ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers) recently held a series of events devoted to the Dance & Electronic Music community.

Whether your style is mixing jungle with acid jazz, hard house with techno or hip-hop breaks with techno beats, ASCAP offers an opportunity for writers, producers, artists, DJs and remixers to network, learn something of value about the craft of creating contemporary dance music, share their knowledge about this diverse culture and have fun doing it!

The inaugural event in The ASCAP Dance & Electronic Music Series was held in May of this year. "Music Business 101: The Business of Dance & Electronic Music" featured a panel of diverse industry experts discussing topics and answering questions about the collection of royalties, the role of the music publisher, the perspective of a manager and artist and the process of releasing product. The panelists included Garry Velletri, Senior Vice President, Bug Music; Gary Salzman, Big Management; Roger Sanchez, Artist, DJ, Producer, Re-Mixer and Label Owner; Richard Morel, Artist, Producer, Sound Mixer & Collaborator with Deep Dish and ASCAP’s Dance & Electronic Music guru Gary Ford. It was moderated by Debra Eriksen of Oracle Entertainment & Marketing, previously label manager for Subliminal Records.

"Following the huge success of the inaugural event, and in response to requests from the Dance and Electronic music community for a creative event, a second event "The Dance & Electronic Music Industry Review Workshop" was held recently," said ASCAP’s Gary Ford. "Dance music creators were asked to submit an original dance-floor-ready track which, if selected, would be reviewed and critiqued by a panel of Dance industry professionals. The response was overwhelming."

The event was hosted by journalist, DJ and manager Craig Roseberry and was packed full of writers, producers, artists, DJs and remixers who were eager to listen to and learn from the panel of experts. The panelists -- King Britt, artist/DJ from Philadelphia; New York DJ Mike Rizzo; Joi Cardwell, artist/diva extraordinaire; and Joe Berinato, Director of A&R/Promotions at King Street Sounds/Night Grooves -- and audience alike, were treated to a total of 15 awesome tracks. The tracks were amazing in their diversity of style, quality of recording and overall vibe.

"The ASCAP dance music panel was very exciting," said artist/DJ King Britt. "It’s interesting to hear all the different styles of dance music done by all the eager, new artists. It makes the music business exciting again and gives everyone an equal forum to display and critique each other’s sound. I wish I had this when I was starting out."

More events in The ASCAP Dance & Electronic Music Series are planned for the future but in the meantime, you can catch ASCAP’s Gary Ford participating on a panel during Billboard’s Dance Music Summit in New York City at the Marriott Marquis on September 30th - October 2nd. For more information, check out www.billboardevents.com

ASCAP has the largest and most experienced membership staff serving the creative community. The ASCAP Dance & Electronic Music Series continues ASCAP’s commitment to the nurturing and development of new talent in all genres of music. In addition to panels and workshops, ASCAP offers other programs including showcases and seminars, and provides support such as scholarships, commissions and cash awards to its writer and publisher members who qualify.

Established in 1914, ASCAP is the world’s largest performing right organization with over 140,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members. ASCAP’s repertory spans the entire spectrum of music – from pop to symphonic, rock to gospel, Latin to country, to jazz, rhythm and blues, theater, film and television music. ASCAP’s Board of Directors is made up solely of writers and publishers elected by the membership.