Meet Yamaha Master Educator Serona Elton
Serona Elton is a professor and director of the Music Industry Program at University of Miami Frost School of Music. She is also the Head of Educational Partnerships at The Mechanical Licensing Collective. A vivacious, captivating presenter, Elton becomes utterly energized when working with young collegiates who view themselves as tomorrow’s music business leaders. Elton is quickly whisked back to her own junior high school days when she had similar plans of becoming a successful recording artist. When she eventually realized that her talents might lay elsewhere, she also discovered that she could have just as profound a relationship with music without being a performer. In a bit of foreshadowing, a photo in her high school yearbook showed Elton holding a collection of records and stating her plans to work at a record company one day.
Elton’s pragmatic approach to teaching mirrors that of her own journey to her current professorship at the Frost School of Music. It was her intense desire to pursue a career in the music industry, however, that led her to eventually realize her dream when she landed a position at EMI Recorded Music, an internationally recognized record company.
Through her varied experiences as the Head of Educational Partnerships at The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), Vice President of Product Management at Warner Music Group, Vice President of Mechanical Licensing and Repertoire Data Services at EMI Recorded Music, as well as countless consultancies with stalwart companies like Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, Elton models her profound discovery that even though there is an enormous focus on the performer, there are countless essential roles required to support the commercialization of the music itself.
Through Elton’s presentations for educators and students alike, participants come to realize that the skills young musicians learn in the music education classroom prepare them for an array of successful career opportunities in the music industry where they can continue to enjoy a lifelong relationship with music.
A few of Serona Elton’s session titles are:
- Overview of Music Copyright
- Understanding Digital Music Rights and Revenue
- Understanding Information Management in the Music Industry
- Exploring the Music Modernization Act
- Mechanical Licensing and Royalties
To learn more about clinics by Serona Elton, please contact Jalissa Gascho at jgascho@yamaha.com.