MEIEA Summit 2025

Serona Elton, Professor and Chair, Music Industry (University of Miami Frost School of Music), moderator

Eric Griffin, Associate Director, Music Business (Colorado State University College of Business), panelist

Matthew O’Brien, Assistant Professor, Music & Entertainment Industry Studies (University of Colorado Denver), panelist

                    Chris Reali, Moderator
1:15 - Music Streaming: Can the Spotify Model Survive?
1:45 - From Vinyl to Streaming: The Impact of Nostalgia on Music Consumption in the Digital Age

Music Streaming: Can the Spotify Model Survive?
  Yvan J. Kelly, Flagler College
Spotify was created in 2006 as a service to provide a legal method for streaming music. It quickly established itself as a market leader early in the streaming era. Despite being the industry leader, after seventeen years of operation the firm was still not profitable. Arrangements with music rights holders had forced the firm to operate on small margins and their expenses were not tightly controlled. Other firms, seeing possible profit opportunities, entered into the streaming market which added to Spotify’s profitability challenges. Spotify’s market share dropped with the increased competition, despite having an increased number of subscribers. In its efforts to become profitable, the company lowered expenses by cutting staff and also used a loophole to reduce payments to music rights holders. Further, the firm raised prices in an effort to increase revenues. A calculation of Spotify’s elasticity of demand in the U.S. reveals that their options for continuing price increases in the future are limited. Facing increased competition along with limitations on pricing, Spotify will find it increasingly difficult to be profitable as the streaming market becomes saturated. Efforts to diversify into new areas of revenue as well as new markets are being attempted by the company, however, questions remain about the prospects of the long-term profitability and viability of Spotify.

From Vinyl to Streaming: The Impact of Nostalgia on Music Consumption in the Digital Age
  Jeff Apruzzese, Drexel University
This paper presentation investigates how nostalgia influences music consumption in an era dominated by digital streaming, examining why some listeners maintain a preference for physical formats like vinyl and CDs despite the convenience of digital platforms. Using survey data from over 500 participants, the research reveals that nostalgia plays a significant role in shaping format preferences but does not solely account for the resurgence of physical media. This phenomenon is often driven by fandom and commodification strategies within the music industry, as seen in sales trends where legacy artists and current pop icons dominate vinyl sales.
The study sheds light on the complex interplay of emotional, sensory, and cultural factors in music consumption, offering insights into the lasting appeal of analog formats. Findings underscore the importance of understanding nostalgia as an influential factor in the music industry’s marketing strategies and the development of pedagogical approaches in music education. This paper will be relevant to academics, industry professionals, and educators looking to explore the role of nostalgia in contemporary music consumption.

             Hal Weary, Moderator
2:30 - Learning by Recreating: Exploring the Educational Value of Cover Projects
3:00 - Three Methods to Improve Students' Music Mixing Abilities

Learning by Recreating: Exploring the Educational Value of Cover Projects
  Frank Dremel, Middle Tennessee State University
The recreation of master works, including classic recordings and contemporary hits, is a powerful pedagogical tool in audio production education. While traditional music education emphasizes that students cultivate a repertoire of significant works, audio production students are often assigned projects that primarily involve original compositions by relatively unknown artists. Although recreations are occasionally present in audio production curricula, they are frequently informal and underutilized, despite their potential to provide profound, hands-on learning opportunities. Through critical analysis and replication of iconic recordings, students can gain valuable insights into the artistic decisions, technical workflows, and collaborative dynamics foundational to professional music production.
This paper examines the pedagogical value of structured recreation projects, drawing on specific case studies, such as a recreation of The Beatles’ Abbey Road and insights from MIDI-based courses. These examples demonstrate how such activities enhance students’ critical listening abilities, expand their musical and production lexicon, and strengthen their proficiency in sound design, mixing, and arrangement. Furthermore, engaging with contemporary works enables students to grasp current musical trends, preparing them to produce competitive, market-relevant projects.
This paper advocates for the integration of structured recreations into audio production curricula, supported by case studies and practical recommendations. It emphasizes how such projects facilitate the bridging of tradition and innovation, equipping students with the skills necessary to excel in the contemporary music production industry.

