Students play "Record Executive"

Slice the Pie
Using the website: Slice the Pie, students will have the opportunity to play "talent scout" by finding artists that they think are worthy of investing in. The website allows music fans to invest in real bands; if the bands reach a certain level of money on the website (15,000 pounds), they receive that money to record an album. Albums are released on iTunes and Amazon.com and investors receive a return of any profit that album receives, as well as their name in the album credits. (Note: this activity will involve a small amount of money--as little as 10 or 20 dollars per class--which can be taken from one of the teacher's extensive personal accounts).

Working in small groups, each team must decide on 3-4 artists from the website that they think have the potential to become successful. Students must write a short review of the artist--the website offers visitors the chance to offer feedback to artists, so students could be required to make their comments on the web, and also turn them in (or else copy and past or link them to their blogs).

Students must also write a justification for why they think the band/artist they have chosen is worthy of the class' investment (Why and how will this particular group be marketable? Are they similar to another successful group? What makes them unique? How can you best convince your classmates of this group's potential). Groups will then present their ideas about one or two of the artists they "discovered" to the class, and the class will eventually vote on 1 or 2 of the artists to invest in with the class pot. Of course this activity could get much more in depth, depending on how much time the teacher wants to spend on it (for example, there could be a debate element).

This gives students a chance to play "record company executive" in a real world situation. Of course, there could be problems with differing tastes and interests, but the teacher could stress the idea that the primary goal is not just to find music that YOU like, but music that will be marketable. This activity also gives students the opportunity to write for an authentic audience on the web (as well as for their peers). Using this website might also influence students' illegal downloading activities, as it gives an opportunity to do some perspective taking by considering the needs and purposes of record companies who have invested money into certain artists.