• How to approach songwriting as a business
• How to increase the marketability of songs
• How to get songs played on satellite radio and cable outlets
• How to get songs placed in film and television
• How to make the most of membership in performance rights organizations
• How to work with licensing agents
• How to get an established artist to cover songs
• How to shop songs to publishers
• How to capitalize on songwriting contests
• And much more.  

Larry Batiste is as a producer, publisher, vocalist, songwriter, instrumentalist, arranger and educator. Now a Trustee, he is also former San Francisco Chapter President of The Recording Academy. He is currently the musical director for the Grammy Awards Pre-Telecast and the TEC Awards. Larry has written and published over 250 songs for artists such as Al Jarreau, Patti Austin, Shanice, Lisa Fischer, the Yellowjackets, the Dramatics, Lenny Williams, Young Jeezy and Keysha Cole. His songs have appeared in over 25 television shows and films. He’s worked with Stevie Wonder, Ledisi, Steve Miller, Chaka Khan, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai. Larry volunteers as a youth mentor and is a music rights advocate.

 Larry Batiste has had a career in the entertainment industry that has spanned over 30 years, and has worked with some of the most successful new, and legendary artists of all time. Whether in music production, songwriting, recording sessions, performance, education, or musical directing, his talent for understanding and working in all genres of music makes him an asset to almost any musical situation. Batiste’s songs have appeared in numerous films and TV shoes. His vocal credits include Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, The Magical World of Disney, Sims (Playstation), Stuart Little, Snow Dogs and Rent (the movie). He has written, performed and recorded on projects which include Young Jeezy, Ledisi, Keysha Cole, Stevie Wonder, Steve Miller, Dweezil Zappa, Chaka Khan, Lenny Williams, Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Charlie Pride, Joe Satriani, Pinetop Perkins, Koko Taylor, Chuck Levell (Rolling Stones), Bob Weir, Khia and Neil Young.

Larry enjoys mentoring youth, music education and spending time with his family.

Ritch started out as a promotion coordinator for A&M Records in Los Angeles. He went on to become director of West Coast A&R for Arista Records where he signed The Thompson Twins to their U.S. Deal as well as Mara Getz. He worked extensively with the publishing and songwriting communities for material for Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Melissa Manchester, Tanya Tucker, Jennifer Warnes and Jermaine Jackson. He also coordinated music for the “Ghostbusters” and “Perfect” soundtracks. From 1988-1991, Ritch worked on various independent projects. He produced the award-winning educational video for artists and musicians, “How to Get a Record Deal.” “At the time, it was the only video of its kind examining the frequently misunderstood process from five different perspectives: record company executives, A&R VPs, artist managers, record producers and 16 major artists including Los Lobos, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins, Jody Watley, Karla Bonoff, Michael Bolton, Fleetwood Mac, Chick Corea and Kenny Loggins,” says Ritch. Producers Phil Ramone and Jeff Baxter are also interviewed in the video. Ritch has organized the events and activities of The Independent Music Conference in Los Angeles sponsored by BMI. The three-day symposium addressed problems facing recording artists, including publishing, management, touring, obtaining record deals and explored alternative ways to bring music to the public. He has written articles for Music Connection, New England Performer and Musician. Ritch is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer at conferences such as Canadian Music Week and the New Orleans Business Symposium. He was chief instructor at the Trebas Institute of Recording Arts in Los Angeles, and has taught at UCLA Extension, USC and SAE Institute including his popular course “A&R The Heartbeat of the Record Company,” which focused on the artist signing policies of major and independent record labels.

Today, Ritch Esra publishes the Music Business Registry with partner Stephen Trumbull (since 1992). This acclaimed resource includes The A&R Registry, The Publisher Registry, The Music Business Attorney Registry, The Record Producer Directory and The Film and Television Music Guide.

Subscribers include record company executives, music publishers, managers, agents, attorneys, studios and other various music business professionals in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, London, Dublin, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Stockholm, Sydney and Munich.

