The Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association's inaugural music business conference ended the semester on a high note for The University of Memphis.
The conference put aspiring musicians and music industry professionals together for a meeting of the minds.
"This conference offered the attendees something that most of them have never experienced before," said Dawn Apang, vice president of MEISA and a senior music business major. "We even had panelists telling us that they learned things about the industry from the other panels, so that was very satisfying. I think that everyone had a good time, met new people, learned about the industry and felt a little more empowered, so that, in my opinion, makes it a success."
The more than 100 individuals in attendance were able to get industry professionals' opinions and advice on subjects that varied from press kit standards to having their demos critiqued.
"People learned how to market themselves as an artist in terms of the press kit and the demo," said Lucia Kaminsky, president of MEISA and senior music business major. "They also learned how to protect their music through the copyright office. Basically, attendees learned everything about how to protect and expose their music effectively."
The conference had very few problems and ran smoothly, according to Kaminsky.
"We had an ice bucket leak. I think that that was the extent of our problems," said Tonya Butler, faculty advisor to MEISA and professor at the Rudi E. Sheidt School of Music. "Believe it or not, everything turned out exactly as planned."
The industry professionals had a lot to say about their respective fields.
"We are in an industry where everyone is trying to sell soup, so you have to make sure that you use spices to make your soup unique," said Jason Clark, vice president of A&R for the 3PM music group. "One task that you have as a musician is making music that is marketable."
The conference was valuable to The University because it educated people about music as well as informing them of how they can advance themselves, using campus and school resources in a way that other conferences cannot, according to Butler.
"I think that people learned a lot of little details about recording, copyright and marketing that they would not have learned at a larger, broader based event," Butler said. "They also learned a lot about MEISA, Bluetrip Records and the music industry program as a whole."
The conference and other programs like it are promoted by MEISA because of the unique opportunities that they afford students and local musicians, according to Butler.
"I try to encourage students to make their senior projects something that they can give to The University or something that they can use in their professional careers," Butler said. "This will be one that we do again next year."
The conference was a great opportunity for musicians to make industry connections, said Jrew Raines, musician and junior at The Memphis College of Art.
"I was expecting my music to not be accepted well because it isn't industry material, but I got more of a positive response. It was good to hear," Raines said. "I think that they (MEISA) did a good job of having panelists from a good cross-section of the industry."
The panelists were not the only feature that made the conference worth attending, according to Meagan Smith, a senior music business major and The University relations chair for MEISA.
"The level of professionalism that the music industry panelists showed during the sessions was amazing. They all had a lot of helpful information to contribute. The information packets provided to attendees of the event were well put together and extremely comprehensive," Smith said. "However, if I had to pick one thing that stood out, I would say it was the opportunity to network with music industry professionals and have a chance to ask questions and receive blunt and honest answers."
MEISA will hold elections at a meeting on Friday at 12:30 in CFA 105.
"They are all hard workers, and I have complete faith in them," Kaminsky said. "I encourage all those that want to be involved in MEISA to come and see what we're about."
MEISA finished this year out with a bang, according to Apang.
"It was really rewarding to see all the planning and hard work come together. This was MEISA biggest event yet," Apang said. "It is very validating to see how successful the conference was. All the work from the last two years manifested itself in this one event. It sets a high standard for the chapter. Hopefully this is only a taste of what MEISA will do in the future."
