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# ASCAP Expo: The Hot Topic is the Future
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/ascap-expo-day-2-the-hot-topic-is-the-future/
- Published: 2013-04-22T07:35:42.000Z
- Updated: 2013-04-22T07:35:42.000Z
- Description: By Geoff Nudelman of Telos Studios. For the songwriters, composers, and producers in attendance, the Expo’s second day took a bigger focus on the future of the business from a. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/04/ascap-expo-day-2-the-hot-topic-is-the-future.html]
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- Tags: Conventions & Awards, DIY Advice & Tips, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:43

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By Geoff Nudelman of [Telos Studios](http://telos-studios.com/?ref=hypebot.com).

For the songwriters, composers, and producers in attendance,  
the Expo’s second day took a bigger focus on the future of the business from a  
variety of perspectives.

Ken Jordan of The Crystal Method and RJD2 opened the day  
with a very technical conversation about how the quality of music has changed  
over the last 10-15 years. “The barrier to entry is now low, and that’s  
exciting, but when big studios close down, the quality of the music suffers,”  
RJ said. “That’s a problem to me.” Jordan added that the old studios have  
priced themselves too high and “out of existence.”

“The price of making a record has dropped from $300,000 to $30,000,”  
he said.

A solid lineup of music supervisors reiterated the power of  
YouTube, Soundcloud, and the blogosphere in a panel entitled “Music Supervision  
in the Digital Age.” Elias Arts music supervisor and KCRW host Jason Kramer  
used Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna as a case study about how it’s done in  
today’s music business. The artist, who hasn’t had much charted success, has  
over 800,000 Twitter followers and built a brand for herself based on a strong  
connection between her music and her signature fashion.

The panel as a whole heavily endorsed the future of pitching  
one’s work for placement within Multi Channel Networks (MCNs) that develop  
content for a variety of online outlets like Maker Studio, Giant, FullScreen,  
Big Frame, DanceOn, and Alloy Digital.

Perhaps the liveliest presentation of the day was an  
interactive tutorial on copyright law from Corey Field, an attorney at Ballard  
Spahr LLP. He had a series of cards given to the audience to break down the  
copyright and royalty collection process into single steps. The presentation  
culminated in a shouting match between opposite sides of the room to illustrate  
how songwriters and record companies compete for royalties in what Field called  
a “cacophony.” He said it was a true representation of how complex it can be  
for a singer, songwriter, producer, or artist to collect his/her share of a  
song’s revenue.

The idea of “music discovery” came up yesterday. The  
overwhelming opinion is that for a songwriter, it’s YouTube, Soundcloud, or  
another aggregated online outlet and that the kids are in control now. “It’s  
almost expected that (kids) are listening to everything these days,” RJ said. The  
group of music supervisors noted that there are more ways than ever before that  
they’re discovering new music and having persistence is key to getting the  
right people to listen to an artist’s music. “Be succinct, be passionate, be  
honest,” Nike Music and Creative Licensing Manager JT Griffith said.

The Expo concludes today with a lineup of business panels  
and Bandzoogle’s “Website Demolition Derby.”