On January 31st, Cody McCracken and Kevin Bessey went to the Vegas Music Summit. The Vegas Music Summit is a two day conference that features experts in the music industry and up and coming musicians. Panels featured music and entertainment attorneys, coordinators from Life is Beautiful, producers, songwriters and even a UFC fighter. Cody is a local rapper who goes by the name of Dak. And, Kevin Bessey is a songwriter and producer. So, they both had interesting perspectives to bring to the conference.
What Was Your Favorite Aspect?
Cody: My favorite aspect of the panels was the Q&A at the end. The Q&A gave the audience the opportunity to ask specific questions and pick the brains of the panelists.
Kevin: I agree. I feel like the questions at the end supplied me with the biggest takeaways. The moderators were great. But, the Q&A’s offered a distinct opportunity to get answers to questions from the minds of musicians and music professionals.
Most Beneficial Panel at Vegas Music Summit
Cody: Big facts! What panel did you find the most beneficial to you and why?
Kevin: I enjoyed the music publishing panel with the Co-president of Big Deal Music, Jamie Cerreta. He offered insight into the songwriting world. As a result of his panel, I am going to get in contact with my local PRO representative. I also really liked the legal panel. Lawyers tend to have really good insight into the music industry. What about you?
Cody: I enjoyed the Optimism in Audio Production Panel. Kane Churko, (Producer of bands such as Five Finger Death Punch, Ozzy, Disturbed, and Papa Roach) gave some great insight into the benefits of being a minimalist when recording and producing songs. In a nutshell, he expressed that it’s important to always keep the momentum going when creating a song and worry about the little things, like the specific snare sample you’re using or an effect you want to put on a vocal, later. The idea of this is that we shouldn’t expel all our energy focusing on the trivial things until after we get the meat of the idea down.
Kevin: Yeah, I liked how in that Panel there was such a diversity of method. Each panelist had a different viewpoint toward audio production. And, they did a great job showing the different styles a producer can have in the studio. Also, I thought it was interesting that Kane Churko primarily uses VSTs for his string arrangements. Even though he works with bands who have the budget for real strings, he prefers the reliability and consistency of electronic samples. That was one of my favorite panels as well. There were a lot of good panels, what did you think of the Cannabis panel?
Cannabis Panel
Cody: Oh, the Sports and Entertainment in the Cannabis Market one?
Kevin: Yeah, what did you think of that one?
Cody: It was interesting. I never had a strong opinion for the Cannabis Market, because Cannabis isn’t something I personally use, so it was neat to go into that panel with an open mind and learn about something I wasn’t super familiar with. What did you get out of it?
Kevin: I liked their perspective on changing societies perspective on a practice that has a stigma. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I enjoyed hearing about how they altered people’s negative viewpoints through music and entertainment. I would love to get rid of negative perspectives on the church through my music. What would you say is your biggest takeaway from the Vegas Music Summit?
Biggest Takeaways from the Vegas Music Summit
Cody: I think as a music artist and a person who surrounds myself with other artists, I don’t often mingle in the other side of the music industry, which is the business part. So by attending the Summit, it was cool to get a better understanding of how those two worlds work together. What about you, K Bess?
Kevin: My biggest takeaway was the need to develop a community of artists. I love the examples that Justin Weniger, Brian Saliba and Rodel Delfin set of supporting artists. And, I want to find more ways to help the musicians who surround me develop.
Make sure to attend next years Vegas Music Summit!
Enjoy!
Check out more articles from Chief Music Writer Kevin Bessey here!
Check out his article about the Vegas Music Summit in 2019.