Brain Grenade Entertainment has an approach that serves to fill the gap in music education that can make the difference between a capable but under-prepared graduate and a music industry success. The Realistic Music Careers seminar series is geared toward the college-level music student serious in making a sustainable lifestyle in music. Intended to bookend the traditional music curriculum, this seminar series expounds on all the opportunities and pitfalls that await the music student upon graduation, and will help the aspiring professional musician plan out their career while they are still developing their musical and technical skills. This early start at the practical side of the industry will help students see that to have the most effective chance at a sustainable career, they will need to think like a businessperson, and not just an artist.

The Realistic Music Careers seminars will help students answer questions such as:

	How can I have a viable long-term career in the music industry?
	How can I compete with musicians that are more experienced, technically better and already have a name?
	What should I do to prepare for a music career while I am still in school?
	Do I need a major label?
	How do I make my way and establish myself?
	What's happening now in the business that I can use to get ahead?

Questions like these are confronted by working musicians every day. Even successful, established musicians have lost jobs, been dropped by labels, confronted contractual nightmares, gritted their teeth as the profits of their work are absorbed by their record companies, and watched as the earning potential from their traditional career path has dwindled. With the Realistic Music Careers seminar, Brain Grenade Entertainment aims to arm musicians with the knowledge and mindset necessary to avoid the bad deals and dwindling income, and make the most out of the drastically changing field of music.

Realistic Music Careers 101: This seminar is intended to provide essential information and concepts that should be absorbed by anyone considering a career in music. As part of the orientation curriculum for incoming students, this seminar can both fire them up as they begin their journey to becoming a musician, and also empower them to lay the foundation of a lifelong career in a job market that is more competitive and challenging than ever.

Presented from the point of view of an industry insider who has been exposed to the many practical considerations of a career in music, this seminar is the perfect complement to the theoretical and technical aspects of a traditional music education. An outside voice that is active in the industry can provide an early and advanced orientation that focuses students' thinking on how they wish to achieve success in music, and instructs them of the early efforts they can accomplish, even while still in college, to give them a valuable leg up on their peers. Students will leave this seminar inspired, empowered, and with a clear understanding of the challenges in store, along with the facts they need to make an informed decision about their future.

This seminar covers:

The practical realities of the music industry of today.

Fundamental aspects of promotion, marketing and branding.

Basic business concepts every musician should know to sustain a career.

The broad spectrum of different career paths and potential revenue sources that many musicians - both new and old – may not be fully aware of.

The damaging delusions of grandeur, lies, misconceptions, stereotypes and false expectations endemic to the music business.

The numerous, varied and realistic avenues to long term, sustainable careers in the music industry.

Other Seminars:

A second seminar is intended for seniors, or those who will soon be putting aside their education and entering the music world at large. For the students who have not been thinking about the realities of the music business and the music industry, this will serve as both a warning and a catalyst to start right away to prepare for the future and create as many chances as possible. For those already accustomed to a business-oriented mindset, this course serves as a final tune-up to aid in the generation of a solid career plan. This seminar emphasizes the crucial role of being a businessperson, and provides a clear understanding of what is happening behind the scenes in the music industry. It covers legal issues such as the realities of record label deals, and articulates how to avoid the hard lessons experienced by those that have been taken advantage of by signing poor contracts. Also discussed are the economics of producing records, and how to extend a musician's creativity past performance and composition and into marketing, promotions and how to turn talent and energy into success and sustainability. With Realistic Music Careers 401, musicians will understand the consequences of their choices, the responsibility that every artist must have when it comes to their careers, and how to detect and handle the people that come calling to deliver the dream that can come with a terrible price down the line.

Not Just for Performers

The Realistic Music Career seminars are aimed not only at musicians, but also those that are venturing down paths in the wider music landscape. Students in writing, graphic design, web design, marketing, business, accounting and promotions that want to focus in the music business will find these lectures useful and enlightening, and be able to apply these lessons in a way that will set them apart in their fields. Instead of relying on tired textbook methodology and trendy gimmicks, music professionals of all stripes will learn to abandon the well-trodden, predictable paths and blaze new trails in the world of music that work best for their specific tastes, attitudes and goals, as well as those of their clients.

Seminar Topics Include:

Control
artists will learn how to control and own the rights to their:

- Music
- Names
- Images
- Likeness
- Careers

Industry Standards at Grassroots Prices
valuable details on how to achieve industry standard quality on modest budgets, including:

- Recordings
- Press Packages
- Contracts
- Internal Organizational elements
- Solicitation Materials

License and insertion opportunities
artists will learn all they need to know to explore alternate avenues of revenue for their music, including:

- Movies
- Television
- Video Games
- Instructional/ Corporate music
- Advertising

Alternate career paths in the music industry
students will come to understand the wider landscape of the industry that should be considered, such as:

- Songwriting
- Arranging
- Producing
- Management / Booking

Sales beyond the download
students will examine the various ancillary ways to profit as working musicians

- Live Performances
- Clinics / Educational Lectures
- Merchandise beyond hats and shirts
- Management/Booking /Publishing Agents

Creative, Effective Marketing and Promotion
practical insight into the standard industry methodology to music marketing, as well as instruction on how to take best advantage of the innovative new approaches to music marketing made possible by the internet and other new technologies

From rough rock to cut diamond
how to shape an artist's image and content to optimize promotion, branding, marketing and sales

Sustainability – Practical considerations and advice on how to plan ahead to maximize the potential for a long-term career

Fame vs. Realism
artists will be compelled to examine their true motivations for pursuing a life in music, and will learn that leaving behind the unrealistic fantasies of rock stardom can actually open up many more options that might not include the millions and the fame, but can provide a solid income and a good life.

Students, Artists, Musicians, Beginners, Professionals, Teachers, Enthusiasts and anyone else that participate in the Realistic Music Careers seminars will walk away with information they can use right away, but will also be helpful through their entire careers, including:

	Proven ideas and practices for today’s music industry.
	The best ideas for identifying the right solutions and problem solving methods for any musical artist's career.
	Knowledge of the critical issues that apply to everyone in the industry.
	The insight to define what works and doesn’t work for any specific artist or music professional.
	The networking skills and contacts to create a support network of fellow players and industry professionals.

Please direct all press inquiries, bookings and speaking engagements requests to 206-331-3948 or email pr@braingrenademusic.com