Non-Music Clubs & Activities That Can Help Your Music Career

So you want to work in music but feel like there's no way to get experience? Maybe you're stuck in the middle of nowhere or your major isn't exactly related? Or maybe you just feel stuck and need something new for your resume? Here's some ways to find local resources to get hands-on experience related to the music industry without needing to uproot your life.

Newspaper
Even extremely small towns and schools tend to have some sort of written news outlet. If you can, try to get a job, internship, or volunteer position writing for their entertainment department to learn how to cover show reviews and local events. If your local paper is too small to have an entertainment section, any role can really help you get experience. Writing for a paper will help you understand press releases, build your writing skills, and help you build relationships in your area.

Associations
I know this is broad, but there are numerous professional organizations with local branches all over the country, both related to music and not. Some music ones to look for include GRAMMY U and MEISA. However, there are more general organizations for marketing, advertising, PR, broadcasting, and nearly every area of business.


Student Activities Board
The name of this organization may vary by college, but many schools have some sort of organization that plans events for the student body. These events may include educational panels, movie screenings, concerts, homecoming, or other university-wide events. Getting involves can get help you learn to plan and run events and, if you're lucky, you may have the chance to work with local or national musicians to plan concerts.

Virtual Internship Opportunity with Delta 9ine ENT

Delta 9ine ENT, a record label with office in Los Angeles, San Diego, and S. Lake Tahoe is looking for two smart, hard working people to help with marketing and web research from their own home. 


Chris Jones, was previously an intern himself, having worked at labels, studios, and TV networks. Today, he runs a label, manages artists, and is also a recording artist, studio engineer, booking agent and more. 


"Needless to say I am super busy all the time," says Jones.  "I have years of experience in the music business touring, recording with platinum artists, underground hip hop legends, more than 400 live shows to date, dealt with a ton of promoters, managers, radio stations, TV, stations, sponsors, licensed numerous of my own tracks for TV and film use, and much more. I have incredible insight into the music business and what it takes to make something happen on your own. However, it is getting to the point where I can not do it alone or with just the help of my crew. I NEED YOU!"


Job Description:
Tasks will be simple. Posting blogs, updating our social sites, really easy and fun. This is a great learning experience and will lead to paid part time work if you do well during your training period. I am looking for somebody innovative. I can teach you tons of stuff but am more than open to new ideas and thoughts. Not one of those my way or the highway guys. Also, we may be hanging out occasionally. I get along with most people just dont be lazy or make excuses. 


I look forward to hearing from you. 


To Apply:
If you are computer saavy, hard working, and looking to get your feet wet in the music business please email crjones84@comcast.net with a short summary about you, what your goals are, and why you are a good fit for what we as a label are doing. 

To Learn More Visit: 
www.reverbnation.com/outtacontrolmusic
www.facebook.com/outtacontroloct
www.reverbnation.com/chrisjonestracks
www.facebook.com/chrisjonestracks
www.reverbnation.com/straightjackitt
www.facebook.com/D9Entertainment

#MusicIntern Chat Tonight: Cover Letters

Digital Marketing Assistant Job at Fame House LLC

Fame House LLC is a start-up company in the digital space, specializing in Digital Strategy, Online Marketing, Label Services, and Management for the entertainment industry. Fame House works with various artists, labels, and management companies to efficiently and effectively help accelerate their businesses, specifically in the online marketing and management domain.

The Job:

• Assistance with daily management of various client web properties including web sites, web stores, merchandise, social media, and email lists
• This includes tour date updating, content updates, customer service, inventory control, and promotional messaging/updating
• Must stay up to date on latest web technologies, and update supervisors on how they can potentially apply to clients
• Assistance with account management
• Weekly and bi-weekly reporting for various clients
• Managing interns for handling various day-to-day tasks
• General assistance to Founder/Managers
• Room to grow/take on more responsibilities 

Location:
Philadelphia, PA

Clients Include:
DJ Shadow
Pretty Lights
David Lynch
Stella Artois
Nat Geo Music
and more 

Salary:
Entry Level

Requirements:

