Thursday, December 18, 2008
Veronica's Last Day @ 93X
Veronica, 93X 2nd to last week
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Andrew Frost | Wooddale Church | 12/07 - 12/13
I also helped out for the Saturday night service. It was a typical setup at noon. The band showed up around 3:30/4:00 and then the service started at 5:15. The service went well and was a little more Christmas oriented. I'll keep you updated in my next post (it will also be my last).
Andrew Frost
Wooddale Church
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 12/7-12/14
UMGD-Aaron Chesling
Well this week at Universal Music Group Distribution, I put myself to work. I did a lot of PIM this week due to there being not a lot of work. The Quarter is coming to a close and like i said before the albums are out and are ready to be sold. This week I obtained a couple new albums: Fall Out Boys "Folie a Deux as well as isouljaboy Tell 'Em, All-American Reject's "When the World Comes Down" and Taylor Swifts new album "Fearless". All of the new albums are great and you should all check them out. This week I worked on some VIP passes for a Saliva meet and greet that is going to take place in St. Louis and Chicago. I have an opportunity to meet the group as well but we'll see if I have time. I think I may have a final during that time. But that is all I got for now.
Merry Christmas
Aaron Chesling
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Andrew Frost | Wooddale Church | 11/30 - 12/6
Later that night I can audio and a camera for an event in the chapel. It needed to be recorded so that it could be put to a DVD.
Peter has a friend in the live sound industry named Brad who got me a gig running sound for Robby Robinson and the Twin Cites Gospel Choir. It's a full band... drums, bass, 2 keys, sax and the Choir. I had to set up a portable system by myself becuase Brad had another gig. Setup went fine but just took some time. It was a festival type event with multiple acts. I didn't have to worry about the other acts just the band and choir. The band didn't get there until after the prelude/into music had started 15 minutes before the event. So with no sound check it was an interesting first song. It wasn't that bad at all but just a little frustrating. They played about 45 min. Then tear down with a little help and that was the night.
More to come this next week I'm sure.
Andy Frost
Wooddale Church
Monday, December 8, 2008
Aaron Chesling-UMGD
Im sorry but I haven't blogged in like 2 weeks, Not much going during thanksgiving and honestly this week I forgot. I am going to be done at Universal in about a week or two due to the fact that Universal shuts down for most of December thus concluding the internship. Lately I have been doing pretty much the same things but I have gotten to a few things for the Interscope Record branch. Just some random party organizing and some cleaning and some organizing of some record singles. And as for that we have been extremely slow, the quarter is almost over and product has been distributed and is ready to sell. I will try to remember this time to keep you update on these last few weeks. Thanks and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who read this.
Bookin shows
Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group - Dec. 7 2008
This week has been crazy busy. I came back from a brief respite at home and hit the ground running this week.
I'm working on the usual projects here at AEMG. Right now we are retitling one of our catalogs to share with another company.
AEMG recently made a deal with a major production company in which we are going to change the titles of all of the songs in one of our catalogs in order to share the publishing with the other company (which we will call AR Productions for the purpose
me of the best people you could meet as a burgeoning talent. It's a community of music professionals, whose sole purpose is to give young talent the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the top industry professionals. The people they get to speak on panels are extremely knowledgeable, and have a love for helping out the incoming generation. It's one of the best things you could do for yourself out here.
www.lawim.com
This will be my last week here at AEMG, I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've received from the moment I stepped off the plane. I've grown tremendously as an industry professional, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing this whole period in my life has been.
Thank you to all the people who were instrumental in bringing me here!
Debbie, Sarah, and Charley have gone above and beyond every expectation I had in coming, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for believing in me, and giving me the opportunity to not only show the industry, but also myself, what I'm capable of.
As I wrap things up here, I can't help but think about who I was when I first stepped off the plane, and who I will be when I get back on it. The amount of change I've experienced in myself makes jaw drop. Working with the wonderful people here at the Alan Ett Creative Group has given me so much confidence, and I thank them all for inviting me into their place of business and taking the time out of their busy schedules to befriend be and guide me through this whole experience.
My thanks to Ryan Neill for not treating me like an "intern", but as a young talent who needs to know what I'm doing in order to secure gainful employment. He has pushed me and not let me get away with mediocrity. Under his guidance, I've worked harder and with more passion than I ever have before. I am a stronger, smarter, and better equipped person now because of him and his tutelage.
I've fallen in love with this city, and with this industry, and I am going to do everything in my power to come back out here as soon as possible and start what I foresee to be a wonderful career.
Thank you all for letting me find myself and become the professional I always dreamed I could be!
