisely which is a licensing search engine for content creators. His career began as a creator where he gained a large online following from finishing top 3 in Dorito’s Crash The Super Bowl competition. His music videos on YouTube have accumulated over 25M vews and resulted in an international touring schedule and over 1.5M monthly listeners on Spotify. In 2017 Landon transitioned to an executive and founder role with Noisely to help bridge the gap between traditional publishing and the necessity for a more streamlined approach to licensing music in smaller applications such as wedding videography, photography, in-app music, YouTube and more. Noisely is currently focused on working with publishers and helping them to launch their own white-label micro-licensing platforms to increase bottom line revenues through access to niche markets.
Dae Bogan is a music rights executive, serial entrepreneur, music creators’ rights advocate, and educator with over a decade of experience in the music industry. Through his boutique music rights & technology consulting firm, Rights Department, Dae assists tech founders license and bring their products and services to market. Dae also works with small to medium-sized music rightsholders to help them navigate and evaluate new media deal terms. He has worked with Beatshare, mydiveo (acquired), PicPlayPost, Acappella, Stryve, WeGo Concerts, and many others.
A serial entrepreneur, Larry Mills has forged his way in the entertainment business over a 25-year career, which has seen him start Record Labels, Marketing Companies, Management Companies, and most recently as Co-President of music licensing company Tresona Music. Tresona is the world’s leader in the issuance of custom arrangement licenses. Tresona exclusively represents the catalogs of Sony/ATV, EMI, Universal Music Publishing, Kobalt, BMG, the catalogs of Hal Leonard, Disney and nearly 7,000 other music publishers for these rights. Tresona’s world class technology makes the licensing process seamless, and currently works with nearly 10,000 performing ensembles worldwide. Larry’s career kicked off with a record company he founded, Steam Records, which was started in the kitchen of his apartment in Atlanta back in 1992. Steam put out early releases by Rusted Root, Lisa Loeb, Shawn Mullins, Kristian Bush (Sugarland) and others. Soon after starting Steam, Larry was brought in to run Autonomous Records, another independent label, which spawned the careers of Sister Hazel and Creed. Autonomous was sold to Roadrunner Records in 1997. After that acquisition, Larry was brought in to run marketing for Pump Audio, the independent music licensing company, which was ultimately sold to Getty Images. After the acquisition, Larry ran the music division of Getty Images for 3.5 years. In 2011, Larry was recruited to be the VP, Strategic Marketing for Sony/ATV Music Publishing. During his tenure, he conceptualized and realized We Are The Hits, which is an on-line music video network, predominantly on YouTube, which allows the aspiring artists of the world to share in the advertising revenue from their cover songs, legally. Currently WATH generates over 3 Billion views a year on YouTube and pays out millions of dollars a year to both songwriters and independent artists. Larry acquired WATH in 2013 from Sony, and at that time partnered with Tresona.
Mitch Rubin is Vice President of Label & Publisher Services at Dubset Media, which offers an innovative music marketplace for artists, labels, publishers, distributors, and DJs. Through cutting edge technology, a rights management database, and easy to use dashboards, Dubset creates new mix & remix distribution and monetization opportunities built on transparency, ownership control, and simplicity. Mitch held senior management positions as a music publisher and for a digital music service, both in the United States and Internationally. He was an integral member of the team that grew BMG Music Publishing into the third largest music publisher in the world prior to its acquisition by Universal Music Publishing in 2006. Among his more notable accomplishments were developing BMG’s production music library business, now the largest in the world and, as Managing Director, turning around and growing the historically unprofitable Australia/New Zealand operation. Immediately prior to Dubset, Mitch was the Global Head of Licensing, Composition Rights, for Nokia, Microsoft, and MixRadio (a division of Line Corp). In that role, he oversaw the licensing of composition rights and managing rights holder relationships in more than 40 countries for such innovative products as Comes With Music and MixRadio. He concluded and managed dozens of agreements, many of which required bespoke licensing solutions due to lack of commercial precedents. Mitch joined the startup Dubset Media in early 2017.
Michael Eames is President of PEN Music Group, Inc. Founded in April 1994, PEN is a full-service independent music publishing company with a worldwide presence who is celebrating its 23rd anniversary in 2017. PEN offers efficiency and personal attention as a boutique company. With PEN’s A-list music contacts in film, TV and advertising, and a success rate that continues to grow (with 100+ placements each year), it is an effective alternative to the large multinational publishing companies. Eames and PEN proudly represent the catalogues of writer/artists as diverse as: JOHN FARRAR (legendary producer of Olivia Newton-John who wrote many of her biggest hits); DON FELDER (formerly of The Eagles who co-wrote the classic copyright “Hotel California”); Oscar®-winner DONNY MARKOWITZ (including the smash hit “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” from DIRTY DANCING); OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN herself; Grammy®-nominated artist/producer WENDY WALDMAN (who co-wrote “Save The Best For Last”); Emmy®- nominated lyricist AMY POWERS; GINA SCHOCK of the Go-Gos; the estates of late composers EARLE HAGEN and ALLYN FERGUSON who between them co-wrote classic TV themes such as The Andy Griffith Show, Barney Miller (and its spinoff Fish), Mod Squad, I Spy , Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and The Dick Van Dyke Show, and many others. PEN is also well known for supporting and developing indie buzz artists such as Kimberly Cole and ShyBoy (both of whom have over 1 million followers on Twitter), as well as many other up-and-coming artists and writers. PEN has also recently begun to represent the videogame scores owned by Zenimax Media which include the Elder Scrolls franchise. PEN’s songs have been recorded by artists including The Black Eyed Peas, Celine Dion, the cast of GLEE, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Cazzette, kd lang, Santana, Christina Aguilera, Corinne Bailey Rae, Faith Hill, Paulina Rubio, Macy Gray, Kenny Rogers and Luther Vandross, among countless others. In the current climate of change in the music business, PEN has also partnered with various independent labels such as Oglio Records and Cheap Lullaby Records to leverage collective strengths. PEN has similarly been entering into joint ventures with respected music executives who start their own companies, most notably Eddie Gomez (formerly of Bug Music) who launched his Little Brother Music in 2012 and Lynn Grossman whose Secret Road Music Services manages Ingrid Michaelson and is a very successful company licensing music to film/TV/ads.
Register for this event now by clicking here.
Free DIY eBook
CONNECT WITH ME
Dae Bogan Music 