What you will learn
Defining your Independent Identity
The Musician as a Business
Casting the DNA of the artist and understanding its distinguishing characteristics and its unique presence within the music industry. This process is the cornerstone for building a comprehensive strategy and gaining audience and exposure.
Understanding the fundamentals of the independent music market, building a short-term and long-term business plan and dealing with contracts. This topic will also map the music industry key players - covering bureaucratic, managerial and artistic.
The Secrets of Booking
Traditional Media, PR and Industry Norms
Getting familiar with the different approaches of closing bookings, building a booking strategy and tour based on your brand and gaining practical tools for approaching venues as well as practical negotiation tips.
An in-depth understanding of the role of public relations in the independent music industry, an analysis of institutional media players and familiarity with traditional industry norms as well as new trends. This session also gives insights into creating PR materials and and covers how to build long-term relationships within the industry.
Community, Networking and Goundwork
Legal Rights, Distribution, Royalties and Synchronisation
Understanding and leveraging the value of cooperation and community; creating a loyal core audience and making them your ambassadors, mapping the industry players that are relevant to your sound and learning how to connect and collaborate in ways that will lead to better promotion of your music.
Copyright rights, master rights, music synchronicity for movies and commercials, royalty collection, federal representation and other financial elements that are worth a lot if managed correctly.
Production Fundamentals
& Show Strategy
Learn about key elements in the production of events, festivals and performances. This covers the core principles of performance - including standing on stage, creating a set list as well as how to best leverage your concert for further advancement.
Digital Presence and Social Media
Mapping social media channels and creating a brand-based online presence; learning how to operate organic and sponsored marketing tools and understanding the psychology behind 'going viral'.
The Big World: International Careers
An overview of the world's major markets and their entry options as well as understanding the fundamental differences between the local and international markets. We will also discuss how relevant the international markets are depending on language used, style and music genre.
Time, Team & Resource Management
Grants, awards, crowdfunding, Patreon, fundraising and a variety of options for ongoing or project specific funding. In this session we will also discuss how to create a work plan for special projects and how to properly manage personal time and your team in order to achieve the most effective outcome.
Tips, Ideas and Inspiration
Tips, examples, and practical ideas that will inspire and stimulate the mind to think outside the box. This session will host a Q&A panel of musicians and industry experts who thought differently and succeeded because of it.
Live Sessions & Showcase
Each participant will record a live session at Anova studios which will later be released as a single and a clip. The program will conclude in two nights of Synthesizer's participants shows in front of music industry representatives. Open for the public
Who are we looking for?
Independent musicians with recorded material (any quality) that have preformed in at least one ticket selling concert.
Musicians who value the importance of the tools being offered. These musicians understand the necessity of proper strategic management and are willing to learn as well as to implement topics covered in the program in order to achieve results.
Musicians who are willing to commit themselves to full and continuous participation in the program over a period of three months, and to meet the accelerator's demands in the framework of the tasks assigned.
An accelerator is “a fixed-term, cohort-based program, including mentorship and educational components, that culminates in a public pitch event or demo day.” The accelerator experience is a process of intense education aimed at accelerating the progress of initiatives by compressing years worth of learning-by-doing into just a few months.
Synthesizer is the first accelerator program of its kind for independent musicians. We empower musicians with commercial tools and produce industry savvy artists that know how to strategise for their own success. The methodology of the program is built around the start up accelerator model with adjustments made for success in the music industry.
For three months accepted participants meet in intensive weekly group sessions and learn how to push their music career forward independently. Through these workshops, lectures, mentor partnerships, as well as community support from other participants, musicians learn how to implement the key essentials of audience and career growth in the music business.
Knowledge
The interactive course content has been meticulously prepared by music industry experts who understand the steps needed for success and have seen how implementation of correct strategy leads to improved career results. The syllabus is consistently updated to reflect the most relevant information in the industry today.
Subsidised
We understand the extent of financial challenges that independent musicians face. Therefore we have decided to subsidise the program almost fully for our accepted participants.
The Vision
We know that there is a lot of value in implementing correct knowhow and strategy in any music career. The stage at which musicians need independent management skills most, also happens to be the stage at which they are investing more financially into their music creation than they are earning from it. This is the reason we choose to focus on and support musicians at this stage in their careers.
The Program
The program lasts three months and is made up of 12 weekly group sessions. These consist of lectures, professional consultations and workshops led by industry leaders in each topic field. In addition, participants will be matched to a personal mentor for support and guidance for the duration of the program.
Community
Synthesizer encourages collaboration between program participants and alumni as well as taking full advantage of the industry network that they are exposed to during the accelerator program. Additionally, the organisation operates to support the community of independent musicians by making opportunities and valuable information more accessible.
Team
C Sandler
Board Member
Halel Moran
Program Director
Itamar Bernstein
Content Director
Danny Raveh
Founder