Taking Care of Business: Increasing Access with Technology

As the business of music continues to evolve, access to resources that give individuals a window into skill sets they may not yet embody can provide the much-needed motivation to continue learning and growing, as well as to support creators in building habits that yield results. Join fellow alumni in a conversation about how using app-based and platform tools can meet creators where they are and help to encourage skill-building.

Hear from alumni Kasson Crooker B.M. ‘95, Jeremy Vaughn M.A ‘18, and Sarah Martinico B.M ‘13 about their current projects and their journey into building tools for creative users.

Participants will:

• hear alumni reflect on their experiences with technology and music communities;
• gain a better understanding of how technology can introduce new information in a digestible way;
• reflect on how technology can begin to mitigate barriers to skill-building and increase access; and
• learn about specific tools that are working to leverage technology to uplift and support creators and professionals.

Panelists

Kasson Crooker B.M '95 has dedicated his music technology career to the spirit of bringing everyone into the world of music and immersive audio experiences. Over his 25-year career in making music software—from interactive music video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band at Harmonix to creating immersive audio experiences at Microsoft for HoloLens to his interactive music/virtual reality passion-project, (m)ORPH—Crooker has sought to remove the barriers keeping people from experiencing the joy of music through creative uses of music technology. He is also a prolific songwriter and producer, having released 18 albums, countless EPs and remixes in both stereo and quadraphonic surround.

A native of Northern California’s wine country, Jeremy Vaughn M.A ‘18 is the founder and CEO of Rimark Technology, Inc. He is a results-focused entrepreneur adept at leveraging his leadership skills and creative thinking to find innovative solutions. In his role as CEO, he directs the company’s mission, vision, product design, and innovation. He also spearheads partnership initiatives to drive the company’s go-to-market strategies and leads Rimark's global team and advisors. Under his leadership, Rimark’s milestones have included a successful $260,000 Friends and Family round of funding, an MVP launch, the development of its current beta product, and participation in two music tech accelerators, Wallifornia and gBETA Music Tech, both sponsored by Universal Music Group. He holds a B.M. in jazz performance with a minor in business administration from Sonoma State University and an M.A. in Global Entertainment and Music Business from Berklee.

Sarah Martinico B.M ‘13 is a Berklee graduate with a B.M. in music production and engineering as a guitar principle. She started her professional career in marketing at BMG, where she founded and created the first-ever royalty-bearing stems for sale from a major publisher's catalogue for Avid Pro Tools. She then went on to work in account management, product development, and marketing for Native Instruments. Soon after, she started her own music marketing consulting company, SL Music and Marketing. She has worked for numerous Grammy-winning producers, songwriters, artists, and labels from the pop, urban, and Latin worlds in marketing, branding, partnerships, management, music publishing, and consulting.