Sincerely,
Rob
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Josh Woodard Pangaea Entertainment Group
This last week at Pangaea was another week of business as usual, i did my fare share of internet research, putting together lists and spreadsheets, I sent out a mailer of a hot new artist which i wish i could share with yall, but that is top secret classified pangaea information ya dig?! On tuesday we put on a Christmas networking party which I got to attend. I met a lot of really cool industry type folks, got to eat some really good food, and even saw a few celebs!!! OOOO AHHHHH All jokes aside it was a really good week, and like always, I spent most my time observing and absorbing as much as possible from my mentors, because that is really what its all about.
Peace tty next week,
Josh
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 11/30- 12/7
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Andrew Frost | Wooddale Church | 11/23 - 11/29
Friday, December 5, 2008
Trevor Weitzel - Universal MPLS
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Trevor Weitzel - Universal MPLS
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 11/23-11/30
Monday, November 24, 2008
Booking Shows
Finally Back at Work 11/20
Vance McCain, Darp Studios, Recording Technology
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Evan Gundlach, Music business, Universal, Twin Cities
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 11/16-11/23
Friday, November 21, 2008
Trevor Weitzel - Universal MPLS
Monday, November 17, 2008
Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group - 11/16/08
First of all I want to send out my deepest and most sincere thanks to all of the other interns, alumni, and Debbie for the wonderful surprise party for Sonny this weekend. You all have no idea what it meant to me, and how wonderful of a surprise it was.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!
Next, it was the busiest of busy weeks last week. I sat in on a sound design session at Media City Sound. I made a couple of contacts and exchanged business cards with a few people, and I made my way into an industry mixer with some of the top music supervisors in the country.
Sound Design was very interesting. By far the most artistic of the post production duties, the sound designers are responsible for making sure that the music picked out by the music supervisor fits in and works well with the moving images and audio clips that are part of the tv show. The sound designer referred to it as "Surgery" on the audio clips. Cutting and slicing bits and pieces of library music to fit the time frame of the scene, and adjusting the volume at various places to go underneath dialog as well as taking the library music and adding other pieces of music to it in order to make the music really become part of the show!
The Hunnypot Party was the official party to kick off the Billboard Music/Hollywood Reporter convention on Music in Film and Television. Most major supervisors in the U.S. were at least invited to this event, and alot of them showed up.
The most interesting thing about this event, at least to me, was watching the people interact with each other.
This was a party at a club, which meant, live bands and dim lights. What was cool was watching how people did business in this setting. Two salesmen from Alan Ett were here, and they had a strategy. Watching these two guys work was like watching pro sports, each of them knew what the other one was doing, and they were both working for the same common goal.
The Vice President of sales here at Alan Ett was also at the event. She had her spot staked out right by the door so that she could be the first one to talk to people as they came into the club. She also came equipped with her camera and took pictures of herself with people. At first it reminded me of being back at college and taking pictures with people because it was going to go up on their myspace, but then someone told my why she does it; Like I said, this was a club, so dim lights, and very hard to see the faces of the people you are talking to, so she takes pictures of herself with these people, so that she can see who it is she's talking to.
Brilliant!
It was a learning experience for me, and a sort of eye opener as well. This is how business is done out here. It wasn't a party, it was a giant business meeting.
That's all for now.
Thanks again everyone.
Rob
Evan Gundlach, Music Buisness, Universal, Twin Cities
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group
This last week I stayed busy with a couple large mailers that we did for some of our artist development campaigns. I also did research for the hush hush ATTACK! newsletter, and did a lot of work with the hhA! myspace. I also got to learn how to track radio airplay. We used these two industry websites to track every single spin an artist that we are doing a campaign for got in the last week. We then recorded the spins into an excel to show our artists what we've been able to achieve for them with our mailers. It was pretty sweet to see artists who's cd's I had mailed out getting airplay on radio stations across the country. This Weekend was also pretty awesome we had a McNally Gathering/Birthday party of sorts at our apartment on sat, which was loads of fun to see lots of awesome people that I haven't seen in forever, and see what's new and going on with everybody else. Today me and Monte from work went on an awesome OC adventure, we hit up Laguna beach, and Newport beach which are just as glamorous as the t.v. shows portray them to be. We drove onto this ferry and went to Balboa beach, then off to Huntington beach where we got to watch some crazy surf sets. We ended our sweet journey in Long Beach, where Monte showed me the different neighborhoods that Sublime, Snoop Dog, and Warren G were all from, which was pretty epic. It was the perfect end to a great week, and I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.
