Pharrell to Fergie Among Speakers at ASCAP Expo and SF MusicTech

Lindsay Buckingham, Incubus and Dr. Luke Host Master Sessions

By Chandra Lynn

SAN FRANCISCO (Hollywood Today) 5/18/11 — Being in the music industry requires constant networking and education, but no one has the time or resources to go to everything. Picking our shows wisely, we attended two conferences, ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo (April 28-30 in Hollywood) and SF MusicTech Summit (May 9 in San Francisco).

These shows are great for staying up on trends and technologies that support the entire music process, from music creation and distribution to marketing and touring. ASCAP Expo covers the first step in the process: music creation. SF MusicTech Summit takes the ball from there and provides a meeting place to discuss the evolving music/business/technology ecosystem in a proactive, conducive to deal-making environment.

Participating in industry events connects you to your community in a more powerful way than what is available online. The sharing that happens at these shows is concentrated and can give you an edge up in today’s knowledge economy.

ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo

The ASCAP Expo is open to everyone but is focused around songwriters, composers and producers. It provides three days of education and networking with leaders in the industry. This year, celebrity speakers included Lindsey Buckingham, Pharrell, Fergie, Dr. Luke, Ingrid Michaelson and representatives from the biggest music companies in the industry.

“As far as songwriting, dig deep and be rigorously honest with yourself,” states Fergie. “I mean, people can see through things and they can see when you’re not being truthful to yourself. So don’t be afraid. Its therapy.”

“I think the most important thing for me is that whomever I am working with that we all agree that the best idea wins,” states Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Grammy-nominated songwriter, record producer and remixer.

A number of clever technology companies demonstrated their gear and do-it-yourself (DIY) services. The full list is on the ASCAP Expo website, but here some highlights

Especially impressive was Gobbler, a new provider of a cloud-based service for backing up, sending and organizing recording projects and assets.  Download Gobbler’s free trial version at http://www.gobbler.com.

Also representing were Glow Marketing clients PMC Speakers (http://www.pmcspeakers.com); Prism Sound (http://www.prismsound.com); producer/composer Dean Gant of Sir Gant & The Invisible Force (http://www.sirgant.com); three-time Grammy-winner Dave Isaac of MixSensei.com and producer/songwriter Joe Solo.

Nimbit.com represented with their direct-to-fan sales and marketing platform for do-it-yourself artists. Meeting the people behind the technology is always invaluable.

“We chose ASCAP Expo because of our long time relationship with them,” explains Patrick Faucher, Nimbit’s founder. “Its one of the best events of the year in terms of a really solid conference, with great information, great panels, great content.”

The Songwriter Studio coordinated by Sara Griggs Media showcased five companies who make music tools for musicians.  The studio comprises every part of the audio and control signal path needed for complete music production. Focusrite and Line 6 audio interfaces connect to a computer running Propellerhead’s Record/Reason music software controlled by Novation Midi controller keyboards and monitored by KRK Systems headphones and speakers. These products offer musicians high grade sound and usability at reasonable prices.

“The buzz and excitement at this year’s EXPO was tremendous with attendees, panelists and exhibitors sharing in the positive vibe,” states Ellen Miller, ASCAP Expo representative. “Having worked with the EXPO for the past 5 years, it’s great to witness the growth and industry impact first hand.”

For those of you who missed the show, consider purchasing an Online EXPO Panel Video Access Passcode for $149 to view the panels for yourself at http://www.ascap.com/eventsawards/events/expo/.

SF MusicTech Summit

Although “SF” is in this event’s title, it is now attended by industry pros from all over including notable artists and representatives of the hottest companies in the music business. It started as a local San Francisco event and now people travel from all over to put technology center stage.

“We have a lot more control over things in house with the tools of the emerging technologies, states Mike Einzinger, guitarist of Incubus. “A lot more things are available to us to use to our advantage that we just didn’t have control over before. Now we do.”

This Summit’s topics included “Music in the Cloud” featuring mSpot, Rhapsody, and Billboard; Investment and M&A with venture capital companies, Getty Images and Bloomberg/Businessweek; “Blackplane Single Sign on” with Universal Music Group and others; “Artist Revenue Streams”; “Live Music Marketing”; “State of Music Apps”; “Discover & Recommendation” with MOG, Slacker, The Filter, Tune Up, Rovi and IODA; “Tools for your Band” with Rootmusic, Atom Digital, The Orchard, YouTube, Thinglink and Mashable; “How to Scale” with SongKick, SoundCloud, Twitter and Pandora.

A full list of attendees is viewable on their site along videos and photos that are worth checking out if you were not able to attend. The reason this event has grown in popularity is because there are structured opportunities for elevator pitches and demos; bleeding-edge panels about industry issues and technology solutions; and a packed reception where introducing yourself to just about anyone in the room is received with a warm smile.

Show producers Brian and Shoshana Zisk always do a fantastic job and have managed to maintain an intimate event experience that is relatively free of the typical music industry pretenses. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

Visit SF MusicTech Summit online at http://www.sfmusictech.com for new event announcements as well and new and archived video coverage.

Written by Chandra Lynn, . For more information, visit http://www.glowmarketing.com or email chandra@glowmarketing.com.