Music Industry in a Post COVID-19 World with Multi-Platinum Record Producer Jeffrey Weber
Florentino interviews 40-year music industry veteran and Grammy wining producer and a Leading music business professional, Jeffrey Weber, (See NAMM Bio Below. Jeffrey will be sharing insights from his books about the music industry and what he feels the music professionals need to prepare for, what to expect and some ideas on what to do for a profession in music post Covid 19 lock down. Please share your comments and thoughts below!
 
About Jeffrey Weber ( From NAMM Bio -https://www.namm.org/nammu/contributors/jeffrey-weber-0 )Founder/CEO Stark Raving Group / Weberworks Entertainment GroupJeffrey Weber has been a widely-recognized music industry professional for forty years. He has produced over 200 CDs with releases on just about every major label as well as a host of independent labels. Along the way, his projects have yielded two Grammys, seven Grammy nominations, at least seventeen top ten albums, two number one albums and an assortment of other honors.
His books, "You've Got A Deal! The Biggest Lies of the Music Business" and “We’ll Get Back To You! Even Bigger Lies Of The Music Business” are both published by Headline Books. His new book, "You Sound Amazing! Every Single Lie of the Music Business" will be published in January, 2020.During his forty-year career in the music industry, he has founded, ran or participated in various label capacities from A&R, Music Supervision for film and TV, Production, Interactive Programming, Marketing, Sales, International Relations, Business Affairs and Art Director for dozens of independent labels as well as his own labels, Weberworks Entertainment Group and Stark Raving Records.
His productions have also appeared on every major label including MCA, Warner Bros., Atlantic, BMG, Columbia, A&M, Elektra as well as such labels as GRP, Hip-O, Sheffield, Concord, Bainbridge, Silver Eagle, Zebra, among countless others.
Among the many artists that have fallen under the banner of “Produced by...” include: Nancy Wilson, David Benoit, Steve Lukather, the Utah Symphony, Jackson Browne, Marcus Miller, Michael McDonald, Bill Champlin, Gerald Albright, Tom Scott, Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Etta James, Linda Hopkins, Kenny Burrell, McCoy Tyner, Jackie McLean, Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big), Cozzy Powell, the Count Basie Orchestra, Cindy Blackman Santana, Buster Williams, John Sebastian, Ronnie Dio, Ritchie Blackmore, Pat Boone, Buddy Miles, Billy Preston, MC Lyte, Kenny Rankin, Diane Reeves, Diane Schuur, Rita Coolidge, Luther Vandross, David Crosby, Simon Phillips, Jeff Porcaro, Patrice Rushen, Toni Tennille, among many others.
Jeff has been a concert and event producer for over ten years with extensive experience in concert management and production, staging, lighting, video and audio from the smallest of venues to large stadium shows. He has produced shows for the Los Angeles Soul Music Festival, Habitat For Humanity, Atlantis Resort, NASCAR, the Breeder's Cup, Chicago White Sox, Cystic Fibrosis, Fallsview Casino and Resort, Ford, Harry Caray's, KTLA, Loehmann's Department Store, Lupus L.A., National Association of Music Merchants, National Cable and Telecommunications Association, Netflix, Orange County Flyers, Pebble Beach Pro-Am, AT&T, Dockers, Shore Club-South Beach, Taste Of Chicago, USAA, American Idol and The Tonight Show among many others.
Jeff is in high demand as a consultant to the financial industry on a multitude of music industry related matters. To date, he has consulted with such companies as Canyon Capital Advisors, Samlyn Capital LLC, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., Morgan Stanley, MSD Capital (UK) Limited, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Apollo Investment Corp., Goldman Sachs, Putnam Investments, KPMG LLP and Scopia Capital, LLC.Recently, Weber finalized his, from the ground up, re-definition of the business model for a record label that he firmly believes will be the architecture for all labels in the future. Weber’s model has embraced a complete slate of innovative concepts and procedures, ranging from the manner in which artist contracts are conceived and implemented to recording procedures, to innovations in sales, marketing and promotion. Designed to re-invent and re-energize the relationships between the artist and the label and the artist and the consumer, the model establishes format-breaking levels of transparency and unique partnerships in all label/artist/fan relationships.
His innovative concepts were the operational foundations for two independent labels distributed by Fontana (Universal). At the time, he was named President of both labels.
Jeff is well known for his involvement in high technology recording techniques, especially live two track recording, live multi-track and digital recording. Because of their sonic excellence, his recordings have been repeatedly selected by major hardware manufacturers to demonstrate their product lines.
Jeff is very active as a music supervisor for film, television and cable. He specializes in cost effective synchronization and master use license acquisition strategies as well as production based music options.Jeff co-founded and programmed Studio M, a nationwide broadcast television network that utilized their growing 28,000 music video library to broadcast multiple genre based music video shows. It was on the air seven days a week, for five hours a day to an estimated audience of thirty million homes.
Well versed in video production, Jeff has written, produced and directed over two-dozen music based concerts and videos. For one project, he produced a 12 camera, High Definition, robotic, five-channel surround sound DVD/CD for a rock and roll cover band comprised of famous television actors who traveled the country raising money for their selected charities. He traveled with the band, producing all their live concerts for over five years.
He has been a music journalist with articles in major industry publications nationwide. He has received numerous awards as an art director and many of his album cover designs have been published in ”Best of...” annual publications. As an educator, he has taught courses on the music industry at universities and law schools (he has a law degree as well) across the country.
Jeff is a lifetime member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) as well as a former Governor, National Trustee and Chapter Vice President.
Jeff can be contacted at jeffreyweber@me.com.