Take care everybody
Josh
Trevor Weitzel - Universal MPLS
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 11/9- 11/16
Andy Frost | Wooddale Church | 11/09-11/15
On Friday I came in for the morning to run sound for a funeral. It was only a podium mic and a soloist with piano so pretty easy to manage. That was about it for this week. More to come in following weeks...
Andy Frost
Wooddale Church
Booking Show for Franki Lee and Clawthroat
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Aaron Chesling-UMGD
This week at Universal Music Group I was quite busy. First I started with some good old fashioned data entry for some sound scan weekly sales on their excel files on the shared drive they use. After that I did some work on Pollstar material, I searched for all the groups playing soon and basically sorted them for Carolyn McKay. Both jobs were pretty big so they kind of took up most of my time, but after that I had just enough time to finish some radio grids for Sara Hartley with Fontana Records.
I am ready for what they have in store for me next time, I think that I'm gonna be learning some more stuff soon. That is all I got for now.
Monday, November 10, 2008
JEL Entertainment
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Vance McCain, Darp Studios
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 11/2- 11/9
Antonio Rosario - Week 8 - North Star Media
So last week, week 7, I got approached by a film director to design their myspace page for a little money. It was a nice part time gig, and it feels good to make some California income. I was also designing a landing page for Noises 10 via North Star Media - the placement didn't make it, but the layout is still up there. You can check out the rough draft of what it was going to look like at: http://www.orikal.com/noises10
This week, week 8, I did some more royalty statements, spreadsheet work, copying license agreements, etc. the usual. One cool thing about this week though was when Ron Sobel took about 45 minutes and told me about how he discovered Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam (if you're lucky enough to be my facebook friend, you've been seeing me post the pictures of the platinum plaques.) He also helped connect me with someone back in St. Paul for some potential work when I return.
hope the snow is treatin' you all good back in Minnesnowta. I'll be there to enjoy the driving conditions and shoveling duties soon enough :-)
Positivity,
-Antonio Rosario
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Aaron Chesling-UMGD
Well this week has been just about as fun as it it gets. First of all I started my week with about 3 hours of PIM, after completing about 50 of those was running around like a lost puppy (always an awkward feeling). Both of the individuals I work with were headed out early to vote, so I had to find something to do, so went around to all the labels asking for work. I was thinking of getting up and doing something constructive, so I was asked to do some packaging of some signed merchandise, in this instance it was a bar stool signed by NKOTB (New Kids On The Block). IT was kinda big so I had to pretty much build a box that would fit it safely without bending the steal or scratch off their signatures. I had to tape some a couple boxes together, wait it gets better, I then reinforced the inside and outside and filled it with packing papers and bubble wrap. After that I was pretty much set so I handled the front desk for a bit and I was off. On the way home I listened to the new Hinder album that I received from Universal Republic, I'm not sure what I think of it but for now that's all I got.
Andy Frost | Wooddale Church | 10/26 - 11/01
Andy Frost
Wooddale Church
Monday, November 3, 2008
Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group - 11/3/08
Most of my time was spent on a project that consisted of linking composer and lyricist information to songs in the Opus 1 music library database.
I got to see a very cool show at the Canyon Club on Saturday. A Pink Floyd tribute band played The Wall in its entirety. They were very good! The music was right on, and the over all band performance was amazing!
That's about all. This week should bring something good!
Marthe Mekuria at EMI/Capitol
Over the course of three days training with him, I have filled up an entire note book full of notes. All for me to learn and do. You could say I'm not bored anymore.
I'm a sales assistant to a few great new mentors, I do a lot of data base research and work directly with the RIAA to make sure tour managers report their album sales on the road (so artists can get nominated for awards). I also need to make sure they receive their product accurately and on time on road, and create accounts for them to a have products shipped. I'm responsible for making sure new release marketing books are accurate and delivered on time, this all is a two week process.
All by all, a bunch of computer researching, faxing, and constant back and forth communication with different record labels/groups.
What I've been up to
~Mikel Wright
MJG PRODUCTIONS
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Evan Gundlach, Music Business, Universal, Twin Cities
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 10/26-11/2
Saturday, November 1, 2008
My Frist Blog
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group- Week 6
Peace
Josh
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Veronica Rodriguez, 93X Week 6
Antonio Rosario - Week 6 - North Star Media
I am two days late in writing this blog, and my excuse is work.
I hope that works for you. :-)
So 2 weeks ago, I realized the work-load I had at North Star was okay, but it wasn't enough to really keep me stimulated, so I asked for more work. A lot more work. And a lot more work is what I got.
