Dave Kusek is a teacher, consultant, entrepreneur, digital music pioneer, author, speaker, mentor and Senior Partner at Digital Cowboys and New Artist Model. Dave was Vice President at Berklee College of Music in Boston for 14 years, where he created Berkleemusic.com, a hugely successful online enterprise for Berklee. Berkleemusic has since become the world’s largest music school reaching over 20,000 students in 170 countries.
Prior to that, Kusek helped develop the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), was co-inventor of the first electronic drums called “Synare”, and founded the first music software company in 1980, Passport Designs, which made it possible for musicians to record and produce their music at home with its award- winning software. His efforts, along with others, set the stage for the multi-billion dollar digital music market that exists today.
In 2005 he co-authored the best selling music business book “The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution” which predicted much of what has happened in digital music, including the iPhone, Apple’s SIRI, Spotify, streaming music and the decline of the recorded music industry.
Kusek was a faculty member at Berklee College of Music where he taught music business and a founding faculty member at Berklee Online where he taught The Future of Music and the Music Business.
Kusek has written for or been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Billboard, Wired, Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post, Associated Press, Boston Business Journal, MTV, CNBC, SF Chronicle, Forbes, NBC-TV, Nightly Business Report, NPR, Financial Times, and the Guardian. Kusek has been a speaker at Midem, Music Hack Day, Digital Music Forum, NAMM, AES, IEBA, MacWorld, Comdex, SXSW, ADISQ, Digital Hollywood and a featured guest on radio and television stations around the world.
Why are artist, writer, producer, engineer and other credits almost always missing from iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon, Rdio, and almost every other music service, with little exception? That’s the basis for a metadata movement being spearheaded by producer, mixer and engineer Count (aka Mikael Eldridge), whose ‘credits’ include artists like DJ Shadow, Radiohead, The Rolling […]
Sunday night at Coachella Festival Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre brought Tupac Shakur back from the dead to perform live with them onstage as a hologram. Holy Smokes. He appears on stage and greats the audience with “Yeah, you know what the fuck this is … What up Dre? … What up Snoop? … What the […]
This came in my bi-annual Sony Music statement last week. It said “You may be Eligible for Increased iTunes Payments (or other permanent Digital Download or Ringtone royalties) as part of the Settlements of Class Action Lawsuits. Please see the enclosed notice for details.” Ka-ching! Congratulations to “Shropshire” and the “Youngbloods” (great band) in […]
We waited for a half-hour for him to come on. Not bad for the Boss. In nearly an hour-long rant from the stage of the Austin Convention Center at SXSW, Bruce Springsteen spoke about his life as a musician and the artists who influenced his career. As Ann Powers wrote, “Springsteen identified himself as a Motown-loving, Sex […]
You gotta love Neil’s honesty. We owe it all to artists to stand up to what they believe in and drive us forward. Without them, we would have nothing. “Still the searcher must ride the dark horse Racing alone in his fright.” “I’m finding that I have a little bit of trouble with the quality […]
Here is a guest post excerpt from my friend and artist MC Lars from the Huffington Post UK. “In last week’s State of the Union, President Obama stressed the importance of creatively revitalising our nation’s economy. He called for “an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of […]
Ian Rogers, CEO of Daisy and Executive Chairman of Topspin, is a music and technology industry veteran with roots in defining the way artists and consumers promote and experience digital media online. The Topspin platform has been used by such artists as Chester French, Eminem, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beck, and the Beastie Boys. […]
Alicen Catron Schneider is Vice President of Music Creative Services for NBC Universal and a music supervisor. Alicen is responsible for music supervision for hit TV shows including Heroes, Lipstick Jungle, Crossing Jordan, House, Monk, Surface, Eureka, LAX, Critical Assembly, Leap of Faith, ED, The Pretender, Tucker, Sunday Night Football and the Winter Olympics.
