Media Release
High Profile Local and International Cast for COTT Symposium on Songwriting
International music industry companies and organisations will take part in a two-day symposium hosted by the Copyright Music Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) next month.
Feature Presentation • See Updated Release
The feature presentation will be given by Nick Casinelli, Senior Director of A&R Atlantic Records, who will give advice on breaking into the business during an interview to be conducted by Julian Rogers, well known Caribbean media personality.
Andrew Sanders of ASCAP and Elissa D. Hecker of the Harry Fox Agency will discuss performing rights royalties and recording rights royalties respectively. They will be joined by international and local record company executives, and professionals in song and music composition, video production and entertainment law.
Entitled "Music Business 101 for Songwriters - Making Songwriting Your Career", the symposium is intended to fuel the growth of the local music industry, according to COTT's CEO Nicky Inniss.
It will be held on September 20 and 21, 2001 at the Hilton Trinidad & Conference Centre, Port of Spain.
Speaking at the launch at the Copyright Organisation's headquarters at Jerningham Avenue, Belmont, Inniss said the symposium was part of COTT's drive "to make songwriters aware of what they can get, what their rights are and what career possibilities they have." The two days of intensive discussions and lectures, he said, would help songwriters in the region recognise that their talent can lead to a viable career, and set a framework for the development of the entertainment industry. "We wanted to know how best we could serve our members, how we could get the interest of the talented youth of our nation, to show them how they could make music a profitable business and help them develop new careers."
The symposium, Inniss said, would deal with the "nitty-gritty" of the industry and that was why a host of "stellar presenters" were chosen for the lectures and panel discussions. They include Jamaican entertainment lawyer Lloyd Stanbury whose firm Stanbury & Company has represented acts such as dancehall stars Super Cat, Bounti Killa and Capleton; British songwriter Guy Fletcher, who is chairman of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters and whose work has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Joe Cocker, among others; Allan Tepper, vice-president of Creative Services at Paul McCartney's MPL Communications, Inc. in New York and Paul Spurgeon, General Counsel to the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).
The local slate will include composer, television producer and presenter Alvin Daniell of Major and Minor Productions Ltd; attorney-at-law and COTT's President Allison Demas; attorney-at-law and songwriter Christophe Grant and video producer Danielle Dieffenthaller of Earth TV.
- "How Does Your Song Make Money For You"
- "Joining A Collecting Society Or Going It Alone"
- Music Publishers' and Songwriters Agreements"
- "From Westwood to Hollywood - Music in Film and TV"
- "To Byte or Not to Byte" - Rights Clearances for Covers, Samples and Arrangements of Copyright Music
The Hilton venue can accommodate 400 people and COTT hopes to attract the participation of musicians, music publishers, songwriters and persons involved in the advertising, film and video industries, as well as those interested in careers in the music industry.
The cost has been kept to a minimum for two full days of activity: COTT members TT$300, non-members TT$450 and Caribbean participants US$75.
"Music Business 101 for Songwriters - Making Songwriting Your Career", is the first in COTT's initiative to stimulate the development of the music industry, and will be followed by a symposium in December for mixing engineers.
- See COTT Web Site/Workshops
- tel.: 622.7757 (Mrs. Bascombe)
- e-mail: cott@wow.net
- Contact ANOTHER IDEA
- tel.: 622.7757
- fax: 622-2196
- e-mail: another.idea@opus.co.tt
