New World, New Map: GPS for Today’s Music Industry

A development of music industry and its systems was not an instantaneous, single event that can be attributed to one point in time, one idea, one person, or one institution. Its evolution, from a solely cultural phenomenon to a multifaceted commercial product, involved various social, technological, and legislative processes that defined its place in the society. Ultimately, in order to truly understand the new world of the music industry and its future direction, one must consider its progress and development stemming from those diverse processes.

This course explores and addresses those often neglected, but vital, issues and perspectives as it is maps out, clarifies, and analyses today’s music industry structures, principles, and spectrum – the issues of not just the existing surface state, shape, and mechanics, but of deep root causes and origins. For, it is these original particles of the music industry’s DNA, combined with all its adaptive mutations over time, that lead to true understanding of its present and allow a meaningful glimpse at its future.

The course is divided into five academic units, each consisting of three learning segments – the roots, the regulations, and today’s industry methods and practices - scheduled as follows:

 Part One

• Introduction -  "An Elephant, A Miracle, And The Messengers Of Doom"
• Roots: Music Publishing & Copyright - “And Music Learned To Play Business”
• Regulations, Part 1: Music Copyright Fundamentals; © and ℗ - “The Birds And The Bees Of The Cs And The Ps”
• Regulations, Part 2: Musical Works Licensing - “Penny For Your Thoughts (If I Can Sing Them)”
• Methods and Practices: Music Publishing - “Can’t Eat A Song, Now Can You?”

 Part Two

• Roots: Live Music Industry - “Of Bread And Games”
• Regulations: Live Music Licensing, Insurance, and Permits - “Dotting The Is And Crossing the Ts”
• Methods and Practices: Concert Promotion - “If You Build It They Will Come…Or Not"

Part Three

• Roots: Recording Industry - “Sounds For Sale”
• Regulations: Sound Recording Licensing - “Paying The Piper”
• Methods and Practices 1: Recording Industry - “Madness, Meet Method”
• Methods and Practices 2: Standard Recording Agreements - “Bargains And Bridges (For Sale)”

Part Four

• Roots: Magnetic Recording and Multitracks - “Multiple Magnetic Personality”
• Regulations: Digital Recording, Reproduction, and Transmission - “Putting A Leash On A Music Byte”
• Methods and Practices: Recording Production Planning - “A Puzzle Unpuzzled”

Part Five

• Roots: CD, MP3, and Online Marketplace - “So One Thing Led To Another…”
• Regulations: Fair Use Doctrine, Sampling, and Creative Commons - “To Use Or Not To Use, That Is The Question”
• Methods and Practices 1: Recording Agreements for Today’s Industry - “Time To Put Your Clothes On, Emperor”
• Methods and Practices 2: Music Promotion, Distribution and Sales - "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (Full Of Online Services)"