The First International Music Industry Forum is being held at Communication University of China in Beijing this week. There are professors from seven foreign universities around the world who have been invited to give presentations about the music industries in their countries. On November, fourth and fifth, lectures were delivered by four of the guest professors, helping the students gain a more comprehensive understanding of the international music industryProfessor Darren Walters from Drexel University, Professor Benjamin O’Hara from Australian Box Hill Institute; Professor David Herlihy and Professor Robert Steven Lyons from Northeastenr University presented lectures on a variety of music industry topics. From learning about the music industries in other countries, the students have been made aware that the Chinese music industry is facing both challenges and opportunities.Professor Darren Walters first to lecture on the morning on 4th November. He spoke about his own experiences in establishing an independent record label as a Punk fan when he was a teen, which inspired his later contribution to Drexel University students in the Music Industry Program. He leads the Mad Dragon Music Group, set up to provide practical experience for students who want future careers in the music industry. The Group has won numerous awards and honors. This creative approach to teaching students has inspired Professor Fengyan Zhang from Communication University of China to think about the possibility of applying this kind of learning experience in their own education system.

The second lecture was delivered by Professor Benjamin O’Hara on the night of November fourth. He briefly introduced himself and his work, including the academic books he has written. His professional background is in diverse fields, such as artist management, live entertainment, copyright law, and music publishing. His lecture was divided into two parts: 1) an overview of the Australian record industry; 2) current sale figures, statistics, graphs of the industry. The lecture concluded with professors from Communication University of China asking many questions and discussing the differences between the Australian music industry and U.S music industry, to which Professor O’Hara shared his opinions.

The third lecture delivered by Professor Robert Steven Lyons was held in the morning of November fifth. Professor Lyons presented a business model on content creativity of music streaming services. He intensively studied streaming data and used these statistics to create a new model for profits, using streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora as examples to illustrate a positive look for the music industry. In addition, Professor Lyons added some suggestions on studying abroad and introduced the music industry program at Northeastern University.

The final lecture was delivered by Professor Herlihy on November fifth. Professor Herlihy is an entertainment attorney as well as a professor of copyright law. The core of the lecture was US copyright law, especially for music copyrights, which he defined as the copyright of sound recording and music compositions. Professor Herlihy presented basic information about US copyright law, and then described a bundle of exclusive rights, copyright licenses for music compositions, and public performance rights especially for sound recordings. This lecture brought a spirited discussion concerning the differences between copyright law in the US and China.

These four lectures were the beginning of the First International Music Industry Forum. Because of the efforts made by many faculty and students, the lectures came to a good ending and the prediction of a fantastic beginning for the Forum. Thanks to professor Fengyan Zhang invite them coming here and giving translation and interpretation during the lectures and thanks Professor Xuena Tong come to coordinate students.