Besides trying to track down a ghost record company for over due royalties, I am now involved in designing a "landing page" for the band Noises 10, to promote their song being on the show Army Wives. My administration internship has now officially taken an interesting turn, as I am now doing web design for North Star Media.
This week, a huge project is under-way to track all of the quarterly source files for certain catalogues we own from 2004 til now. I didn't take my lunch today, instead, I took a brief half hour break to research current trends.
I suggest all other interns (or anyone who wants to get involved in the music industry) to block out a few minutes daily and check out the following sites:
http://www.billboard.biz
one of the leading sources of new in the music industry
http://www.artistshousemusic.org
wonderful resource for musicians and music business people
http://www.imeem.com
good site with some pretty tasty playlists
http://www.trendhunter.com
updated every 5 minutes with trends in every category
ASCAP also has a daily news feed that just started yesterday. They send you about 10-15 links to some good articles daily to your inbox. It's been a good resource so far.
Once again, I apologize for the tardiness of this blog entry. Days have been flying off the calendar and I can't believe it's Holloween this Friday.
Aaron Chesling-UMGD
Marthe Mekuria at EMI/ Capitol Records
Its Tuesday, 6 weeks into the internship program, and I have to go to Santa Monica today to do some paper work to officially be employed with this company.
Other then that.... I completed the internship requirements but will still be living at 'The Medows'.
Last week I learned how to use an online distribution data base to figure out what marketing and promotional tools are cost effective for certain albums and genres at the labels that we work on behalf of. I also went over several contracts of well known artist and record labels that my mentor has established deals with. I went to an in store, sat in conference calls and meetings.
I am very interested in how my following weeks will develop. I will have a lot of work to do, and a lot to learn. I also will have to get up earlier!!!!
To be at the office before 8 am every day... I would have to start taking the bus between 6 and 6:30 am. On Wednesday's I will have to be at the office before 6 am..... That means I will get up around 4 am...... I will take a bus between 4 and 4:30am...... Hmmm.... Good luck to me, going to sleep earlier, waking up on time and not to missing a bus!
Waking up early in California is not so hard because at least it isn't below zero, snow, ice, cars that won't start up etc....
Monday, October 27, 2008
Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group - 10/27/08
Sorry for a late entry, but last week was busy as all get out.
A major company was in town last week looking over the company and meeting with the different people to decide whether or not they want to do business with us.
It was very formal and very busy. A few major projects were also in the works, last week, and I got to sit in on a Sound Effects editing session for one of them, which was very interesting. No one really notices, but you'd be surprised how many background noises there are in a show that you don't even think of. Everything from the sound a couch makes when someone sits down, to just ambiance that goes on in whatever setting you're in.
I also got to attend a music supervision panel discussion that was put on by L.A. Women in Music.
That was also very interesting. I got to see a few of the people that I might someday be working for, as well as hear their opinions on what the industry is like today, and the different ways they deal with music on any given project.
After that, we got to the McNally Smith Interns and Alum picnic. It was a beautiful setting at the Marina, and a beautiful day to have it. It was good to see the other interns, as well as some of the alumni who are out here making their way into the industry.
Lots of things going on, and I'm looking forward to being able to relax a bit this week.
That's about all for now.
Stay tuned for next weeks exciting blog of L.A. Internships.
Andy Frost | Wooddale Church | 10/19-10/25
On top of that it was the one day of the year that they have a huge lift come and use it to get up and change all the bulbs in all the lights up in the truss. Since this time last year there were 14 lights out that we thought were just the bulbs. We bought 12 lights to replace others up there since the ones up there are about 20 years old. But once up there it was determined that some just could not be revived. So that meant getting those 12 new light fixtures set up and then mounted and aimed from the truss. After all that it was about 3am. Quite the day.
