Breaking Into the Business

ADV378 Offers students a valuable introduction to the music industry

Former Journalism and Public Relations double-major Kaitlin Reid has brought a unique offering to the Moody course schedule with a class she says she would have liked to take as a student to prepare for a career in today’s music industry.

The course, which is titled “Digital Strategy in the Music Business”, is taught by the current Sony Music Entertainment’s Global Streaming Strategy Manager who seeks to replicate an experience students would receive at a major label without the confines of location or other cost-prohibitive factors standing in the way.

“I want to help students understand the basics and mechanics of a very niche, yet super complex industry,” Reid said. “My goal is to shed light on the various different paths, departments and opportunities that the music and entertainment space offers at the intersection of business and creativity.”

Reid describes how the music business can be hard to understand and navigate without having first- hand knowledge or work experience that offers the insight valuable to those interested. Through her class, students are given a unique experience with Reid being the link in the chain to both expose students to the business while helping  them build marketable skills that will set them up for success in the future.

“Everything has music, so the curriculum is pretty fun,” Reid said. “We have a variety of projects, and l dive into some great readings, podcasts, and timely discussions throughout the course that all have something that students can reference in an interview in the future.”

The class also features guest speakers from across the music business who share their unique insights from working in the industry , answer questions about different roles that exist, and offer valuable advice on how to navigate students’ professional futures.

“Guest speakers offer different perspectives across the industry and also [give] the opportunity for students to network with a wide array of people” Reid said.

Though the music industry is most prevalent in cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville, Reid has brought a piece of it to the live music capital of the world. With such an intentional and immersive class, students are introduced to an industry that may seem impenetrable otherwise. Advertising plays a dynamic role within and across many industries, but in ADV 378 students can explore the intersection between Advertising and the path to bringing music from industry to market. To current and future students to come, Reid shares this:

“One piece of advice I would give is to start examining your own behavior—that spans from how you listen to music to how you interact with content in the real world,” Reid said. “Whether it’s skipping a song, adding it to your favorites, or listening more on one day of the week versus another-- think about what caused you to do that and why.”

Michelle Almonte