What an extraordinary seven weeks at NYU.

ReMu’s inaugural Stevie Wonder course, likely the first of its kind anywhere in the world, was an exploration not only of the man’s career but an overview of a crucial moment in popular music history: when African-American recording artists – and the times – demanded independence from a producer’s system; when, simultaneous with the singer-songwriter and album rock movement, black music found its own voice. Stevie Wonder led the movement, opening the door to new forms of expression, paving the way to creative uses of new technologies, and influencing generations to come.

From l-to-r: DJ Spinna, Stevie Wonder, Jason King, & Harry Weinger

Helping carve a path through the curriculum was Stevie Wonder himself, who surprised everyone with a guest appearance during the first class. Stevie did more than wave hello and move on, he held forth for 30 minutes, telling his story, during which he sang snippets of his songs and took questions from the students. Providing a musical backdrop was DJ Spinna, well known for his successful “Wonder-full” nights in NY, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Harry Weinger & Malcolm Cecil

The class also attracted Malcolm Cecil, an electronic music pioneer who was one-half of the original production and engineering team behind the classic Wonder albums Talking Book, Innervisions, et al. He spoke at length about his career and treated the class to an exclusive listening session of side one of Innervisions, direct from the original master tape.

Harry Weinger & Carl Sturken

In a later class, helping to frame Stevie’s influence, was songwriter-producer Carl Sturken, who with his creative partner Evan Rogers has collaborated with most of the major young pop stars of the last 15 years; most prominently they discovered Rihanna. In class Sturken played songs he co-created, pointing out the obvious and subtle Stevie Wonder influences.

From l-to-r: Christian McBride, Harry Weinger, Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, & DJ Spinna

The class concluded with a 90-minute Q&A with Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson and Christian McBride. They’re longtime friends who were high school classmates and are unabashed Stevie Wonder fans. They discussed their favorite Wonder moments, both from listening as kids to personal experiences with Stevie himself. They put those moments in historical, political and social contexts, deftly weaving the conversation into a class as unforgettable as the first.

And we ended as we began: with DJ Spinna playing the music.

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
Tisch School of the Arts | New York University and
The Recording Academy®

present

The Music Business NOW:
How It Really Works and the People and Events
that Influence It

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music | Tisch School of the Arts | New York University and The Recording Academy® join together to connect the best and the brightest executives in our business with the next generation of artists, managers, and marketers of recorded and live entertainment. The digital age has forced massive changes on the entertainment industry; how do you develop, distribute, and market artists and their work in this brave new world? This in-depth master class series provides perspectives on this and other vital questions from some of the most influential people in the business, as they directly address new artists’ development; branding and marketing; building and maintaining a fan base; new strategies for the Internet and wireless technologies; online and digital marketing; touring and merchandising; retail sales; music publishing; film, television, and games; radio and video promotion; and much more. It’s a basic tenet that personal relationships are crucial in any business, and this is especially true in the music industry, which is vastly influenced by a handful of key executives.

This master class series features an extensive list of guest speakers, panelists, and lecturers, enabling students to meet and interact with major players in the business. Courses will be hosted in the private, 200+-seat Ray Kurtzman Theater at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, CA.

DETAILS ON THE MASTER CLASS SERIES:

WHEN IS IT - Wednesdays, 7PM-10PM – from January 25, 2012 to April 25, 2012

WHERE IS IT - hosted in the private 200+ seat Ray Kurtzman Theater at Creative Artists Agency, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067

WHO IS ELIGIBLE - This master class series is not for college credit; therefore, it is open to anyone with an interest in the music industry!

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST - $680 (*Current members in good standing with The Recording Academy® are eligible for a $100 discount on the registration fee. All Academy members claiming the promo discount will need the code provided by The Recording Academy®.)

PRIORITY REGISTRATION DEADLINE - January 18; rolling registration after January 18, pending space available

SCHEDULED GUEST SPEAKERS:

