Editorial May 2010
Spring is here, just in time for this latest issue of the MBJ. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to our current crop of articles.
Our cover chronicles a dramatic story. Berklee alumn Javier Samayoa recounts the challenges of producing and running large-scale TV Award shows. The theme of the article, on music and TV, projects beyond the Latin market in which Samayoa operates. Recently, we have added more interviews to our offerings, and in this issue we decided to cover music marketing afresh by focusing on two practitioners: Mike King of Berkleemusic, who has just relased his own book, and Steven Day of Skagg Family records in Nashville. We are grateful to Amy Mantis and Mia Verdoorn for their contributions to a topic that is at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
In the April edition we discussed global touring from the perspective of a manager, Live Nation’s Gerry Barad. Here we look at the live music scene at the street view level, and focus on two well know festivals: Lollapalooza in the US and the global World Music Day. Our own prolific staff writer Silvina Moreno contributed the first article, and Moanna Avvenenti the second. Minden Jones, in the meantime, reminds us that tours tend to be environmentally unfriendly and that there is a new business for ‘green music’– a point made, coincidentally, in the last edition of Billboard magazine! Focusing abroad, we publish one essay on the Japanese mobile music market by Jason Chang and another by Ben Hong underlying the the significance for Europe and the US of the new the Digital Economy Act of 2010, in Britain.
As my Berklee career comes to an end this May, I am grateful to the students, alumni, and faculty who put in all the hard-won hours it takes to make this publication run and continue to grow in new directions. Each of you have made my time working with the MBJ a privilege. I would also encourage any reader to submit their own piece, for as the discourse widens, we can only improve.
Be sure to check out or new website at thembj.org if you haven’t yet, where you can always download the latest issue or use our database for all your music business researching needs. You can also find us on Facebook so if you like what you see, become a fan! Thanks for reading.
Sincerely, Michael L. Benson
