SanFran MusicTech Summit: Podcast Interview With Brian Zisk

FMC co-founder and Technologies Director Brian Zisk is a fascinating guy to talk to, especially when he's gearing up for one of his SanFran MusicTech Summits, which bring together the best and brightest in the music/technology space along with musicians, media folks, industry representatives and others who contribute to the digital music ecosystem. With the next SFMTS set for Monday, May 18 at the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco, we figured a podcast interview with Brian was in order.

We asked Brian for a sneak preview of the event, which features panel discussions on "The Future of the Music Industry," "Monetization," "The Studio of the Future." Speakers include FMC’s Jean Cook and Kristin Thomson, Terry McBride of Nettwerk Music Group, Tim Westergren of Pandora, Zahavah Levine of YouTube, Dean Hudson of Sub Pop Records, and FMC advisory board members Josh Wattles of deviantART and Jim Griffin of Choruss/Onehouse/Pho. (To name just a few.)

Once you get chatting with Brian the conversation can end up anywhere, but it's pretty much guaranteed to be interesting. Actually, we can't think of any other podcast interview we've done where both Hannah Montana and Frank Zappa were mentioned. So there you go.

Check out the interview here.

The clock's ticking to reserve your spot at SanFran Music Tech Summit (May 18 is, like, next week), so you should act now. You know Brian will be psyched to see you!

SanFran MusicTech Summit 2!

Attention, West Coasters (or those of you with lots of frequent flyer miles):

FMC co-founder, serial entrepreneur and music/technology expert Brian Zisk is about to pull back the curtain on the second SanFran MusicTech Summit, which takes place on May 8 at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco.

The first event took place last February, and brought together the sharpest minds in the music and technology world(s) to discuss where all this stuff might be heading. The May 8 Summit promises further opportunities for musicians, entrepreneurs and technologists to interact and explore new possibilities and solutions. Click here for the full list of speakers, which includes representatives from SeeqPod, SomaFM, RockYou! CDBaby, Songza, Project Opus, Geek Entertainment TV, the Consumer Electronics Association, Rhapsody and more. But as Brian says, the guests are almost as impressive as the panelists.

For more information (and to purchase tickets), visit SanFranMusicTech.com. Check out video from the previous SFMT here.

And be sure to check out our chat with Brian Zisk — part of FMC's ongoing Podcast Interview Series.

FMC's Brian Zisk on DRM

Here's a video interview with FMC co-founder, serial entrepreneur and SanFran MusicTech mastermind Brian Zisk, courtesy VatorTV. You might have thought that DRM (or Digital Rights Management, which restricts the transfer of a digital file across multiple devices) was dead, but Zisk says the big labels haven't completely given up on the concept.

Zisk believes that music should not be bound to proprietary technologies and says that the market, and not the industry, will ultimately decide the fate of DRM. So far, it seems like consumers want DRM-free music. Some artists, on the other hand, have concerns about a lack of copy protection. No matter what side you fall on, this is an interesting interview:

FMC's Podcast Interview Series: Brian Zisk

"I think that fans like supporting musicians, and if you can find ways to more directly connect them, you'll find a way that works." — Brian Zisk on new technologies in music.

Welcome to the second installment of our ongoing Online Interview Series, in which we chat with experts in music, technology, policy and law. This episode features FMC founding board member, Technologies Director and "serial entrepreneur" Brian Zisk, whose SanFran MusicTech Summit takes place at the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco on Monday, February 25.

Brian spoke with us about his reasons for putting together the conference, and waxed philosophical about the tricky issues at the intersection of music, technology, law and policy. Listen to a full MP3 of the conversation here.