Introducing our new bootcamp on global music rights

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve teamed up with experts around the world to create our third educational offering: A bootcamp on global music rights.

At the end of last year, we heard from several of our community members that they were seeking more accessible resources on navigating the complex web of music rights and royalty flows, especially through a global lens. While it’s increasingly common for artists and music entrepreneurs to build with an international strategy from the ground up, global music copyright frameworks remain stubbornly inaccessible and non-transparent, leading to many repeat pitfalls throughout history when it comes to market understanding and business growth.

Our Music Rights Academy will dive into the unique music rights landscape in specific international markets — including China, India, Latin America, and Africa. We’ll also discuss possible technological solutions for streamlining music rights management at large. Featured speakers come from companies including but not limited to ONErpm, Outdustry, Unison Rights, and BMAT.

You can register for the course via the link below, or read on for more context on the course structure, goals, target audiences, and intended outcomes.

Who is this class for?

People building international music careers and/or brands, with advanced beginner/intermediate knowledge of the music business.

Specifically, this class is designed for:

• Artists and their teams who are exploring international opportunities.
• Builders who are solving problems they’ve identified in music, but who may not be fully aware of all the global implications or ramifications of their product beyond their home market.
• Professionals (inside or outside of music) who work with music rights, and are interested in expanding their knowledge base on the topic from a global lens.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Plot your next release strategy and business deals in some of today’s fastest-growing international music markets
• Build business acumen that will allow you to better navigate the global music landscape — including more insight into industry power dynamics, consumer behavior, etc. on a regional level
• Bore people at parties 🙂

Structure, format, and pricing

This course is part of our Speaker Series Academy, so the format will primarily be educational conversations. We will also include reading prerequisites, case studies, and context-setting at the beginning of each session.

• Speaker series: Hear from experts on challenges and solutions that they’ve encountered with music copyrights in their region or area of expertise, and what they wish people would know before entering into this territory.
• Required reading: We’ll provide async resources that cover music copyright basics, as in preparation for more in-depth discussions through our live sessions.
• Case studies: We’ll focus our music copyright discussions on real-world problems, and real-world solutions.

There will be seven sessions total, from February 21 to March 9, 2023. You can register for the full series for $200, or purchase individual sessions à-la-carte for $40 each.

Why Water & Music?

W&M’s unique voice and lens combines deep, systems-level context on the music industry (considering multiple stakeholders, sectors, disciplines, career stages, etc.) with a tech- and user-centric approach to understanding industry developments, alongside an emphasis on practical application and collaborative problem-solving and knowledge-sharing.

• User-centric approach: Focusing on consumer behavior, especially around tech adoption and habits, as a useful lens through which to understand monetization opportunities and challenges on a regional level (e.g. Africa and China are still very piracy-driven).
• Insider nuances and knowledge: Highlighting industry power dynamics that are unique to each region, that influence that region’s approach to copyright law and monetization (e.g. distribution of influence among tech companies, rights holders, and artists in China is very different from that in the US).
• Practical solutions: Each session aims to not only provide education and landscape setting, but highlight speakers’ expertise and experience to provide practical tools and knowledge one might arm themselves with before entering a market.