• Irving Azoff, CEO, TicketMaster/LiveNation, manager of Christina Aguilera, Van Halen, The Eagles
• Michael Rapino, CEO, LiveNation
• John Branca, Senior Partner, Ziffren Brittenham & Branca, LLP, Co-Executor of the Estate of Michael Jackson
• Rob Cavallo, CEO, Warner Bros Records, Chief Creative Officer, Warner Music Group
• Steve Berman, Vice Chairman and President of Sales and Marketing, Interscope Records
• Jody Gerson, Co-President, Sony/ATV Music
• Jon Platt, President, Urban Music, EMI Music Publishing
• Cameron Strang, President and CEO, Warner/Chappell Music
• Tom Sturges, Executive VP, Creative, Universal Music Publishing Group
• Gregg Sowders, Senior Vice President, Warner/Chappell Music
• Kevin Weatherly, Program Director, KROQ and JACK-FM
• Neil Portnow: President/CEO, The Recording Academy (GRAMMY Awards)
• Nic Harcourt, Editor at Large, Music & Culture, Los Angeles Times
• Rob Light, Managing Partner/Head of Music, CAA
• Amy Doyle, Senior Vice President, Music and Talent, MTV
• Mark Williams, Senior Vice President, A&R, Columbia Records
• Ian Montone, CEO, Monotone Management (Jack White, The Shins, Foster The People, Cold War Kids)
• Jim Guerinot, President, Rebel Waltz Management (No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, Social Distortion, The Offspring, Trent Reznor, Hot Hot Heat)
• Steve Schnur, Worldwide Head Of Music, EA Videogames
• Mark Shimmel, Head of Music, Turner Networks, Music Consultant, Kennedy Center Honors

…and more to be confirmed!

INSTRUCTORS:

JEFFREY JAMPOL, President of JAM, Inc., manages rock legends The Doors, and the Estates of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Peter Tosh, and Rick James. Mr. Jampol won the 2011 GRAMMY® Award, along with Dick Wolf, as a producer of The Doors’ theatrical documentary narrated by Johnny Depp, When You’re Strange – A Film About The Doors, and was nominated for an Emmy® Award in 2010. Mr. Jampol also serves as a consultant to the Estate of Michael Jackson, and counsels managers, publishers, labels, and artists’ estates on catalog, publishing, licensing, branding, merchandise and marketing. He is a voting member of The Recording Academy®, where he sat on the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Chapter from 2007-09, and is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences®.

LENNY BEER, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of HITS Magazine and HitsDailyDouble.com, the music industry’s most widely read trade publication. He’s also a co-founder and principal of The MGMT Company, which guides the careers of 30 Seconds to Mars, Bush, Andrew W.K., The Airborne Toxic Event, The Bravery and other acts. The Bronx native received his BA from Carnegie-Mellon and his MBA from NYU. Lenny has also served as producer on several theatrical productions, notably Suzan Lori-Parks’ Pulitzer-winning, Tony®-nominated Topdog/Underdog, starring Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def, and is an active member of The Recording Academy^®. An avid golfer, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife, noted producer Suzi Dietz; they have two children and two grandsons.

IAN ROGERS, CEO, Topspin, has been building digital media applications since 1992.  Prior to Topspin, Rogers was VP Music and Video for Yahoo, President/CTO of Mediacode, creators of an early “music in the cloud” service, President of New Media for the Beastie Boys and their Grand Royal label, and part of the Nullsoft team who created Winamp, SHOUTcast, and Gnutella.

BRUCE RESNIKOFF, President & CEO, Universal Music Enterprises. the U.S. catalog and ancillary marketing entity for the Universal Music Group, oversees integrated marketing campaigns, direct to consumer programs, brand management initiatives and strategic partnerships. He is also one of the founders of NOW! That’s What I Call Music, the most successful U.S. music compilation series in history. Resnikoff is a member of the Executive Board of the City Of Hope’s Music & Entertainment Division and is on the Board of Directors of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.

DAVID DORN, Senior Vice President, Global Sales & Digital Strategy, Rhino Entertainment (a Warner Music Group Company). Mr. Dorn oversees the digital future of Rhino’s vast and historically rich catalog of recorded masters (Aretha Franklin, Ramones, Frank Sinatra, and Led Zeppelin, among numerous others). He also oversees Rhino’s International business and is a voting member of The Recording Academy^®.

MUSIC BUSINESS NOW – MORE INFORMATION!

