Water & Music Academy 003: A Global Approach to Music Rights

​Course Description:
This speaker series is an introduction to the increasingly nuanced and complicated world of music rights, from a global lens. While it’s increasingly common for artists and music entrepreneurs to build with an international strategy from the ground up, global music copyright frameworks and royalty flows remain stubbornly inaccessible and non-transparent, leading to many repeat pitfalls throughout history when it comes to market understanding and business growth. This course will start off with grounding global music copyright complexities in modern music/tech case studies, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the problem and why music-industry professionals should care. Then, we’ll dive into key sessions focused on music rights in specific markets — including China, India, Latin America, and Africa — and discuss the future of the landscape when it comes to possible technological solutions.

​Who is this class for? 
People building international music careers and/or brands, with advanced beginner/intermediate knowledge of the music business.

​Specifically, this class is designed for: 

• ​Artists and their teams who are exploring international opportunities.

• ​Builders who are solving problems they’ve identified in music, but who may not be fully aware of all the global implications or ramifications of their product beyond their home market. 

• ​Professionals (inside or outside of music) who work with music rights, and are interested in expanding their knowledge base on the topic from a global lens.

​Structure & Format:
This course is part of our Speaker Series Academy, so the format will primarily be educational conversations. We will also include reading prerequisites, case studies, and context setting at the beginning of each session. 

• ​Speaker Series: Hear from experts on challenges and solutions that they’ve encountered with music copyrights in their region or area of expertise, and what they wish people would know before entering into this territory. 

• ​Required Reading: We’ll provide async resources that cover music copyright basics, as in preparation for more in-depth discussions through our live sessions.

• ​Case Studies: We’ll focus our music copyright discussions on real-world problems, and real-world solutions. 

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What will this Academy enable you to do next?

• ​Plot your next release strategy and business deals in some of today’s fastest-growing international music markets

• ​Build business acumen that will allow you to better navigate the global music landscape — including more insight into industry power dynamics, consumer behavior, etc. on a regional level

• ​Bore people at parties :)

​BREAKDOWN 

• ​INTRODUCTION
  Tue, Feb 21 - 11:00am-12:30pm EST
  Led by Maarten Walraven 

• ​INDIA
  Thu, Feb 23 - 12:00pm-01:30pm EST 
  Featuring: Aniket Rajgarhia @ OUTDUSTRY, Priyanka Khimani @ Khimani & Associates, Moderator TBA 

• ​LATIN AMERICA
  Mon, Feb 27 - 11:00am-12:30pm EST:
  Featuring: Diego Maldonado @ ONErpm, Patricia Carrera @ Control Freaks, Moderated by Cherie Hu @ Water & Music 

• ​AFRICA
  Wed, Mar 1 - 11:00am-12:30pm EST:
  Featuring: Foza Oyinkansola @ Digital Music Commerce, 'Yemisi Falaye @ The Temple Company Ltd, Moderated by Ed Peto @ Outdustry

• ​CHINA
  Fri, Mar 3 - 11:00am-12:30pm EST
  Featuring: CheiZak (aka Li Hongjie) @ mta1verse, Yaxi Wang @ Yuanhe & Twelve Tables Partners, Moderated by Cherie Hu @ Water & Music 

• ​TECHNOLOGY
  Tue, Mar 7 - 11:00am-12:30pm EST
  Featuring: Dani Balcells @ BMAT, Irene Bauzá @ Unison, Moderator TBA 

• ​POST-ROYALTIES
  Thu, Mar 9 - 11:00am-12:30pm EST
  Dan Fowler @ Hifi Labs, Becky Brook, Moderator TBA 

​Why Water & Music?
W&M’s unique voice and lens combines deep, systems-level context on the music industry (considering multiple stakeholders, sectors, disciplines, career stages, etc.) with a tech- and user-centric approach to understanding industry developments, alongside an emphasis on practical application and collaborative problem-solving and knowledge-sharing. 

• ​User-Centric Approach: Focusing on consumer behavior, especially around tech adoption and habits, as a useful lens through which to understand monetization opportunities and challenges on a regional level (e.g. Africa and China are still very piracy-driven).

• ​Insider Nuances and Knowledge: Highlighting industry power dynamics that are unique to each region, that influence that region’s approach to copyright law and monetization (e.g. distribution of influence among tech companies, rights holders, and artists in China is very different from that in the US).

• ​Practical Solutions: Each session aims to not only provide education and landscape setting, but highlight speakers’ expertise and experience to provide practical tools and knowledge one might arm themselves with before entering a market.

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​PRICING
Full Course: $200 non-members / $150 members:
A La Carte: $40 non-members / $30 members 
*If you have purchased access to a session, it will be available to view after it is held.
*Members - please apply the coupon code that was shared with you!