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Business Plan Development (Class 1)

Going into Business Plan Development, my goal was to get a substantial start on my business plan and to test all of the knowledge that I had learned in this program. I love how the program broke up this endeavor up into two months before the final pitch. It helps us as students manage the extensive time it takes to complete a business plan, while giving us feedback along the way. While I was required to write a business plan during my undergraduate program, I had to do it on my own this time, and I feel better prepared to need to do it in the future, after completing this course and program.

While this course required a lot of time to complete the assignments, I do not feel that I necessarily learned anything new. This may be due to the fact that I have completed a similar course as this during my time as an undergraduate (same textbook and everything). However, I do feel as though this course was substantial to the flow of the overall program, and necessary to complete the course.

The ability to understand and write a business plan will be very beneficial in the future. I already have opportunities to start a small management business, with a partner, and we will be sitting down to talk about terms and operations. Knowing the different components of the business plan will help lead the discussion and make sure that all of our bases are covered. I am very excited to put my skills to the test in a real-world setting and starting my career right away, especially in the entrepreneur fashion. I am very grateful for this course and program for boosting my skills and confidence in this industry and will continue to look back on these courses for time to come.

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Publishing & Distribution

Going into this course, I knew that this was an important class for me. I have always had a good handle on business and the music industry in general. However, the publishing and distribution side of the industry was always a dark spot for me. So, going into this course, my goal was to learn more about this side of this industry and have a larger understanding of how it works.

This goal was met through the lessons and projects that were assigned. I was able to learn how publishing and distribution works in a traditional sense. I believe this is very important. Whether I create my own management company or join an established firm, it is very beneficial to understand the necessary steps to land a publishing deal. This also taught me to look at the deal form the other side of the coin and see what the publishing firm is putting up when making this deal. This helps me think through the quality of work that is needed to land a contract.

On the flip side, we also learned about self-publishing. Learning how different aggregators work is helpful, especially in the way that artists are turning toward self-promotion anyway. Nowadays, artists don’t necessarily need to have a record label to be successful. Management is easily more important. With aggregators like TuneCore, artists can distribute their own music to streaming sites, make their own physical copies for their stores and concerts, and rely on management for licensing deals.

Moving forward with my own management aspirations, I will use the knowledge gained from this course to help my clients move forward with their goals and distribute their music worldwide. It’s nice to know that, however my client would like to do so, I know how to help them either gain a publishing or distribution deal, or help them publish on their own.

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Advanced Entertainment Law

I have always enjoyed media law classes. In my undergrad, it was by far one of the most gratifying classes to take. I found a love for entertainment and First Amendment law. Since that class I have multiple times that if my goals of going into artist management doesn’t work out, I would go back to law school to become an entertainment lawyer.

I enjoyed how this class was focused around the businesses we create. Me as a more creative and business mind, I don’t immediately think about the legal liabilities of my company specifically. It was a lot of fun for me to go through cases and listen to podcasts about specific cases. I find it so fascinating.

Having gone to a highly rated private school and taking this class while studying business, I did feel like this class was old hat in a way. I do feel like the angle was different but I do not feel like I necessarily learned anything new. I do understand that this is the restriction of online school and month long classes, but this is a course that I wish could have been more in depth.

However, this course was informational, as are all of the classes in this program. I love how this program is centered around a tangible business plan that can be taken out into the real world.

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Product and Artist Management

Product and Artist Management was my favorite class in the Full Sail Entertainment Business program, thus far. Granted, this is the first class that perfectly correlates with my goals as I want to be an Artist Manager. However, the pairing of artist AND product management was wonderful. As far as an artist management, I feel as though I have the emotional intellect and the general business sense to handle an artist. However, the concept I always felt a little stuck on as an artist manager was the idea that their music and them as a brand is a product in itself. This was based on my own personal views of music as a fan. However, this class taught be the balance through ideals like social commerce/authenticity and data triangulation.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the professor of this class, Christina Winn. Though I couldn’t interact with her personally, through her lectures, I felt very connected with her. In her first asynchronous lecture, she spoke about her networking tactics and how she doesn’t go out and meet everyone, just the right people. This gave me hope for my own networking skills. The way that she explained the concepts she was teaching made a lot of sense to me.

Overall, this class was very valuable to my personal and professional development. I feel much more confident entering a management position. I honestly wish this class could be longer.    

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Negotiation and Deal-Making

The class Negotiation and Deal-Making turned out to very eye-opening and informative. Having studied business and strategic communications extensively, I always found that one of my weaknesses was negotiation and sales. I have a marketing mind that can sit down and strategize, but when it comes to selling the plan or negotiating away from the plan, I freeze up.

This class has open my perception to the different ways of negotiation and how to deal with complicated parties. It was extremely helpful to learn the different tactics and positions that can be taken in a negotiation and how to steer the negotiation toward a win-win scenario.

This class has helped me become more confident in myself and my ability to negotiate. I feel as though I will be able to enter a situation in my career being able to sit down and figure out how we can come to an agreement that both parties can be happy with.