WEB | http://clivedavisinst.tisch.nyu.edu/object/musicbusinessnow

FACEBOOK | http://www.facebook.com/musicbiznow

TWITTER | http://twitter.com/musicbiznow

REGISTER NOW | https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9363745

EMAIL | musicbusinessnow@nyu.edu

jointly present
DEF JAM @ 25

A conversation event with
BILL ADLER, Def Jam’s founding publicist
CEY ADAMS, Def Jam’s founding creative director and graphic designer, and
DAN CHARNAS, author of “The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop”

Celebrating the release of their new Rizzoli New York book

DEF JAM RECORDINGS: THE FIRST 25 YEARS OF THE LAST GREAT RECORD LABEL

ABOUT DEF JAM
Def Jam Recordings was started by young entrepreneurs Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin in the early 1980s, out of Rubin’s Weinstein Hall dorm room. 25 years later, the once-independent label has launched the careers of some of music’s greatest superstars (L.L. Cool J, Run D.M.C., Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Ja Rule, Rihanna, Ashanti, and Kanye West, etc) and changed the face of global youth culture.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Celebrating the company’s 25th Anniversary, the just-released book Def Jam Recordings (Rizzoli New York) is a stunning oral history of Def Jam in the words of its artists and top executives, taken from interviews and seamlessly told as a narrative of no-holds barred recollections and anecdotes.

ABOUT THE EVENT
During this rare conversation event, authors Bill Adler, Cey Adams and Dan Charnas will present a video/slide lecture and Q&A about their new book. The discussion will be moderated by Tisch Photography and Imaging Chair, Deborah Willis and Recorded Music Artistic Director, Jason King.

WHEN: Monday October 17, 2011, 7:00PM-9:00PM
HOW MUCH: Free for NYU students, faculty and staff
WHERE: TSOA Dean’s Conference Room, 721 Broadway, 12th floor

RSVP is REQUIRED: http://clivedavisinst.tisch.nyu.edu/object/defjam25

Seating for this event is very limited; first-come, first-served.
A valid NYU ID is required for entrance to the building.

presents

the ASCAP SONGWRITING SERIES with BENNY BLANCO

Benny “Blanco” Levin is an American Writer/Producer. Raised in Reston, Virginia and currently living in Manhattan, Benny is responsible for such Top 40 Hits as Tik Tok, California Gurls, Teenage Dream Dynamite, We R Who We R, Stereo Hearts, Moves Like Jagger and many more.  After getting his start in music as a rapper, Benny has developed into one of the top producers of today…all by the age 23.

Benny will visit Recorded Music for three different sessions.  In this first session, Benny will share his journey in the industry, and also discuss proper Music Business Etiquette and the tools you need to succeed as a producer and songwriter.  In the following two sessions, Benny will deconstruct some of his most popular songs and explain his songwriting techniques, processes, and some tricks of the trade so that you can write the next big hit!

Friday, October 7th @ 4:00pm
19 University Place, Room 102

This event is OPEN TO ALL NYU STUDENTS. RSVP is required.
Seating is limited; first-come, first-served. There are no plus ones for this event.
A valid NYU ID is required for entrance to the building.

This event is graciously underwritten by the ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund.

To RSVP: http://clivedavisdept.tisch.nyu.edu/object/bennyblanco

For Immediate Release:
DATE: 09-21-2011
Contact: Richard Pierce
212.998.6796
richard.pierce@nyu.edu

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts has announced that producer, songwriter, and performer Ryan Leslie has been named its first Artist in Residence.  The appointment, which begins immediately, is for the 2011/12 academic year and supports and enhances the emphasis the Recorded Music Institute places on teaching students the skills of creative entrepreneurship for the music industry.

“Ryan Leslie is the epitome of the creative entrepreneur and the holistic attitude we believe so firmly in here at the Institute,” said Jeffrey Rabhan, chair of The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.  “His entire professional career has been a perfect balance between artistry and business acumen.  We think someone of Ryan Leslie’s intelligence, talent, and entrepreneurial savvy will add a dynamic new dimension to the Clive Davis Institute and we’re excited to have him join the program.”

The Artist-in-Residence provides students with direct access to one of the music industry’s most successful entrepreneurs, filling the program’s experiential education mandate.  In this role, the Artist-in-Residence will guide students through a variety of portals, including one-on-one sessions, group lectures, songwriting critiques, and mentoring.

Born in 1978, Leslie began making music as a teenager after teaching himself to play the piano.  When he was 14, he scored a perfect 1600 on his SATs and eventually enrolled at Harvard, graduating at the age of 19 with a degree in Government.  By 2003, he established a foothold in the music industry and later that year also produced a debut album, entitled Just Right. While never being released, the album did produce two singles: The Way That U Move Girl and Used 2 Be. By the end of 2005, he wrote and/or produced tracks for Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and New Edition.   In 2006, he wrote and produced the singer Cassie’s Me&U album, a number one R&B single that also reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100.  Cassie’s subsequent album, produced almost entirely by Leslie, narrowly missed the top of both the Billboard 200 and R&B/hip-hop albums charts.

