Kent Anderson’s passion for music began in elementary school, where he developed a love for the piano, trumpet, and eventually the bass. This early enthusiasm led to a lifelong career in the music industry as a musician, producer, published author, consultant, and educator. He is the author of It’s All About The Music Marketing Stupid (Second Edition) and serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches courses in the Business of Music, Entertainment Marketing, and Music Business: Decision Making.
Some careers follow a straight line. Kent Anderson’s has followed the music — and that has made all the difference. From the moment he sat down at a piano in elementary school, then picked up a trumpet, then found his true voice on the bass, Anderson has been a musician first. Every executive role, every label, every boardroom decision that followed was shaped by that foundation: an ear trained before a business degree, instincts built in rehearsal rooms before they were refined in corner offices.
That journey took him from managing record stores for Trans World Music — the nation’s largest music retailer — to the offices of GRP Records, where he became Midwest Regional Sales Manager before moving to New York to oversee national sales and marketing. Working alongside the legendary producer Tommy LiPuma, Anderson helped build GRP into the world’s number-one jazz label for five consecutive years, a run that generated more than 30 Grammy nominations and over $25 million in annual domestic sales.
What came next would prove to be one of the most consequential chapters in the history of recorded music — and Anderson had a front-row seat. As Vice President at N2K, Inc., working under the mentorship of Phil Ramone, he was part of the team that produced the first-ever digital music download, a collaboration with David Bowie that most people in the industry at the time did not yet believe was possible. N2K also launched one of the earliest e-commerce platforms for music, developed an early online music player, and released one of the first 5.1 surround sound DVDs. Anderson did not simply witness the birth of digital music. He helped deliver it.
At Virgin Records, he led all sales and marketing for Virgin Associated Labels — including Narada, Real World, Luaka Bop, and Higher Octave — and collaborated on four consecutive number-one Billboard Jazz & Blues chart compilation albums. As President and Executive Producer of A440 Music Group, he guided the label to a Grammy nomination and win for Best 5.1 Surround Sound Mix, earning critical acclaim from the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times along the way. Throughout, he has managed and produced recordings for a roster of artists, including Dario Cohen, Josh Spinner, Rob Mathes, Jackie Allen, Alice Peacock, Henry Johnson, and Steve Cole.
Today, Anderson channels that lifetime of experience into two complementary roles. As founder of C Sharp Consulting LLC, he and his partner work with artists and festivals at the intersection of music, marketing, and strategy —now with the perspective that only comes from having lived through every seismic shift in the industry firsthand. And as an Adjunct Professor of Instruction at Columbia College Chicago, he instructs how to think clearly about music, business, marketing, branding and the decisions that define a career. His courses in the Business of Music, Entertainment Marketing, Digital Media Strategies, and Music Business Decision-Making are informed not just by theory, but through first-hand experiences. He is the co-author of It’s All About the Music Marketing Stupid (Second Edition), a practitioner’s guide to music marketing that reflects the same no-nonsense clarity he brings to the classroom. A member of The Recording Academy, an Eagle Scout, and a professional bassist for over a decade — performing on upright and electric bass with jazz ensembles, big bands, pit orchestras, and rock and R&B groups — Anderson remains, at his core, a musician and fronts a contemporary jazz group – The Kent Anderson Collective. In the end, that’s what makes everything else he does worth listening to.
Jerry Brindisi’s passion for the music industry evolved from his great love of popular music. His interest and experience has progressed from a desire to perform, write songs, record, and ultimately create music product. Mr. Brindisi is an Associate Professor and Interim Director of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Columbia College Chicago. He is the Coordinator for the Music Business BA Program and oversees all music business courses and initiatives offered by the School including international collaborations and study away programming.
He enjoys serving as a faculty advisor and mentor to music business students, and is involved in department and program administration, curriculum development, coordinating interdisciplinary ventures — including AEMMP Practicum courses (student-run record label, artist management, music publishing) — and teaching music business.
Brindisi has an extensive background working in the music industry. He has been employed by Sony Music Entertainment Inc. as a Sales and Marketing Research Analyst in their Global Digital Business Group. He has also worked with the executive offices and the A&R departments of Warner Music Group’s Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. As the studio manager for Ander’s Music, he has had the opportunity to work closely with top industry leaders, attorneys, artists, managers, producers, and songwriters. Additionally, Mr. Brindisi has advised and counseled music artists and industry leadership on various industry issues including career advancement, publishing, marketing, promotion, and artist branding. His experience and research interests include record label operations, music publishing administration, marketing, audio production, and artist development. He previously served as full-time faculty and program supervisor for the music business program at the State University of New York, Fredonia, where he taught courses such as Music Contracts, Music Copyright and Publishing, Music Marketing and Promotion, and The Business of Music.
Brindisi earned a Master’s degree in Music Business from New York University, where he was honored for outstanding scholarship, leadership and service in the Graduate Music Business Program of the Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions. While attending NYU, he served as the assistant to the program director of Music Business. Mr. Brindisi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from SUNY at Buffalo with concentrations in public relations and advertising. He is a member of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), the Association of Arts Administration Educators, and is a recipient of the State University of New York Service to Students Award.
Clinical Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Business at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he oversees the Bachelor of Arts in Music Business program. Also Head of Research & Development at Song Sleuth, overseeing analytic tools for automatic recognition of user-generated music content on behalf of major labels, publishers, and rights societies. Holds a B.S. in Sound Recording Technology from DePaul University and an M.S. in Management Information Systems from UIC.
Arriving in Milwaukee via Chicago in 2002 following 19 years in the record business, Gary Witt is the CEO of the Pabst Theater Group, a multi-faceted entertainment organization whose activities include the booking, marketing, and hosting of over 800 live events per year in and around Milwaukee, in iconic, creative places of public assembly that help build community and reinforce identity and heritage for the city.
President and founder of Miles High Productions, an online music marketing and promotion company founded in 2002. Chip has consulted and executed numerous online marketing campaigns for several platinum-selling artists, and is a frequent guest lecturer at universities including Boston University, Berklee College of Music, Temple University, Columbia College Chicago, and NYU.
Will soon receive her B.A. in Music Business from Germany’s Popakademie. Previously spent two successful semesters studying abroad at Columbia College Chicago, and currently holds an internship with Sony Music Entertainment Germany. Additionally provides artist management support for C Sharp Consulting, LLC.