Andy Frost
Wooddale Church
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Evan Gundlach, Music buisness, Universal, twin cities

Well this has been quite a week. My week was already pretty busy since it was midterms, and I had tests in almost every class. I was already worn out on Tuesday, but when I got it I found out I could meet Ludacris. I was pretty excited although I've never really been a huge fan, I thought he would be really interesting to meet. The meeting was at best buy’s headquarters and there were about 40 people there. They played 2 of his new music videos and then introduced him. Ludacris actually did a lot of the talking which I was surprised about. His manager was there along with the vice president of Interscpoe records in New York. He talked about his new cd coming out, and we heard clips of just about every song that was on it. Again, like I said I’ve never been a huge fan, but I liked what I heard and it was cool having him explain each one. After the meeting everyone got to meet him and take a picture and get a signed photo. The meeting was a really nice break from the stress of midterms. I thought we were supposed to have a music meeting on Friday but since it’s a slow time of the year they didn’t have one. I worked on sales history for target and then organized a room full of promotional things for universal. This was definitely one of the more exciting weeks at universal and we will see if this next one can top it.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Another week passes
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group- Week 5
Aaron Chesling-UMGD-Ludacris

Hello everybody, this past week was one of the most exciting experiences i have had so far. Don't get wrong I am loving the soundscan, DMAs, and the PIM and what not, but I was ready for the this week. I was able to sit in on a artist discussion at the Best Buy Corporate Offices. This week they were able to bring Ludacris, one of my favorite hip hop artist. I was very shocked to see how Luda presented him self when he came in, he had excellent public speaking skills, this might be do to the fact that he used to be a DJ. Luda discussed his new album coming out in December, and what we could expect from it. He said that they were going to take a different approach to writing and mixing the album. The album is called "Theater of the Mind" it takes the approach of making what you hear to be very cinematic or very theatrical, in not only lyrics but maybe even a plot over the course of the album. The album is going to be mix in 5.1 surround sound as well as his music videos. His videos are now being shot in HD and blue ray for the even more up close experience. He showed us many of the new tunes on the album as well, we were some of the first to hear them as well, very good stuff coming this winter. After the discussion we were able to meet and talk to Island Defjam Crew icluding: Ludacris, his manager, and the president and CEO of Island Defjam, very fun experience, wont ever forget it.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Andy Frost | Wooddale Church | 10/12 - 10/19
Sunday, October 19, 2008
10/19/08 - Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group
I did the same sort of things that I've been doing the whole time, however this week seemed to be up in my head too much. Sometimes we all just need to take a step back and refocus our energy and determination back on to our goals. It's easy to get side tracked out here. This whole city is a booming hub of entertainment. It's easy to loose oneself amidst the constant hustle that goes on out here on a daily basis, it can be a bit of a whirl-wind that takes you for a ride in circles, but never really gets anywhere, which is what I contended with this week.
Saturday, however, was a great day. I finally got to get out of the apartment and see some real sights. It was a day of reflection and realignment, further affirming my goals and aspirations of making money in the industry out here.
I got to see some very cool places that have alot of musical history in them. As well as meet some people that were very inspirational and very wise.
This weekend was just what I needed to put me back in the right mind to do what I set out to accomplish. I can't wait for these next few weeks. I'm expecting some very cool things to happen!
Vance McCain, D.A.R.P Studios, Recording Technology
God Bless,
Vance McCain
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 10/12- 10/19
Antonio Rosario - Week 5 - North Star Media
The past week has been different - I've been working in the administration department exclusively, but I am now doing work for the creative department as well.
The major project of the week was going through all of our library contracts to see if they had a roll-over clause, and to check and see if the term had ended or not. Ron was so pleased with the work, that he said he may have some more contract work for me soon.
I've been getting a taste of the company in every department, and I am thankful for that opportunity.
I'm writing this at the Apple store in the grove, so i'll keep this short.
til next week.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Aaron Chesling-Universal Music Group- week 3
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group- Week 4
Josh
Monday, October 13, 2008
B96 internship 10/13/08
Deuces..
Delreece
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Evan Gundlach, Music Buisness, Universal, Twin Cities
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 10/5-10/12
Vance McCain, D.A.R.P Studios, Recording Technology
Vance McCain
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Antonio Rosario - North Star Media - Week 4 - 10/11/08
This week I finished up my royalty statements at North Star Media, got to work on an EPK i'm working on for Sota Rico Productions, got to work on a press release i'm doing for Sota Rico, got asked by Warren Griffin to do his myspace design, and picked up a paid design gig back home for a group called Self Made Hustlers.
I also sent out ASCAP writer / publisher registration forms back home to Maria so she can register her stuff.
Marty Silverstone of NSM checked out my CD and liked it - the next time there's a hip hop placement needed he said he'll try to pitch my stuff. That's exciting.
ummm... what else... I'm supposed to go visit Toni out @ the Meadows tomorrow - hopefully I have all my work done before then.
My new toy of the week is the Blackberry Curve - it is a very handy device for a businessman on the go - if you're considering picking one up, I encourage it. my business number is 818-433-5876, you may give me a call if I can be of service to you.
That's pretty much it - it's been a month already. time flies when you're handling business. i've been making some wonderful connections and enjoying the warm weather. The amount of knowledge i've obtained so far out here is unbelieveable - it's a crazy game, but being out here is teaching me how to play it properly.
My company back home in MN; Graff Roots Media will be making a holiday album. that should be fun. :)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group - 10/10/08
I mainly stuck to my normal intern duties, data-entry, casting, random odds and ends. however, I did get to do a couple interesting things this week.
