Education
One-to-one Conferencing
Third Way Alliance Executive Board members will be available to artists for one-to-one conferencing sessions on topics such as Fostering a Growth Mindset, Developing a Portfolio Career, Presentation Skills, Intellectual Property and Contracts, Contemporary Music Industry Issues, or other topics specific to individual artist needs or inquiries.
Seminar Series & Workshops
A series of single session seminars into topics of importance to musicians at all phases of their careers. Third Way Alliance Seminars will draw on the expertise of the Executive Board Members, the Advisory Board, and outside experts with prominent music industry experiences. Planned topics include, Understanding the Music Industry, Career Planning and Development, Entrepreneurship, Controlling Your Work, Effective Communications, Marketing and Branding, Fiscal Management, Professional Networking, Connecting With Essential Support Services, Balancing Art and Commerce, Well Being, Building Community, and Technology Matters, among others.
Our education program will stand out for its real time workshop methods. Participants will bring their materials for experts to review and revise for effective presentation to the industry. They will be able to directly submit their music to Digital Serivce Providers, working through the entire process in a guided environment.
Topics of discussion in these guided events will include business subjects - asset gathering and maintenance, marketing, publishing, synch licensing tools, publicity, brand building, fan connection, and more.
Gatherings
Third Way will offer regularly scheduled gatherings, in-person and online, to encourage networking and to help artists connect with others outside the Alliance (e.g., media personnel, managers, booking agents, and other essential support services). Additionally, Third Way Alliance will plan an annual event bringing together musicians, music industry experts, and others committed to helping musicians create, document, distribute, and preserve their creative legacies. Topics of discussion in these guided events will include health and wellness, the philosophy of art, community interaction, social justice, and more.
Curation
Strategies & Tactics
Our goal is to curate and develop culturally significant music projects from artists with uniquely strong profiles stemming from robust narratives, notable cultural identities, and/or distinctive histories or passionate social awareness and activism. In most cases, we aim to create contemporary music albums from multiple countries, funded by their export agencies or significant cultures within a given country. Artists from our extended community would be paired with local artists to co-produce albums. These would be presented to the world on the Ropeadope platform, amplifying the artists and the country.The logical result of such a strategy is to maximize and enrich the artist’s freedom by removing some of the costs that are endemic to the commercial market. These may include the following: recording, mixing, and mastering; band and guest artist fees, photography and videography, design and packaging, and publicity.
Selection Criteria
While the selection criteria for artists and projects is admittedly somewhat subjective and not bound to a hard set of criteria, we will heavily weigh aspects that go beyond the quality of the music. Importantly, the story behind the music is primary as we will seek those with historically rich and significant culture. As an example, Mbuso Khoza has dedicated his efforts to presenting Zulu indigenous music to world audiences. Another example is Lowcountry, a project that merges the story and music of the Gullah with contemporary Jazz. Other important considerations are the artist’s ability to extend the cultural reach of the project beyond just the typical commercial channels. This may involve those active in education or engaged in a series of online presentations in lecture, musical, or multi-media formats. These projects must also have a link to today’s culture(s) and not simply be a rehash or reimagining of a previous composer’s work. We strive to document the art of today.As mentioned, we will look beyond musical ability alone, as originality and emotion may have as much weight. The artist should also be prepared to discuss their use of a proposed budget and agree to work realistically with our guidance in a manner that is consistent with the potential reach and relevance of the project.
The Process
Artists can submit projects directly for consideration. The board will allocate budget based on the criteria described above. Donors, government agencies, and not for profit organizations can submit projects for consideration, earmarking a donation to TWCA that matches or exceeds the budget. The nature of each application is of paramount importance.. While artists may gain commercial success with the help of a TWCA program, this is not our goal. Our mission is to curate and develop culturally relevant projects.