Degrees

Short Bio

Producer and musician George Howard founded his first independent label, Slow River Records, in 1993. In 1995, Slow River entered into a co-venture with Rykodisc, one of the world’s largest independent labels. In 1999, he became president of Rykodisc where he signed and/or guided the careers of artists such as Kelly Willis, Robert Cray, Josh Rouse, Kelly Joe Phelps, Jess Klein, The Slip, Catie Curtis, the Tom Tom Club, Future Bible Heroes, Chuck E. Weiss and many others, as well as further developed Rykodisc’s catalog holdings including, Frank Zappa, Medeski Martin & Wood, Morphine, The Tradition Catalog, Bill Hicks, Richard Buckner, and others. His production credits include Kelly Joe Phelps, Chuck E. Weiss (with Tom Waits), Jess Klein, Matthew, and Peter Bruntnell.

Howard recently founded Essex River Works. ERW is a non-traditional record company that's mission is to use music to raise money and awareness for arts programs in schools. In this capacity, Howard has produced compilation records from the London Symphony Orchestra, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker.
Howard has written a number of books on the music industry, including: Getting Signed! An Insider's Guide to the Record Industry (Berklee Press), Music Publishing 101 (Berklee Press), and Music Business Contracts (Berklee Press).

Howard has taught at Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts, and is a frequent lecturer at Berklee College of Music and other learning institutions. He has been with the College of Business Administration faculty since 2004.

Courses Taught

• Music Management and Concert Production
• Music Industry Entrepreneurship