Ohio University’s sixth annual Music Industry Summit was its largest offering to date with attendance more than doubling compared to last year. More than 2,500 OHIO students, Bobcat alumni, industry professionals, high schoolers, and music lovers of all ages congregated for the opportunity to learn, engage with music industry leaders, and enjoy a series of networking and performance events. Hundreds more attended conference programming virtually.
The Music Industry Summit (MIS) recently took place on April 9-10, 2024, with both in-person and virtual attendance options. The conference featured an exclusive gathering of prominent artists and music industry leaders on Ohio University’s Athens campus including Grammy Award-winning guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jason Isbell and acclaimed hip-hop artist Earl Sweatshirt who both participated in keynote conversations. Isbell closed the Summit with a sold-out solo concert at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Acclaimed artists Bully and Craig Finn hosted an exclusive opening show on April 8, at Stuart’s Opera House.
Attendees were given a holistic dive into the music industry with in-depth interviews and panel discussions on topics like navigating the music industry, publicity in the music industry ecosystem and ever-changing media landscape, music distribution and discovery, songwriting and production, music placement and artist discovery in gaming, data and analytics in music, the process of music placement and sourcing for feature films and television shows and more.
Conversations featured an impressive roster of esteemed industry professionals. Discussions and keynote presentations also incorporated an interactive audience “Q&A” where in-person and virtual attendees could ask speakers questions via the OHIO MIS app. Beyond the core programming that took place at Baker University Center, this year’s Summit also included an expanded selection of community networking events including an opening night party at Stuart’s Opera House, a networking happy hour and jam session at StewMac, and an afterparty concert at The Union hosted by OHIO student hip-hop collective Midnight Music.
“Our team worked hard to build on the strengths of the previous Summit to improve programming and offer expanded opportunities for attendees,” said Josh Antonuccio, director of the Music Industry Summit and Ohio University’s School of Media Arts and Studies. “Many of our registrants are now aspiring professionals and artists coming in from a six-state radius and beyond.”
Drew Holzaepfel, executive director of OHIO Performing Arts and Concert Series, agreed and reflected on how the addition of major keynote artists like Jason Isbell expanded the profile of this year’s event.
“The inclusion of Jason Isbell in this year’s summit raised the level of both the Ohio University Concert Series and the Music Industry Summit,” he shared. “It was truly a special opportunity to experience his creativity through both his words and music.”
Attendees and community members were clearly impressed with the amount, and variety, of artists and professionals who visited Athens to participate in the Summit. Bobcat alumnus and Columbus-based Music Promoter Brian Ostrander has attended the MIS for five years and has seen the event grow each time.
“I feel like Josh [Antonuccio] has done a great job with the program and with the whole event, bringing in really great guests, moderators, speakers, mentors, performers and everything,” Ostrander said. “It’s been cool to see this thing progress over the several years I’ve been coming to it.”