Brandon Camphor speaks to Music Business Society students

A contemporary Christian gospel singer spoke to the Maryland Music Business Society on Oct. 28 to teach aspects of self-production and marketing to members of the club.

About 15 students listened to Brandon Camphor, singer of Brandon Camphor and OneWay, give suggestions on how to establish a brand and promote oneself without the backing of a record label.  He told students to "fake it until you make it."

"The reality is you can do these things on your own," Camphor said, adding that he first recorded himself on his Mac, and spent little money establishing his brand. "These cool jeans, they might look good right now, but if I lift up my shirt it says Wal-Mart on the brand," he said jokingly.

Camphor said social networking through sites like Facebook and YouTube, along with Tunecore, an online company that puts musicians' songs on iTunes and Amazon, to promote his music have been tremendous in attracting young people his performances.  Camphor has already maxed out his Facebook with more than 5,000 friends, he said.

"At 23, this is my living," Camphor said. "It's working."

"[Camphor's] reputation is very large within the Christian community," said accounting and marketing major Victoria Popoola, 21. "We don't go to clubs so when his events happen we're excited because we finally have something to go to."

Junior finance and marketing major and MMBS Co-President Prannoy Nambiar, 20, said that in the information age, paying for music is obsolete, but added that he believes the music industry is going to make money no matter what.

"It's a free-for-all, do-it-yourself system," Nambiar said. "The creativity is not going to stop, it's the supply chain aspect of it that needs to be figured out."

Global digital music trade revenues have reached $4.2 billion, up 12 percent for 2009, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a company that represents the recording industry worldwide.  

Finance major and MMBS Co-President Nikita Shenoy, 20, said few people came to the Camphor speech because comedian Demetri Martin was performing on the same night.  Shenoy said Socket Records will send a representative to speak on Nov. 9.