Business of Music - MUS 4300 - UNO

On Wednesday we welcomed Dani Meier, Artistic Vice President of the Omaha Symphony. Dani (and many other orchestra admin and staff around the world) had a crash course in music licensing during the early months of the pandemic. Since that time, she's become an expert in the wildly complex topic of music copyright, publishing, performing rights and licensing. We got a real tour through the weeds on how to make sure our uses of music comply with the law, and that our composing, recording and arranging friends (and their heirs!) get the payments that are due to them. Great stuff, thanks Dani!

Dan Cerveny - the man with the long title - visited class last week. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Omaha Musicians Association Local 70-558, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO. Or as he calls himself "The Other SOB from the Union" (his predecessor Shorty Vest was the original...). Dan brought forward the idea of unity among musicians as we strive for better wages and working conditions. An no matter what "Get It In Writing". And now we all know how to make 1 million $ in the music business, guaranteed! Thank you Dan!

Our guest last week was Sophia Potter from ORCA , cool acronym for the UNO Office of Research and Creative Activity. (She's also Executive Director of Omaha Area Youth Orchestras and cellist extraordinaire, a triple threat!) Sophia gave a presentation about grant-writing opportunities for students, and the grants business in general. Great information, thanks, Sophia!

Our guest today was Darci Gamerl - oboist, producer, web consultant, and Music Director of classical radio KVNO. Darci shared her life in music and business, how Covid has impacted her activities, and she has some exciting new projects on the horizon including a record label! Thanks for your time, Darci, it was great to see you!
https://www.facebook.com/SolariumRecords/about/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nicki-minaj-tracy-chapman-settlement-sorry-lawsuit-1111631/

Tracy Chapman agrees to settlement for copyright infringement

Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks have sold their publishing catalogs —

Bob Dylan Sells His Songwriting Catalog in Blockbuster Deal Universal Music purchased his entire songwriting catalog of more than 600 songs in what may be the biggest acquisition ever of a single act’s publishing rights.

Our guest this week was Jennifer Novak Haar, one of the busiest musicians in our city. Jennifer shared her stories about her life in music as a pianist, music director, business person, teacher and... photographer! Thanks for visiting Business of Music, Jennifer and all the best for continued success in your amazing career!

Taylor Swift - the latest to learn that she doesn't own her early song catalog - happened to Tom Petty, John Fogarty and many others.

Taylor Swift Paints Scooter Braun as Manipulative Bully as Big Machine Sells Her Catalog Taylor Swift has described herself as “sad and grossed out” by Scooter Braun’s acquisition of Big Machine Records, which holds the rights to her entire catalog up through 2017’s “Reputa…

What a treat to have Darci Gamerl as our guest! Darci is as busy as they come, her work as an artist and entrepreneur runs the gamut from orchestra, chamber and solo performing, contracting, promoting and composition to web design and oboe and English horn reed sales. She's a consummate expert at balancing life and career, and had some great stories and advice for us. Thanks Darci!

https://www.darcigamerl.com/

From "My Sweet Lord" to "Blurred Lines" , plagiarism real or imagined continues to hit the songwriting business.

‘Blurred Lines’ on Their Minds, Songwriters Create Nervously “I shouldn’t be thinking about legal precedent when I am trying to write a chorus,” a Beyoncé songwriter says, long after “Blurred Lines” led to a rise in plagiarism claims.

Congratulations to Brian Schmidt on the launch of his web magazine Slime and Grime, log in for the latest news on local metal events, reviews and record releases. Great job Brian!

https://www.slimeandgrimeomaha.com/

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Yesterday our guest was Judy Divis. Judy talked about developing a new venture, Good Vibrations. The program raises funds to repair student-owned stringed instruments in Title I schools in Omaha. Since the inception of the program in January of 2018, over 60 instruments have been repaired, congratulations Judy! Your comments about fundraising and raising awareness for a new project were terrific, thanks for sharing your experiences!

https://www.omahachambermusic.org/good-vibrations