In the Industry

So I've been giving you guys information on music schools and what they have to offer. Last week, I featured a small interview with a guitarist who started out practicing on his buddies acoustic guitar and moved onto metal music. I recently asked him if he had any other projects coming up and he's about to collaborate with a fellow co-worker who happens to be a singer/songwriter.
A few weeks ago I led a class discussion on digital media, my presentation was about the local scene and presented to the class a webzine called, Chicago Music Guide.

Before I led this discussion, I managed to get ahold (via email) of the founder of CMG, Dennis M. Kelly and asked him a few questions about his involvement in the industry.

Mr. Kelly,

Hello, my name is Monique Leyba and I am an Audio Production major at the Illinois Institute of Art here in Chicago. I came across your webzine as I am a supporter of the local music scene. I feel these are the people who should have a helping hand of getting noticed. I am doing some research for a led class discussion on media delivery. I was wondering if you could answer some questions that I have about Chicago Music Guide. 

Good day Monique,

Thank you very much for your email and your interest with Chicago Music Guide!

I am happy to answer your questions for you and supplying the answers.

ME: How did the concept of Chicago Music Guide come to you?

DMK: I came up with Chicago Music Guide just out of the basic desire to help promote my friends band as well as other local artists I've come to admire back in 2000. But it wasn't until 2004 where it became clear to me that in order for this to be more effective, I needed to bring on some people to provide better coverage. Things pretty much grew from there.

ME: Did you grow up here in Chicago?

DMK: I've lived in various Chicago suburbs all my life but have always had a love for Chicago's creative spirit. I love the cultural diversity, the creativity that flows from the city and the inspiration I personally feel from the city. There is no other city that captures my attention like Chicago in the world.

ME: How can a local artist get featured on Chicago Music Guide?

DMK: We offer free local artist pages on our site all the time and interviews can either be requested by email or in some cases, we have requested the interviews; it depends. 

ME: Is there a process or is it your staff members that go seek the featured artists shown?

DMK: We are currently putting a more formalized process in place for our music tips and features that should have been incorporated sooner, but wasn't.

ME: Does CMG try to focus on artists from the Chicagoland area?

DMK: Yes, it is our belief that it is the Chicago artists who are our "treasure" and who need to exposure more than national artists and therefore will always receive more assistance from us.

ME: I see that CMG has a European tour, can you explain a little more of what that section is about?

DMK: Thank you for asking!

Yes, this is a very new section we added just a couple weeks ago in fact in the hopes that this tool provided by Rail Europe could help assist artists who are in the planning stages of booking a European tour. While it cannot help them to book the venue dates in each city, it can help out a great deal in making the process more streamlined and provide a more relaxed experience by traveling by train.

ME: How does one become a musician of the month on CMG?

DMK: This is also a new section to the site; with more new sections being added monthly through the course of this year, in fact.

So far, the artists have been hand-picked and they have been picked primarily for their above and beyond services to the community either by playing in many bands and teaching or doing showcases, etc. 

It is primarily a way to focus on an individual musician, apart from the band as a whole. 

ME: How does CMG get its funding? Are you non-profit?

DMK: Mainly through the advertisers at this point, but there are many other revenue streams as yet untapped that we are working on at the moment.

ME: Has CMG always used video media on the site? Do you feel that the presence of the material increases the site's popularity? Or the artists?

DMK: We have used video media previously on the site (on and off) and yes, I personally feel it is a valuable asset on our site. I am a very visual person myself, and feel we all (as a society) tend to connect more with multimedia far more than a static image or text ever will. Words are powerful, words are thought-provoking, but nothing grabs attention better than video (in my book).

ME: I'm also writing a blog for this class it's called, educatewithmusicmedia.blogspot.com. Here I am discussing how music education is important and a difference of what is makes in someone's life.

Do you have kids and what are your thoughts about having music education in their lives or in any child's life?

DMK: Yes, I have two children, a son (7) and daughter (4). Neither has expressed any extreme interest in music yet, but my wife and I will be introducing them more to music soon as we develop yet another new aspect to our site, so, we'll see if the desire to learn an instrument will get sparked with them at that time.

If so, we firmly believe they should have a solid training under their belt and feel that both our children could do it (should that be the direction they want to go in) but we'll leave it up to them.

ME: Since there are schools here in Chicago that do not provide a music class for kids, do you know of or have any recommendations for digital media education that can help a child get involved with music? 

DMK: Offhand, I am not familiar with any digital media education in the Chicago area, however, schools like People's Music School is one place we are featuring this month and there will be a benefit concert for them on Sunday, February 17th at Lincoln Hall. You can learn more about them here: http://peoplesmusicschool.org/

There are many more locations in the city in suburbs that we'll be highlighting throughout the year, so, check back often!

ME: Mr. Kelly I would like to thank you for your time and consideration. I hope to hear back from you real soon.

DMK: You're most welcome Monique! This was most enjoyable too as I usually am the one writing the questions. I sincerely appreciate your interest again with us and hope that my answers were helpful.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to answer more for you.

Thanks again Monique!

Sincerely,

Monique Leyba

Audio Production major

A.I. 

Finding out that the people that work for CMG are past and present people from the music industry and they are volunteer workers, I asked Mr. Kelly if it was possible if I could come aboard and write for his webzine. In response, he mentioned when I have some more free time on my hands, I am more than welcomed to come aboard and just let him know when I'm ready.

So here is a another way to get involved in some type of digital music media.

As an audio major, it feels good to have someone welcoming you into the industry.

I know I mentioned local Chicago music schools but other universities offer music media programs. Ball State University offers a Music Media Production and Industry program for undergraduates. (Previously called Music Technology)
The degree offers much of the same just like the Chicago schools like audio production, music theory, history or music, music business, arranging and performance and internships with professionals in the music industry.
The way I found out about this university offering this program, I have an old friend whose son is a junior in high school and in his vocational class he adds sound to movies. So pretty much he is doing what most of us at A.I. did in Audio Technology I.
Below is a picture of what their studio looks like: