On this page, you can find the Culminating Experience (CE) Projects for all graduate students from the Berklee College of Music master’s program Global Entertainment and Music Business (GEMB) from 2015 – present. Click on any title for more information and access to the full paper and other deliverables (if available).
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The Chinese Virtual Singer Business: Introduction and Preliminary Analysis
Yi Jiangnan
2020The so-called virtual singers are personified singing synthesizer voicebanks, with the business around them straddling music industry and AGC (anime, games and comics) industry. Originated from Japan, where the first singing synthesizer in the world was invented, the virtual singer business has grown into a global business of billions. Today virtual singers are widely recognized as the first generation of virtual artists who have achieved notable global success, especially Hatsune Miku, the most popular Vocaloid singer in history. A local virtual singer business in China blossomed soon after the rise of Hatsune Miku, which has formed its own shape over the years in the unique social-economic context of China. Having gone through many ups and downs, the Chinese virtual singer business has moved into a stable yet bottleneck period, with one profitable superstar Luo Tianyi and hundreds of others struggling with attaining any attention of the audience. This paper intends to present the history, market structure, business model and copyright distribution of the Chinese virtual singer business, as well as to conduct a preliminary SWOT analysis on it. In order to better explain the business model and cultural context of the virtual singer business, some relevant aspects of the Japanese virtual singer business will also be discussed in literature review. The methodology of the paper is part case studies analysis, part primary interview.
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MIDEM TALENT EXPORTER 2020
Joyce Kelly-Lefèvre
2020Based on my internship and experience in Midem Talent Exporter's 2020 edition, I have created a guideline for the next generation of GEMB students that will get on this project to use as a resource throughout their internship, as well as to provide insights on how Midem Talent Exporter was launched and executed in 2020.
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Balancing Curriculum, Creativity and Culture in Berklee’s Independent Record Label
Jacob Lapidus
2020Between 2019 and 2020, Disrupción Records, Berklee Valencia's independent label, has grown a great deal. The organization has grown from 8 to 20 team members, while integrating as a core part of the Global Entertainment & Music Business program's Record Practicum. As the incoming Label Manager, I found myself having to balance curriculum, culture, and creativity as we continuously expand our scope of operations to meet new constraints and opportunities. Throughout the year, our team battled evolving priorities and goals, a fresh roster or creative talent, and a global pandemic. We explored the intersection of music and culture with our four unique imprints and determined what key factors must be considered when navigating between distinct cultural moments. This experience has been tremendously formative for me and many other on the Disrupción team, with over eighteen Culminating Experiences being supported. The label is just getting started, and will be a sustainable resource for years to come.
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Sandwich Management Business Plan
Myra Lau Johnson
2020Sandwich Management is an Artist Management company created with the purpose of supporting artists to accomplish their goals. With the ‘here to there’ mindset, managers work with artists to help them with their next steps, bringing an idea to a creation and the creation to the fan. Through an extensive network of music industry professionals and a wealth of knowledge on the needs of growing artists, artists are put at the center of our strategy. Whether the needs are project-based, requiring full focus, or needing consulting, there is something for every artist at any stage. If artists are looking to expand their current team with a certain project, or simply get some guidance on their career at the beginning stages, all are applicable services. Artists can choose to work with a consultant, who gives guidance on what the artist should do, for a flat rate. Artists can also get help on a project basis, where the artists still retain their full percentage and pay up front for an agreed upon set of services. Whatever the needs, we will adapt and create the right strategy for you.
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East Meets West: A Korean Music, Culture, and Food Festival
Susan Lee
2020This is a business plan for East Meets West, a Korean music, culture, and food festival based in Los Angeles, California.
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Business Plan for Guichao Culture Limited
Huiling Li and Qiao Ya Li
2020This business plan entails the details of future entertainment company “Guichao Culture Limited”, registering and operating in China. In the course of this business plan and the future operations of “Guichao Culture Limited”, we will aim to reconnect the public, current popular culture, and people in the Chinese music industry with traditional Chinese culture, through offering services to artists with similar beliefs and fostering collaborations with people in other industry who has similar goals. We will redefine “Guofeng” as a new music genre in more rigour and academic way, targeting a relatively barren market focusing on high- quality music and production and creating Guofeng superstars, rather than what the “hit-making machine” way of working that most of the competitors in Guofeng genre are doing currently. We will walk you through the hows and the whys for the creation and execution of “Guichao Culture Limited” while touching on the importance and evolutions of Guofeng music in the bigger society today.
