The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will soon begin. And when it does, it’s important not to forget the annual Sync Up Conference. A free industry conference presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Sync Up brings together leaders in music, film and digital media for education and networking events – all designed to help independent artists navigate the ever-changing landscape of new media. This year the conference has been moved to the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center. A state-of-the-art education and performance facility located at the gateway of the Treme neighborhood.
Sync Up Music will host sessions on the mornings of the Friday and Saturday of both weekends of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Sync Up Cinema (organized by the New Orleans Video Access Center and the New Orleans Film Society) will present film screenings and workshops on the Monday-Wednesday between Jazz Fest weekends. And once again, Launch Fest – which connects technology start-ups with venture capital – will take place on the Thursday between weekends.
This year Tina Terry will be sitting in on the Booking Agents Roundtable to be held on:
May 2, 2015
9:00 am – Registration Opens
10:00 am – Panel Discussion Begins
It’s long been said that getting a booking agent can be harder than getting a record deal – especially these days, now that even indie releases are getting Grammy nominations. So, what does a musician – whether a newcomer or a veteran – need to have before a booking agent will take them on? And once an artist signs with an agency, that means they’ll never have to hustle for gigs ever again and their performance fees will always be in the mid-five figures – right? Maybe, maybe not. We’ve assembled a group of agents with long experience working with up-and-coming as well as established acts, including many from Louisiana.
Tina Terry, Tina Terry Agency (Charlotte, NC)
Mark Lourie, Skyline Music (Whitefield, NH)
Page Stallings, Vice President, Blue Mountain Artists (Charlotte, NC)
Pat May, Crossover Touring (Portland, ME)
Jon Bell, New Frontier Touring (Nashville, TN)
Being a free event, seating is limited. Advance registration is required.
Link to register for Sync Up Music: http://www.jazzandheritage.org/sync-up/registration.
The conference will be streamed in live video at www.WWOZ.org
Sync Up MUSIC Highlights At a Glance
Music Publishing: A keynote interview with Matt Pincus, CEO and founder of Songs Music Publishing, which with artists like Lorde, DJ Mustard and Q-Tip is one of the hottest boutique publishers in the business.
Touring: Two panels featuring booking agents with long experience helping up-and-coming as well as established acts build profitable careers on the road.
Independent Distribution: A keynote interview with David Macias, co-founder and CEO of Thirty Tigers, who is helping independent artists top the charts and score Grammy nominations while owning their own masters.
Crowdfunding: A panel with local artists who can share lessons from working with various platforms, including Indiegogo, Pledge Music and Kickstarter.
Case Studies: Sturgill Simpson and Aaron Watson, two artists who have hit the big time on self-released records, will be the subjects of special presentations.
Digital Distribution: Top leaders from Bit Torrent will discuss why their platform – once known only for file sharing (stealing) – is now the first choice for rappers like Curren$y and rock stars like Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
E-Commerce: The drummer Stanton Moore shares his creative ideas for making money over the Internet.
Music In Film: Music coordinators for three TV shows that are filming right now on the streets of New Orleans will explain how best to get local music into their shows.