• Extremely enthusiastic and passionate about the digital music industry
• Proficient and knowledgeable in Microsoft office, Mac Os, Social Media
• Generally great working with computers
• A self-starter, and able to take on large responsibilities 
• Highly organized
• Great personal skills
• Must be great with Facebook, and the related tools surrounding Facebook and music marketing
• A solid writer
• Highly organized
• Able to remain calm and poised under high-stress situations with deadlines
• Must have a drive to grow within a small business atmosphere
• A fast learner
• Email Marketing is a plus
• Proficiency in the TopSpin Media platform is a huge plus
• Photoshop, Dreamweaver/other web design/development abilities are a huge plusses 
• A marketing related degree is a plus

To Apply:

Please send examples of your work, a cover letter, and resume to famehouse@gmail.com

Cast Your Vote to Name Our New Musician List Project

If you haven't heard yet, we're working on a community project to work together and build a list of the influential musicians who set the precedents and changed the course of popular music, the musicians that anyone who wants to work in music should be aware of. The goal is to create an educational resource for students, and anyone in general, who wants to learn more about the great musicians of the past- and in some cases present too. Last night we discussed goals for the project and decided to create both a weekly feature on these musicians and, eventually, a thorough e-book guide. First, it needs a name though (and some more names added to our ever-growing list). Cast your vote here to tell us which idea you like best or add your own. Also, if you want to contribute to the list you can check it out and add your own here: http://bit.ly/xrV7BR 

What should the project to create a list of must-know musicians be called? (The ____ represent a specific artist name)
	This is Music/This is __
	Musicians411/ ____411
	ArtistsUShouldKnow___
	Other (please add in comments)
pollcode.com free polls

The Definitive List of Must-Know Musicians: An Update

A week ago tonight we announced a new community-built project (suggested by some awesome people in last week's #MusicIntern Twitter chat) to create a list of the musicians that anyone who wants to work in the music industry should be familiar with. The list was inspired by the GRAMMY watchers on Twitter who didn't know who Paul McCartney was and a desire to help create a resource for the people studying music who want to learn about the musical greats that have come before and set the precedents for the hits today. I'm excited to say that in a week we already have a list of about 200 artists and a spin-off list in the works for influential producers and engineers. 

So, first I want to thank everyone that has contributed to the list so far! Second, in honor of that, tonight's #MusicIntern chat will be about this project. It needs a name, it needs a bit more direction, and it needs some more specific goals in mind in addition to our larger one of creating an education resource. 


So, if you've contributed so far, are interested in doing so, or just have something on your mind you want to share then please join us tonight! 


View and add to the list here: http://bit.ly/xrV7BR 


Twitter Chat
9pm ET, every Tuesday night
Follow and use the hashtag #musicintern on Twitter or easily join by going to http://tweetchat.com/room/musicintern
Everyone is welcome! 

KeDa Management Innovative Marketing Virtual Internship Opportunity

KeDa Management is a London, UK based company that manages the career of music artists Beckwith  & MPA. They're offering a unique opportunity for three interns anywhere in the world to work and think creatively.

Description
This isn't your stereotypical internship:

• Create your own tasks, based on what the company does and its key objectives. 
• Email a proposal each week for how you will market and promote KeDa's roster and help build their fanbase using interesting and new online tools
• This internship is UNPAID

KeDa doesn't want interns looking to be told what to do, they want "hungry, proactive, initiative,
idea creating, and problem solving people." If that sounds like you, keep reading to learn how to apply.

Apply For Summer Internships at SiriusXM

Sirius XM Radio Inc. is America's satellite radio company. SiriusXM broadcasts more than 135 channels of commercial free music, premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather to more than 20 million subscribers. We are one of the world's largest pure-play audio entertainment company and we are among the largest subscription media companies in the United States. SiriusXM broadcasts to subscribers everywhere they want to listen in cars, on boats, in the home or office, and through a wide range of mobile devices. SiriusXM offers an impressive array of content that spans virtually all genres and interests, including Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Opie & Anthony, Bob Edwards, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, Jimmy Buffett, The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan, among others. SiriusXM is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, NBA, NHL, and PGA Tour and offers major college sports.


