Forbes journalist Ogden Payne kicks off series of speakers for Music Marketing Program

The music industry is a curious beast, difficult to both understand and tame. The path to success is often strange, less about what you know and more about who you know.

On Tuesday Sept. 12, Forbes and Grammy Awards contributor Ogden Payne will lead a hands-on workshop on how to navigate your music career through uncharted territory and grab media attention at the John Peace Library.

Payne is a man of many titles: journalist, artist and public speaker. Payne has interviewed Chance the Rapper, Migos, G-Eazy and many other high-profile artists as he works on his own rap career.

UTSA will be the first stop on Payne’s “For the Students Tour” where he will visit eight schools in Texas, Florida and Georgia.

Dr. Stan Renard, UTSA’s assistant professor of music marketing and coordinator of the Music Marketing Program booked Payne to begin his series of guest speakers that will give workshops throughout the semester.

“Music departments tend to do a lot of classical music and jazz but rap, hip-hop, rock and pop appeal to our students,” Renard said. “We study 100 percent of the music market here, not just the two percent  which is classical and jazz.”

Renard invited Payne and the other speakers to work with the UTSA community, so they can teach practical skills that will be helpful to students interested in music, communications and business. 

Payne’s diverse skill set allow him to teach people from different backgrounds how to observe the music business landscape from various points of view.

Renard is trying to create a unique experience for attendees to this series by working with speakers to make instructional workshops geared toward coming away with practical skills. 

“I don’t want them just to talk at you. It’s not a lecture, it’s not just them sharing their story, I’m not interested in that,” Renard said. “I’m interested in you coming out of it and learning something you can use.”

Payne will be having students look over a sample label contract document as well as write a public relation piece to sharpen skills in multiple areas. Most people would not normally have access to these music industry insider documents.

This is first of many upcoming Music Department events that interest students involved with music marketing such as a workshop with Dennis Lord, executive vice president of SESAC, the only for profit royalty collection agency for artists on Nov. 16 at the JPL.

Also on the horizon is Music Biz Day–the largest free music business symposium in the country on April 7 at the UTSA  Downtown Campus; it brings together many top industry professionals for students and the community to work with.

The path to success in the music industry may be uncharted, but the workshops provided by the UTSA Music Department should provide you with a compass to help navigate the waters.