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Tag: Sony Music

Sony Music

Cross-cultural Workplaces in Germany

Christopher Kirsch, intern at Sony Classical, Germany, describes the differences between German and American workplaces and how cross-cultural workplaces share strengths from both sides of the pond

Working in the media branch in Germany can be pretty much the same as in the US. Of course, the music market is much smaller, since Germany has only 82 million inhabitants. Nevertheless, it is still a prolific industry, making it the third biggest music market worldwide. It is not only that Europe and America are mentally tied to each other. Moreover, it is America’s cultural impact that has been dominated the business world in Germany and Continental Europe in recent years.

Having lived so long in the US, it was also interesting for me to experience similarities and differences between here and overseas. In Germany, for instance, it is not very common to call your colleagues by their first name – especially, if their position is higher than yours. You would rather say Mr. or Ms. At Sony though we would go by our first names, just like in English speaking countries. Generally, the English language has become an unavoidable tool in business language. Words like “schedule”, “meeting”, or “forecast” have substituted the appropriate German description.

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Marketing Internships – South Africa, Mia Verdoorn (Part 1)

Summer 2010, student Mia Verdoorn interned in her native country, South Africa. She spent June at Sony Music and July with Warner Music Gallo Africa.

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Throughout my time at both major companies, heavy emphasis was placed on the promotional side of the industry, which was very interesting to me as I had yet to take some of the marketing classes required for the business major at Berklee.

For the month of June, I interned at Sony Music under Spiro Damaskinos, Director of International Artists’ Relations and Marketing. Tasks I completed for him included voiceover scripts for the “Sex And The City 2” motion picture soundtrack’s video trailer clip, as well as the clip for Jennifer Rush’s new album trailer. Both aired on all major South African television channels during Summer 2010. I also completed the label copy for a compilation album called “Now 55”.

Part of my internship included driving around with other Sony employees as they delivered music video masters to broadcasting houses (such as Red Pepper, Urban Brew, Channel O (Mnet), MTV Base). Being that this was the summer of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, we also dropped off new World Cup albums. “Listen Up” was the official FIFA World Cup album. “Hello Africa” was a double-disc compilation album that many African artists are on. We brought this to the main magazine printing publishers. I was able to sit in on many of the weekly FIFA meetings (Sony was one of FIFA’s main partners) and it was interesting to hear about all the plans for Shakira, Alicia Keys and R.Kelly’s arrival before the soccer kick-off concert in Johannesburg.

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Germany: Hub for Classical Music

As a composer, Christopher Kirsch explains the benefits of being an intern surrounded by Germany’s rich tradition of classical music

This is my first blog for Berklee. My name is Christopher Kirsch, I am 25 and currently interning at Sony Music Classical. While writing this, I am sitting at the desk in my apartment with a view onto the streets of Berlin. Originally, I applied at Sony in New York. It soon turned out that Berlin would be a great place for me, not only because I am German and was looking forward to spend some time over there, but also due to the interesting perspectives available at one of the world’s most creative locations.

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