Industry Veteran Melhuish Launches Unique Music Business School
· Fast Track course distils essential learning to 12 weekly classes
· Guest speakers include Jon Webster (MMF), Dave Robinson (Stiff), Keith Harris (PPL /MusicTank), Ann Harrison (Harrisons), Saul Galpern (Nude), Simon Parks (Brixton Academy founder), Henry Semmence (Absolute Distribution)
6th April 2010:-Music industry veteran and established educator Steve Melhuish is launching a new concept for music business education in the UK. His Music Business School will offer intensive fast track courses covering all practical aspects of the business to professionals seeking to build their knowledge. Teaching starts on Wednesday 26th May.
The unique course, Music Business Fast Track, distils into 12 day-long classes the knowledge a conventional Commercial Music BA course teaches about music business and management. Dispensing with knob-twiddling and song-writing lessons, Melhuish’s course will give graduates in other fields, young entrepreneurs starting out in the industry and those changing careers a fuller understanding of copyright, management deals, labels, contracts, touring, publishing and all related areas, delivered in informal face-to-face classes, with a written exam upon completion.
Each class will feature 6 hours of teaching, which will include up to 2 hours’ input each week from a guest speaker, who will be an established expert in the relevant field. Stiff creator Dave Robinson will share the ins and outs of founding a record label; Jon Webster from the MMF will speak on management; entertainment lawyer Ann Harrison, author of the UK’s definitive guide Music: The Business, will give a grounding in music law (although the course is not intended to offer any legal qualification). Also speaking will be PPL/MusicTank’s Keith Harris, Saul Galpern of Nude and founder of the Brixton Academy Simon Parks, and publishers Paul Scaife (ROTD) and Chris Cooke (CMU) among others still to be announced.
The course also focuses on up to date issues within the music business with lectures on the digital age, mobile world as well as the “DIY” model, offering new ways of building fans and developing revenue streams. Students will be able to attend the whole course, or attend any of the 12 classes individually.
The Music Business School will operate from the established Exchange Court building in Covent Garden – a bustling hive of music and entertainment activity, which includes Connected Artists, Sound Advice and Pledge Music among its occupants – setting this unique course in a prime location.
A second intake will begin in September 2010, and the school will begin teaching 4 courses per year from the start of 2011. Course Coordinator Melhuish is in talks with Canterbury Christ Church University over granting the course accreditation in the near future.
Said Melhuish on the founding of his school, “There are lots of people out there who need to know these skills, but don’t have the time to enrol on a 3 year BA course in Commercial Music. The Music Business Fast Track course distils the most important learning required, offering something more instant and therefore appealing where time is at a premium.
“There are other short courses around too, but none of them offer the full spectrum of teaching that we are providing, none of them have the kind of guest speakers we have, and none of them can boast such a great location.”
More information on the course and the teachers is available at http://www.musicbusinessschool.co.uk.
Course details
Cost:
£1295 for 12 weekly sessions
£150 per session purchased individually
Discounts will be available for affiliated trade body members
Address:
Covent Garden
London
WC2R 0JU
United Kingdom
1-5exchangecourt.com
About Steve Melhuish
Steve Melhuish is an experienced veteran in the music business, having run the first Virgin Record Store in the early 70’s. Two years later Steve went on to open and manage six record stores, under the title Bonaparte Records Ltd, throughout the capital and suburban areas, bringing him success for the next 15 years, including the UK’s first record store in New York.
Following this he proceeded to set up and operate four record labels, including Human Records and Six Strings. Steve was at the forefront of the UK’s indie DIY scene, spending the 80’s and 90’s operating international import/export companies distributing UK labels such as Stiff and Creation, to the US & Canada.
As the digital age arrived Steve continued to act as consultant to various music companies advising on music distribution, and for the past 10 years has been lecturing at Westminster, Kent, Greenwich and Canterbury Christchurch universities.
In 2010 Steve set up the Music Business School, offering fast track courses to those wishing to gain a fuller understanding of the music industry.
About the course
The 12 classes will cover:
1. Overview of Music Business; brief history, recent mergers & acquisitions, current government new & proposed legislation{Digital Britain}, and new EU legislation,{no, it’s not boring you need to know this stuff}, music industry trade bodies {AIM/BPI/MMF/FAC/MU}, which ones are appropriate to you.
2. Copyright; what does it really mean to you, synopsis of how the record industry revolves around Intellectual Property {IP}, the UK collection societies{PPL.PRS } and how they pay your cheque, ACAP,what is a Creative Commons licence? Has copyright irrevocably broken down in the new wild frontier of the internet age? what’s going on in the book publishing industry and e-books.
3. Management Deals; how to find a manager, what to watch out for, whom to trust, fiduciary duties- explained , sample contracts & how much is it going to cost, perhaps self manage? pros. & cons. Are you a Peter Grant or a Paul McGuinness?
4. Record Labels; definition, what is its roll, advances and recoupment explained, is a label essential in the digital age and how have labels adjusted in the last decade, how to get signed or perhaps take the DIY route? Case study: Beggars Banquet and EMI.
5. Distribution both physical and digital; study UK based distributors, who you should use and why; case study Absolute Dist and PIAS, cost of manufacture and distribution, P&D contracts explained, Orchard and CD Baby are they the future in the US? Online stores 7 digital, i-tunes, how to sign up. DSP’s researched and recommended.
6. Recording contracts; what is a good record deal, legal principles, new business models, (so what is this 360 deal), production deals, creative control vs. big bucks, look at sample contracts.
7. Publishing explained; brief history of Tin Pan Alley, how to find a publishing company, study typical contracts, publishing rights, how to monetize your songs via: sync fees, advertising, film, games, & TV. How much does BBC Radio pay per minute for the use of your songs? Which comes first the record or publishing deal? New EU legislation on pan –European digital licences
8. Mobile industry and the music biz; time line of mobile phone development over the last decade, is it the saviour of the music business. Ring tones, call-on-hold tones, Shazam, Aggregators why they work in the mobile biz. Case study Nokia Comes with music (it didn’t work, why?),i-phone, apps..where will it end?
9. Business Plan, cash flow, company formation; why you need a biz plan and how to put a music industry centric plan together. SME’s and possible funding opportunities. What banks lookout for, work through an example spread sheet. Basic requirements to set up and run a music business company, inc Ltd co. formation, VAT registration, PAYE and basic company law, H&S regulations, trade marks and logos.
10. Touring and Sponsorship;. We will look at Agents and Promoters contracts, how to sell your merchandise on tour, cd sales at gigs now considered de rigueur, Form 696,Live Nations & Madonna ,Ticket Master & Live Nations, why it matters, how to find a sponsor, types of sponsorship deals,
11. Producers; the conduit by which artists to improve their creative output? Sample contracts, how much should a producer charge and what does his responsibilities entail for that fee. Case study: Rick Rubin and Steve Lilywhite
12. Radio and DAB why is it so important to us STILL today, BBC the good the bad and the ugly, but we still die to get on the A/B/C list why? PR companies, radio pluggers, bbc i-player,6 music ,1 Xtra, Last FM, Pandora and finally what exactly is Spotify?
