Lecture from EMI Music Publishing

Last week, I attended a lecture at Full Sail University about music publishing and artist management at EMI Music Publishing.  The lecture featured Bridget Unger, the Director of Music Resources, and Joya Nemley, the Manager of Global Services.  They both talked about how to succeed in the music business.  They mentioned some points of interest that I wanted to discuss about my movement into the entertainment industry.

One pointer that Bridget Unger talked about was building a positive working relationship with other professionals in the music business.  I read on the Billboard website that Unger has done so much with licensing music and has become an important player within EMI.  Also during the lecture, she talked about how she used her personality and experiences to build relationships to get into the depths of the music industry.  The shocker of the article and the lecture was that she did all of this in her late 20’s.  That gave me inspiration to keep working and connecting with others to achieve my goals.  I just turned 26 and while I continue to build connections while I reside in Orlando, Florida, I am building knowledge on how to run my own business when I return to Ohio.

Another tip that Bridget and Joya both mentioned in the lecture was to show out to your audience.  In a Under30CEO article, it mentions that the new entrepreneur should give an impact to their costumer and the stockholders.  Unger and Nemley both stated that one should represent their brand by being on time and going above and beyond with one’s work.  I am usually prompt with my work but it is always good to over the limit.

I have learned a few lessons from this lecture like understanding that this is a business and being your own brand.  However, these two points are very relevant with what I’m going through with my time learning the entertainment industry.  Overall, Bridget Unger and Joya Nemley gave me a reality check in moving forward into the entertainment industry.

Customer Satisfaction in Music

In the music industry, customer satisfaction is a very crucial factor to a record label and its artists.  For example, when a customer buys a compact disc or downloads the album from an online store, the customer wants an album with full quality from the artist.  In the past years, the music business is in a state of crisis due to customers only buying singles instead of the whole albums.  Also, there are many websites to download torrents and free music.  I could easily say that customers may stop downloading free music if they were getting a great product from the artist and the label, but that is not the case.  The price of compact discs has risen up to $20 and hiking up the prices would lower the gratification of the customer.  But according to an article in Muzak, playing music in a retail setting would increase the customer’s satisfaction.  I understand that prices must be raised to have a profitable business, but music retailers should add more content to the products for customers.

According to an article in Media Journal, there are different aspects of how customer satisfaction is distinguished within having a physical product, file sharing, or downloading from online stores.  For instance, with productivity, file sharing takes away the value of the product.  With pricing, buying music online preferred rather than at a retail store.  With the customer in mind, buying music online is easier than going to the retail store.  It saves gas and the hassle of not having the product at the store.  However, actually having a physical music product feels like one owns a piece of the artist’s life.  I would prefer that record labels give the customer more than just the music product.  For instance, merchandise like artist t-shirts or ticket giveaways would entice the customer.