Gian Fiero is an educator, speaker and consultant with a focus on business development and music/entertainment industry operations. He teaches at San Francisco State University where he is an adjunct professor of music industry studies. Gian is also Associate Director of San Francisco Chapter of NARIP.

Mrs. Nelson-Beverly’s law practice concentrates on Entertainment Law. Her client roster includes independent, gold and platinum artists, producers, songwriters, as well as record labels, production companies, management companies and entertainment consultants. Mrs. Nelson-Beverly is a frequent speaker and lecturer on entertainment law, entertainment business related topics and motivational speaking. She has been featured in numerous articles highlighting her practice.

Mrs. Nelson-Beverly is on the Board of Governors for the Chicago Chapter of the Recording Academy (Grammys), General Counsel for the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment (NABFEME), Advisory Board Member of the Chicago Music Commission and a member of several entertainment related organizations.

 Jeff Straw received his Bachelor’s of Music from University of Miami’s Music Engineering program in 1996. While forging a career path for himself as a professional in the music industry he has worked as a DJ, saxophonist, retail music buyer, producer, remixer and licensing director.

His current position as Director of Music Licensing at the digital powerhouse INgrooves allows him to stay on top of trends in music. It also gives him access to tens of thousands of songs from some of today’s most exciting artists and labels. He acts a music supervisor for interactive games, pitches music for film & tv, cd compilations and internet projects. He handles the creative side of the business as well as the negotiating and contractual sides. He is responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenue each year. He also acts a project manager for special projects like the AOL Music DJ Sessions mixed by Thievery Corporation and the Kinkysweet Digital Collections. During his tenure there, Jeff has placed music onto video games by EA, THQ, Namco, Capcom and Blackbean; TV shows such as CSI, Cane and Nip/Tuck; and with mobile manufacturers such as Nokia, Palm and Samsung.

Jeff is one of the founding members of Test Press San Francisco. Test Press is the grass roots organization dedicated to culminating local SF talent and giving new producers a chance to get their music heard and critiqued by a panel of industry experts. He is a voting member of NARAS and serves on San Francisco’s electronic music committee. An ASCAP writer, Jeff spoke about music licensing at 2007’s Summer Music Conference in San Francisco and lectures on the music business at Pyramind.

As an artist, DJ F’s two most recent singles “LA Getaway” & “Listen to the Fog” are available worldwide digitally featuring remixes from Chris Lum, Mike Lange, Smoke Keepers and more. As a remixer he is creative and musical no matter what the genre. DJ F has recently released downtempo remixes for Hawke aka Gavin Hardkiss, Romanowski and Sutro; breakbeat remixes for Girls on Film and Artemis; and house remixes for Ethan Klein and the Etch Brothers both co-produced with Rick Preston. His most high profile remix yet for Tila Tequila will be released this year. To represent his hometown in 2004 DJ F released the compilation Destination Lounge San Francisco, the first release for the label Revive the Soul. The critically acclaimed two disc set was compiled and mixed by DJ F, and includes two of his own productions as well. The second volume of the series DLSF2 was released in 2007. In 2003 DJ F dropped his debut production full length CD – Only One on his own label Breakshop Studios. As a saxophone player he has had the pleasure of playing and recording with SF’s finest house djs including Rick Preston, Julius Papp, M3, Garth, Jeno, and J-Boogie. He has recorded for labels such as OM Records, Revive the Soul, Ideal Muzik, Sweet Groove, Housetown, and RTFM. For more information on him check out www.BreakshopStudios.com. Jeff was the retail buyer for dance music, vinyl and hip hop for San Francisco’s Virgin Megastore from 2002-2005. There he turned the stores modest vinyl business into a dance music force in San Francisco. In the face of a declining retail market his enthusiasm and dance music knowledge kept the department thriving during his tenure. He also hosted (and DJ-ed) several exciting in-store and cross promotional events with superstar artists such as Deep Dish, Crystal Method, Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto and Mark Farina to name a few.