Locations
Internships are offered in several different cities including New York, Washington DC, and Nashville 


Requirements

• Must be at least 18 years old

• Must work a minimum of 20 hours per week

• Must be enrolled in a college or university and be receiving academic credits for the internships (internships are all unpaid)

Internships Are Offered In The Following Fields:

• Finance & Accounting • Sales & Marketing • Broadcasting & Production 

• Engingeering • Information Technology • Legal & Regulatory • Human Resources

• Information Technology • E-Business & Web Design • Public Relations

Summer internships are from June- August


Apply here: http://www.siriusxm.com/internships


Find out more about the experience and follow SiriusXM internships at 
Blog: www.siriusxminterns.com
Twitter: @siriusxminterns
Facebook: /SiriusXMInternship
Email: internships@siriusxm.com

New Social-Media Integrated Comment Form

We want to hear from you. What you think, like and don't, what you think of each post, and what you want to learn more about. So far, we've talked to you a lot about these things via social media and email. So, to make it easier for you to share what you have to say- both in the comments on on social media, I've changed the commenting system to more easily integrate social media, and adding more user-friendly sharing buttons. At the moment, older comments are still importing into the new system, but they should be back soon. In the mean time, here's a look at what you can do now with the new system including how you can tweet directly from the comment form. 

You can sign in easily through OpenID, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Disqus, or simply just post as a guest with your name.

If you log in via Twitter, you can click on the little Twitter icon so that it turns blue. This will let you tweet something directly from the comment box. 

You can also upload images using the tab in the bottom left corner of the comment form. They will display in your comment as seen below. You can also see below that you can now reply directly to another comment and create a thread. 

You can also like or dislike each individual post like you would in Facebook. Once you do, you will be given the shane to decide to share the post on Facebook and/or Twitter as well if you would like.

Teaching Position Available in Drexel University's Music Industry Program

This position is far from being an internship or entry level position, yes, but I know that great interns tend to have great teachers, mentors, and professors. So, if you know someone who would be great at teaching music industry students and may be interested in this job, please pass it along! 

Drexel University’s Music Industry Program seeks applications for a full-time tenure-track or teaching faculty member to teach and advise in its nationally recognized undergraduate program (business concentration) beginning September 2012. The program offers students real-world experience by integrating a practicum-based learning model through the operation of several music business entities both inside and outside of the classroom. These entities include: MAD Dragon Publishing, DraKo Booking, MADKo Concert Promotions, BANTIC Media (a music marketing company that offers a la carte services for various creative projects), and MAD Dragon Records, Drexel's award-winning student-run record label. This Bachelor of Science degree program offers comprehensive learning experiences in both the technology and business components of the music industry. This highly competitive program is also enhanced by Drexel’s co-operative education system that provides experiential learning with industry partners during sophomore and junior years.

Qualifications

•  Must have a minimum of ten (10) years of current and significant music industry experience in a variety of areas in the music business (e.g., recording industry, publishing industry, new media, legal policies, marketing, and social networking). J.D., M.B.A. or Masters Degree in a related discipline strongly desired.
• Must be able to teach and develop courses in record industry operations, related legal issues, new media, industry trends, marketing or new business models among others. 
• Demonstrated evidence of the following: depth and breadth of working knowledge of the current music industry both domestic and worldwide; direct experience with new media, digital technology and/or telecommunications industry, legal policies; extensive connections in the music industry useful to our coop program.
• Prior teaching experience at the university level desired. 
• At time of appointment, the successful candidate, if not a U.S. citizen, must have authorization from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to work in the United States.   

Essential Functions

• Teach undergraduate courses in Music Industry (business concentration), enhance the curriculum and entities, develop music industry professional connections, maintain involvement in appropriate professional organizations, publish research in peer-reviewed journals and provide service to the college and university’s mission.
• The successful applicant will mentor senior students in their Senior Projects, which are capstone projects encompassing a nine-month span from planning to completion. 

