1500 Sound Academy is a trailblazing music education institution that strives to produce passionate sound creators through mentorship, positive mindset, and professional development. Their state-of-the-art music school in Los Angeles offers comprehensive courses in Music Production, Engineering, Songwriting, Mixing, Music Business, and Artist Branding to aspiring professionals.
Come join the Co-Founders for a deep dive into how they started the company and what keeps them going and innovating in the world of music production!
From Inglewood, Ca, 4x Grammy Award winner James Fauntleroy is perhaps best known for co-writing seven of the songs off of Bruno Mars 2017 multi Grammy-winning album 24K Magic, including Song of the Year, That’s What I Like – having become the first [pure] songwriter to ever bring home a Grammy for Album of the Year. Other notable songs/albums Fauntleroy has worked on include 9 Chris Brown songs, 25 Justin Timberlake songs, 12 Rihanna songs, 5 Beyonce songs + “On The Run” with Jay-Z and featuring on songs with Nipsey Hussle, Drake, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Nas, Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky and more.
Oh you wanted to hear the “more”? He’s also co-written and/or produced songs performed by John Legend, Sza, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Ty $, Joe Jonas, Jordin Sparks (No Air), Britney Spears, Brandy, Kelly Clarkson, Frank Ocean, Chris Cornell, Vince Staples, David Archuleta, Pet Shop Boys, Timbaland, Jhene Aiko, Mariah Carey, Jay Electronica, John Mayer, Leona Lewis, Diddy, Ashanti, Usher, Teyana Taylor, Anderson .Paak and inexplicably many others.
James Fauntleroy, alongside producer Larrance Dopson and entrepreneur Twila True, have founded the 1500 Sound Academy. Students come from the area (Inglewood, CA), all across the nation and around the globe to learn about engineering, producing, branding, publishing/business, songwriting from expert guest speakers and a curriculum that includes practical information along with the musical and technical lessons.
Alongside music, Fauntleroy has a background in 3d modeling, web design, and coding. In 2022 he collaborated with Disney for their 100th Anniversary to design the Disney 100 Mickey Mouse: Icon of Wonder – expressed as both a 12ft statue and a special edition run of smaller replicas.
Larrance Dopson, Grammy Award Winning producer and instrumentalist is most recently known for his production on Roddy Rich’s single “The Box” which spent 11 weeks at the top spot of the US Billboard. As well as his production on “Boo’d Up” by Ella Mai which led R&B charts for 13 weeks straight at number one. The song was nominated for two Grammys, bringing home a Grammy for ‘Best R&B Song’ (61st Annual Grammy Awards). Rance has a long history of hit songs – In 2019, he was also nominated for Justin Timberlakes, “Say Something” for Best Pop Duo, and Nipsey Hussles “Victory Lap”, for Best Rap Album. His very first hit gained production credit when he was just 18 – for Bobby Valentino’s, “Gangsta Love” in 2003. Within the last few years, Rance has musical directed for Jay-Z and says the first song that he was truly proud to be part of was “Show Me What You Got” released in 2006, which opened many doors for the multi-instrumentalist and changed the sound of the hip-hop game.
Dopson was also musical director for Usher (2017) and Khalid (2018), Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Migos, Rick Ross, and many others. He has made several appearances on television broadcasts such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Show with David Letterman, Last Call with Carson Daly and Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Rance has shared the stage with many top tiered acts from all over the world and has led the Soul Train Awards as Musical Director since 2015. Dopson co-produced “Pray” from Sam Smith’s the Thrill of it All, “Filthy” from Justin Timberlake’s Man of The Woods, charted “Say Something” by Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton as the #1 Pop/Country song and continues to work alongside a magnitude of artists. He has written and composed on several records including Mi Declaración (Feat. Timbaland & SID) (Prod. By Larrance Dopson, Timbaland & Angel López) which resulted in Maluma’s first Latin Grammy for ‘Best Pop Contemporary Pop Vocal Album’ (19th Latin Grammy Awards), Mariah Carey’s newest single, “Whatever You Want” by Meek Mill Ft. Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign, “Rodeo” by Travis Scott, “Free TC” by Ty Dolla Sign, “Still Brazy” by YG, “Far Away” by Marsha Ambrosius and musical direction for the album “Cole World” by J. Cole. He was nominated for Grammys on “Far Away” by Marsha Ambrosius and Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1—further winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration on “These Walls” by Kendrick Lamar and Best Rap Album “To Pimp A Butterfly”. Lately, he’s worked with powerhouse vocalists Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Meek Mill’s (Championships Album) and many more.