Phil Farnsworth

Andrea Johnson

Associate Professor
Affiliated Departments
Music Business/Management
Berklee Online
Faculty Bio E-Mail
arjohnson@berklee.edu
Telephone
617-747-3170

For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations

Career Highlights
  • Worked for Chris Blackwell and Gloria Estefan
  • Recordings as a songwriter include “His Song”; as a lead vocalist, “More and More” and “Love’s Ocean”
  • Editor of Pop Music Theory
  • Artists and repertoire project manager for 45 commercial record productions with major and independent labels, including work for Elton John, Parliament-Funkadelic, the Gap Band, the Bar-Kays, Rick James, Sly and Robbie, Jack Kerouac, Kelly Joe Phelps, Fleetwood Mac, and MGM soundtracks
  • Started the production company MonoMyth Media in 2008
  • Developed a new record label model at Blackroom Records in 2001 that emphasizes partnership between label and artist, with each sharing 50 percent of the album proceeds
  • Developed curriculum through StrengthFinders that evaluates student’s personal strengths to facilitate self-awareness of natural talents
  • Member of American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
Education
  • B.S., University of Colorado at Denver
  • M.M., University of Miami
In Their Own Words

"The cultural mix here is so exciting. I love the fact that I have students from all over the world. Their unique experiences add to the classroom. The way they perceive how business operates in their country—they bring that insight into our classes and that just expands the conversation."

"We have a huge population of Hispanic students, and I think having that sort of understanding is important, because the Latin music industry is a completely different animal than the mainstream American market. When I worked with Gloria Estefan, we had to deal with a lot of visas and getting wonderful performers from South America. There are a lot of other things that you wouldn't normally think about, like passports and international exchange rates and work visas."

"I have an undergrad degree in vocal performance, and I actually started in the music business because I wanted to make sure that I understood my own contracts. I think that helps me the most, because we have a lot of dual majors. I can be empathetic with them and tell them today's business is really about being an entrepreneur. As a performer, you've got to take care of yourself, you've got to understand business. As much as they might not want to focus on accounting or law, at least I'm giving them a scope of the entire industry, so they can pick a good business manager. I think every student should take at least an intro to music business course. If you're an informed performer, think of how much further you can go."

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