Leslie went back to the studio to record another debut album and the lead single, Diamond Girl, was released as a single.  The successive singles Addiction and How It Was Supposed to Be also set the stage for his self-titled album, which was finally released in February 2009.  Nine months later, Leslie followed up his debut album with the Grammy-nominated album Transition, inspired by a secret summertime fling. Currently preparing his new body of work, a rap album entitled Les Is More, he has also found time to produce and guest appear on records with Kanye West, Lloyd Banks, Fabolous and Rick Ross.

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music is the first of its kind to provide professional business and artistic training toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. The undergraduate program is designed to provide professional training for students who aspire to succeed as creative entrepreneurs in the music industry.  Since it opened its doors in 2003, the program has been a leader in training aspiring music entrepreneurs.  It has been on the cutting edge of music education, offering innovative courses like “The History of Def Jam,” “Emerging Music Trends,” and “Branding.”  The program bears the name of its chief patron and advisor, Clive Davis.

Also kudos to friends/colleagues of the Clive Davis Institute: Najee the 1′s music manager Marat Berenstein of Hit Me Music and article author John Leland.

Read the article HERE.

Please contact Tisch-Special Programs for more information.
721 Broadway, 12th Floor
212.998.1500
http://clivedavisinst.tisch.nyu.edu/object/remujamaica.html

by ReMu Music Theory Professor, Jeff Peretz

As you may or may not know…

Gerard Smith, TV on the Radio bassist and friend of REMU recently passed away from lung cancer.  He was 36 years old.  Some of you had the chance to meet Gerard when he came to speak to our theory class in the fall of 2009.  The band was just about to release “Dear Science” which would go on to become both Rolling Stone magazine and Spin magazines’ “Album of the Year”.

Gerard was excited to share the demos that lead up to the eventual release of “Dear Science” and discuss in depth his role, not only as the bass player, but also as the guy who gathered up all of the samples that make the sonic textures of TVOTR so unique. Gerard was never without his minidisk player and a good mic to capture anything and everything that went on around him.  Whether it was a Polish brass band during a parade in Greenpoint, the clicks and pops of the traffic light signal box, or the cue ball clacking against the one ball in a billiards break, Gerard would record it all, dump them into his MPC and spend days manipulating the sounds that would eventually become the inexplicable signature of TVOTR tracks.

Those of you who were there for his lecture will remember him scrolling through his MPC and showing us the source samples as well as his treatments of them that wound up on many of the bands’ hits.  You might also recall his stories of busking at the Bedford Ave L train stop (which is how he met Dave Sitek and wound up joining TV on the Radio) and his message of perseverance.  I think he said something along the lines of “hell, if 5 guys in their 30’s can make it…so can you”.  Later that day he shared with me how proud he was to be invited to our program and how nervous he was. I simply reminded him that he and his band were making some of the most exciting records in a long time and that we were grateful for his visit to which he humbly replied, “I guess so.”

Gerard was one of the most creative musicians I have ever known.  He heard the sounds of the world as if they were one big song and would leave you feeling the same way after talking to him for only a few minutes.  Gerard was a great friend and an inspiring collaborator, a father and a fixture of the musical community in Williamsburg.  His passing has left a huge hole in all of our hearts and in our industry as a whole.  If you are looking for someone who personified what it means to be dedicated to their craft for all the right reasons and in all the right ways, look no further than Gerard A. Smith.

You can hear Gerard’s magic on the TV on the Radio’s new release “Nine Types of Light” out now…

R.I.P my brother, you are missed and loved.

The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University

is proud to present

“Music & Film – From the Script to the Score”

FEATURING

Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean
-Take the Lead (2006)
-Biker Boys (2003)
-Any Given Sunday (1999)

AND SPECIAL GUESTS FROM THE FILM INDUSTRY, INCLUDING:

Bonnie Greenberg, Music Supervisor
-It’s Complicated (2009)
-How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
-My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

Chris Robinson, Director
-ATL (2006)

Eve, Artist & Actress
-Barbershop (2002)
-Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)

Malcolm Lee, Director
-Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
-Best Man

Where: Cantor Film Center, Theater 200 (36 E. 8th Street)
When: THIS Thursday, April 7th from 6:30-8:30pm

This event is open to the entire NYU Community. Valid photo ID is required for entrance to the building. More guests and info to come. Check back later this week!

To RSVP: http://clivedavisdept.tisch.nyu.edu/object/swizzbeatzlecture.html