Navigating today’s complex and rapidly changing music industry is a daunting task. Mythologies abound on the key steps you need to launch and sustain a music career, but what does it really take to carve out a path that fulfills personal goals and makes the world a better place? Curated and hosted by Matthew Dear, in collaboration with the University of Michigan EXCEL Lab, this virtual seminar investigates those questions through the lens of five leaders who have paved unique, transformative pathways to success.

Over the course of Fall 2021, Matthew Dear interviewed five luminaries who have carved out unique, highly-impactful, and innovative careers that intersect music, entrepreneurship, social impact, and creative storytelling. These interviews propel through the personal stories of each guest to illuminate the complexity of finding one’s path to self-actualization, while framing the circuitous paths that are central to nearly every successful professional arts journey today.

Yousef Ali, Founder and CEO of Blast Radio, has been a serial entrepreneur at the intersection of technology and entertainment for the last 15 years- having founded a digital strategy consultancy that serviced clients including Black Entertainment Television, Viacom, F.A.M.E. among many others. His first startup, Fanclub, re-envisioned celebrity/fan interaction through data science, allowing top celebrities (including Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Jeezy, and more) to surgically identify and engage super fans. Yousef’s current venture, Blast Radio, creates an artist-fueled, ephemeral, global radio platform, powered by a constellation of proprietary Blast Box devices that condenses a radio studio into a one button, portable device.

more information and registration at https://myumi.ch/AwZre