GUEST SPEAKER : Ken Nelson, Senior VP/Executive Producer at FirstCom Music.
Ken has over twenty years of experience in creating, producing, and licensing music catalogs. He has created and produced music catalogs for companies like ESPN, Ethan Allen, Rogers Sports Net, Universal, Discovery Networks, ABC, CBS, and the list goes on. To give you an idea of what Ken does, here's an example copied from FirstCom's website:
FirstCom scored the music to picture using early versions of the new animation supplied by Vivendi. Ken Nelson was the producer and executive producer of the sound track for the new logo: 'Vivendi Entertainment had a very clear idea of the image and sound they wanted. Unlike many traditional libraries, we had the expertise to take the actual animation roughs and score directly to those assets. This allowed us to try several different approaches and orchestral mixes until we were able to capture just the right mood.'
Nelson worked closely with Mark Kristol, Vivendi Entertainments Executive Vice President of Theatrical Marketing & Distribution, through several weeks of the post production process. 'It was an absolute pleasure working with Ken and his team. Ken was keenly adept at interpreting the sound concept we had in mind. He was able to offer us several variations on that theme which enabled us to succinctly determine the score that would most effectively contribute to establishing our new identity. '
Free to DSA members, $5 suggested donation for visitors
Networking begins at 6:30
Announcements at 7PM
Program about 7:15
SONG CRITIQUES WILL FOLLOW - Members only $5
TRINITY ROOM
Map: Center for Community Cooperation
2900 Live Oak Street
Dallas, Texas 75204
http://www.cccdfw.org/pages/location.html
Another great 2nd Tuesday program was delivered last night by program director Bob Paterno and guest speaker Ken Nelson of FirstCom Music. Ken is involved in putting together music catalogues for almost every use imaginable, from video games to commercials to TV to movies. It’s one of the few music markets with growing revenues. Ken mostly works with well-produced finished product, and the money for songwriters sounds minuscule.
ReplyDeleteFunny how much demand there is for original music, but there is no shortage on the supply side, so $$$ for the average composer, writer or artist is paltry, but the same could be said about used cars. We’ll never run out of used cars. Still, some use their smarts and talents and make a fortune. Learn the game. Play the game.
Get your music produced. That was the lesson of the night, as it often is. Remove the obstacles to your music. Have something you can hand over that can be put to immediate use.
For most of us, the trip from pen and paper to studio is circuitous. We’re learning to walk in this art form, and the studio seems far away, and it will be, forever if we don’t take some steps. No matter what our musical goals, having a studio-polished product is going to help us reach them.
SONG CRITIQUES
It was a busy night of song critiques with 7 songs, and the competition was fierce. Top scorer was “Blue Side of the Red River” by Vern Dailey, followed closely by “Hero Where It Counts” by Brooke Malouf and “Lucky Sweater” by Michael Brandenberger. “One Night to Midnight” by Karyna Cruz and “Time and Space” by Evan Krause also scored well.
Been a good year for 2nd Tuesday meetings,
Buck Morgan
DSA Prez