Projects
Digital Daruma strongly believes in the emotional and communal strength of music. Thanks to the dual dynamics of technology and changing consumer behavior, we are at the beginning stages of an unprecedented and exciting period in global musical creativity and engagement. Digital Daruma hopes to participate in a small way through contributions to and collaborations with musicians, organizations and charities that explore and expand the communal nature of music.
Digital Daruma, and Mr. Umezaki has recently been involved in and supported numerous organizations and events including:
Digital Daruma, and Mr. Umezaki has recently been involved in and supported numerous organizations and events including:
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Digital Daruma participates in Rethink Music Roundtable on Rights Management and Technology: October 2014
Digital Daruma's president Ken Umezaki was invited to participate in a private round table session on rights management and technology, as part of Rethink Music's ongoing program of reshaping the music industry through seminars, strategy sessions, and events.
Created by Berklee College of Music and Midem, Rethink Music is an initiative joining some of the brightest minds and industry leaders to focus thought on the future of the music industry. The project began in 2010 when Berklee College of Music joined forces with Midem and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University for a large conference in Boston to discuss the future of music. Learn more about Rethink Music and its initiatives here |
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Digital Daruma organizes CMJ Climax Showcase : October 2014
Digital Daruma, along with co-sponsors BHi Music Group, Section 101,NYC Gigs and Music Xray, has organized the 2014 Climax Showcase during CMJ Music Marathon Week, featuring 5 acclaimed emerging bands: AM Aesthetic,Fifth of Bourbon, The Stone Foxes, Fenech-Soler and Jon & The Jones. Celebrating the last night of CMJ's annual music discovery festival in NYC, the showcase drew diverse fan and music industry people to rock out at the Cutting Room, one of the premier live music venues in Manhattan.
The Climax Showcase website here |
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Digital Daruma co-sponsors most successful Little Kids Rock Gala to date: October 2014
Digital Daruma was a corporate sponsor of Little Kids Rock's sixth annual benefit which generated approximately $1.5 million in donations to help support students and music teachers in public schools with donated instruments, curricular resources and training. The benefit honored Joan Jett as "Rocker of the Year" and included performances by current students of Little Kids Rock programs, Alice Cooper, Billie Joe Armstrong, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and many more artists.
Read more about the event here |
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Digital Daruma speaking engagements: Fall 2014
Ken Umezaki, president of Digital Daruma, presented at a number of music conferences and university programs in the fall of 2014. His discussion centered on how music tech start-ups are evaluated as companies by angel and venture capital investors, as well as focused on the current state of the startup community and emerging trends. Talks were given at the Future Music Forum, Berklee College of Music, NYU and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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Digital Daruma co-sponsors Rhythm on Rikers as part of Make Music New York: June 2014
With the help of Digital Daruma, Make Music New York has organized summer solstice concerts on Rikers Island since 2011, called Rhythm on Rikers, for prisoners and guards who rarely get to experience live music in their daily lives. Our groundbreaking program, Rhythm on Rikers, returned again in 2014 to share hand drumming lessons and music theory with ten men and ten women on Rikers Island. Led by the drummers of TIGUE, MMNY provided weekly two-hour sessions on hand drumming techniques, improvisation, traditional West African music, and rhythm-based theory, on instruments generously donated by Remo. On June 20st, after 10 weeks of lessons, all of the students and teachers played together at a final Make Music New York concert for the larger inmate population. Following the concert, students are offered additional free weekly individual lessons upon their release, and opportunities to play at future MMNY celebrations.
Read the Rolling Stone coverage here |
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Digital Daruma helps fund new documentary Unsound: March 2014
Unsound is a documentary that reveals the dramatic collapse of the music industry
and the unintended consequences the internet revolution is having on creators of all kinds. Featuring noteworthy musicians, filmmakers, journalists, and beyond, Unsound explores the struggle for creators trying to survive in the age of free. Digital Daruma participated in the early funding of this important film, with credits as a co-producer. The film is expected to be released in mid to late 2015. Watch the trailer here |
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Digital Daruma helps sponsor Sold Out Globalfest:
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Right To Rock raises over $1 million: October 2013Non-profit organization, Little Kids Rock, hosted its fifth annual Right to Rock benefit to ensure the gift of musical education remains in our nation’s most economically challenged public schools. Digital Daruma was a corporate sponsor of the event, with over 700 people in attendance at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan. The event generated over $1 Million in donations, which will help fund music lessons and instruments for 15,000 additional children in disadvantaged public schools across the United States. Darlene Love, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and star of “Twenty Feet from Stardom,” was honored for her tireless effort to help keep music in the classroom with the organization’s “Big Man of the Year” award. Other performers included Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, Steve Van Zandt, Bill Medley and Paul Shaffer.
