DFEST Music Conference & Festival

Friday July 25, 2008

Do You Know Why You're Here?

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Ravi, Artist/Clinician

You know you want to learn about the music industry and further your career. This is a special session to figure out how to make each panel apply to your unique situation and get you in the frame of mind to really make the most of the Dfest Music Conference.

Eventful - Special Eventful web marketing panel

12:30 pm -1:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

Holly Anderson, Eventful
Catherine Lieu, Eventful

Drum Clinic

12:30 pm -1:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom A

Jeff Jones, Drum World

Taking Care of Business (Band Agreements, Budgets, Marketing, Basics)

1:30 pm -2:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

David Codr (moderator), micspace.com
Ken Abdo , Lommen Abdo Law Firm
Stephanie Adwar, Furgang Adwar
Jim Halsey, The Jim Halsey Co.
Jeff Scheel, Gravity Kills
Wil Sharpe, Sharpe Entertainment Services

Understanding how your band is a business and defining the business structure of your band, we'll be discussing types of business entities, band agreements, expenses, budgeting, tax deductions and ownership of your band as a brand.

Publishing & PRO's

2:00 pm -3:15 pm
Promenadge Ballroom C

Madalyn Sklar (moderator), GoGirlsMusic
Jon Delange, Tinderbox Music
Erica Forster, YSK Entertainment / Extasy Recording Studio
Justin Levenson, SESAC
Shawn Murphy, ASCAP
David Preston, BMI

What are the benefits of a PRO and why you need to be a member of one. We'll be discussing the differences between BMI/ASCAP/SESAC, how to properly set up your publishing company/artist account with a PRO, and making sure you've properly registered songs because it's the only way you get paid when you license your music. And on the horizon, PRO brokering firms: how can they help.

Making a Plan: From Recording to Sales (Radio, Press, Online, Tour Marketing Strategies)

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Larry White (moderator), Larry White Management
AM , Artist
Tom Alexander, AEG Live
Dan Efram,The Musebox, Tractor Beam Management
Mollie Moore, Atlantic Records
Jack Shapira, Unison Studios

In order to break your band, you must start thinking of yourself on a broader scale, you must think past your CD release show. We'll be hitting the highlights of what you need to plan out, including: determining how many units to buy and promo materials, what's your radio strategy - advancing promos and onesheets, what's your press strategy - articles and reviews and previews, what's your online strategy - creating buzz through social networks and blogs, what's your marketing strategy - lifestyle marketing, in-stores, radio appearances, merchandising, and what's your tour strategy - setting up sensible, doable tours to sell records.

Taking Care of Business Part 2 (Sponsorships, Investors, Alternative Revenues)

3:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

David Codr (moderator), micspace.com
Stephanie Adwar, Furgang Adwar
Mia Crow, Visionworks Music
Jim Halsey, The Jim Halsey Co.
Robert Spinelli, Bodog Music

This is Part 2 of the business basics session where we'll be discussing capital investments, finding investors and how to sell your band as an investment, sponsorship and the effect of third-party support on your career, whether it be a $20,000 sync for a commercial to a full-on multimedia campaign and tour sponsorship, working to maximize your earning potential when the markets seems to support giving away your music for free, creating new revenue streams by giving your fans free music for buying concert tix and merchandise, and touching on alliances you can make with sites that are file sharing and how you get paid.

Drum Clinic

3:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom A

Ben Tedder, Drum World

Keynote: Martin Atkins

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Demo Listening Derby

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

John Nicolson, Hollywood Records
David Ponak, Rhino Entertainment
Steve Robertson, Atlantic Records

Saturday, July 26 2008

Radio, Press, Marketing: A Closer Look

11:30 am - 12:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

Dan Efram (moderator), The Musebox, Tractor Beam Management
Paul Kriegler, 94.1 The Sound
Keith Lacock,Tinderbox Music
Rob Spinelli, Bodog Music
Wil Sharpe, Sharpe Entertainment Services

Here we go in depth into the area of press & marketing that was highlighted on Friday in he Making a Plan session. We'll be discussing how to approach radio, how to approach press, how to make your press and radio strategies have synergy, and marketing strategies explained - creating synergies between your radio and press outlets and creating real marketing opportunities to help you sell your music and make money.