I got to sit in on a dialogue editing session, which was very interesting. Most people who I talk to say it's probably the most boring job of the sound design field, however I found it pretty cool. Maybe it's because I don't do it every day.
It's interesting to see a technician take rough recordings, and I do mean ROUGH, and shape them in pro tools. The end results were amazing. I even watched this guy take parts of two other completely different words, cut them apart, and make an entirely different word, and you would never be able to tell, the guy on screen even looked like he was actually saying it.
Keep that in mind the next time you watch an interview on a reality show.
Anyway, not much else to tell. I'll try to have something really good for you next week!
Until Then.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Attention to Detail
I am currently interning at UMGD (Universal Music Group Distribution) in St. Louis Park. So far it has been a great experience. I really think I lucked out with where I was placed. I think I am getting the best overall experience you get from an internship here at Universal. I have plenty of responsibilities, and truly get to learn the system. It's nice knowing my work actually makes a difference.
I am in the Sales & Marketing Dept. for Universal/Motown/Republic. This is the largest division under the entire Universal label. It is our responsibility to work with accounts like Target and Best Buy to get them to bring our products into their stores, and get placement in their weekly ads. I do quite a bit of analysis, like what an artists previous album has sold, and project what their next album will sell. Its definitely not easy these days, with all the digital downloading that takes place.
My biggest project thus far has been organizing a raffle for a charity called City of Hope that does cancer research. We got all of the branches together and they donated all kinds of Autographed Music Memorabilia. Then we sold raffle tickets for $5 each. We ended up raising $5000. Not too bad if you ask me.
Well I think that gets me up to speed thus far. I promise there will be more to come.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tim Leutgeb.Acadia Cafe.Week 2
Tim
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Aaron Chesling-Universal Music Group-Week 2
Fonatana and their representative Sara Hartley, who I met the first week, had me do some sorting of various tours and merchandise in each of those areas. It was mainly just excel work but it was interesting to see how many shows each band was doing, and where they were playing. I was sorting info for bands of almost all genres like Pennywise, Tech 9, Pop Evil, as well as many other independent artists. As for Friday I believe we are going to have another board meeting discussing more pre-released material and stuff that just came out this week, I am very excited to see whats new.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Antonio Rosario - North Star Media - Los Angeles - Week 3/4 or something
Antonio Rosario here reporting live poolside in Los Angeles, California.
I just got out of a meeting with David Llauger Meiselman of Boricua Films (http://www.boricuafilms.com)
I'm a day late (oops) on posting, and for that I apologize - I had one helluva stressful week, so i'll try to break it down as well as possible -
Last week I completed another catalogue, which lead me to working on royalty statements. I got through 2 different stacks, and now my last stack awaits me on my desk tomorrow. Besides that, I got to watch an upcoming episode of American Idol: Rewind for any songs that weren't cleared.
Work as usual - things are going fantastic at North Star Media.
Last monday, I was offered a spot as Vice President of Sota Rico Productions, and I accepted - this increased my workload. I am now working on online press kits, writing press releases, designing the new Sota Rico myspace, and I designed all of our business cards! :-)
Besides that, I catalogued all the songs under my own company Graff Roots Media, and am working on clearing samples for a project we have released so it can be considered pitch-able.
It's been a week full of phone conferences, meetings, typing, and headaches... but this week is a completely new week.
you may now reach me at Antonio.Rosario@SotaRico.com - but it'll just forward to my Orikal@gmail.com account anyway ;-)
B96 internship 10/3/08
Rob Peek - Alan Ett Music Group - 10/5/08
I'm starting to get myself into a bit of a routine here, which is both good and bad. It's good because I'm getting comfortable with what I'm doing, and the people I'm working with. I'm building great relationships with the people here, and have turned some important heads already. It's bad because now I have to keep myself from getting complacent. I'm finding myself drifting off into space every once in a while, and while it's nice mental break, I need to stay focused.
There is alot to learn here, and no one will tell you what to learn, or how to learn it. Everything I've done so far has taught me something, though it's easy to view it as tedious, monotonous, and boring, there is a purpose for it.
The trick is figuring out why it is so important, and then deriving a lesson from it.
That's about it. This up coming week looks like it will be busy and full of new experiences.
