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.
Trent Reznor, a musician who has been known for his opposition to the major label model, has returned to Columbia Records for his upcoming album, “Hesitation Marks.” His other project, How to Destroy Angels, is also through Columbia. So why would Reznor go back to the major label model he was so against only a […]
The elements of social media should be taken as they appear in the phrase itself. Social comes before media and is therefore the most important element. Social media is not a tool to simply talk or shout at your your fans, it is a complex feedback look based on communication and, most importantly, listening. You […]
There are tons of ways to promote your music today with various apps, websites, and services. There are also many things you can do for FREE to help raise awareness for you, your music, and your live shows. To get a better idea of some of the things you can be doing to promote your […]
Are you using YouTube to its full potential? For many artists, YouTube is a secondary thought. Lots of musicians will simply put their music, music videos, and vlogs up on YouTube without much thought and then forget about them. If they get a lot of views it will be a nice surprise, but many don’t […]
Goal setting is majorly overlooked in the music industry. So many bands and musicians say they want to “make it” but many haven’t defined what “making it” really looks like. Success is different for everyone. Some musicians will be happy having a day job and being able to play a few gigs on the weekends […]
Twitter is a very powerful resource for fan engagement, but it is often misunderstood, and therefore underutilized by musicians and bands. Many will ask questions like “How much information can I really get across in 140 characters? Is it really worth it?” Additionally, it can be time consuming enough to manage a musician presence on […]
Indiegogo has recently released a guide to monetizing your YouTube channel with crowdfunding that features 9 tips to make your campaign and your channel more successful. You don’t need to be a full-time YouTuber to take advantage of the tips in this guide. Most musicians and bands today have some form of a YouTube channel […]
Getting creative with your marketing is a great way to stand out from the crowd and really engage your fans. Muse recently ran a marketing strategy titled The Bank of Muse, based off a previous Foo Fighters campaign, In Rock we Trust. The band printed their own currency, the Muso, and distributed the bills […]
Everyone in the music industry is looking for some magical solution to hit it big. Musicians are told that if they want to be successful they need to give music away for free, or focus on touring, or crowdfund their album, and many fail trying to fit these one-size strategies into their career. Karmin was […]
Sync licensing has become a viable revenue stream for indie artists in recent years. In the past, many artists viewed having their music on a commercial as “selling out,” but today, this is what many bands and musicians strive for. The great news is that there is a huge demand for indie music in TV […]
On July 11, Stanford University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences held its second annual Behavioral Science Summit. The event’s purpose was to analyze behavioral science’s role on society, specifically business, arts, culture, and technology. Daniel Levitin, scientist, music producer, and writer of the book This is Your Brain on Music, gave a talk entitled “Creativity in […]
Mobile is becoming increasingly important for musicians and music fans. Consumers seem to be using their smart phones and other portable devices like the tablets for just about everything, and music is no exception. Fans today can listen to their favorite music through streaming services like Pandora from anywhere and discover new bands and musicians […]
The music subscription service, Rdio, has recently partnered with concert promoter Live Nation. As a result, Rdio will provide audio streaming on LiveNation.com and act as a sponsor for Live Nation-promoted festivals including the Sasquatch! Festival and the Watershed Music Festival. The partnership started last weekend and is part of Rdio’s efforts to gain more […]
Merchandise can potentially be a huge revenue stream for independent bands and musicians. However, knowing what to make, how many to make, what company to use, what to sell for, and how to let your fans know you have merch without sounding like an advertisement can be difficult. Check out this extremely detailed guide to […]
Apple’s iTunes Radio is certainly late to the game, which brings to rise questions on how they will get consumers to switch from the already established online radio services. Apple needs to know what consumers really want from an online radio service and then go about providing more value while keeping the switching costs […]
Collaboration is a key factor for success in today’s music industry. It is very difficult to “make it” on your own without the help of band members, team members, and other musicians and bands. When it comes to growing your fan base, collaborating with other bands or musicians is a great method. You can promote […]
The first ever Music Education Hackathon took place June 28-29 in New York City. Around 300 people gathered together in the 24 hour time frame to develop more than 40 usable music education tools. The hackathon brought together groups that rarely collaborate: educators, developers, and the music industry. Collaboration in the music industry is extremely […]
A Facebook business or band page is different from a personal page, and therefore requires a different approach. Once you get a hang of it, it can be a great way to create a more meaningful relationship with your fans and customers. Facebook allows you to talk to them directly, offer Facebook-exclusive promotions, and […]
There has been a lot of hype this past week about Pandora and their unfair payments to artists. Both sides in this argument are skewing the facts in their favor, and therefore creating mass misunderstanding, leaving consumers and other musicians with music on Pandora utterly confused. I cannot help but make the connection to the […]
Apple announced its long anticipated online radio last month. The free version, iTunes Radio, and the ad-free paid version, iTunes Match, will be available to consumers and music fans later this year. Apple’s iAd will be supporting the free service. As a company known for innovation and market disruption, seeing a model so similar to […]
Musicians are smart, creative, and innovative thinkers despite what popular culture would have you believe. Too often, when we think of musicians, images from Spinal Tap come to mind, but this is not usually the case. Being a musician requires a mix of extreme creativity and logic, collaboration, listening and multi-tasking skills, and complete dedication […]
Facebook can be an extremely valuable tool for fan engagement when used correctly. It can serve as a platform to talk to fans, and a platform for fans to talk to each other. Additionally, if you create engagement in the form of likes, comments, and shares, you’re also reaching a wider audience – the friends […]
Using social media for professional and business purposes can be hard to get a hang of. More likely than not, followers of your band or business are not going to want to hear about what you had for breakfast or some personal drama going on in your life. That being said, if used correctly social […]
Your band name is one of the most important assets you have. It’s how fans identify you, it represents you and your music, and for some bands, like the Rolling Stones or Black Flag, it can become an iconic symbol representing a genre, attitude, or era. With the market saturated with small amateur bands, the […]
A “startup” can be anything from a business making a new product to a starting band looking to make it in the music industry. And, no matter what your startup is, there are certain characteristics, such as stubbornness and arrogance, that will doom you to failure if not addressed. 1. Stubbornness Entrepreneurs become passionate about […]
Why do most music players look like spreadsheets? Discovering music on your own requires that you listen to a song for a period of time to see if you like it. Sure, if one of your friends tells you about a track you may “discover” it through them, but you will also spend some time […]
According to this article from Digital Music News, Maria Pallante, the US Register of Copyrights, is looking to move US law towards the full payment of performance rights. This means that radio broadcasters, who historically have not paid for their use of the sound recording, may be required to do so in the future. While […]
Today, indie and DIY artists have the potential to bring in more money than ever before, but sometimes all the potential revenue sources can be overwhelming and difficult to manage. This article describes the three most profitable revenue sources for indie musicians. 1) YouTube Complain all you want about musicians making YouTube covers and goofy videos […]
Online crowdfunding has been gaining momentum over the past few years and is becoming an increasingly powerful resource for startups and indie projects. Check out this cool infographic created by GoGetFunding.com for some interesting details on the recent growth of the crowdfunding industry. For a more detailed report, check out the 2012 “Crowdfunding Industry Report: […]
The Most Interesting Startup in the World They have no employees, only customers. Strangers ride the elevator up and down, just to hear their pitch. When they meet with Angels, they take equity… in their investors. Their seed round was an IPO. They once pivoted all the way around, just to see how it feels. […]
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