NFL Business of Music Boot Camp

SS Tyvon Branch and 19 other current and former NFL players will get a crash course on how to break into the music industry at the second annual* Business of Music Boot Camp* at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in New York.

The program, which runs from March 18-21, 2013, is a collaboration between NFL Player Engagement and the Clive Davis Institute in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

The four-day boot camp features interactive workshops focusing on all aspects of the music industry including production, artist development and management, digital music, publishing, marketing and touring. Participants will gain a better understanding of establishing a career in the music industry and how to develop business plans from their creative ideas.

Following are the current and former NFL players enrolled in the NFL Business of Music Boot Camp:

"We are excited to again offer our players a program with NYU's Clive Davis Institute, which counts some of the biggest names in the music industry as faculty," said NFL Senior Vice President of Player Engagement Troy Vincent.

"Succeeding in the recorded music industry requires many of the same attributes found in successful athletes – focus, commitment and passion – so the participants in the Boot Camp are starting out ahead," said Jeff Rabhan, Chair of the Clive Davis Institute at NYU.  "What we provide the players with is expert coaching in a new field, and they leave with a much tighter grasp of how the industry works and how best they can compete in it."

NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, named after its chief patron and advisor, is the first of its kind to develop a program that focuses on providing professional training for students who aspire to succeed as creative entrepreneurs in the music industry.  For more information about the Clive Davis Institute, visit http://clivedavisinst.tisch.nyu.edu.

Player enrollment criteria include previous participation in NFL Player Engagement programs, prior music experience, essays, and NFL playing experience.

With the longer offseason, NFL Player Engagement now offers current and former players 10 training programs for post-NFL careers.

Faculty members at the Business of Music Boot Camp include:

Tom Calderone, president of VH1, home to such programs as "Behind The Music," "VH1 Storytellers," "T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle" and "Best Super Bowl Concert Ever."  He also oversees VH1 Classic and the high-def music concert channel Palladia and serves as chairman of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

Jonathan Daniel, a founder and partner at Crush Management, an artist management company that represents acts including Gym Class Heroes, Panic! At the Disco, Train, and Cobra Starship. 

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, a music icon, innovator and philanthropist. His band Run-DMC sold 30 million records and was the first rap group to grace the cover of Rolling Stone and the first to appear on MTV.

Michael "Blue" Williams, the CEO of Family Tree Entertainment, which recently merged with Primary Wave Music to create Family Tree Primary Wave. His client roster includes Cee Lo Green, Cody Simpson, and Eric Benet, and previous clients include OutKast, Monica and Big Sean. 

Michael Solomon, co-founder of Musicians on Call--a non-profit organization that brings music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities--as well as the co-founder of Brick Wall Management, whose past and present roster includes artists John Mayer, Citizen Cope, and William Fitzsimmons.