What do Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, and Gabby’s Dollhouse have in common? Emmy-winning music supervisor Vivian Aguiar-Buff helped shape their sound. In this deep-dive interview, the Music Supervision and Film Scoring instructor reflects on her path from law school dropout to Remote Control Productions, the secrets behind music supervision, and why being part of a creative team means leaving your ego at the door.
As a musician, not all of your practice will be on your instrument. Some of it will be in your head, and some of it may even be on objects that just look like your instrument. We call this mental practice, and in this excerpt from Barbara LaFitte’s Practicing Techniques for Musicians course, the former principal oboist in the Boston Ballet Orchestra shares tips on how to practice your instrument when you just aren’t able to actually play your instrument.
Earth Day is April 22, and now is a great time to listen to songs about climate change and the environment, to reflect on ways we can lean into our collective responsibility.
Cindy Blackman became Lenny Kravitz’s drummer after a lifetime of jazz drumming. In this wide-ranging interview she discusses being visited by the spirits of the jazz greats she befriended during her time in New York City, and how she and husband Carlos Santana stay in harmony, onstage and off.
Insights from Berklee Online’s Artist Management Course on Building Your Team, Navigating Contracts, and Understanding Today’s Music Industry
Understanding the music industry means more than just making great music. It requires knowing how to build the right team, navigate contracts, and make informed decisions about your career. The following videos from Berklee Online’s Artist Management course highlight that range, featuring insights from creators, lawyers, producers, and entrepreneurs. While rooted in artist management, these conversations reflect the broader set of decisions artists face—from choosing collaborators to understanding legal and business frameworks that shape their careers.
Why Musicians Need Managers
Deciding to work alongside a manager is a personal choice for many artists, but choosing the right manager can make that path more manageable. Michaël Brun, a DJ and record producer, talks about his experience trying to find a manager that aligned with his goals and work ethics while supporting his musical career. Drawing from his own experience working with Ardie Farhadieh—who is Brun’s manager as well as the author of the Artist Management course—he explains how a strong manager–artist relationship helped him build better systems, stay consistent, and remain motivated creatively.
Finding a Lawyer
As an independent music artist, having a trustworthy lawyer can benefit your career as they provide legal advice when negotiating contracts while making sure your work is protected and credited. Marjorie Garcia is a partner in the Entertainment Transactions department of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano and has dedicated her career to advising artists, songwriters, producers, labels, and entertainment companies on the law within the entertainment industry. In the following video, Garcia provides advice on how to find a lawyer who aligns with your goals, your work, and your personality. The first question to ask: Does this lawyer have the capacity to take you on as a client?
Sync Licensing Contracts
Artists should understand sync licenses, which enable music to be used in audio-visual content. Jose “Pepe” Espada is the founder of the Sacramento-based label Boneyard Records and dedicates his career on supporting artists offering guidance on copyright protection, music licensing, and performance contracts. In this video, he breaks down key considerations in synchronization contracts for independent artists. Espada outlines five essential contract terms—fees, territory, duration, media, and exclusivity—sharing practical insights on each and cautioning artists to think carefully before agreeing to exclusivity.
Artist Experience with Sync Licensing
Philadelphia-based duo Marian Hill—Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol—share their experience licensing a song for an AirPods commercial. They emphasize that writing music you genuinely love is the most important part of the process, since that authenticity can be what attracts brands in the first place. Lloyd and Gongol describe the sync placement as a lengthy and unexpected journey that ultimately helped expand their audience, noting that the opportunity wasn’t a goal they chased, but a meaningful outcome that followed naturally from their work.
Impact of AI in Music
Entrepreneur and technologist Benji Rogers discusses how artificial intelligence is shaping the music industry and encourages artists to engage with it rather than ignore it. After his experience co-founding multiple companies inside the music industry, he provides valuable insight on how recent technology is shaping the way artists receive compensation. Discussing the history of disruption in the music industry, he theorizes that AI will have more impact than when the MP3 was introduced at the turn of the century, or more recently with streaming. He says what will be similar is that those who create and own rights to copyrighted works have to be proactive in making sure that the money that is rightfully theirs doesn’t go to the companies or organizations that control the rights.
Learn more about how the music industry works (and how to navigate it!) in the Artist Management course.
