Mentor:
Darlow Simon Composer, Songwriter, Musician and Producer (UK)
Breifly in Buggles with Trevor Horn (Adventures in Modern Recording Album), Simon co wrote several hits produced by Trevor, including " Give Me Back My Heart" for Dollar and the million selling "Slave To The Rhythm" by Grace Jones. He has written for many including Toyah, Cliff Richard, Shirley bassey, Elkie Brooks, Martine Mcutcheon and Carol Decker (T'Pau).
As a player/ arranger his work includes Musical Youth(Pass the Dutchie), Don Henley, Jody Watley, Bucks Fizz, Ollie Murs and the Dyvinals.
He has written for over 100 TV shows including BBC Global idents, BBC News Chanel, the Shanghi TV News, 'Hole In The Wall' and X Factor.
He co wrote and producecd the new Toyah Album "In The Court Of The Crimson Queen.
He is Deputy Chairman (writer) of PRS for music, a member of the BASCA Board,The Mcps Prs Alliance Board and is a trustee of the PRS for music Foundation.
Hofseth Bendik Professor, Masters Program in Music Management, University of Agder (Norway)
Composer, saxophonist and singer. 9 CD releases with his own music. He was a member of the legendary American jazz-group Steps Ahead for many years. Other collaborators have been John McLaughlin, D’Gary, Rickie Lee Jones, Ray Phiri, Hariprasad Chaurasia. He has participated on hundreds of recordings all over the world. 3 saxophone concerts have been written especially for him. Hofseth has written numerous commissioned pieces for film, TV and concert, using different genres and different ensembles. Hofseth had been active on the board of his local collective management organisations such as TONO and NcB. He has for many years been a member and Chairman of the CIAM working group (International Council for Authors of Music. Currently he chairs the United Nations (WIPO) efforts of setting up an International Music Registry. He is a Professor of Music at The University of Agder (Norway).
Johnson Marcus Composer and Producer, Marimelj Entertainment Group (USA)
Marcus Johnson is a Billboard-ranked, NAACP Image Award-nominated jazz musician, from Washington, DC.
Johnson’s unique, self-taught style of piano play, has earned him distinction among his peers, praise within the media, and accolades across the music industry, but it is his background and personal story, which truly distinguish Marcus from his contemporaries.
Johnson earned a Law Degree and a Masters in Business from the Georgetown University Law Center. Over the last decade, the self-starting Johnson has released 15 studio albums—all of which have been met with critical and commercial success—while overseeing the expansion of a burgeoning entrepreneurial empire. He established Marimelj Entertainment Group, which included the Three Keys Music Publishing Company and Studio 8121, which produced Johnson’s albums as well as other notable acts in the United States.
More recently, Johnson has enveloped these earlier musical ventures into an overarching, comprehensive lifestyle branding company, FLO Brands, LLC. Aptly titled For the Love Of, at its core, FLO began as a musical publishing and lifestyle branding company to house all of Johnson’s musical and entrepreneurial ventures. The scope and reach of the company has expanded, and FLO Brands is now poised to launch FLO Wines in the first quarter of 2012 in conjunction with California-based Tarara Winery.
Having maintained the unique balance of being an artist, a music publisher, an attorney, and an entrepreneur, Johnson has come to the forefront of the music industry as a leading advocate and authority on the need for continued development and implementation for effective legal protocols and safeguards, as it relates to the intellectual property rights of the 21st century artist, amidst a changing digital music landscape.
As a publisher of nearly 300 works himself, Johnson has frequently addressed the literal and legal issues facing today’s emerging and established artists, including: Speaker, Harvard University Law School, Recording Artists Project: Contracts, Entrepreneurship, and Protecting Your Rights; Speaker, World Copyright Summit, Intellectual Property Rights (represented BMI), Speaker, Miami Music Conference: The Business of Jazz; Panelist, Microsoft: Build Your Business Tour; Speaker, GMAC: The Importance of Intellectual Property and Protecting Your Work Product; Panelist, Howard University School of Law: Center Court Panel on Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property; Speaker, Georgetown University Law Center; Ambassador, BMI: Intellectual Property; Award Recipient, U.S. Small Business Administration: Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Creatively, Johnson continues to evolve as an artist. With the recent release of his FLO: Holiday CD and the ongoing collaboration with famed Parisian Producer DJ Pulse—as the musical duo, JURIS—he has managed to maintain his traditional jazz routes, while also remaining on the forefront of the expanding ‘Euro Jazz’ movement.
When he is not recording, performing, or working as the face of FLO Brands, Johnson has served professorial stints at both law and business schools in the Washington, DC area, addressing entertainment law as well as intellectual property rights and legislative reform. Johnson is also a community leader in his native DC, spearheading key philanthropic and youth-empowerment campaigns, such as the MJ Music Camp, the national launch of the Red Cross Holiday Cards for Heroes Program, and the Hear Our Voices: Anti-Bullying Campaign.
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