Until then,
Rob Peek
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group- Week 3
Keep it real,
Josh
Evan Gundlach, Universal, Music Business, Twin Cities
Well, Another interesting week at universal. This week I ended up working on a lot of little projects. Tuesday I worked on entering pim for best buy. This is putting packaging information into a computer system to make shipping of cd’s easier. I did that for a while and then I helped with some more mailings for some best buy items. I also found out that we have an extension until February on the target tour analysis so I will be working on that every once in a while when I have free time. On Friday there wasn’t a music meeting, but it gave me a lot of time to catch up on target history reports. I had to pick up where the last intern left off so I have about 2 months of sales to record. I am almost caught up now and it got much easier the more I did it. Well, that was my week this week I think next week ill be working more with target, but I guess we will see on Tuesday.
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis- 9/28-10/5
Vance McCain, Darp Studios, Recording Technology
God Bless,
Vance McCain
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Marthe Mekuria at EMI/Capitol
Friday, October 3, 2008
Veronica, 93X Week 3
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Evan Gundlach, music buisness, universal, twin cities
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Veronica, 93X Week 2
Andy Frost | Wooddale Church | 9/20/08-9/27/08
On Wednesday we spent a lot of the time putting together racks of audio and video gear. It's all for the new campus that is opening in November. The church is in the middle of being renovated so its pretty dirty everywhere. We are not just waiting for a some thing to get finished until we can get all the gear into the church and get everything up and running. It's pretty cool we could have had an install company come in an do a lot of the work but we are saving the church so much money by just doing it ourselves. It involves some extra work though... plus it's pain cleaning up everything.
I also was in on Saturday becuase they needed extra help for the Saturday night service. I ran cameras. They record every Saturday night service as a backup in the case that there is an emergency and the pastor is unable to speak. They would be able to play the video of the sermon for the Sunday services. It doesn't seem like a difficult job but you have to follow the pastor as he walks around stage so that he never gets out of the camera shot. It's easy to get distracted i guess. It went fine though.
I guess that was most of what happened this week, I'll keep you all updated.
Andy Frost
Aaron- Universal Music Group Chapter: I
Tim Leutgeb, Acadia Cafe
I left Acadia May 2008 for the summer. I returned September 2008 to do another internship for the semester. My goals this semester are to increase sales through marketing. The question becomes, how do you use music to generate sales? I have developed Acadia’s MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/theacadiacafe) I work the calendar on the website (http://www.acadiacafe.com/) and am currently developing a monthly newsletter that will be sent to over two thousand e-mail addresses.
Upcoming shows at Acadia Café:
Last Weeks show had two McNally Smith bands involved...
Monday, September 29, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group- Week 2
until next time keep it real,
Josh
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Langen- ASCAP-MInneapolis
- Sleep Is The Enemy
- This Last Dance
- Modern Day Satire
- Same Sick Feeling
- The Hand Me Down Kids
- Here's My Chance
Lessons, sunshine,and memories...
Here are a couple of key points...
1) CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR
It doesn't matter what you did where you come from, when you come down here, the only thing that matters is what you get done, DOWN HERE. It's a whole other ballgame down here compared to the Twin Cities music scene, from the business, to the politics, to even the slightest interactions. Every single step you take down here will either A) open up a door, or B) slam that door straight on your ass.
In the Twin Cities, people are very open with their studio sessions and other musical business, it is very communal. Everyone tries to help everyone. Out here, you need to have your own thing going, because NOBODY is going to stop THEIR progress just to help YOU out. And if they do, you better be thankful, and it better be worth while in the end for them.
2) PEOPLE ARE ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS...
...and the person you see in front of you is in the same game and the same jungle you are - watch out. People are out to elevate themselves and will do whatever it takes to get to the top of whatever we think we're climbing.
With that being said, I've done a lot since my last blog update, so I'll try my best to recap the best I can.
Work @ North Star Media is phenominal - I transferred both their ASCAP catalogue and their BMI catalogue from a word document to a spreadsheet - may not sound fun, BUT - It gave me a chance to get to know their song catalogues, songwriters, sub-publishers, and how to efficently catalogue songs, which I then went home and used with my own business. All the transferring took me about a week to complete, which I think suprised them, as the job was supposed to last atleast a few weeks. This left me wide open for new tasks, so I got to review clearance sheets, do some song research to track down contact info for publishing companies and writers, and now am being involved in a HUGE project. Besides that, I got my music in the hands of Marty Silverstone, the VP of the creative department (who just got a mention in Billboard Magazine) - he is the one responsible for pitching songs to TV, film, advertisements, etc. - I also got to play the role of A&R and listen to some music submissions, take down notes and let them know what I thought. Not too bad to spend a couple hours @ work like that.
I also went out to Juliana Cole's performance at Genghis Cohen in Hollywood - she's an artist represented by North Star. I brought my camera and did some photography and video work, which also benefited Mr. Silverstone -
then on the way home...