Derek Sivers is a musician and the founder of independent music retailer CDBaby. A professional musician since 1987, and alumni of Berklee College of Music, Derek started CD Baby by accident in 1998 when he was selling his own CD on his website, and friends asked if he could sell theirs, too. CD Baby became […]
Ariel Hyatt is a music publicist who has worked with over 1,400 musicians and has invaluable insight and expertise in online promotion and social media marketing. Ariel’s book, “Music Success in Nine Weeks” is a must read. Ariel talks about social media strategies for artists, music companies, authors and online PR campaigns and the importance […]
Elliot Scheiner is a legendary producer and engineer and widely considered to be one of the leading authorities in studio sound recording & mixing. A highly sought-after producer and engineer, his pioneering efforts in 5.1 surround sound are credited with establishing the foundation for the genre. His career includes work with such music legends as […]
Mike Dreese is CEO of Newbury Comics, Inc., a company he co-founded in 1978 with his MIT roommate and which now operates over 25 stores throughout New England. As an early specialist in the burgeoning new wave/punk music scene, the chain grew rapidly. In the early ’80s, Mike cofounded ModernMethod Records, an imprint to Boston’s […]
Michael McCarty is President of ole and, from the company’s head office in Toronto, oversees all creative and administrative operations in ole’s Nashville and Los Angeles locations, as well as Toronto. ole’s genre-diverse catalogue includes hits by Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, and Shania Twain. Michael brings over 20 years in the music publishing […]
Steve Schnur is Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing for Electronic Arts (EA), where he is responsible for the pursuit, creation and continuous development of the global vision for the music in EA games. He has brought established stars, breakthrough new artists and award-winning composers, including Green Day, Iron Maiden, Rage Against The Machine, M.I.A., […]
Terry McBride is the current CEO and one of three founders of the Nettwerk Music Group, founded in McBride’s apartment in 1984, and now with corporate offices in Vancouver, Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Hamburg and London. Nettwerk Records and/or Nettwerk Management have been home to such diverse artists as Coldplay, Jamiroquai, Sarah McLachlan, […]
Kelly Cha, nicknamed Zhazha in China, is a Chinese-American singer/songwriter, author, and TV/radio personality. She has published three books and released several singles in addition to hosting radio shows in Los Angeles and China for the past decade. Kelly is currently the acclaimed host of “Action English’s Action DJ,” a daily television show in China […]
Jill Sobule is a singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single “I Kissed a Girl”, and “Supermodel” from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless. Her folk-inflected compositions alternate between ironic, story-driven character studies and emotive ballads, a duality reminiscent of such 1970s American songwriters as Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson, Loudon Wainwright III, Harry Chapin, […]
Keith Garde, president of PAID, Inc. celebrity services and founder of PKA Management, brings over 30 years of experience in recording/touring artist management, serving as co-manager from the late ‘80s through to 1995 for the internationally renowned rock group Aerosmith and continues to consult for the group today. His experience includes: business development; organizational systems, […]
Mike Tunnicliffe is a senior marketing executive with experience operating with media platforms, brands and ad agencies in almost every major global market. Mike has been developing new businesses at the intersection between brands, technology and entertainment. Mike runs two management companies SAS Digital and Tuna Music, through which he works with entertainment brands and […]
Mike King is the Associate Director of Marketing at Berkleemusic.com, Berklee College of Music’s online division. Prior to working at Berklee, he was the Marketing/Product Manager at Rykodisc, where he oversaw all marketing efforts for label artists including Mickey Hart, Jeb Loy Nichols, Morphine, Jess Klein, Voices On The Verge, Bill Hicks, The Slip, Pork […]
Mark Wood is the managing director at Radius Music in the UK, whose clients include Imogene Heap, Frou Frou, Jon Green, The Bonfires, Jerry Abbot, Jim Ervin, Julian Emery, Jethro East and Rogue States. Radius is a management company based in London managing artists, songwriters and producers. Radius aims to build long term careers not […]
Larry Hamby is the senior vice president of A&R at Sony Music, where his clients include REO Speedwagon, Mary Chapin, Jonny Lange, Imogene Heap, and Duncan Sheik. He formerly worked in A&R for A&M Records and Epic Records, where he managed Michael Jackson’s Thriller recording sessions.
Paul Hoffert is a founding member of Lighthouse a rock band that sold millions of records, toured the world and earned three Juno Awards as Canada’s # 1 pop band (1971-1973). He was inducted into the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and is a multi-awarded composer and conductor of movie and […]
Mark Holden is the former president and CEO of Hip Digital Media. Mark has over 30 years of experience with strategic technology & media development in the music, entertainment and film industries. Previously, Mark was Vice President of iTiva Development Corp., an interactive internet content distribution company. Previous to iTiva, Mark was responsible for content […]
Lou Plaia is the co-founder and VP of Artist Development at Reverb Nation. He is a music industry veteran, logging 12 years in marketing at Atlantic Records before he was handpicked to head up the Marketing and Artist Development departments of the newly formed Lava Records. Lou has handled marketing for such artists as Kid […]
Jeff Dorenfeld is an associate professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music. He has more than twelve years experience in higher education and more than thirty years experience in the music industry. As faculty advisor for Berklee’s student-run record label, Heavy Rotation Records, he negotiated a recording contract with Epic/Sony Records—the first-ever college […]
Matthew Daniel is the VP, Strategy Development, of R2G. He is a 15-year veteran of the advertising industry and made the transition to the online space in the early days of the dot com boom with the then leading web developer Organic after which he went on to lead the interactive and strategic planning disciplines […]
J the S is a New York-based underground hip-hop artist born in the West Indies and raised in Boston. In just four years, J the S dropped two internationally distributed full-length albums and a pair of venomous mixtapes, landed singles on Rap Network, Rap Attack Lives and CMJ charts, and enjoyed rotation on more than […]
Decades before indie labels and DIY were the norm, and years before women had any real access in the industry, Cris Williamson was busy changing the face of popular music. Cris’s stellar vocals and compelling persona are regarded as legendary for good reason. Despite being like a well-kept secret, and dwelling almost completely in the […]
Amber Rubarth is a young singer/songwriter from New York City who only started playing music in 2004, but is making a full-time living touring, including many tours of Europe, booking it all herself. She got her start by learning to play and working for a booking agent for a brief period and just doing it. […]
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