The Future of Music
While some may declare that the music industry is groaning under the weight of its own decline, music industry entrepreneur and V.P. of Berklee Media at Berklee College of Music, David Kusek, remains skeptical. "There’s a lot of chicken-little, the-sky-is-falling talk coming out of the record industry," says Kusek, co-author of the new book, The Future of Music. "A lot of that is just not accurate. There’s a lot of misinformation right now."

But what about file sharing and unauthorized downloading? What about everyone burning CDs with reckless abandon? What about the public’s ever-declining perception of the value of music? Isn’t the music about to die out forever, leaving us in a barren wasteland in which new artists can’t make a living and old artists don’t bother to create anything at all? Isn’t this Musical Armageddon?!! "Change affords opportunity for people," Kusek says calmly. "That is, if you embrace the change."

For years, Kusek has been embracing the changing landscape of the music industry and urging others to do so as well. As a forward-thinking music industry entrepreneur (an abbreviated list of his credits include co-inventing electric drums, founder the first music software company, Passport Designs and co-developer of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), Kusek believes that the days in which record companies can rely on CD sales to fund their corporate empires are simply over. And all the digital rights management and lawsuits in the world won’t bring those days back. Forget about the past in which concerts, radio spins and merchandizing were simply promotional vehicles serving the CD-sales machine. It’s over, Kusek says.

So is any of this good news? Well, yes, maybe. According to Kusek's scenario, we’re about to enter a golden age of expansion in which music literally flows like water everywhere. These digital streams will travel both over wires and through the air—feeding vast and seemingly endless music libraries that reside in myriad devices and in several different forms. Although record labels and artists will largely lose much of the traditional control they had over distribution, Kusek argues that they shouldn’t really care (nor can they do anything about it anyway, so why worry?). The size of the music industry, he says, will increase exponentially as the public gains easier access to a much wider variety of music choices.

Like modern plumbing, the music industry could operate almost as a utility—with copyright holders able to meter usage down to how many people listened to particular songs at particular times. In such a world, the industry could live off of micropayments flowing seamlessly back to the owners of content rather than rely solely on the disjointed and inefficient distribution of CDs to retailers. Artists, meanwhile, would have unprecedented access to new listeners as their songs spread virally into vast musical networks that fans can access literally anywhere. As the most accessible artists find their audiences, those artists would enjoy increased concert attendance, new forms of merchandise and countless other opportunities to connect with fans like never before. "Artists are going to make money in the future off of a variety of revenue streams instead of just one," Kusek says.

Of course, evolution can be extremely messy. People may get hurt in the process. And just because there will be more ways for artists to make money doesn't mean that many artists won’t struggle as others prosper. There will still be musicians that can parlay their popularity into vast merchandising empires (witness Hip-Hop stars that make far more money off of branded products like clothing, cologne/perfume, jewelry, energy drinks and other doo-dads than they do off of their CD sales or concert revenues).

But Kusek sees a world in which any artist with talent and a strong work ethic can make a decent living in music. This contrasts with the current music world that largely consists of "haves" who make fabulous livings as stars and the "have-nots" (pretty much the rest of us) who either eek out a meager living as full-time musicians or simply keep their day jobs and try to do music on the side. Kusek sees another path. "Right now, you have bicycles and Rolls Royces, and not much in the middle," he says, noting that the new models emerging could change that. "This will help create a middle class of musicians."

Kusek’s vision may seem a bit optimistic to many artists who have been there and done that. And Kusek recognizes that the new opportunities won’t necessarily translate into success for everyone. But while record labels and artists often didn’t know much about their fans in the past, Kusek says successful artists in the new world will need to do a better job in that department. "You need to create relationships with the fans that go beyond selling them one ticket or one CD," he says. "It’s direct marketing 101—developing relationships with your customers." Specifically, he says artists should be relentless in collecting names for their mailing lists at every show, and offering discounts, tickets or backstage passes for fans. In addition, artists can hold contests for freebies and perks. Why not invite winners for an exclusive visit in the studio or a house concert for their closest friends? "You have to be creative," Kusek says. "You’ve got to get up every single day and work your butt off. Don’t get discouraged."

Get Skooled, Fool!
And to help prepare you for this new world order, or just to hone your musical and technical chops, Berklee College of Music has expanded its renowned curriculum to the Internet. The online program launched only two years ago and already, some 4,000 students from around the world have taken Berklee’s new online courses at. Kusek beams with excitement over the program, which makes much of Berklee’s curriculum available to people who can’t make the trip to Boston to attend classes in person.

The college-credit certificate programs offer 21 different study options available in subjects including the music business, songwriting, music production, arranging, theory, harmony, ear training, electronic music production, home recording and music technology for teachers. Courses are three, six, 10 and 12 weeks long, with full programs ranging from short six- and 12-month intensive programs to longer programs of two years or more. Here’s the specific breakdown:

Specialist Certificate Programs contain three or four courses and needs to be completed within three or four consecutive semesters.

Professional Certificate Programs contain five courses and needs to be completed within five or six consecutive semesters.

Masters Certificate Programs contain eight or nine courses and needs to be completed within eight or nine consecutive semesters. The exception is the Master Certificate Program in Music Production and Technology, which consists of 12 courses and needs to be completed within 11 consecutive semesters.

The cost of individual courses range from more than $1,000 to a few hundred dollars (non-credit courses are generally cheaper), and full certificate programs are several thousand dollars. But then again, this is Berklee. The only bad news is that you can’t transfer any of these credits toward a Berklee College of Music undergraduate degree, which still requires a two-year residency at the Boston campus. But according to school officials, online courses can help students access more advanced sections of on-campus courses or even help them gain credits by exam (in accordance with the school’s procedures). Semesters start in the fall, winter, spring and summer (this summer semester’s enrollment ends on June 23, by the way).

Kusek notes that their "virtual classrooms" are limited to 20 or fewer students, allowing for maximum interaction with instructors. Weekly lessons often include audio and video, as well as Flash media presentations. "It’s very interactive," says Kusek. "The further you get into the exercise, the more that’s revealed to you." Students can also gain feedback from instructors and each other through a discussion board, along with online instructor chats once or twice a week. "Instructors tell us that the experience they have online is often richer than what you have in the classroom," says Kusek. "No one can hide, and no one can take over the discussion." As always, spitballs remain optional.

(Mike Grebb is a writer, journalist and singer/songwriter based in Washington, D.C. He has written for numerous publications, including Wired and Billboard. He just completed his debut solo record, Resolution, which is available at www.mikegrebb.com).