Berklee Blogs introduces Devin Wojtanek, a Music Business major and spring intern, as he begins his internship with Indie Ambassador, the team behind presskit.to, a portfolio web app designed to enhance communication within the professional music & entertainment industries. In today’s blog, Devin shares his thoughts on entering a new music industry as a student musician…

In the past few weeks at Indie Ambassador, there has been a spark of intensity in the atmosphere surrounding our growing project with Berklee. To recap, Presskit.to has been developing an “opportunity”/job listing board for Berklee LA alumni. Along with hooking these alums up with a Presskit, this jobs board is directed specifically for Berklee grads in LA looking for the types of jobs needed to advance their careers. Justine, the alumni coordinator stationed in LA, came over to Boston last week for a meeting, an experience that was very interesting to sit in on.

The relationship between a collegiate institution and its alumni is almost sacred in a way, as the perceived viability of the school is dependent upon the success of their graduates. At a place such as Berklee, were the nature of the art and its subsequent relation with commerce are in a constant dance with each other, it is almost impossible to determine what an average career path for a Berklee alum would look like. This is why grads’/alumni’s career paths can vary so drastically, from a small town music teacher to the super famous.

Neither is better than the other, because especially with art, success is completely self-defined. This is also why I believe Berklee considers those who don’t even graduate “alumni.” Before coming to Berklee I had heard people say that the most famous Berklee alums never graduated, and this gave me a disconcerting feeling. It is only after attending this school for the past three years that I realize that a career in music requires not a single specific attribute outside of loving what you do. There are no rules, and everything is fair game.

I think Berklee really understands this, and it permeates through the curriculum and overall student experience. Like the industry as a whole, a successful college experience at Berklee depends solely on what one personally wants to accomplish.

I feel though, many musicians get lost in an endless navigation through these waters that are the music industry.  Today’s economy requires these artists to tread much longer, and quite strangely it seems as if there has never been so much available for these artists yet so little is accomplished. This free-for-all has lead to much disorganization for the industry as a whole. What Presskit and IA are attempting is to add a little method to this madness.

Of course, this initial partnership with Berklee is quite logical as its alumni are the future movers and shakers of this industry. Once expanded, this platform has the opportunity to better and more efficiently connect those both within the industry, and those trying to enter it. I truly believe in the potential value here, as I am to be a Berklee graduate within the coming month, and although my hopes are high, my realistic expectations are much more humbling. I am very excited to be apart of this project for these reasons, and I believe a win for Presskit here would be a win for the industry as a whole.

 

Read Devin’s Other Posts:

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Thoughts on SXSW

The Future of Music is Technology

Starting Out…

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Bio

Devin Wojtanek is a Music Business student in his final semester at Berklee (hometown: Chicago). He has played guitar in numerous punk bands during his stay in Boston, and currently finds himself as half of the guitar duo known as Safety. After graduating Berklee he plans on moving to NYC with his buddies to continue pursuing both the artistic and business aspects of music. He is currently a marketing intern at Indie Ambassador, a company which has recently launched the portfolio web-app Presskit.to.

 

Check Devin out on Facebook:

Devin Wojtanek

Safety (band)

Foul Weather Fans

 

Joe
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