Overall, this was a very rewarding class and I am happy to have had the opportunity to have taken it. I feel more well-rounded in my skills and more confident in my ability to do my job in the future.

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Negotiation  Inspirations - Scooter Braun

I have chosen Scooter Braun as the individual I will be writing about. Scooter Braun is a big-name artist manager to artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. While I’m not a huge fan of his clients, I have always been impressed by the way he conducts himself in business and in life. Braun understands that being an artist’s manager doesn’t just mean managing their business, but also being somewhat of a coach. This is why I admire him.

Scooter Braun is no stranger to negotiation. There is no way he could have gotten to where he is without it. In 2014, he also started a media company that takes consumer products and uses entertainment as a long-term marketing method to create brand loyalty. (Beer, 2014) This can take an extensive amount of negotiation. Trying to figure out what both the brand and specific show or movie needs on each side to make the deal worthwhile for both parties.

In January 2014, Braun posted on his Twitter account “u can beat someone up in a negotiation but remember u will see the same people 6 months down the line. If u want to win both sides must win” (Braun, 2014) This definitely points to interest-based positioning. 

There are so many questions that I would love to ask Scooter Braun, if I ever had the chance.

1.     You have always been a very personable and it has helped you get ahead in your career. What suggestions do you have for an introvert who is looking to hone in on her networking skills?

2.     What are some hard and fast rules that you live by in the world of artist management?

3.     How do you go about your work life balance? More importantly, what tips do you have for women in this industry who will also have a family to maintain as well?

Beer, J. (2014, June 20). With New Joint Venture, Scooter Braun and BBH Look To Give Brands Their Own Beliebers. Retrieved May 13, 2017, from https://www.fastcompany.com/3032205/with-new-join-venture-scooter-braun-and-bbh-look-to-give-grands-their-own-beliebers

 Braun, S. (2017, January 31). U can beat someone up in a negotiation but remember u will see the same people 6 months down the line. If u want to win both sides must win. Retrieved May 14, 2017, from https://twitter.com/scooterbraun/status/429112831707848704

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Top 10 Social Media Management Tools

Social media is always important to know in this day and age. Especially in artist management. Knowing which tools will help you manage various pages for various bands the most efficiently will be extremely helpful in the long run. My goal for this course is to learn which tool to use to complete my business goals.  

1.     Buffer

a.     Simple, affordable, schedule multiple posts. Browser extension to share links and images from anywhere on the web. Best for alleviating the work load of managing multiple accounts.

2.     IFTTT

a.     If this, then that. Complicated for basic social media users. This reduces the mundane tasks, but I feel this can lead to more mistakes if not properly thought through. I personally like to have more control over social media strategies.

3.     Hootsuite

a.     Add streams to see multiple “streams” or sections of your accounts to maintain at once. A great way to manage you accounts beyond just posting. This is for companies with more in-depth social strategies.

4.     Sprout Social

a.     Great for marketing teams. Allows teams to assign tasks, while providing very similar features of Hootesuite.

5.     Pagemodo

a.     A tool with Facebook in mind. A design tool for Facebook Pages. This seems a little constrictive. Maybe for Facebook specific strategies, but in the music industry, this tool would not be very effective.

6.     Twitter Deck

a.     Same concept as Pagemodo. Also very constrictive to Twitter.

7.     Raven Tools

a.     Similar to Hootsuite and Sprout Social. However, this is more catered to companies that have to manage a lot of accounts. This would be perfect in artist management where you have to manage multiple pages for multiple artists. However, it is a little pricy. It is a one stop shop, however.

8.     SocialBro

a.     Another Twitter tool. Not applicable.

9.     EveryPost

a.     Simple mobile-only feature to allow you to manage your pages from your phone. It has a simple interface. Would be a great additional tool for when you are on the go, at shows or traveling for meetings.

10.  Buzzsumo

a.     Content discovery tool that allows you to post applicable content to you pages. Not really applicable as I would want to create content for artist pages.

 Overall, when moving forward with my business or in an established company, I will lean more toward Hootesuite, Sprout Social or Raven Tools. This will be dependent on team size, budget and amount of pages to manage.

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Entertainment Business Finance

This month’s course, Entertainment Business Finance was, overall, a very enlightening course. I have taken Finance classes in the past and was bored out of my mind. However, the professor of this course and the fact that the content was focused toward the entertainment industry made this finance class in particular, very entertaining. It is also a lot easier to learn these concepts when they are applied toward a business you have been building for quite a few months. The professor made the assignments manageable and facilitated great discussions among our classmates, which is important since we are all going through the same process. This was a great way to gain insight on our own business plans.

 My only complaint would be with the Pro Forma assignment. I understand that the point of this assignment is to plan out the financials of your business plan. This is absolutely necessary in any business planning process. The issue comes when trying to get quotes for insurance plans and building pricing. I ran into this issue in my undergrad as well, as I had a very similar assignment. The business plan I am creating will probably not happen for a few years, if at all. Being a private person, I hate having sales people constantly calling me to “follow up” on a quote that you have received because it was not something I was going to use in the first place. Because of this, it is very hard to gain a solid idea of how much premiums would be, or set up a solid employee benefit plan. While there is value in this assignment and it has us thinking about everything we have to think about to open our doors, I believe it is a bit much to do for an idea that will not take place for some time.