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Business Plan for Guichao Culture Limited
Qiao Ya Li and Huiling Li
2020This business plan entails the details of future entertainment company “Guichao Culture Limited”, registering and operating in China. In the course of this business plan and the future operations of “Guichao Culture Limited”, we will aim to reconnect the public, current popular culture, and people in the Chinese music industry with traditional Chinese culture, through offering services to artists with similar beliefs and fostering collaborations with people in other industry who has similar goals. We will redefine “Guofeng” as a new music genre in more rigour and academic way, targeting a relatively barren market focusing on high- quality music and production and creating Guofeng superstars, rather than what the “hit-making machine” way of working that most of the competitors in Guofeng genre are doing currently. We will walk you through the hows and the whys for the creation and execution of “Guichao Culture Limited” while touching on the importance and evolutions of Guofeng music in the bigger society today.
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UwU Entertainment & Mass Media Company
Qianyi Lu
2020My business plan is inspired by the current business model of a U.S. based mass media company, 88rising, as well as a few other innovative record labels/entertainment/music service companies from all around the world such as Majestic Casual, AWAL, AOMG, YG Entertainment, Believe, and more. My company, UwU, is determined to discover and promote emerging and established Asian artists from across the world. In particular, we aim to valorize those who are targeting the music markets in East Asia and Southeast Asia and with an interest in exporting their music to North America. We also seek to build a network and community for the artists to connect and collaborate with each other all across the world. We serve to incorporate the cultures in Asia and the concept of diversity into music, art, lifestyle and fashion. More importantly, we are dedicated to creating more music export opportunities in Asia, to help up-and-coming talents gain more exposure in the global music market, while simultaneously breaking into different territories. Meanwhile, we also strive to develop more international collaborations between eastern and western artists and music producers in efforts to bridge the gap between east and west.
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Embracing the Glitch: Disrupción Records Director of Marketing Culminating Experience
Meg McCluskey
2020This Culminating Experience Operational Project centers on the position of Director of Marketing for Berklee Valencia’s independent record label, Disrupción Records, for the 2019-2020 academic year. The following work details the label-level, imprint-level, and artist- level marketing and branding activities performed in this role. The main role of the Director of Marketing at Disrupción Records is to manage all of the marketing efforts within the label, including the branding and marketing of the label itself, as well as supporting the marketing campaigns and projects of its teams and artists. This paper dives into the various facets and responsibilities of the role, as well as the evolution of the position based on the developing needs of the label and its artists. By discussing both opportunities and challenges, this paper outlines the branding and marketing activities that took place in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite a global glitch that required pivoting and innovation, the Disrupcion brand is stronger than ever, and it has set the stage for the continued success of the label in years to come.
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Auras Studios Business Plan
Alica Molito
2020This year, I co-founded a creative agency focused on Augmented Reality experiences for artists. What started as a vision about helping artists reach new fans and build emotional connections has now become an officially registered company taking on first clients and projects. The academic project outcome is a business plan, however my co-founder James Shannon and I spent a significant amount of our time starting and operating the business. This business is combining complementary experience and knowledge of two professionals. While my expertise is rooted in the Creative Direction and Marketing field and the European market, James has experience in Business Development and Sales in the North American market. Our company is registered as “Auras Studios ltd” in the UK. Auras Studios’ main business is the creation of AR filters to be used on social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok. Additionally, the company advises artists on their Augmented Reality strategy, offers creative direction for AR campaigns and will help with the filter distribution and data analysis of the AR campaign’s performance. The papers offer a description of the company's business strategy for the next three years.
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The Live Music Industry & Business: Pivoting Reactions to COVID-19
Alyssa Napier
2020In March 2020, the emergence of COVID-19 soon led to widespread economic and cultural carnage in the music and entertainment industries, with immediate and most direct implication on the live music sector. Overnight closures and unfulfilled ticket orders pressured the live-music economic model the industry once thrived on. This paper examines the different opportunities and threats live music venues, managers, promoters, and artists faced as a result of the crisis. Including the use of business pivoting theory presented in Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup, it is shown how the live music sector reacted to COVID-19 through the variety of decision-making practices implemented to cut costs and instill new growth practices. The methodology for this is in the form of a qualitative study and founded on inductive reasoning. Analysis of twelve industry interviews supports the popular reactionary shift to implement more online/digital practices during the pandemic. Later reactions support a second wave of decisions that reconsider these practices’ profitability, potential implementation, and growth in the new climate. It is argued that COVID-19’s shock in the traditional live industry allowed many companies to readjust their models, leading the live music industry to become less of a cashflow gamble than it once was.