Three Methods to Improve Students' Music Mixing Abilities
  Jan-Olof Gullö, Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden
  Hans Gardemar, Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden
  Bo Westman, Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden
Innovative digital technologies have profoundly transformed the music creation landscape in recent decades. Consequently, many students, particularly in higher music education, dedicate considerable time and interest to songwriting and music production. Higher education enhances these initiatives through specialized programs and courses that empower students to create and produce their own music. Our ongoing research project, “Searching for Sophia [Wisdom] in Music Production,” explores critical factors contributing to successful music production by examining Music Production through the lenses of music education, musicology, psychology, and sociology. This study focuses on methods how to improve students’ music-mixing abilities.
A challenge that many educators encounter is that today’s digital audio workstations allow students to experiment with musical ideas easily, work on various tracks, and produce numerous alternative takes throughout their creative processes. This can sometimes result in students creating complex compositions with tons of tracks, making it a formidable task to edit and mix the music into a production suitable for presentation or publication. In this project, we have explored various approaches to enhancing students’ skills in music mixing.
In music mixing literature, the skilled mixing expert is sometimes described as having a unique insight into what is good and bad in any given situation. They can intuitively respond appropriately, both in their emotions and actions, allowing their expression to be reflected in how the music is mixed. In addition to the extensive literature on music mixing, there is a plethora of instructional videos of varying quality. These can serve as valuable sources of knowledge for students eager to learn more about music mixing. However, these resources are often technical-oriented and provide insufficient support for students to develop their judgment, critical skills, and self-confidence. Conversely, many students feel lost after engaging with instructional videos or literature. This can lead to a cognitive bias, resulting in a systematic deviation in students’ judgments away from established norms or rationality, causing them to mistrust their taste and experience when mixing. Students also often struggle to prioritize their approach methodically. For many experts, a crucial strategy for mastering music mixing is to be methodical and distinguish between facts and opinions, preferences, and dislikes while adhering to a structured plan for how the project should advance.
In this paper, we present three different methods that can be used in education to increase students’ competence in mixing music. The first method is a priority exercise that can be conducted as a preliminary study before mixing. In brief, it involves listening to music, analyzing it, and determining what is most important in the music. What is the second most important? What is the third most important? And so on. Thereafter, the students mix the music according to that priority. Exercises of this kind can be carried out in seminars but individually and can help students sort through large amounts of material. The following method is based on ancient Greek philosophy, once formulated by Zeno of Elea (c. 490 – c. 430 BC), who argued that virtue is practical knowledge (phronêsis) expressed in various forms. When phronêsis relates to what is owed to others, or, in this case, what we owe to the music we are mixing, it embodies justice (dikaiosunê); when it pertains to what ought to be chosen, it represents moderation (sôphrosunê); and when it involves what must be endured, it signifies courage (andreia). In the act of mixing, we therefore show respect for the music through justice, we mix with moderation, and, last but by no means least, we approach the music with courage. The third model involves micro-rhythm and micro-timing manipulation in digital music production during mixing and post-production. Micro-timing adjustments, which involve small temporal shifts of audio tracks, enhance phase coherency and alter groove perception, impacting the listener’s experience. Drawing on the Haas effect (1951), we conducted experiments using micro-timing strategies in drum recordings and recordings of other instruments, revealing the influence of micro-timing on groove and sound unity. Modifying the timing of different audio tracks in a mix to affect the overall feel can offer students a deeper insight into the potential for subtle and impactful micro-editing during the mixing process while also significantly improving their critical listening skills.

