LAUNCH Music Conference & Festival features FTC Professors Barry Heyman and Lou Plaia as panelists
The conference will host music industry professionals discussing their areas of expertise with aspiring artists from April 23rd to 26th in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
By Clarissa Biener
Five Towns College Professors Barry Heyman and Lou Plaia are returning to LAUNCH Music Conference & Festival as panelists for the second year in a row. The conference will host music industry professionals discussing their areas of expertise with aspiring artists from April 23rd to 26th in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“The LAUNCH Conference is one of my favorite conferences because the panelists are really into it and are there to help the artists,” said Professor Plaia, founder of Hot Rats Entertainment. “It is fun and highly educational and nothing beats the networking that is done with fellow peers whether you are on the artist side or the industry side.”
The biannual three-day conference takes place in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the spring and Dallas, Texas in the fall. While the daytime is filled with industry panels with great opportunities for networking, the nighttime boasts more that 130 musical performances. Deadlands, a band comprised of FTC alumni, performed at the LAUNCH festival last year. This year’s artists and panelists can be found here on the LAUNCH website.
Both FTC professors will join other experts to delve into the most pressing topics in today’s music industry.
Professor Plaia’s panels include:
-Launch Pad or Flight School? Education vs. Real-World Experience
-Can You Handle the Truth? – Marketing
-The Sync Shuttle: Monetizing the Galaxy
-Can You Handle the Truth? – Classic Public Critique & Evaluation of LAUNCH Artists
Professor Plaia’s fourth panel gives real time feedback to developing performers. “Artists who want to be critiqued in front of a live audience submit their music, social media pages, website, etc and the panelists will look up at the big screen and critique everything about their brand, the images they portray, what can work and what will not work,” elaborated Professor Plaia. “This is important because so many artists think they have it right but in reality most of the time they are missing something that may be the tipping point to getting them to the next level.”
Professor Heyman’s panels include:
-Houston, We Have a Contract: Understanding Contracts and Band Agreements
-Human at the Helm: Using AI Without Killing the Soul
“Artists today are navigating a landscape that’s both more empowered and more complex,” said Professor Heyman, Program Coordinator of MEIS at FTC. “They have more tools and opportunities than ever, but also more responsibility to understand their rights and the technology they’re using.”
Professors Heyman and Plaia will also be panelists at the Montauk Music Festival from May 14th through 17th.
“Conferences like this offer something you can’t fully replicate in a classroom: direct access to industry professionals, practical insight, and the opportunity to build meaningful connections,” said Professor Heyman. “It’s a chance to see how everything they’re learning plays out in the real world.”