Instant Guitarification

12:30 pm -1:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom A

Ravi, Artist / Clinician

Meet the Music Supervisors: Licensing for Independent Artists

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Jon Delange (moderator),Tinderbox Music
Daryl Berg, FuelTV
Carrie Hughes, MTV / Reflection Music
Chris Jackson, Comcast Entertainmnet Group
Max Luces-Tucker, Bunim/Murray Productions
Joe Rudge, Search Party Music

Platinum selling artists are no longer the only ones licensing their music for films, video games, and more. By the numbers independent music gets placed into significantly more television opportunities than does music from the majors. More production houses are seeking out independent music for inclusion in commercial ventures that ultimately can expose your music to a whole new audience. What should you look for in a licensing deal, and how to go about effectively soliciting your music to these soundtrack coordinators, and production houses are some of the issues that will be addressed in this informative session. Proudly, this years panel may be one of the finest available nationally.

21st Century Deals: The 360 Record Deal

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

Ken Abdo (moderator), Lommen Abdo Law Firm
Damian Elahi, Interscope, Geffen, A&M/Universal
David Ponak, Rhino Entertainment
Steve Robertson, Atlantic Records

It seems to be the big "buzz" word in the industry when bands talk about getting signed, but what does it really mean? We'll be discussing what a 360 degree deal means and how it is changing what a record deal means. The record business and getting signed is not the same ballgame it was 10 and even five years ago. We'll get down and dirty into how a 360 affects your brand identity, merchandising, sync licensing, touring, and everything in between.

Tour Smart: The Panel

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Martin Atkins, Tour Smart

Recording Forum

2:00 pm - 3:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Jonathan Bolzle, Mastering Engineer
Jon Schroeder, Producer / Engineer
David Teegarden, Producer / Engineer

Blog Marketing = Blog Buzz: Welcome to the Social

2:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

Scott Perry (moderator), The New Music Tipsheet
Holl Anderson, Eventful
Daryl Berg, FuelTV
Dan Efram, The Musebox, Tractor Beam Management
Eavan Porter, Nettwerk Management
Madalyn Sklar, GoGirlsMusic

Congratulations! Your band has 100,000 friends and 2.4 million plays on MySpace - now what? How do you leverage your fanbase to make real dollars? How do you use Facebook, Buzznet, imeem, and others to activate the base to buy downloads, discs, t-shirts, and tix? Can you give actual instances of sales increases based on URL referrals? What have we learned from Snocap? We'll be discussing how blog buzz generates record sales, how to blog and create buzz, how to extend the buzz to social networks and learn how do YOU use social nets to promote your goods.

Sync or Swim: The Guitar Hero Effect, the KRION Effect & Gaming & Branding Licensing

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Jon Delange (moderator), Tinderbox Music
Stephanie Adwar, Furgang Adwar
Chris Jackson, Comcast Entertainment Group
Mike Locke, Rhino Independent
David Ponak, Rhino Entertainment

No doubt about it, Dragonforce has been the #1 benefactor from exposure on Guitar Hero, having gone from Double Nickel to Quadruple Platinum since their inclusion on Guitar Hero 3. How did this come about? What does a record company do to stoke the flames? What are other labels doing to include Guitar Hero and Rock Band in their plans to promote and launch new releases and catalog titles? How does Madden and other games fit into labels' current strategies? And how can you get your independent band licensed to a game.

And don't forget, using your band as a brand is now the new model. We'll also be discussing how branding licensing is quickly becoming one of the most lucrative ways to get your music out to the fans.

Artist as Retailer

4:00 pm - 5:15 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

Scott Perry (moderator), The New Music Tipsheet
Mia Crow, Visionworks Music
Erica Forster, YSK Entertainment / Extasy Recording Studio
Eavan Porter, Nettwerk Management
Jack Shapira, Unison Studios
Rob Spinelli, Bodog Music

Sure, any artist can put out their own stuff without a label these days, but handling the marketing and sales on your own is a pain in the ass! We bring some folks to the stage to talk about their experiences in transitioning from selling music on their own to signing off and allowing a major distributor get their music into digital & physical retailers. How much and what kind of work was done in the early stages, who handled it, and what were the deal points in signing with a distributor?

Drum Clinic

4:00 pm - 5:45 pm
Promenade Ballroom A

Martin Atkins, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails

Artist One-On-One: An Intimate conversation with The All-American Rejects

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Promenade Ballroom D

Demo Listening Derby

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Promenade Ballroom C

Jim Halsey, The Jim Halsey Co.
Mike Locke, Rhino Independent
Mollie Moore, Atlantic Records

Mentoring One-On-One

Daily 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Sign Up will established soon online to schedule your mentoring session with one of our industry guests.