After playing at the SXSW (South by South West) Festival in Austin Texas, I am completely relieved, relaxed, and ready to finish my video-documentary of the festival and my bands’ experience that I’ve been working on. But not only did I organize for my band to play… I organized a professional showcase of Berklee College of Music students on Monday night at the Flamingo Cantina right after an Interactive Google Private Party! Soundkitty.com is the name of the blog I manage, edit, video record, and write for.
Berklee Blogs follows Scott Beardsworth, Music Business Major, as he begins his internship at PAID, Inc.– a celebrity services organization focused on VIP ticketing events, merch, and other direct-to-fan marketing initiatives. We’ll follow Scott as he navigates the waters of his first internship and teaches us his lessons learned on the job. Stay tuned…
Since my last entry, some pretty radical changes have come down the pipes here at PAID Inc. Last week, my direct boss Dave Lory moved on to another opportunity in the music industry, and It’s taken me a little while to readjust. Now that the initial jolt of the news has faded, I’ve taken a step back and re-examined my role here and some of the overall changes. Initially I felt that there was a gap that I fell into as my work load went from incredibly intense to almost nothing in a half week’s time.
Live from New York … It’s Saturday night! Well, okay, we’re actually coming at you from Boston, and at the time of this posting, it’s Friday morning. But we’re feeling a big connection to Saturday Night Live as of late. Just recently, the show featured Karmin, some of our favorite alums featured in PULSE’s Practical Skills Level 1. And now … drum roll please … we bring you our newest addition to the Study Room – Practical Skills Level 2! And, as part of it, we feature another SNL star — the house band’s keyboardist, Tuffus Zimbabwe, who shares his path to success in the Career Opportunities section of the unit.
Practical Skills Level 2 helps students continue working on the real life skills that will take their music to the next level. It focuses on helping students hone their writing and communication skills, explore the different careers available to musicians, and understand the importance of defining what you and your music are all about. With plenty of videos and downloadable worksheets, the unit helps aspiring musicians to develop the tools needed to get noticed in the music industry, and to investigate potential careers in music.
Now, without further ado, meet Tuffus Zimbabwe. He is a Pianist, Composer, and Arranger and a City Music and Berklee alum. He might look familiar from his great gig as the keyboardist in the Saturday Night Live band. In this video, he shares his educational journey and how he got to where he is today.
Do you think that music has the power to heal? Then meet Sarah Blacker, a Music Therapist and Singer/Songwriter (and Berklee alumna!) who uses music in her work with people with disabilities. Learn more about what it takes to be a music therapist, and start thinking about the different ways that music can be developed into a career.
Log-in to www.berkleepulse.net to check out the rest of our career videos featuring Music Educator Darcel Wilson, Guitarist/Performer Jeff Gitelman, who’s played with the likes of David Bowie and Alicia Keys, and Chris Rival, a Producer/Engineer who owns his own recording studio in Greater Boston.
One of the great things that we take away from these career video profiles is the strong sense of identity that each of these musicians possess. Don’t you feel like you understand them or have a grasp on the direction in which they want to take their musical careers? That’s because they’ve all had to look introspectively to realize what they want to project as part of their musical identities. In the “Defining You” section in Practical Skills Level 2, you’ll learn about Marketing and Branding basics with Mike King, Director of Marketing for Berklee Media.
In the “Working With Words” section, we tackle a topic that many musicians don’t like to address: writing. Learning how to communicate your ideas and your mission effectively could get you just as far as a hit song. But we won’t have you writing novels or sappy love poems. The subject matter of this work is way more interesting, because it’s all about you.
An artist statement, biography, resume, or a blog all have some do’s and don’ts that are good to have under your belt. In this next video, Katie Barnes, City Music Boston‘s Recruitment and Enrollment Coordinator, explains the basics of a bio and how you can make it your best!
Now check out the Bio in action with these City Music students who share excerpts from their bios and tell you why it’s an important tool to have in your arsenal.
There are worksheets that go with each segment. Here’s a quick preview of what you would use when developing your bio.
Want to learn more about Berklee PULSE? Take the tour on youtube, like us on facebook, or follow us on twitter. You can find more about the Berklee City Music Program here.
At a school which fosters musical creativity like Berklee, students occasionally lose interest when we explain that most of our internships take place in a business setting- particularly if the student’s major or personal career goals are centered around performing. You can almost see them thinking, “Right. I want to stand up on a stage, not sit behind a desk. I think I’ll pass…”
It’s an understandable reaction when a student is (and should be) so engrossed in their music. That’s the most important thing, right? Of course. But ask any (successful) musician and they’ll tell you that being a professional, earning performer requires a surprising amount of business finesse.
It makes sense, doesn’t it? As a performer you’re running a small business, selling your music and yourself as products. You’ll handle contracts, build professional relationships, and perhaps produce, market and sell your own work. To see what I mean, check out this interview by one of our former interns, Gary Lazzara, when he interviews Berklee grad and Black Eyed Peas collaborator Keith Harris. Even if you outsource these necessary tasks, you leave yourself in the trust and mercy of promoters, marketers and agents.
With the way the industry is shifting these days, the tendency leans more and more towards a do-it-yourself model. So you better know at least a little bit about those aspects of your future career that aren’t exactly musical in nature. And what better place to learn the tricks and traps of the trade than from the inside? Why not work at a marketing company, a venue or a booking agent to learn skills for yourself and become a wise consumer of those services?
Ted Kurland Associates is a top Boston agency which books for the likes of Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. See what their Director of Marketing, David Greenberg has to say about getting the inside info (1:23) during a recent interview:
Berklee Blogs follows Scott Beardsworth, Music Business Major, as he begins his internship at PAID, Inc.– a celebrity services organization focused on VIP ticketing events, merch, and other direct-to-fan marketing initiatives. We’ll follow Scott as he navigates the waters of his first internship and teaches us his lessons learned on the job. Stay tuned
It’s hard to believe that I’m already a quarter of the way through my internship already! Time has really flown, mainly because I’ve just been to busy to even notice the passing weeks. Before I realize it, I know that I will be on my way down the aisle to get my diploma in May.
The moving process into our new location is still ongoing, as our warehouse and merchandise fulfillment team is still in the process of moving full time over here. I believe the whole team will be here by mid march. Still meeting new members of the Paid team on a daily basis which is cool, and the positive feedback I’ve been getting has been keeping me motivated and hard working.
I’ve been working on some really cool things over the past few week. First, our client managers and our new business head hunters have recently courted rock superstars Motley Crue as a future client. Since all of this came about in such a short period of time, I was elected to book all travel arrangement for 3 people to fly into Las Vegas to meet the band during their residency at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Having only booked travel arrangements for myself, It was a totally different experience, if tedious, and one that will help me in the future. I had to book 3 sets of flights, with each traveler flying from a different city, all set to arrive at the same time and place. If all goes as planned, Motley Crue could be one of our most important clients, as they could lead the way for other higher profile acts to work with us for VIP events. I can’t really say any more in the interest of protecting Paid’s interests. I will surely share more though as our scope of work becomes more apparent.
