Midwest's largest music conference & festival announces the conference panels
Panel discussions, demo listening derbys, artist mentoring and reps from Warner Music Group, Atlantic Records, Interscope, Geffen, Hollywood Records, Rhino Entertainment, Universal, NARAS, MTV, ABC, E! Television and More!
TULSA, OKLA. - Dfest today announced its conference panel topics and a group of panelists speaking at the July 25-26 music conference. The two day event is comprised of discussions on hot topics facing the music industry today and basics that anyone pursuing a career in the music industry and record business should clearly understand. Also there are demo listening derbys, one-on-one mentoring and music clinics.
"Dfest continues to bring in relevant panelists with diverse backgrounds in the music industry on all levels, from DIY and Indie Labels to Major Labels and all the other folks that really create a business," Co-Dfest creator Angie DeVore-Green said. "From promoters, to entertainment attorneys and marketing reps and the lineup of music supervisors, if you can't connect at Dfest, you must not have a pulse. You don't want to miss Dfest this year."
Organizers expect more than 1500 people to attend the conference and over 60,000 to attend the festival that showcases the emerging artists that the conference is designed to educate.
Panel topics this year include: Do You Know Why You're Here? 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; Taking Care of Business (Band Agreements, Budgets, Marketing, Basics) - 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 - 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) - 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) - 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; Keynote: Martin Atkins; Radio, Press, Marketing: A Closer Look - 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; Meet the Music Supervisors: Licensing for Independent Artists - 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 - 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 - Martin Atkins gets into the nuts and bolts of his book on touring. If you tour, plan on touring, plan to have a career, you can't miss this session; Blog Marketing = Blog Buzz: Welcome to the Social - 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 - 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 - 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 a**! 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; Two Demo Listening Derbys & Mentoring One-On-Ones.
Featured panelists include: Ken Abdo, ELI/NARAS; Stephanie Adwar, Furgang & Adwar, Tom Alexander, AEG Live; AM, Artist; Holly Anderson, Eventful; Martin Atkins, Tour: Smart; Daryl Berg, FuelTV; David Codr, micSpace; Jon Delange, Tinderbox Music; Dan Efram, The Musebox; Damian Elahi, Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records; Erica Forrester, Rhino Entertainment; Jim Halsey, The Halsey Institute; Carrie Hughes, Reflection Music; Chris Jackson, E! Television/G4 Network; Paul Kriegler, 94.1 The Sound; Keith Lacock, Tinderbox Music; Justin Levenson, SESAC; Max Luces-Tucker, Bunim/Murray Productions; Tomy McDonald, Warner Music Group; Steven Melrose, Island UK; Scott Perry, The Tip Sheet; David Ponak, Rhino Entertainment; Ravi, Artistic Integrity; Steve Ripley, The Tractors; Steve Robertson, Atlantic Records; Joe Rudge, ABC; Jack Shapira, Unison Studios; Wil Sharpe, Sharpe Entertainment; Madalyn Sklar, GoGirlsMusic.com; Robert Spinelli, Bodog Music; David Teegarden, Artist/Engineer; Larry White, Invisible Records. More panelists to be announced soon!
Similar to Austin's South by Southwest, Dfest showcases the best emerging artists in the country in the evenings, and has informative cutting-edge panel discussions during the day. In addition to the panel discussions ,there is also an industry tradeshow that features artist support services, music manufacturers and music related organizations.
As previously announced, Invisible Records owner Martin Atkins, Columbia College professor and author of "Tour: Smart," will be the conference's keynote speaker.
The tradeshow and conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, the official host hotel of Dfest.
Music festival times are 4 p.m. - 2 a.m. Music conference times are 11:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now at www.okctickets.com and www.dfest.com. Advanced two-day wristbands good for both days cost $30 online, and standard two-day wristbands cost $40 at the gates. Badges are valid for the conference as well as the festival. Advanced Badges cost $100 online, and Standard Badges cost $150 the day of the event. Standard service fees apply. For badge registrants who want extra value, a downloadable e-Book of Dfest's Keynote Speaker, Martin Atkins, titled "Tour: Smart" will be available for an additional $9.95 (a 29.95 value of the hardback version of the book)