Creating a Definitive List of Must-Know Musicians...And We Need Your Help

By now, you've probably heard about the infamous tweets of young people who didn't know who Paul McCartney was when he took the stage during The GRAMMY Awards this past Sunday. Since this week's #MusicIntern Twitter chat was all about the awards those infamous Twitter comments about McCartney were a big topic of debate. We discussed whose "fault" it was that these teens weren't familiar with him and whether or not there was a way to change that and emphasize the value of musicians who have laid the ground work for today's hits. Regardless, it seems clear that in today's society where even today's hits fight with countless sources of media to capture attention, it seems clear that there is lack of appreciation for the great musicians of the past and that in order to keep the music industry strong its future leaders need to first understand its past.

Ultimately, to be successful in the music industry, you don't need to be born knowing and loving all music. However, you do need to be willing to learn the history and at least find a way to appreciate what you may not necessarily understand. So, the brilliant tweeters in this week's chat suggested we do our part to create a positive change by collectively building a list of must-know musicians. These are the people who set the standards, wrote the hits, sang the classics, and broke new ground; the people everyone who works in the music should at least be familiar with. The Nirvanas, Michael Jacksons, and Paul McCartneys. Sure, that's a big goal, but with your help, I think we can do it.

We Need Your Help
Check out the Google Doc (very much a work in progress) at http://bit.ly/xrV7BR and add anyone you think is missing.
Pass it along and share it with your musically-inclined friends.
Let us know in the comments or on Twitter what you think this project should be called
Tell us what other material you think should be included in this list. Do we need supportive material, a way to vote on who is included, Youtube links, a list of accomplishments? Want do you think?

Avoiding germs in the workplace

February is the height of flu season in the northern hemisphere. Are you doing everything you can to stay healthy? Instead of pulling from my work experiences and observations, today's post comes to you from my growing up with a microbiologist mother (microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms including but not limited to bacteria and viruses).

Tips for preventing catching/spreading illness

Wash your hands. OFTEN

This is perhaps the single most important thing you can do. We use our hands for a lot! Hand shakes, eating (for foods that don't require utensils), opening doors, typing emails on the computer, playing Angry Birds on the phone, etc. You may be the only one who touches your computer or phone but who knows how many people have touched those doorknobs at work? Avoid touching your face and wash your hands frequently! With lathered soap and water (hand sanitizer is not as effective).

Don't share food/drinks or any personal items

"It's ok, I'm not sick." Well, maybe. Illnesses are often contagious a day or so before the carrier even starts to feel sick and some people with a virus might never have any symptoms (lucky ducks!). So, to be safe, do not just discriminate against the red-nosed and the sniffly. Everyone's a suspect here.

Play it safe, even if you got a flu shot

Flu shots are all fine and dandy if you got one but, here's the thing, it takes some time to make a vaccine. So before the flu season even starts, scientists have to make a prediction about which strains are going to be the most prevalent this year. Basically, they have to go off of studies of current patterns and trends... like weather forecasters (and, you know, they don't always get it right). Additionally, flu vaccines aren't 100% guaranteed to save you from the strains they're meant to protect against either.

Avoid touching your face

People might think you're a little weird if you run to the bathroom every time you touch something (and will probably get offended if you do so right after shaking their hands). There's no need to be germophobic. Just try to avoid touching your face without washing your hands first.

If you do get sick, stay home!

Managers are generally very understanding of this and appreciate you keeping your germs as far away from them as possible. Just make sure to call or email your manager and any coworkers who may be affected by your absence.

Wash your hands.

It's so important, I listed it twice. Wash your hands. Frequently. With soap and water. Lather the soap first and make sure to actively wash your hands for roughly 15 seconds. Personally, I don't use antibacterial soap because flu's and the common cold are all viral (not bacterial) and you risk killing the good bacteria as well (yes, some bacteria helps us!) but if you like it then you should know that the soap needs to be lathered on your hands for 2 minutes before washing it off in order for the antibacterial components to be effective.

Stay healthy!

---

Katie Hazard | Digital Artist, User Experience Designer
khazard@internlikearockstar.com | @katie_hazard

Can You Be Too Persistent?

