Our friends at the New Music Seminar (NMS) are returning to New York next month and this year’s main theme is: “The beginning of a brand new music business.” We’ve arranged for Hit Songs Deconstructed Readers to save 20% off the admission fee. To get your discount go to www.newmusicseminar.com/register and use discount code NMSHSD14. We hope you will join us there!

The NMS kicks off on Sunday, June 8, with Tune-up Sessions featuring The Art of Networking, Artist is a Business and The Legal Big Four (CLE) discussing the big four artists agreements, followed by the opening night red-carpet event. In the evening, NMS will present New Music Nights – two nights of live music featuring more than 70 Artists on the Verge, a curated selection of emerging artists, at venues in New York’s East Village and Lower East Side.

NMS covers all sectors of the music business, from hip-hop to video, A&R, radio, touring, dance music, distribution, producers, songwriters, publishers, high-resolution audio and more. And this year’s NMS will again feature the SoundExchange Summit, focused on the growth in streaming and how labels and artists can maximize revenues. “The future of the music business clearly lies in streaming,” says Tom Silverman, NMS founder and executive director. “Music’s monetization and measurement – and even its language – must change from units to users, average revenue per user (ARPU) and customer lifetime value (CLV). This is a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions – and the NMS will probe the opportunities and dangers.”

Conference highlights include:

• The Producers Movement featuring legendary producer Nile Rodgers and Atlantic Records Chariman/CEO Craig Kallman.
• The A&R Movement features the hottest new A&R talent including Talya Elitzer (A&R Representative, Capitol), Alyssa Castiglia (A&R Representative, Island Records), Brandon Davis (A&R Manager, Atlantic), Jon Coombs (General Manager, SC Publishing), Jenna Rubenstein (Creative, Insieme Music Publishing, Glassnote Entertainment), Austin Rice (A&R Representative, Columbia Records), Jessica Strassman (A&R Representative, Columbia Records), and Patch Culbertson (A&R Manager, Republic Records), and will be conducted by David Massey (President, Island Records).
• Independent Labels Coming to Power will be conducted by: Darius Van Arman, Co-owner, Secretly Label Group (Jagjaguwar, Dead Oceans, Numero Uno, and Secretly Canadian), featuring: Ed Vetri (CEO/President, Wind-up Records), Craig Balsam (Co-founder, Razor & Tie), Michael Goldstone (Founder/Owner, Mom + Pop), Kris Gillespie (General Manager, Domino), Shannon Houchins (Founder, Average Joes Entertainment), Steve Greenberg (Founder/CEO, S-Curve Music). The session will discuss market share and why independent labels may be a better choice for artists than majors.
• Dance Music: Not Another Disco Bubble featuring: Patrick Moxey (President, Ultra Records), Geronimo (Senior Director of Programming, SiriusXM), Prem Akkaraju (CCO, SFX Entertainment), Andrew Goldstone (Manager, Red Light Management), Glenn Mendlinger (SVP/General Manager, Astralwerks), Senthil Chadambaram (CEO, Dancing Astronaut), Lee Anderson (Agent, AM Only)
• Music Subscription: The leaders of the exploding music subscription sector explain why music subscription will drive exposure and revenues for artists and their investors in a way that records never could. How can the music industry get behind the subscription wave and accelerate the consumer adoption of subscription music? With Ralph Simon (CEO & Founder, Mobilium Global), Mark Piibe (EVP, Global Business Development & Digital Strategy, Sony Music), Stephen Bryan (EVP, Digital Strategy & Business Development, Warner Music Group), Paul Springer (SVP, Rhapsody), Tamara Hrivnak (Director, Partnerships (Google Play Music), Google)
• High Resolution Audio is Coming. Are you Ready? What you have to know about getting the best possible recording done today that will be ready for our HRA future. Featuring: Michael Fremer (Editor, Analog Planet), Spencer Chrislu (VP, Configuration Strategy, Warner Music Group), Steve Guttenberg (The Audiophiliac, CNET), Alan Silverman (Founder/Mastering Engineer, Arf! Mastering), Jerry Harrison (Producer/Performer, Talking Heads)
• Those interested in the international market can attend Midem’s presentation of The Globalization of Music, conducted by Bill Werde (Entrepreneur, Guggenheim Digital), featuring Daniel Glass (Founder and President, Glassnote Entertainment), Dan Chalmers (Managing Director, ADA UK), Steven Hill (Head of International Marketing, Warp Records), Andy Chen (CEO, Aspiro Group) and Rich Riley (CEO, Shazam).
• For the legal sector, Fox Rothschild will present CLE Accredited movements on The Big Four Artist Agreements: A state-of-the-art overview of the main artist contracts; So Sue Me o everything you need to know about litigation; Music Publishing; and Artist Label Deals.