annual report 2011 - Memphis Music Foundation

Al Bell
Chairman,
Memphis Music Foundation
Board of Directors
Memphis Music
Foundation Mission
To work with the
community to cultivate a
viable economic engine for
Memphis by providing
musicians and the music
industry with resources and
opportunities for growth and
independence.
From the Chairman
At this time last year I was preparing to receive the Trustee’s
Award from the Recording Academy® as a part of the
GRAMMY® Awards. Memphis was well represented as the
Music Foundation produced a breakfast honoring me and the
numerous Memphis artists and industry that were recognized
with nominations. This year the Memphis Horns will receive
the Lifetime Achievement Award. Once again, Memphis
nominees and music supporters will attend a special breakfast
event celebrating Memphis music. Memphis joins states like
Mississippi and Louisiana who honor their artists during the biggest
weekend in music. In fact, Memphis is the only city hosting such an
event. Congrats to the Memphis Horns for their outstanding contribution
to Memphis music and the global soundtrack.
Some things remained the same in 2011 -- the Memphis Music Resource
Center is still the country’s only full-access, fully staffed facility
for the professional development of musicians and music businesses.
Last year we presented 45 workshops and welcomed cutting edge
companies to Memphis to share music business trends and strategies
with our music community. Pledge Music explained how to raise
money for your projects while TopSpin and TuneCore talked tech, from
distribution to building a fan base, and artists like Wiz Khalifa and Martin
Atkins gave some tough love on secrets to a profitable career.
We introduced the Memphis Music Launch, an innovative music-based
career launch initiative. The Launch Memphis partnership is the first
music contest in the country to weigh business acumen equally with
talent. Not only did the program launch artists like The Delta Collective
and Arvada, it also spawned numerous collaborations. We’ll do it again this year with bigger and better
prizes guaranteed to help launch your music career!
Our Latin outreach continued through the Cante el Exito program. It offers a staff-guided track through the
MRC for three of our Hispanic acts. The goal is to raise their income by 20 percent but also give them the
foundation of knowledge required for operating as an entrepreneur in the music business. In October, we
expanded the city-wide Memphis Means Music Week to the entire month. We kicked it off with a partnership
combining our Plug In Music Expo and the Recording Academy®’s GRAMMY® GPS. The super conference
took place on the Stax campus where more than 400 attendees met local businesses, participated
in workshops and scheduled one-on-one mentoring with industry experts. We introduced GPS keynote
speaker Daniel Glass, founder of Glassnote records. I was impressed with his knowledge of Memphis music
and how our sound and process has influenced his vision for Glassnote.
One of my favorite projects of the year was teaming up with Indie Memphis in November. Our focus on
music in film manifested as an educational component with music showcases in front of film viewings. We
also debuted a Memphis music compilation and sent it to top music supervisors in film. This is a partnership
we will continue. As my friend and Ardent founder John Fry says, “music has no better friend than
film.” Memphis is music and what better film festival for music supervisors to attend than Indie Memphis?
We ended the year with a music community holiday party. The Blues Foundation, Beale Street Caravan,
Folk Alliance, Beale Street Blues Society, Memphis Songwriters Association, Nashville Songwriters Association,
Memphis & Shelby County Music Commission and the Foundation took over South Main for music,
food and connections. 2012 is going to be an exciting year for the Music Foundation!
Sincerely,
Al Bell