I founded and served as president for a not for profit organization in Miami called  Performing Arts for Community and Education, aka PACE Concerts in the mid-1970’s. We employed 800 musicians and performing artists annually for over a decade. performing  to over a million South Floridians each year. We were funded extensively by state, federal and private donors as well as corporate sponsors. The National Endowment for the Arts funded us as a model for the nation. The Knight Foundation and the Miami Herald funded our efforts through generous grants, promotions and advertising and sponsorship for almost a decade. Most concerts were free, and we concentrated our efforts and finding out who our audiences were, and encouraging them to join our organization. PACE was one of the first arts organizations to have in house computing capabilities in The U.S. Unfortunately there was no internet...YET.

For the last decade I have been developing a project that has its origins in my experiences with community music development in South Florida. My concept fuses live performances and audience development with state of that art production, broadcast, net-cast in internet technologies. It is called ArtistAir and The Social Music Network (SMN).

ArtistAir and The Social Music Network  represents an innovative structure for how the music industries will evolve and ultimately thrive, one that embraces technology and further develops the relationship between the performing artist and their audiences.

ArtistAir and The Social Music Network combines broadcasting and web casting technologies with a web enabled patron system (a fan base), and a live -  performance based outreach system. Taking full advantage of new technologies and the internet, ArtistAir and The Social Music Network will provide access to live performances and special patron events and services. Social Music Network is a platform where sponsors, patrons and audiences can actively support artists of their choice.

I have conferred with  technology leaders, scholars, artists – and even forward-thinking record execs - we are convinced that a new direction is at hand. The recast music business MUST be:

• Designed primarily to create and nurture an intimate, enduring bond between audience and artist.

• Fan-centric: An easy, fun experience, of real value. Personal, not anonymous.

• Fan-empowering: Meaningful. Allowing for user-created content and input.

• Technically cutting-edge: Built on a digital foundation of media convergence – the seamless blending of interactive, onscreen, broadcast and telephony.

• Inclusive and scalable: Good for artists, fan-bases and musical niches of all sizes and tastes.

• Powerfully supportive to artists, with innovative tools for bonding and communicating with fans; more touch-points; more layers of access.

• An integrated business that allows ALL the current industry stakeholders to thrive, by providing a neutral venue with rich opportunities for record/artist promotions, advertising and sponsorships, merchandizing, pay-per-experience and premium membership opportunities. With the ability to implement all these options either small-scale, or grand scale (at the option of the artist/label).

This business model would build lifetime fan relationships through trust, value and real meaning.

This business model is ArtistAir and The Social Music Network (SMN).

On to ArtistAir and The Social Music Network!