More than 120 musicians, producers and creative professionals recently gathered at Flamingo House for performances, career resources and an opportunity to reconnect following a City-supported music business program.
Hosted by Department of Sound in partnership with Jimmy Toor’s weekly Magic Toor Bus series, the event brought together alumni and mentors from the Sound Business Summit and featured performances by Leti, Cameron Love and Hayla V.
The summit launched in November 2025 with a City grant through the Office of Arts and Culture, using federal American Rescue Plan funds allocated to help Sacramento’s creative sector recover from the pandemic. The free workshops covered royalties, licensing, live performance income, merchandising and other ways musicians can earn money from their work.
Participants also received free Venice Music distribution licenses to help them release their music, along with access to the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship’s online music business learning library.
The program addressed a need for business training and resources identified in the Sacramento Music Census. According to Department of Sound, the inaugural summit drew 275 applicants for 92 available seats.
“One of Sacramento’s greatest exports is artistic talent. We want to build more opportunity here, so artists can spend more time making their art,” said John Hamilton Hodgson, co-founder and CEO of Department of Sound.
Department of Sound and Magic Toor Bus are developing a recurring monthly artist night to give local musicians more opportunities to perform and maintain the connections made through the program.
Department of Sound is a Sacramento nonprofit that provides music education for underserved youth and business education for working artists. Learn more at deptofsound.org.
The summit is one of several ways the Office of Arts and Culture supports Sacramento’s creative community. Other examples include public art commissions through Art in Public Places, grants for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations through the Cultural Arts Awards and Small Organization Sustainability Fund, and mentorship and exhibition experience through the Emerging Curators Fellowship.
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