The Recording Academy..the Academy Every Musician Needs to Be a Part of!

Hi! The professional association I wanted to research and learn more about this month turned out to be one of the best trade associations and one of the most esteemed in the entertainment industry. The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc!  It is a trade association for music professionals.  Also known as the Recording Academy, it was founded in 1957 and is based in Santa Monica, California. The association has instituted award programs such as GRAMMY and Lifetime Achievement awards. It also helps to support young people and musicians in crisis with arts-based education through its MusiCares Foundation and their Grammy Foundation. Neil Portnow is the President and CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc.

(grammy.org)

I really am a fan of their Grammy Museum and would like to visit it someday in L.A. because this place literally goes back in time and past the present into the future and celebrates all forms of music, the creative process and is an interactive site. I enjoyed reading about MusiCares and their services and how they provide medical, financial, and personal emergencies in confidentiality for music people. Barbara Streisand is the 2011 Person of the Year for MusiCares.  This is directly impacting the music industry. The academy has many sponsors (ie Gucci) and throws many events in support of various relief efforts in America. They also formed GRAMMY U, a community designed to help college students prepare for work in the recording industry through programs, networking and performance opportunities! And my graduate school, Full Sail University, is a part of this amazing community, whoo!

(grammy.org)

This association is important to me and affects my industry because as a songwriter and musician, they are responsible for creating the most coveted award in the music industry, the GRAMMY award!! This institution is highly revered and respected amongst music professionals and music lovers alike. Even the website is hip and fresh and you can download music applications and even purchase Grammy gear at www.grammy.com The website (along with grammy.org) has everything from the countdown to the Grammy’s and the nominees to the latest music news and even has Grammy radio which plays all your favorite Grammy nominees and musicians. This academy is an arts advocate and its mission statement is “to positively impact the lives of musicians, industry members and our society at large.” They have incredibly lived up to their mission statement and well beyond with all the strides they have made in reaching out to those in need in the music field, and also in continuing to honor excellence with the sought after but rarely attainable sign of achievement in the arts & sciences…the Grammy award! I’m off now to become a Grammy 365 member, yippee!

www.grammy.com

www.grammy.org

Motivational Social Media Entrepreneur Speaker Influences Passion in Others

Hey everyone I am back and for one of my most recent class assignments, we were told to visit the ever growing so popular website TED.com. TED.com is “ a small non-profit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading” as it says on the site. After viewing TED’s Executive Director’s Chris Andersen’s speech about what they represent and seeing how great that was, I was excited to see what other videos were available through their theme tab. I checked out their Best of the Web series and found, after looking and watching clips of a few of their listed videos, one from a Web 2.0 Expo with an entrepreneur speaking named Gary Vaynerchuk. Upon clicking on this video, I was immediately drawn to his hyper and boisterous outwardly attitude about people not doing what they love to do. During the beginning of his speech he was discussing his family’s wine business and why he left to start his own thing because he wasn’t happy and I realized that I actually shop at the Wine Library in NJ that his family owns! I even saw the link to his Wine Library TV on their website…very strange. I didn’t even know he was a relative of this family business until he said he was from Jersey and mentioned this. You really do learn something new everyday.

Gary knows how to reach and inspire his audiences through his passion of wanting other people to do what it is they want to do and that there is “no excuse not doing what you love” as he says. He gets his inspiration from just people in general and his user base online.  He stressed the importance of networking and getting yourself and your business talked about so much that your brand just builds. Gary explained having a business model and making cash along the way as you work 9-5. He has inspired me to stop saying I don’t have the time or money to work in music or entertainment the way I want to. That to build your brand, you can work your regular day to pay your bills and when you come home, in the after-hours, that then is the perfect time to work on your aspiring business venture. Very true.
He talked about asking yourself the question “What do you want to do everyday of your life?” Now countless people have spoken about this very topic but he speaks from an angle that makes you want to listen to what he has to say. He is relatable, interesting, funny and right to the point. From watching Gary on stage and listening to his words I get where he is coming from and why he is so successful and how I can do the same thing using some of his tactics such as BUILDING BRAND EQUITY IN YOURSELF! He spoke about how legacy is greater than currency and to really think about what you would want your grandchildren to learn about you in years to come. He made me think about the value of PATIENCE and that to make something of yourself you have to hustle. You have to put yourself out there and expose the good and the bad and just network on all the social media sites. I understand that for people to cater towards you, you have to be and do what YOU are about and not try to turn your company into a mere reflection of someone else’s. It is not always healthy to compare especially if you are a new company but that is difficult to do because its natural but then you start imitating this other company and lose your own vision and focus for your unique brand. Other companies will always be an influence but your company should not be a splitting image of any company.

(ted.com)

I agree that one has to work hard if they want the big houses and expensive jewelry or as he says, if you want to own the piece of the Jets! Overall, Gary Vaynerchuk’s speech was intuitive, persuasive, and has provoked me to want to stay as driven as I am now for later on in my pursuits for my own distinguished future business projects.

Read Gary's brief bio right here!
http://www.ted.com/speakers/gary_vaynerchuk.html
View Gary's TED.com speech here!
http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_vaynerchuk_do_what_you_love_no_excuses.html
Check out the retail website!
http://www.winelibrary.com
Come here to view Gary's consulting site!
http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_vaynerchuk_do_what_you_love_no_excuses.html