 However, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this course and look forward to the many to come!

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Brand Development and Business Storytelling

This class was very enjoyable overall. I love brand development as it gives me the ability to be creative in a business atmosphere. I love the strategy of business and creating a brand is the ultimate strategy behind creating a successful business. I found this class to be very useful moving forward with my business and life in general.

As a professional, it is important to create your own personal brand. You need to create an image and reputation for the type of person you are and what your work looks like. This will help you create contacts in your given industry. Because networking is so important in any industry, the need for a personal brand is doubly important. Creating this brand includes staying on top of your social media networks by watching what you post, maintaining an online portfolio, and making proper business and personal decisions in all of your interactions.

This is also important in a company setting, as well, although a little more complicated. At this point, you are not just creating an image for yourself, but for your product, staff, and customers, as well. It is important to put together a good brand strategy at the start of your business so act as guidelines as your company grows. At the company I currently work at, there is an employee handbook that not only outlines company policies, but also describes how we should act as employees of the company and how to stay within brand when interacting on behalf of the company. This helps keep all employees focused on furthering the brand, even as a larger company.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this class as I do all the Full Sail courses. I enjoy learning new things about business while being able to connect them to my current job and the business I hope to create in a few years.  

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Project and Team Management

Project and Team Management was a very interesting course for me. During my undergrad, I did a lot of group work and by the end, I got definitely got the hang of it and could even say that I somewhat mastered it. However, I had never been taught project and team management on a fundamental level. This is why I felt this course was very useful for my professional and also personal life. This course taught me, not only how to work and manage my teammates but also how to approach a project in general. This is particularly helpful, as I will need to create a full Business Plan to finish this program. 

My favorite portion of this course was the personality section. While all of the content in this course was extremely valuable, I found that the personality and the conflict management portions were the most valuable. Knowing people’s personalities is very crucial to making sure that people can work well and efficiently together. Having a conflict resolution plan is particularly helpful in the probable instance that team members may not get along.

I found that, overall, it is a project manager’s duty to make sure everything is balanced. Their job is to make sure that their team is working efficiently. They must also make sure that all tasks are done in a timely manner, under budget and of good quality. They must run this by the stakeholders while keeping the morale of the team up. By the end of this course, I realized that Project management is not an easy career path. And if you happen to be on a $1 Mil+ project, the stress is very high. I definitely have a higher respect for project managers and careers that require them.

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My Leadership Style

In the first week’s lecture for this course, Executive Leadership, our instructor Steve Adkins talked about the difference between Greene and Maxwell’s type of leadership in each of their books. He explained that Maxwell’s leadership style was more team and people based, whereas Greene’s is more ‘eat or be eaten,’ if you will. There is a line in the Maxwell book that says, “Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.” (Maxwell, 1993, pg. 8) I believe this one quote embodies my future leadership style, and even my current one.

I’ve come to learn that you cannot force anyone to do anything. Your problems are not anybody else’s problems but your own. You must love people for everything that they are and all their flaws. Through this, you will build loyalty and trust in which people will want to help you. I want to apply this to my future career. As I work my way up, through networking, I will build relationships based on integrity and respect. Once I reach a position of power, I will get to know my team as best as I can and help them develop themselves through the work that we must get done.

However, the business world, especially the entertainment business world, is not all rainbows and butterflies. It is cut-throat and there are people who will do anything to get ahead. It would be ignorant to think otherwise. This is where Greene’s book comes in. As Adkin’s stated in his lecture, Greene’s book teaches us “how to play the game.” While Adkin’s stated that his leadership style is 95% Maxwell and 5% Greene. I would say that mine would be more 75% Maxwell and 25% Greene. This is just based on my personality. I do not like games, but I will play the game if I have to and, once I learn it well enough, I know I will win. I do not take well to dishonesty or disrespect, so if this happens, I can turn their game around on them and outsmart them.

I think the most recent incident in the entertainment world that embodies this ideal is the issue between Kanye West and Taylor Swift. Now we, as the public, never really knows exactly what happens behind closed doors, but based on what we saw in the media, I believe this is a great example. If you don’t remember, Kanye West released a song called ‘Famous’ where he rapped a lyric that said “I think Taylor and I could still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.”

Before this song was released Kanye had made an effort to patch things up with Swift and everything seemed to be going well. However, when ‘Famous’ was released, Swift was furious. West responded that he had run these lyrics past Swift and that she had no reason to be upset. Later, Kim Kardashian release video evidence of this conversation despite Swift’s legal threats. After this scandal, we still haven’t seen much of Swift.

I think this is a perfect example. Taylor Swift is an excellent businesswoman. She has the game now and it has shot her to legendary success. However, when West tried to build a relationship with Swift per Maxwell’s ideals, she threw him under the bus. That’s when he turned Greene.

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Mastery Journal - Goals for EBMS program at Full Sail University

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Mastery Timeline

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Logo :) 

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