I saw an interesting conversation on Twitter a few days ago between an actor and some fans. Apparently, the actor was overwhelmed by the number of times people were sending the same message in an effort to try to get his attention. He tweeted something saying that trying to get a response via repeating the same message many times wasn't going to work. Most understood but a few people got mad and he spent some time explaining that it wasn't that he didn't appreciate them, it's just that insistently re-sending the same message countless times is not the right way to get his attention. Makes sense, anyone would be annoyed by constantly being contacted again and again by the same person, especially with the exact same message.

Keep that in mind when it comes to job hunting. Yes, you should follow up if you can, but there does come a point where being persistent turns to being obnoxious, and you don't want to find that point.

Freelance Life Lesson: Make it Easy for People to Hire You

Reader's Digest version: If you want to get gigs, make it easy for people to hire you.

Most professions have what are known as “networking events”: Elaborate parties where people go in half-hearted hopes of getting free drinks and rubbing elbows with that guy who did the thing with Whatshisname a few years back. I've been to some of these, and occasionally they're even tolerable.

While I'm not a big fan of these often-overblown hoopla sessions, I do believe that there's a certain something you get from face-to-face interaction that can't be reproduced by “friending” or “tweeting” or whatever. With that in mind, I went gum-shoeing it around the streets of my city today, dropping by various bars, night clubs, and venues that I haven't worked in a while.

Online Image: Google Checks You May Not Have Thought About

When it comes to your professional identity goes I'm sure you know by now that one of the most dangerous places is the Internet. You have to keep track of both what you post and what others say about you. I'm sure by now you have the basics covered: strong privacy settings, care of what images you post online, and occasional Google searches of your name. However, there may be something a little less obvious that could come back to haunt you.

To explain let's start with a basic Google search. If you plug in your name you may find your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or other popular social networking profiles. These sites usually all have something in common though that can provide more information about the online life you may have thought you were living anonymously. On most social networks you have to pick a username to identify yourself and create a link to your profile. Most people tend to use the same one for everything. This can be good for branding, but it can be bad too if you really do use the same name for everything.

This means those anonymous posts you made on message boards without using your real name, that secret dating site profile, angry comments on a blog, your profile on a diet site, your frequent post's on a controversial politician's message board, and all sorts of other things you may not want seen can easily be found now just by plugging in that user name. This can potentially be even more embarrassing if you're someone who has used the same online name since you were a teenager. So, don't just be careful what you post in association with your name, watch what you do with that username too.

What To Wear to A GRAMMY Viewing Party

Always dreamed of going to The GRAMMY Awards? You might be a bit too early in your career to get nominated or afford a trip like that, but that doesn't mean you can't experience at least some of the glitz and glamour. We've talked before about the benefits of joining GRAMMY U, the student version of The Recording Academy- the organization that holds The GRAMMYs each year. One of the most exciting benefits of joining though, is the ability to attend a GRAMMY Telecast Viewing Party at your local chapter. This year, viewing parties are being held in Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Houston, New Orleans, New York, Seattle, Washington DC, Miami, Philadelphia,  and Boston.

 

These parties are held during the live broadcast of the awards and usually take place at a local bar, club, restaurant, or venue. They often include, food, drinks, raffles, official GRAMMY programs, live music or DJs, a red carpet, and of course, a view of The GRAMMY Awards on the big screen. It's a fun way to watch the awards with local professionals while cheering on your local nominees and your favorite artists.

So what exactly do you wear to a GRAMMY Party? This year's invitation says "dress to impress" and in past years it has said "festive," both of which aren't all that helpful if you've never been to one before and don't know what to expect.

Work Distractions

Story time.

So, today at work, I'm sitting at my desk, typing work-y things on my computer, when a strange woman walks into the office. This part isn't so weird to me because the business next door used to occupy our office space so strange people come in all the time looking for a different service. No big deal. We point them in the right direction and they go on their merry way.

This woman, however, walked up to the fish tank in the back of our main area and loudly exclaimed, "Oh! What beautiful fish! What a gorgeous fish tank!" The fish inspired quite a bit more enthusiasm than they deserved, which was weird, but maybe she just really likes fish?

