Janelle Knepsel
Meet Janelle Knespel (K-Nes-Pul), the founder of JK Music Licensing, LLC.
It’s a splendid thing to watch someone living their passion. For Janelle, that means building a career that combines her great love of music, education, and community.
With a background in piano (classical), vocal performance (choral, group, and solo in jazz, a cappella, pop, rock, barbershop, and more), 501C3s, and artist development, her career path led to her involvement in music performance groups as both an administrator and a performer.
While working toward an undergraduate music degree, she became energized by music supervision and sync licensing. “I geek out on Copyright and I.P Law and more recently how they apply to A.I.” Driven by my lifelong hunger for learning, she pursued a Master’s Degree in Music Business.
During the past twenty years, she has built a global network, including top industry professionals. Her education and experience has had a natural transition towards her focus now: licensing music.
With a holistic approach, she develops and fosters relationships and collaborations built towards a common good.
Bragging Rights: Janelle is most proud of attending college for music education. Despite often being the oldest person in the room and only woman, she thrived at Berklee College of Music, Boston and eventually graduated with honors with a bachelor’s and master’s degree.
Initially pursuing a degree in Vocal Performance, she was inspired by a History of Film Music that made her add another concentration: Music business.
Industry Shakeup: COVID shut down the entire music, film, and entertainment industry while she was in school. However, with the encouragement from professors, she kept going and graduated in 2023. Much of the industry has changed but the best parts remain the same. At the heart of this career choice is that she loves to help other people shine.
She has 20+ years of music education, training, and experience for piano and voice so she can read and understand music but also understands the language of creative vision. This helps her translating these concepts and bring that vision to life. Her seemingly boundless energy helps get projects across the finish line because “DETAILS drive me not drain me.”
Mentors and Muses: Janelle is grateful for the mentors that remain part of her circle. “Good mentors will be there on the good days to help you see your vision more clearly and on the tougher days when all you want to do is pull the blanket over your head.” Shout-out to Dr. E. Michael Harrington, John Bonci, as well as a couple of my classmates.
Yes and No: Janelle is saying yes to building her career through learning opportunities, volunteering within the entertainment industry, and speaking engagements. She also makes time for self-care, travel, and Lindy Swing Hop Dance classes. She’s saying NO to situations with unclear scope or projects outside her skillset.
If you are a media/content creators that need music in your project, you should really connect with Janelle Knespel! She has so much knowledge around music licensing protocols. Or music writers who are looking to move forward with the business side of their music! Especially if you want to set things up for sync opportunities (metadata and song registration).
We’ll talk about A.I. and social media algorithms (what helps and hinders creatives) and all the places you may hear music but not think of it. Join us on Thursday, May 23rd at 9am MST or catch the replay below!
Helpful Links:
Website: https://jkmusiclicensing.com
