First-ever "Rap Session" about digital media takes place at USC

GRAMMY.com
Melissa Blazek

At the close of the first-ever What's The Download "Rap Session," one thing was clear: There are no simple solutions to the challenges facing the ever-changing realm of digital music. But over the course of the hour-long exchange, something very valuable occurred — a candid, revealing dialog took place that raised good points and good questions about the current landscape and the future of the music industry.

The Rap Session was held on Monday in Newman Hall on the campus of the University of Southern California in conjunction with GRAMMY Career Day, one of the many GRAMMY Week events taking place in Los Angeles. Several hundred high school students were invited to attend and ask questions of the What's The Download's Interactive Advisory Board and recording artists Kelly Clarkson, Common, Chris Brown, and MTV personality and producer/hip-hop artist Sway, each named honorary members of the panel.

What's The Download ( www.whatsthedownload.com ) was launched last February by The Recording Academy as a way to open a line of communication and build a bridge between young consumers and the music industry on evolving digital media delivery.

The WTD Interactive Advisory Board is comprised of 12 young adults aged 20–25, many of whom are in college studying the entertainment business or have some early experience in the industry, and all of whom are rabid, well-spoken music fans. In March, the board will present to Congress and the music industry a paper that summarizes what they've learned from music consumers in the last year, along with suggestions to improve the digital music experience.

Rap Session moderators Ron Roecker, Vice President of Communications & Media Relations for The Recording Academy, and Shirley Halperin, West Coast editor of Teen People, engaged the Board in discussions that included artist rights and compensation, and downloads as a way to promote music. The panel and the audience also exchanged viewpoints about what music they listen to, where they explore for it, if and how they buy it, and what they want in a retail experience.

The informal audience polls Roecker took throughout the session were revealing, if not myth-busting, about the young consumers' music habits. More than half of the students raised their hands when asked if they owned iPods, but almost the entire audience raised their hands when asked if they listened to satellite radio. A quarter of the audience (including Interactive Advisory Board members and artists) admitted to downloading music illegally, and all confessed a certain amount of confusion about what is legal and what isn't.

Overwhelmingly, the students said they streamed or downloaded tracks or albums primarily as a way of previewing them before they purchased them. Almost all of the students in the audience said they wanted to own original recordings, and that they loved to read CD liner notes. Several of the panel members expressed frustration with digital subscription services, and the lack of selection of digital music available on services such as Apple's iTunes.

When Eric Garland from Big Champagne Online Media Measurement, an organization that tracks online media trends, told teen rap phenomenon Chris Brown that two of his songs were among the most-swapped in recent weeks (translating to about 4 to 5 million illegal swaps), Brown said that it was a "double-edged sword. You want to sell records, but you want a fan base, too. You want to be able to go out on the road."

Following the student audience's admission that they went to concerts as a way of supporting their favorite artists, Brown said, "If you can afford the concert, you can afford the CD."

Kelly Clarkson had a similar two-pronged viewpoint. For an average recording she estimated there were about 15 behind-the-scenes people involved. "There are producers, engineers, drummers who have families" who all need to be paid, she said. But she also admitted that song downloads — illegal or not — are an important way to reach out to her fans.

As the session ended, a glance across Newman Hall showed the students laughing and talking, and using their cell phones to snap photos, call and text-message each other, constantly trading information through technology. What's The Download has recognized a simple arguable fact — this is the way the next generation of consumers operates. And working with them to capture that energy and mindset is what will propel the music industry forward.