I came into this minor with zero expectations. I just wanted to know what was going on in the business of music and if it would be something I would be interested in. I knew nothing about the industry before starting this minor, and I was motivated to learn more about it, so I started reading the literature.

Spider chart

I found the start of the minor a bit overwhelming as music Rights are pretty complex, but I now have a decent understanding of the basic rights involved. I learned about what a record labe does and why they take so much earnings, I know when artists have bargaining power over their rights and royalties, I also know the difference between signing to a big and a small label. Overall I think I learned the most in this area, so looking at the spider chart, this is also the subject I grew most in.

Music marketing was less abstract for me, as I was a avid listener of small indie artists, and I followed some artists from when they were very small and I always found it interesing to see how they promoted their music and how it got recognized. But I learned from the feedback and experiences, that it isn't always as simple and straightforward, and that there are a lot more factors to consider when choosing a marketing strategy.

I also think I learned a bit about legal contracts, I read a bit about licensing (controlled composisition clause and compulsory licenses) and contracts, but we didn't cover this yet so this is still a bit of a grey area for me.

My presenting skills have grown a bit as this minor forces me to present way more than my major (IT) does. Not only for public speaking but also conceptualizing and visualizing ideas. And ADE helped me gain confidence in having conversations with random people. I've always felt my evaluation skills have been quite good, and this minor didn't really help me in that aspect. For synthesis I think I've improved a little, but I do think that towards the end of the minor, there will be more opportunities to apply concepts of different subjects together.

Learning objectives

My first learning objective was to understand how to run a record label. Since I set this goal, we have gotten quite far in the setup of our label Nafaka. I've learned what a record label does, and all of the things that happens behind the screens to release music. I have learned about branding and how important it is, and I also how important it is to have a wide network. I do still think I can learn a lot more, as were still kind of lost on what to do next sometimes.

My second learning objective was on how to use new innovations and trends when releasing and promoting music. I have learned about different ways to promote music, how to use social media to promote music, and I have learned how to create unique marketing campaigns. But specifically gaining an advantage by hopping on trends and / or innovations is still something I wish to learn.

My third learning objective was to use sales and streaming data to plan marketing. I have learned how data could look like and to understand it, and I have learned how to use data like target audience to choose a marketing strategy and social platforms. But I still think I can learn a lot more about this, as we haven't really used data actively to steer into the right direction. I am hoping we can try to make decisions on marketing with data from the social media marketing for our label, and learn from that.