Toni Alberte, whom is interning at Urban Network, came by to visit yesterday. It was nice to see her and spend some time with her - friends, (atleast "real" friends) are few and far between down here, i've found myself on the phone conversating longer with people back home than anyone down here. but who knows, maybe that will change - i'm still in my growth period, my LA transitional period.
It was a long week and i'm definitely enjoying the weekend -
I wrote 2 songs and made 2 instrumentals -
here's one:
"Lighten Up"
Antonio Rosario
http://www.orikal.com/LightenUp.mp3
til next time.
-Antonio Rosario
GRAFF ROOTS MEDIA
Sota Rico Productions
651-329-0699
Orikal@gmail.com
Friday, September 26, 2008
Take me out to the Ballgame
It's starting to get busy here, or so I'm told. I don't really know what "slow" is like out here, so I have no reference to know what "busy" is, but I'll take their word for it.
I'm still working on the nuts and bolts work, filing, stocking libraries, organizing the stock room, casting music (which basically means listening to alot of music and inputting into a database the feel, genre, mood, description, and tempo. It sounds fun at first, but it quickly becomes tedious and mind numbing.) All these things are helping me in basic ways, for that reason, I'm glad to do it, but I can't help but be eager to get my hands on some bigger things.
Today I got sit in on another spotting session, this time for a Pilot episode of a new TV show. For discretion reasons I can't tell you what it is, but it's a dark comedy, with an extremely depressing storyline.
It amazed me how important the right music is to a show. The juxtaposition of bright, slightly cheery, almost comedic music kept the show from going completely dark. As I said earlier, it's a dark comedy, it's supposed to be a funny show with a depressing story, the music kept it from being a depressing show with a few funny lines.
Now, whether or not the show gets picked up has yet to be seen, however I don't think I'd be exaggerating when I say it has a MUCH better chance with the music that was put in it today.
On top of that, those who read my last blog will (hopefully) remember me talking about getting to sing on some recordings that were done for a commercial and a movie trailer. No word back yet on either of those, however, yesterday I got asked to do two more songs! I should be hitting the studio sometime on monday to record and I'm pretty excited. No one has really told me anything about them, other than what songs they are, and that they are for a video game. Not the commercial, mind you, but will be placed in the actual game. I'm not sure what the game is, and again, for discretion purposes, I can't tell you what songs, but I'm very excited to be doing even more work with my voice.
Yes, Janice, it sure does pay to be versatile in this industry. I can't believe the opportunities I've gotten out here in just two weeks, and it's all because I had that extra bit of training that put me in the position to do these things.
It's a crazy industry we've chosen to get into, it can do amazing things for you if you can step up to the plate and swing the bat.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The first week at my internship at EMI Urban Marketing went very smoothly.I learned a lot. I worked with BDS, Souns Scan, and Insight. They are data systems that scan records sales, digital sales, video, radio play and more. I've been moslty analyzing demographics and predicting record sales for ongoing deals at the department using theese database systems, reviewing presskits, demo's, albums and record labels. Aside from that I've been moslty researching and reading up on the subject.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Josh Woodard- Pangaea Entertainment Group- Week 1
This week was my first week working at Pangaea, an international company that specializes in music and the global market place through its world class companies, which include A&R Worldwide, MUSEXPO, hush hush ATTACK, Passport Approved, and Rebel Synch. I am really blessed to have this opportunity to be working with these guys. They collectivly have a wealth of knowledge and insight into the music industry, that is absolutely priceless to a person such as myself who has for as long as I can remember have wanted to work in and around music.
My dream has always been to be a performer this might make you think,"hmmmm why are you interning in an office that does business?!" Well the answer is actually quite simple. In this day in age to be a succesful artist it is a very challenging task, and you need to know the business end of things. So far I've gained a lot of insight as to just how challenging of a task the up and coming artists of our day are facing. I've also begun to gain a whole new world of respect for the work that goes on behind the scenes of every band and singer you here on the radio, and see on t.v.
I was a little worried at first about my lack of business education, but so far not only have I been able to get done the tasks my mentors assign to me, but I've really enjoyed the work. It is a great sense of accomplishment to be contributing to the world of music, and at the end of the day thats all I could really ask for. I look forward to the weeks ahead, learning the tricks of the trade, and growing my newly ackquired passion for the business side of music.
Well thats all I've got for y'all now, but be sure to check back next week and see whats going on in this exciting new chapter of my life!
Peace & Love,
Josh
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Vance McCain, Darp Studios, Recording Technology Student
God Bless
Vance McCain