Learn More Here |
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Rhythm On Rikers: June 2013Make Music New York has organized June 21st concerts on Rikers Island since 2011, for prisoners and guards who rarely get to hear music in their daily lives. This year, Digital Daruma helped to sponsor a more sustained music program on Rikers, where six professional NYC percussionists taught drum lessons for 10 inmates. On June 21st, after 10 weeks of lessons, all of the students and teachers played together at a concert for the larger inmate population. Following the concert, the program will offer students additional free weekly individual lessons once they get out, plus “class reunions” for all ten students to play together every couple of months, and at future MMNY celebrations. The goal is to give the students something concrete to look forward to, upon their release, and to integrate them into New York’s greater musical community. We hope to continue this program for years to come.
Read the New York Times review by clicking here See photos of the event here |
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Digital Daruma Presents at Inaugural Virtual Music Conference: February 2013Ken Umezaki will be speaking at the first annual Indie Connect Virtual Music Conference and Expo, February 26-28th, 2013. As a guest speaker of IndieConnect NY, Ken is involved in two different speaking engagements on February 26th and February 27th. Ken’s 2 sessions, are The Dynamics of The Digital Music Business: Music Business Overview on Tuesday February 26th. and The Dynamics of The Digital Music Business: Implications for Musicians on Wednesday February 27th. These presentations are followed by a live Q&A session with Ken. Billed as the “world’s only global online-only music conference,” the IC Virtual Music Conference promises 3 days of networking, education and entertainment.
You can view Ken's 2 presentations by clicking here Learn more about VMC here Learn more about IndieConnect NY here |
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Right To Rock 2012 Gala at Hammerstein BallroomDigital Daruma was a corporate sponsor of the 2012 Right To Rock celebration, a benefit gala celebrating the 10th anniversary of Little Kids Rock in October 2012. Steven Van Zandt was awarded the "Big Man of the Year" award by LKR, presented by none other than Bruce himself. An epic lineup of musicians came out to celebrate, incuding Bruce, Elvis Costello, Dion, Tom Morello, Darlene Love, Southside Johnny, Ruben Blades, Gary US Bonds and many others. Over $800,000 was raised at the event, which allows LKR to serve over 100,000 students with music education this coming year for the first time ever.
Learn more here |
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CBGB Music Festival 2012Ken Umezaki will be speaking at the CBGB Festival on two different panels on Friday, July 6th, 2012. The first, Music Industry: Today and the Future, focuses on where the music industry is heading, how artists can make the most out of the changes and use them to their advantage. Later that afternoon, Ken will be speaking on the Widgets, Apps and Witchcraft: Too Cool or Too Much? panel will discuss the latest innovations that connect artists with their fans and keep an audience excited about your content.
For more information about the CBGB Music and Film Conference, click here. For Ken's related interview conducted during the conference with Indie Connect NY, click here. |
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Funk Island: June 20, 2011Digital Daruma helped fund the first "Funk Island" performance on June 20, 2011, where 7 different funk and jazz bands performed inside the prison walls of Rikers Island, New York City's largest prison. Our all-star cast of funk bands included Christian McBride, The Pimps of Joytime, Underground Horns, Zongo Junction,Turkuaz, Burnt Sugar, and Ronny Drayton. The successful event brought live music to the facility for the first time in the prison's history, which was a featured event for Make Music New York, and produced by Chris Wangro.
Listen to the WNYC broadcast! |
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Little Kids RockDigital Daruma supports this New Jersey based charitable organization, which operates under the philosophy that "every child deserves music education." Playing music is more than just ‘fun’ for kids. It is transformational and vital. Yet budget cuts have forced many school music programs to close. These cuts have had a disproportionate impact on schools serving low-income communities. LKR partner with school districts and teachers across the country to restore and revitalize their music programs by providing their kids with free music classes and free musical instruments. Mr. Umezaki is on the NY Board of LKR.
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Interactive Music NY! ~ part of Make Music NYAs part of the 4th annual Make Music New York! Festival, in June 2010 Digital Daruma funded, organized a curated an outdoor performance series focused on interactive music, the first of its kind to take place in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan. 15 musical groups presented original compositions that interacted with the audience, the immediate environment, or with various forms of technology to deliver a dynamic and spontaneous musical experience. Interactive music demonstrations and installations were also part the program.
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Healthy Boys ~ "Mobile In C" ProjectAs a partner in Healthy Boys LLC, Mr. Umezaki assisted in developing a mobile application that allowed multiple iPhone users to perform Terry Riley's "In C." Often cited as the first minimalist work, "In C" exists in the space between composition and improvisation. One of its most striking features is how Riley composed the piece to encourage and highlight the communal aspect of making music. "Mobile In C" brings this 20th century work into the 21st century, using Apple's popular mobile platforms allowing anyone, regardless of musical background, to participate in the piece. This piece has been performed numerous times, including at the 2010 Interactive Music NY program. Click here to see a video montage of the mobile phoners in action in a perfomance in New York in June 2010.
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