             Henric Lindström, Moderator
5:00 - Harmonies of Heart: Encouraging Jazz and Pop Student Acts for Senior Care Facilities
5:30 - Mitigating the Brazilian Imperceptible Weakness: The Music and Entertainment Business Education and Research Center

Harmonies of Heart: Encouraging Jazz and Pop Student Acts for Senior Care Facilities
  Brian Wansink, Cornell University (retired)
Background: A few years ago, an old friend had to move to a memory unit in a no-frills retirement home. This rural retirement home didn’t have the budget to have musical programming, so every couple weeks I would visit and take one of my teen daughters to play a song or two for him on the cello or flute. Before long, they had expanded this to performing background dinner music for the whole facility, and then to other no-frills retirement homes. In helping them do this, we also learned a lot about set lists, gear, crowd interaction, set up, and performance – skills that would be useful to a wide range of student musicians who want out-of-school entertainment experience.
Presentation Objectives: The objective for this presentation is to present ideas that MEIEA educators can adapt to encourage students – soloists or combos of any genre of music – to share their music with seniors in a way that brings joy to everyone. This will provide educators with the following:

• The rationale as to why a student should consider such a stretch
• Insights on helping them build solo acts or combos for most genres
• Sample letters and scripts on how to approach senior care facilities
• One-page tip sheets for set up, performance, and crowd interaction

Rationale: First, there is a need for music in memory care units – and retirement homes in general – it breaks monotony, sparks memories, builds community, and brings joy. This is especially true with the facilities that do not otherwise have a budget for music or programming. When I mentioned my old friend in memory unit, only two things made his face brighten up: ice cream and music. Second, guiding student solo acts or combos to perform in these retirement homes will help them become better prepared for the performance industry. They should become comfortable at performing different music in different situations and to bring happiness or joy to others when they play. This is a tremendous “feel good” way for a young person to grow as a musician and as a caring person.

Mitigating the Brazilian Imperceptible Weakness: The Music and Entertainment Business Education and Research Center
  Fábio Sabetta-Morales, Souza Lima College-Conservatory of Music (São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
Recent research focused on cultural and creative industries (CCI) provides evidence that knowledge ecosystems will lead to business ecosystems through which individuals, groups and organizations will be mutually complementary and will realize competitive advantage. As argued by the literature, a local CCI Knowledge Ecosystem must consider three different but complementary dimensions of knowledge: symbolic, synthetic and analytical. First, the symbolic knowledge is based on cultural value and on contextual conditions as cultural identity and community belonging. From cultural value derive social and economic values that must be capable of promoting legacy, well-being, join and sustainable economic development in the long term. Second, the synthetic knowledge is generated with low or no investment in research, through new uses of available technologies, focused on the development of solutions applied to everyday market issues, often in a collaborative way. In this sense, bricolage and the entrepreneurial lifestyle emerged as social mechanisms for disseminating knowledge, alongside cultural and creative management models conceived by private organizations as their own collective capability. Finally, the analytical knowledge, provided by research and formal education, which has been highlighted in the context of technology hotspots. In fact, there are evidence that creative clusters are solid where public policy nurtures the development of analytical knowledge as a contextual capability. Further, as one of the three CCI Knowledge Ecosystem components, analytical knowledge leads to business ecosystems as well as promotes innovation and increases the visibility of creative sectors and organizations for financial support mechanisms.
Using case study as its research method, this paper aims to report and discuss one recent educational project that has been developed to mitigate the so-called imperceptible weakness of analytical knowledge and, consequently, of the Knowledge Ecosystem in the Brazilian music industries. The first section is an exposition of the current context of the music industries in Brazil in terms of identity, community, education, technology, market and financial support. The second section argues about existent social mechanisms in terms of the individual and collective levels and sheds light to the lack of music and entertainment business education. The third section provides comparisons of context and social mechanisms between Brazil and other countries. Based on the inductive method, the fourth section refers to the research methodology, with the application of a questionnaire related to the Knowledge Ecosystem in the Brazilian music industries for data collection, and content analysis and multivariate statistics to bring out the study results. The fifth section presents the design, development and implementation of the Music and Entertainment Business Education and Research Center (MEBE Center) at the Souza Lima College Music in the city of São Paulo, SP, Brazil, the first initiative of its kind in the whole country. The last section brings relevant discussion about this research and the MEBE Center.