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INO CON Music & Tech Conference
Luis Fernando Pérez Ruiz
2020INO CON was 3-day virtual music and tech conference, in collaboration with Berklee College of Music, streamed globally. The conference featured lectures, workshops, multimedia performances, and networking opportunities so attendees could look at innovative ways on how to move forward in their careers. On July 8th, 9th, and 10th of 2020, INO CON hosted more than 20 hours of content, 600+ unique registrants, more than 40 online sessions, and gathered music industry professionals from all over the world. In pursuit of innovation, INO CON became more than a project, but an opportunity to learn, grow, and enjoy music and knowledge when the only stage was your screen.
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LAVICHI Entertainment: Business Plan
Michelle Raymond and Max Heumann
2020LAVICHI Entertainment is an innovative record label that seeks to break the rules of the current market through a unique approach in its A&R process and with a fresh business focus. Created by people who are not only business professionals but also artists and producers themselves, the company is built with insights from people that have already been working for years in the industry on both sides of the business. Our label is dedicated to offering artists better deals for their music and disrupting archaic music industry structures.
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Understanding The Genre Fluid Movement: Do Genres Matter Any More in the Recording Industry?
Jorge Riveros and Martina Verano
2020The purpose of this research is to investigate if traditional genre structures created by the music industry are still relevant in today’s world. In the last few years, we have seen a high influx of artists blending influences and sounds - this phenomenon is what we call genre fluidity. This study will tackle pinnacle concepts, defining a genre, the evolution of popular music genres and finally the relationship of genres with the Recording Industry and some of its stakeholders. In order to understand this phenomenon, data analysis of music charts and interviews with record label stakeholders took place.
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Data-driven A&R: What is the future for the music industry?
Tommaso Rocchi
2020In our day and age, data is one of the most valuable currencies in the world. The most prominent companies in the globe based their success upon knowing exactly what their clients do and like. The music industry started to follow the same approach, even if some branches arrived later than others. The main objective of this research is to understand how data analytics is used when scouting for potential talent, primarily by the A&Rs of record labels. Upon systematic research, I want to discover what tools are used to assess an artist’s performance and what implementations can be useful to consider. Those types of analyses are challenging because there are several aspects regarding artistry and the characteristics of a record that are difficult to gather through machine learning. Nevertheless, due to the impressive number of tracks that are uploaded every day on streaming platforms, reaching a certain degree of automation is mandatory. I interviewed different professionals from the Warner Music Group that are utilizing data A&R tools on an everyday basis, as well as consulting several papers and articles related to Music Information Retrieval (MIR) and predictive models.
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A Creative Director's Journey to Producing a Virtual Event: INO CON 2020
Gabriela Rodríguez Bonilla
2020In this reflective paper, you will find a detailed summary of my journey to Producer & Creative Director of INO CON and how it has impacted my career, so far. As part of my culminating project, I have also prepared a chapter on the INO CON Handbook, developed alongside my team, as a resource guide for the next generation of Berklee’s virtual event producers, as well as a visual presentation of my project outcomes. I hope you enjoy reading on how this journey has impacted my life and more importantly, show how even in times of uncertainty, resilience and determination will help you push through and achieve your goals.
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Creating and Structuring a Sync department
Antoine Rousseau
2020The Culminating Experience for my Master of Arts in Global Entertainment and Music Business was an operational project to expand our activities and range of Licensing and Synchronization services within Disrupción Records, and this was my main mission as Sync Department Manager within the label. During my term, my strategic goal was to create a viable structure that would ensure continuity between generations: Disrupción Records Sync Services. The objective was to provide the minimum viable tools and methods to build from, as well as a diverse catalogue to enrich year after year. My most valuable deliverables can be summarized with the following: two featured initiatives, four contracts templates, two platforms as main resources and a complete roster including: artists, songwriters and composers. This was the start of my journey in the Sync world and it has been a revelation for me as it allowed me to discover a career path that I desire to pursue further. In regard to the future of this department, I am very optimist with our representation model and our structure. It will only evolve and grow with the partnerships we bring along, as my work this year showcased.
