Guest Lecture: Northampton University’s “Changing Futures” Week

InterviewsTeaching
Written By Michael W. Bell

I am pleased to announce that I have been offered the opportunity to guest lecture at Northampton University next month as part of their Changing Futures week to discuss my endeavors in the film and music industry.

Tight competition as Poornima Seetharaman of Zynga is speaking at the same time. Should be fun, I am looking forward to having a chat with the students and hopeful I can give them some ideas to think about. For any students who were present for the lecture and want some clarity, feel free to contact me.

Changing Futures Lecture: Talking Points

  1. Introduction

    • MWB - Composer, Sound Designer, Engineer/Producer, Podcast Host & Founder of AEPL

    • A scan of the room... Musicians? Engineers? Industry?

    • A digital industry: The death of tangibles and the lowering of royalty rates

    • COVID-19: Highlighting the importance of the stage

  2. New & Refreshed Opportunities

    • Live Streaming

    • Merchandise

    • Avid Artist Portal (Avid Link App)

    • Redefining Ownership: Non fungible tokens (NFTs) & Cryptocurrency

    • New video platforms (Odysee/BrandNewTube/Bitchute)

    • The Chinese Markets: Beijing has big plans to become a major global centre for music by 2025

    • Diary Services (The Knowledge, UK Music Jobs, LinkedIn, Taxi, Mandy, Production Switchboard, Callbox

    • Bandcamp!!!

    • Unions, the MU obviously… But check out AMPS (The Association of Motion Picture Sound)

  3. The Don’ts

    • Don’t put all your time into social media promotion, find an API way to deal with your digital updates

    • Put too much faith in the online stores

    • Get hung up on a pitch, do the work, submit and move on

    • Work for free with nothing in return, but what does that mean?

  4. The Dos

    • Understand how to register your work and protect yourself against thieves (PRS/Song-trust/Ad Rev/Tunesat/Routenote)

    • Establish a decent collaborative network (web, graphics, legal advice, mix & mastering engineer etc)

    • Be adaptable and apply an entrepreneurial approach

    • Have a B plan (choose a day job that is linked and/or does not destroy your creativity)

    • Network authentically

  5. Summary + Q&A

    • ChartData, The Official Charts Company, BPI, RIAA, MU

Michael W. Bell

Welcome

Michael W. Bell is an award-winning film music composer, ambient sound designer, sound engineer, record producer, and the CEO/Founder of Aurora Eclipse Productions Ltd. He has composed music and designed sound for a number of films, trailers, TV shows, documentaries, animations, commercials, companies, and more. In addition to his music work, he has produced and released records for a number of independent artists.

As a lifelong enthusiast in immersive sound and multidimensional art forms, Michael is currently interested to learn what potential we now have as musicians and producers to utilise Dolby Atmos from our personal computers, without the need for expensive monitoring systems and large spaces.

When not composing or producing music, Mike enjoys lecturing at the University of Northampton leading students through industry and production modules. He also creates videos and communicates to his peers via his Discord, YouTube, and Patreon channels. He can also be found hosting AuroraCast, his long-format podcast.

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