So a couple employees approached the woman asking, "Excuse me, ma'am, can we help you?" But the woman went talking excitedly about things that she saw in the office ("Insurance forms? Ooh! I could really use some for my kids!"). It was very bizarre.

After a little bit of this, she was asked to leave. She was asked to leave several times before being escorted out. We're not sure where she went but fortunately, she didn't come back.

So, why did I tell you this story? 1. Because it's weird and I had to share it with someone. 2. To demonstrate that sometimes there are unexpected distractions at work. Sometimes, a strange woman who really likes fish might walk in, or you might experience your very first earthquake (You Californians might laugh but the quake on the East Coast last year was really weird for us natives!), or some guy might walk in and offer you meat from the back of his truck parked outside (...oh yeah, that also happened once...).

On occasion, weird stuff happens. Don't let it throw off the rest of your day. Take a moment to talk to your coworkers about it if you want but then try to regain your focus. You can always go back to sharing your odd workday with your friends after work.

---

Katie Hazard | Digital Artist, User Experience Designer
khazard@internlikearockstar.com | @katie_hazard

What Can We Learn From Super Bowl Ads?

364 days of the year commercials are the time for grabbing snacks, doing homework, talking to friends, or, recently, fast forwarding. Then the Super Bowl comes and those rules are thrown out the window. Some watch the game solely for the commercials and in many cases, that is what is talked about most the next day. Some commercials even go on to become cultural memes, like the Old Spice Guy of the former Budweiser frogs.


When it comes to television, people are literally paying with their attention to commercials (yes, you pay for access but just for the service and does not cover the cost of producing the shows you watch). Advertisers pay to showcase their products based on each program's ratings and how many people are likely to be watching. However, if people can watch a show and just fast forward through the commercials they are no longer paying to watch the shows. So, television studios have been affected by DVRs in a way similar to how record labels have been affected by file sharing.

One common argument as to why the music industry has experienced a decline in sales is that quality has decreased and albums overall just aren't as great as they used to be.  Regardless of whether or not that statement is accurate, this does make sense from an economics perspective: the best prices are those where the seller and buyer both feel they are getting a good value. Currently, in music, this equation is off. So, is it possible that this is because consumers don't feel the value provided by the music is worth the asking price?

Most would agree that the reason they pay attention to the commercials during the Super Bowl is that they are particularly high in quality, entertainment value, and creativity. If people are willing to pay attention to something they usually might claim to be annoyed by, is it possible the same concept could be applied to music? Will people who generally don't buy music be willing to pay, in some form,  for music they consider to be truly great? According to the RIAA and NPD, only 37% of music is acquired illegally.   For argument's sake, imagine that there is one musician in the world who is unanimously loved by everyone. If this ideal artist were to release a new record, would that record see the same percent of illegal downloads as others do? Do you believe consumers aren't satisfied with the quality of most records and aren't willing to invest their money into them? Or at least that this was a catalyst for the success of Napster? Is there a way, like advertisers do at the Super Bowl, to use high quality content to make music fans more willing to pay?

What do you think?

Internship Opportunity with Philadelphia Producer/DJ Jack Deezl

Description: 
Jack Deezl is a Producer/DJ from Philadelphia who is looking for an assistant to help in all aspects of online/social media promotion. He has worked at an indie label as a viral marketing specialist for over 4 years so he can teach you what to do, but prior experience is a plus. 


Location: 
Philadelphia, PA 

Requirements: 
Someone who is passionate about EDM, specifically Dubstep, and willing to dedicate around 10-20 hours per week. Duties will include building Twitter/Soundcloud followers using an automated system, spreading the word about new singles and releases via various forums, websites and social media tools, and helping to acquire blog/press coverage. 


"This is an unpaid internship," Deezl says, "but I look out for my own, I've had a few people work under me before and it's worked out favorably for every single one of them. You'll learn important skills about how to use the internet to leverage your target audience towards your content, which would be great information to have for any aspiring musician or manager."


For more information visit:
Facebook
Soundcloud
Twitter

To Apply:

Send an email to jackdeezlmusic@gmail.com and include your age, college, degree/major, job/profession (if applicable), prior experience, and a paragraph or two on why you think you would be good for this position