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RID/DAP NEWS |
November, 2002 "IN
THE BEGINNING..." ISSUE |
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THIRTY MILLION SELLERS™
MENTORING & TRAINING |
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BY BOB DENNIS
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FORWARD FROM THE FOUNDER
For decades I've let many of my students in on a little secret about my
educational intentions. When I stand up for the first time in front of a
new class, I usually give them a statement about myself, as follows:
"As your instructor, my goal is for you to get BETTER than me at what
I'm teaching you. I figure it like this: If you know everything I know
and can do everything I can do and you know (or can do) one more thing
than I can, then you are better than me" - bob dennis
I go on to explain that I am willing to explain to any student ANYTHING
I know about the subject that I am teaching if at all possible - I hold
no "trade secrets" that I am unwilling to share. I also warn students
that that if they expect to get better than me, they will have to study
and practice hard, because I know a lot and I can do a lot. I go on to
say that if they get better than me, they'll get to do all of the work,
making it easier for me to continue in this field that I so dearly love
- the production and recording of music. I've never expected anyone to
"take my word" on this, but to simply associate with me for a while (as
a student) and see for themselves what I am talking about.
I got assigned to my first recording position at the world-famous Motown
Records studio two business days after my eighteenth birthday and I
began an extremely satisfying "playpen" career where I got to listen to
the best music of Detroit (at that time) on a daily basis. I was part of
the "team" that made it happen! Wow! Now
I really enjoy helping others
achieve a career in music production that comes anywhere close to this.
THE THIRTY-MILLION SELLER PRODUCTION TRAINING TEAM
Recording Institute of Detroit was based on this same educational
philosophy as I just stated and I've always endeavored to get the entire
RID Team to apply this philosophy to any training service that we have
offered. After years of preparation, we now will be offering
formalized training in music production, promotion, marketing and
business via campus and web training under the title of "Music
Production Specialist Training." starting on New Year's Day 2003.
Guiding the training in the area of recording and production will be
yours truly. The "30 Million Seller" name comes from my decades old
personal trademark of "30 Million Sellers Can't Be Wong" - emphasizing
the fact that I have recording credits on over 30 releases that went
"gold" or "platinum." The actual number is about 36, but I started to
loose count after 30.
Joining me and spearheading the training in the areas of national
production and songwriting is the Grammy winning Ron Dunbar who has
acted as "Right Hand Man" for the hall-of-fame production and
songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland and for Funkmaster George
"P-Funk" Clinton. Besides the gold records he earned in Detroit music
releases, he has first-hand knowledge on how these icons in the music
industry staked out their claim to fame.
The final team member, directing the training in music marketing &
promotions is the nationally respected Tom Gelardi who is responsible
for breaking out three superstar acts from the Detroit music scene. He
has twice received the coveted Billboard Promotions Person Of The Year
award for his work with the Michigan acts of "Grand Funk Railroad" and
"Heart." Still extremely active in music marketing today, Tom's
expertise is in bringing home local hits and converting them to regional
and national hits.
I know that this developing artist productions team will continue the
basic RID educational philosophy that I have talked about in my forward.
THE WEB TRAINING OFFERINGS
Our online course will be initially presented at the rate one set of
lessons every three weeks over a 27 week period (approximately 6
months). The student can expect reading assignments, quizzes/exams and
online "active" assignments in the areas of product evaluation and the
planning of product promotion and marketing. We look for the student to
gain understanding in:
1. Getting the production underway and progressing.
2. Properly evaluating the production's potential.
3. Planning the actions necessary to realize the potential.
It all sounds quite easy, doesn't it? Trust me - it's not. Of the three
points, the second one is by far the hardest. In addition, the subject
is neither an exact science, nor does it have a static set of rules.
In
other words, "There's more than one way to skin a donkey" (sic) and you
are operating under a fluctuating set of parameters called the music
industry. Nevertheless, certain basics remain relatively constant. After
all, if everything stayed the same, creativity would be severely
stultified, making music production very boring.
The initial course fees will be a very friendly $199.00 - a ridiculously
modest fee for tapping into the production and marketing brain trust
that we have assembled, for a full sixth month period. We expect a ton of
questions and you can expect to receive a ton of professional answers
during the course. In addition to the knowledge you will attain, if you
pass the course you will get credit that can be applied towards the
licensed RID campus music producer program requirements and an RID
Theory Certificate stating that.
SO LET'S GET STARTED
There are only two ways that you can participate in the 30 Million
Seller Mentoring and the Music Production
Specialist online course. The first way is to enter the Developing
Artist Productions "12 Winners Contest" at www.produceahit.com. The
second way is to purchase the online course.
12 WINNERS CONTEST
Up to twelve lucky winners from the contest will receive the course and
mentoring. Application forms, complete
instructions and rules are accessible at the "12 Winners" link at
www.produceahit.com. To date we have
chosen four winners from our September and October contest applicants.
A word of caution, however. To win, the applicant must complete all
three steps that are given in the application instructions. So far only
10% of the people starting the application have completed all three
steps. Read and follow all of the instructions to become eligible to
win. The Contest closes December 24th.
Persons having started the application in September or October (2002)
are not allowed to complete the application or reenter the contest. If,
however, another band member (with a different e-mail address) wishes to
apply, this is allowed. If you entered the contest on or after November
1st, there is still time to complete the required steps to enter.
If you are not a winner, you will still receive one or more consolation
prizes. One consolation prize is becoming a dap member - part of an
exclusive club that gets limited-time study of some of the important
mentoring communication that we have with the course students and
contest winners. In addition, there's another prize... Did you want to
know what? Enter the contest and find out.
PURCHASING THE ONLINE COURSE
You can only register and purchase the online course between November
29th and December 24th of this year. If you're interested in this, check
out the
www.produceahit.com
site after Thanksgiving to use our online
registration forms. If you want a courtesy e-mail to remind you, fill
out the
interest form and we will get a reminder e-mail to you between
November 29th and December
5th.
RULES, RULES, RULES
If you think there are a few rules that you have to follow to join us,
you are correct. We don't mean to cause
you any hassle. We are, however, trying
to keep this as exclusive as possible for right now and only
accept very serious students.
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