Saturday, November 17, 2007

Demystifying the music business

Industry insiders offer School of the Arts students tips on making it



More than 20 music industry top executives, songwriters, producers, directors, engineers and designers put their daily tasks on hold for a day this week to visit with area schoolchildren who dream of going into the music business.

At Grammy Career Day this year, more than 400 students at Nashville School for the Arts were treated to performances by Tyler Hilton and CeCe Winans and invited to attend panel discussions on topics ranging from makeup and wardrobe design, show production, songwriting and commercial jingles, musical theater, vocal performance and music video. The Tuesday event was sponsored by the Nashville chapter of the Recording Academy with additional support from the Gibson Foundation and Starkey Hearing Foundation.

"It's really important for kids to have the opportunity to ask questions and have the opportunity to learn," said panelist Tracy Gershon, who is vice president of artists and repertoire at Warner Brothers and is also on the Recording Academy's Nashville chapter board. "I wish I had this when I was a kid. It helps dissolve the mystery around being an artist and a songwriter. Fame isn't always what it's cracked up to be, and everyone has their own version of what they think fame is. This is clearing up myths and giving the students a dose of reality."

Read the rest of the story in the Tennessean newspaper.

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