Curt Smith, co-founder of the multi-platinum British music group Tears For Fears,, with which he continues to tour worldwide, as well as an acclaimed solo musician.

talks to us after his speech at the 2012 Gravity Summit UCLA where he spoke mainly about how music recording, production, distribution, sales, marketing and building fan base community more has changed drastically in the last 20 years.

[SCROLL DOWN TO SEE CURT’S GRAVITY SUMMIT PRESENTATION]
[youtube=http://youtu.be/mzbo-dsOgSM]
Curt also went into some detail about how he builds community in order to build sales using social media in very creative ways.

Curt has recently started projects using social media to gather musicians directly without having to go through studio management and by finding them through the unique ability of many artists to share their wares using services like Sound Cloud and others

Curt’s talk was brilliant and his music is prominant in my music collection. It was great to get to meet Curt and even a greater experience to be able spend some time with him at this wonderful summit. So thank you to Beverly Macy for putting on this event and to Curt for graciously giving his time. – JW

Tears For Fears

From Wikopedia / Facebook

Tears for Fears are an English pop/rock band formed in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.

Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into mainstream rock and pop, which led to international chart success.

Their platinum-selling debut album, The Hurting, reached number one on the UK Album Chart, while their second album, Songs from the Big Chair, reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, achieving multi-platinum status in both the UK and the United States. Following the release of their third platinum-selling album, The Seeds of Love (1989), Smith and Orzabal parted company in 1991, though Orzabal retained the Tears for Fears name throughout the remainder of the 1990s. The duo re-formed in 2000, and released an album of new material, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, in 2004. To date, Tears for Fears have sold over 25 million albums worldwide, including more than 8 million in the U.S.

Curt Smith

Curt Smith is co-founder of the multi-platinum British music group Tears For Fears, with which he continues to tour worldwide, as well as an acclaimed solo musician. He recently re-released his long out-of-print album Mayfield, adding a bonus version of “Trees” (feat. Janice Whaley) to the album’s original tracklist.

Smith also writes music for film, television and the web, most recently scoring the independent feature Meth Head,. He is a regular speaker at creative, media and technology events including TEDxHollywood, TEDxSan Francisco, the Billboard Film & TV Music Conference, the USC Annenberg Online Communities program, and the UCLA Gravity Summit.

Curt’s Website

BONUS:

Curt Smith’s Gravity Summit Presentation: [youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=n49aipQYsk8&w=500&h=310]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gravity Summit

Gravity Summit, Inc. is a real-time social business company dedicated to educating, informing, and empowering executives and professionals on the power of real-time social media. We host premiere events, design and conduct corporate education, and offer strategic consulting services to both large Fortune 500 brands as well as rising companies.

We help bridge the gap between real-time social tools and the business community. Executives and decision makers, marketing professionals, small business owners, advertisers, PR professionals, and others, learn how to leverage social platforms to amplify their message and successfully engage with consumers.

www.GravitySummit.com

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ-BD7HPVWo&w=500&h=310]
Thomas Suarez at 12 years old has written two apps for the iphone and has spoken at TED and CES. Thomas Gives us his point of view of SOPA and PIPA and the use of the term “Smart” when it comes to gadgets.

Thomas Suarez wowed the audience at TEDx Manhattan Beach and the YouTube Video TED put out got, an astonishing 1.8Million hits.

Thomas was an immediate sensation and has been asked to speak at many events, but he has stayed humble and true to what he wants to do and that is to not be in the limelight, but to speak at relevant technical summits and conferences.

Thomas and I got a chance to talk after the his talk and he comes off as just a normal kid, but with the confidence and knowledge of someone much older.

It was a pleasure watching him speak and getting to interview him afterwards. Thanks Thomas – JW

Thomas Suarez

From TEDx Manhattan Beach

Thomas Suarez is a 6th grade student at a middle school in the South Bay of Los Angeles. When Apple released the Software Development Kit (SDK), he began to create and sell his own applications. “My parents, my friends and even the people at the Apple store all supported me,” he says, “and Steve Jobs inspired me”. Thomas points out that it’s hard to learn how to make an app. “For soccer you could go to a soccer team … but what if you want to make an app?”

He’s started a club for fellow students at school, where he shares his knowledge of programming. Thomas articulates his vision that students are a valuable new technology resource to teachers, and should be empowered to offer assistance in developing the technology curriculum and also assist in delivering the lessons.Thomas has been fascinated by computers and technology since before kindergarten. Recently, he’s been focused on the development of applications for the iPhone, and has established his own company, CarrotCorp http://www.carrotcorp.com/. His most successful application is one he terms “an anti-Justin-Bieber game” called “Bustin Jieber”. “It’s is a variation on the Whac-a-Mole theme,” he explains. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bustin-jieber/id404956571?mt=8