Rethink Music Announces Speakers, Innovative Business Competition

Rethink Music is coming back for second year to transform tomorrow's music industry.
January 24, 2012

Rethink Music announces that senior executives from online music magazine Pitchfork, digital music service Spotify, music video website VEVO, and music technology firm The Echo Nest will come together in Boston April 23–24 to deliver presentations to delegates attending the second edition of Rethink Music.

Rethink Music is a solutions-focused event with workshops, presentations, and panels designed to transform tomorrow's music industry. More information can be found at rethink-music.com.   

The growing list of Rethink Music speakers now includes:

  • Chris Kaskie, President, Pitchfork
  • Kenneth Parks, Chief Content Officer, Spotify
  • Jim Lucchese, CEO, The Echo Nest
  • Rio Caraeff, President & CEO, VEVO

draft program is now available and registration is also open with special rates for students and musicians.

In addition, as part of its continued development, Rethink Music has entered into a new partnership with Babson College for the Genesis Project competition.

The 2012 Genesis Project competition will recognize new concepts, technologies, and businesses that can move the music industry forward, and is a key part of Rethink Music's goal of fostering innovation and new ideas for the music industry. Boston-based Babson College, ranked the number one U.S. business school for entrepreneurship for 18 consecutive years and a recognized specialist in researching entrepreneurship in the music industry, is teaming up with Rethink Music this year to support the Genesis Project.

Submissions to the competition are open until March 15, 2012, and will be judged by Berklee College of Music faculty, Babson College faculty, industry executives, and venture capitalists on their potential to become the basis of a viable new or improved venture or music business idea. Finalists will present their ideas at the Rethink Music conference in Boston on April 23–24, and Rethink Music will provide the winning project $10,000 in legal services, additional in-kind awards, consulting services, and meetings with venture capitalists.

"We are very excited about Babson College's involvement in Rethink Music, and in particular our Genesis Project," says Allen Bargfrede, executive director of Rethink Music for Berklee College of Music. "Musicians are by their nature entrepreneurial, and Babson's unique perspective will help us as we seek innovative solutions for tomorrow's music industry."

"Babson College is pleased to work with members of the music industry, some of the most entrepreneurial and innovative persons on the planet," said Babson College president Len Schlesinger. "Through our partnership with Rethink Music, Babson seeks to bring its expertise as the top-ranked college for entrepreneurship to benefit the entertainment ecosystem."

Produced by Berklee College of Music and midem, in association with Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Rethink Music is a hands-on conference designed to bring music stakeholders together to discuss business models for the future, examine copyright challenges in the digital era, and analyze technological innovation in music and its distribution. Centered around transforming the music industry, Rethink Music's programming does not just focus on discussing change, but rather making it happen.