For the past weeks and months since June 15, we’ve been creating more live programming that aims to teach and inspire and assist you with exploring the current atmosphere and progressing the business toward positive change. In line with this, we also want to promote increasing diversity at all leadership levels and continue speaking more openly. As plotted in our CEO’s letter to the community, our goal is to carry out this promise.

Launching The Journey is our way of kicking things off. As we all know, music will not exist without communities of different colors, whether you are Black or White. Music is for everyone of all ages and gender, no matter what race you belong to. Therefore, The Journey was introduced to break the stigma. The Journey is a roundtable arrangement highlighting close conversations with the Black industry heads about their professions. Intimate discussions about the guidance for people in the future generations were also featured. 

Cloud Bar is Back!

Now that we face challenges in these unprecedented times, live events across the globe went on hold or canceled. However, there are still ways how to cope up with the new normal. As part of this initiative, we brought the Cloud Bar back a week ago with an all-new gathering assigned to themes like social change and sustainability of careers and profession. Cloud Bar is also equipped with a new line up dedicated to different industry changes and facing social justice. The Cloud Bar always seeks to provide conversations with experts in the field to help give you information and resources that will allow you to take your profession to the next level. 

SoundCloud “Cloud Bar” Discussion On August 13

Knowing the different aspects of the music business is frugal in sustaining a music career. Cloud Bar featured various industry experts to give insights, tips, and additional resources in keeping intact in the industry.

As part of Cloud Bar’s music entertainment-education series, the first show aired on August 13, hosted by Naima Cochrane, a 20-year music executive veteran and music and culture writer. The first panel featured was about Assembling a Top-tier Team where Naima spoke with Taz Taylor, founder of a production collective turned multimedia conglomerate Internet Money. Taylor shared insights of going through building a valuable team you can trust, the best way to start your top-tier squad, and how to be consistent in keeping them in place.

The Artists Benefit From Huge Increases in SoundCloud Plays

Naima then spoke with Moody Jones about the second panel, which circled DIY or Sign. It’s all about how you decide as an artist, the difference between choosing the independent route or staying with a significant label offer as an alternative. Moody Jones is the Vice President of Digital and Creative at EMPIRE, a distribution company. Making the best decisions for your career trajectory is the primary topic in this panel. Jones discussed the perks and the consequences of staying in an independent route versus entertaining a label offer. The biggest benefit is the consistent growth of SoundCloud plays artists build across the conversations.

For the last panel featured on Cloud Bar’s music entertainment-education series, Naima spoke with Courtney Stewart and Moe Shalizi about maximizing your revenue streams. As an essential part of music education, knowing what an owner and a music entrepreneur mean is a significant factor in sustaining a successful music career. Courtney Stewart is the co-founder of Keep Cool, a Los Angeles-based record label that serves as a creative haven for artists and creatives. However, Moe Shalizi is the CEO of a management company, The Shalizi Group. The two sat down with Naima to talk about shaping your vision while creating a sustainable business. Financial literacy is very significant to attain this goal.

Cloud Bar Discussion Last August 20

As the Cloud Bar education series continues, Naima Cochrane spoke with different experts to further enrich our knowledge in career sustainability. Conversations with experts revolved around keeping a prosperous career and reaching out to topics like brand sustainability, publishing, and A&R. To give you further ideas, here’s a closer look at each subject that will be discussed.

Building a Sustainable Music Career

Naima Cochrane spoke with Ben Willis, the co-founder of management firm Indie-Pop. The music industry is a challenging environment to enter. Apart from pure talent, skills, and charm, you also have to know how the industry works. Willis shared insights and guidelines through steps to take in obtaining longevity in an industry. We all know that many of us find it hard to stay in a particular career. Willis also highlighted the significance of being kind and staying focused as you chose a music career.

Publishing 101

For this featured panel, Ian Holder, the Vice President and Creative at Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Rhea Pasricha, Head of A&R – West Coast for Prescription Songs, were the guest speakers. They discussed the meaning and importance of entering into a publishing deal and the key differences between an artist’s masters and their publishing. They also highlighted how complicated a publishing deal is to have insights about the basic knowledge of making money from your music. 

The Evolution of A&R

Cloud Bar’s last discussion as part of the music education series featured the evolution of A&R. A&R is the most well-known title you can have in a music company. We have been used to A&R executives that use live showcases to scout promising new artists. However, now that we live with technological innovations, there are infinite ways of discovering artists for managers to sign. Naima spoke with the top-hitters of the industry Steven Carless, A&R executive of Universal Music Group, Entertainment Executive Nicole Plantin, and Kawan “KP” Prather, the Head of Music I am OTHER.

The guests explained the definition of A&R, which makes it a much-desired position, why instincts are essential in this role, and how a will is very significant to put in the work. As successful individuals in their careers, each of them shared their own experiences along the way. They also defined each moment that helped them shape their jobs and the things they did to stand out from the group.

Date: January 13, 2021 / Categories: New Stuff, / Author: Joy P