Music Business Workshop

January 9, 2012, 2:30 pm

The info you get from this workshop will be relevant for musicians who are just moving from 'basement to stage', as well as those already out actively gigging and recording.

Music Business Workshop - How to Build An Audience For Your Music

(Thought  this might be valuable for bands doing their thing here in Portland and looking to build skills! See the below press release. ~Inessa)

Tom Simonson is a 25+ year veteran of the music industry, first spending 6 years working a variety of different jobs for CBS Records and Sony Music, including Director of College Marketing and A&R Representative,  followed by the last 20 years as an artist manager for his own company, Simonson Management.  He's also a bass player who has recorded and performed extensively, so he understands the challenges musicians face first hand.
 
He will be leading a three part workshop on the music business, focused on helping bands and performers get ahead. Information presented will be relevant for musicians who are just moving from 'basement to stage', as well as those already out actively gigging and recording.  The workshop is happening at Sound Roots School of Modern Music  on N Williams in Portland near the new Hopworks Bike Bar. 

Workshops will be held on successive Mondays - January 30, February 6 and February 13, 2012 from 6-8PM.  Registration fees are $40 per session or get all three for $100 - to register, please visit:  http://tinyurl.com/7xo9hh6
 
 Whether you're just leaving the basement or have been gigging for a while, this three session workshop will provide tools you need to grow an audience.  It is practical real world information that applies to all who want to play music in front of humans, whatever the end goal of the player. It is practical real world information that applies to all who want to play music in front of humans, whatever the end goal of the player. 
 
Learn more HERE
 
Here's more info from Tom on the Workshops:
 
The first session will consist of briefly meeting attendees to learn more about them and their goals, introducing myself and my background, and then diving in with an overview of the recent history of the music business and how it is evolving, with an emphasis on how that evolution is providing new opportunities (and challenges) to people doing it themselves.  I'll provide an overview of the various flows of money within the business - how artists get paid (or sadly don't get paid).  Though the industry is in a state of flux, understanding the basics of it is vital to help artists avoid making bad decisions, and also vital to helping them see new and profitable ways to work in the evolving business as the old order crumbles.
 
The second session will go deep into the tools available to developmental, DIY, and established artists alike to  reach people, create performance opportunities, and grow and serve a fan base.  I'll discuss ways that 'conventional wisdom' might lead folks astray and some new ways of imagining relationships between musicians and fans, other musicians, and just about everyone!
 
The third session will be focused on identifying specific goals for each attendee and then helping them create their own road map towards those goals.  The form that this takes is somewhat dependent on group size.  If there are too many people to actually walk through with each of them, I'll choose a number of people and do 'case studies'  based around info that all can apply to their particular situation. 
 
 
My workshops are geared to anyone high school age and up and are as interactive as possible -  I encourage questions/discussion throughout, fostering dialog rather than  simply a top down, lecturing approach.  Additionally, a continuing refrain that flows through it all is the importance of people being thoughtful and hard working when it comes to their craft.  Despite the tools available to us, building an audience is very hard work. The initiative and effort that leads to an artist's success is theirs and theirs alone in most all instances.  This isn't delivered in a 'drill sergeant' manner, but is included to impress upon attendees the reality of the work necessary - all without losing sight of the real and lasting rewards that this hard work can provide.


Tom Simonson
Artist Management and Consulting
 
Simonson Management
9220 SW Barbur Blvd #119-150
Portland OR 97219
 
503-504-3806
http://www.simonsonmanagement.com