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Auras Studios Business Plan
James Shannon
2020The following culminating experience project was completed in the year 2020 as part of the Graduate Entertainment and Music Business program. The authors are James Shannon and Alica Molito. This project includes business plan, reflective paper and presentation deck outlining the business Auras Studios – Augmented Reality Music Marketing. The authors have incorporated this business in the UK as an LLP and successfully completed a pilot project with the Glass Animals signed to Polydor records. The following project culminates over a year’s work and study at the intersection of Augmented Reality and music. It reflects not only the authors’ evolving understanding of how technology moves the music industry but also a real world plan for implementing a business in the height of the covid-19 pandemic. To you, the faithful reader. The authors hope you find some small inspiration in our journey and wish you the best of luck on yours.
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Understanding The Genre Fluid Movement: Do Genres Matter Any More in the Recording Industry?
Martina Verano and Jorge Riveros
2020The purpose of this research is to investigate if traditional genre structures created by the music industry are still relevant in today’s world. In the last few years, we have seen a high influx of artists blending influences and sounds - this phenomenon is what we call genre fluidity. This study will tackle pinnacle concepts, defining a genre, the evolution of popular music genres and finally the relationship of genres with the Recording Industry and some of its stakeholders. In order to understand this phenomenon, data analysis of music charts and interviews with record label stakeholders took place.
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INO Con Music and Tech Conference - Marketing Coordinator
Caitlin M. Williams
2020INO, being short for Innovative Nomad, would be the first completely virtual conference Berklee Valencia has ever hosted, which provided a solution to the dilemma of COVID in 2020. INO CON provided access to a new way of collaborating and learning from a global network of creators, regardless of location. Presented in simultaneously streamed hubs, the conference took a deep dive into KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI) of the music industry essential to build a sustainable career. This culminating experience walks through the process of creating and launching INO CON 2020.
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“DON’T LET DADDY KNOW”: FROM AMSTERDAM TO LIMA
Jimena Wu Crousillat
2020This business plan analyzes the opportunity to bring “Don’t Let Daddy Know”, an electronic dance music festival, from Amsterdam to Lima, Peru. I had the chance to be a marketing volunteer for their 2020 Amsterdam edition, which led me to evaluate the risks and benefits of introducing the brand to my home country, Peru. The electronic dance genre has shown growth in South America in the past few years, which has slowly created a big market for international electronic dance music festivals. I have collaborated with E&A Events, owners of the brand currently based in Amsterdam, and Vastion Group, a production company based in Lima, in order to develop a realistic marketing and financial plan, as well as a tentative production timeline, line-up, venue, and sponsors list. During this project, I have faced the unexpected challenge of pivoting and adjusting due to a global pandemic. For this reason, this business plan briefly overviews the impact of Covid-19 in Peru, an important factor in determining the best way to market this festival. “Don’t Let Daddy Know” would bring a massive, international and rollercoaster experience to Lima, offering a different concept and perfect tourism opportunity for Peru.
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Sound Consequence
Rayhan Ahmed
2019The Culminating Experience project is a business plan for the development of a non-for profit organization geared towards artist development and artist promotion in Assam, a state in North-east India. The objective is to provide a platform for independent musicians in Assam to learn music management skills and also promote them outside the region. Artist development will be conducted through workshops that will be carried out to impart business awareness and skills and a promotional service would exist to promote artists outside the region. Sound Consequence envisions being a leading organization in terms of artist development and promotion in Assam thereby facilitating the creation of new revenue generating pathways for artists and the Assamese music industry as a whole.
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A&R Manager at Disrupción Records
Camila Anino
2019Disrupción Records is the record label from Berklee College of Music Valencia. Throughout the years, Berklee projects and artists were released through the label. The students of the Global Entertainment & Music Business Master program have run the label from its beginning, presenting a difficult challenge which is the fact that the team changes every year when the new students come. This disadvantage makes the label lack continuity in its vision and mission, among other things, and it also makes the different teams start from scratch every time they take over. This past year, one of the main objectives was setting strong foundations and coming up with a way of making the transition between each year a smooth one. In this paper, the journey of the past year working for the label as an A&R Manager is described, together with the objectives, resources, experiences and learning outcomes. Its main aim is to provide some guidelines for the next A&R Managers who will have written words at their disposal, about what the previous person in charge of doing the job wished had known before, what was learnt throughout the year, which artists still need to be taken care of, and how, due to their agreement term.
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ROBACH LLC
Rohin Bachwani
2019ROBACH is a limited liability company that provides the musical artist with all the necessary tools like management, booking agency and a record label to successfully penetrate the music market, specifically India. We aim to globalize the Indian music community through cross collaborations between Indian and western artists.
