Introduction
My internship for the summer 2015 season was at Entercom Buffalo. I was specifically stationed with Kiss 98.5. My site supervisor was Jud Heussler and his position is the Music Director at Entercom Buffalo. My learning objectives were to gain experience and understand the music business field and to understand what is marketable, while learning how radio correlates with record labels.
Work/Projects
My work ranged from answering phones for contests to working major music festivals for the summer. I assisted in weekly updating the 2015 summer guide for fun upcoming events during the summer in Buffalo. I also sent out tweets for contest winners and interacted with the listeners. I did some tasks such as driving to run errands and go to Fredonia, NY to drop off an RV from a concert. 3 major “projects” I had, were helping put on three big concerts for the 2015 summer season.
The three major concerts I worked over the summer were Kiss the Summer Hello, Starry Night in the Garden, and Kerfuffle. These concerts were considered my projects for the summer, which I gained hands on experience and exposure to the industry. I ran the social media accounts during the first two concerts and the last concert I worked the Record Theatre tent.
Kiss the Summer Hello was Kiss 98.5’s concert series, and my site supervisors main concert for the summer. I ran the twitter account throughout the show, posting updates of soundchecks, performances, and more. The other two interns and I also had to upload all the professional pictures from the meet & greet plus extra pictures from the event onto the Facebook page.
Starry Night in the Garden was Star 102.5’s concert series and it was much more intimate than Kiss the Summer Hello. It featured 3 artists such as Andy Grammer, The Veronica’s and Katy Tiz. I ran Star 102.5’s twitter account posting performance updates. I also had to upload professional pictures onto Star 102.5’s Facebook page.
Kerfuffle was the last and final major concert of the summer and it was Alternative Buffalo 107.7’s concert series. I didn’t work social media this time; instead I was given the privilege of working the Record Theatre tent. The Record Theatre tent was where all the acts went to sign their albums and meet the fans. It was a very cool experience and it was interesting to see how personable so many of the artists were. I assisted with the set up and tear down of the event so it was quite a long day. Overall, it was the most successful event of the summer, bringing in over 12,000 people.
Learning
Throughout my internship, I learned a multitude of things. I’ve learned to work well with groups especially at concerts. We have had to host three concerts, as I have previously mentioned, and this required myself to run tasks with others throughout the night.
One specific example is when we had to have one intern stay at the Courtyard Marriott down the street from the concert venue because it had wi-fi and we needed to run the USB with the photos from the concert and post them on the Facebook page. We had two of us wait for the photo’s to be edited at the concert location, while one would run back and forth with the USB, and the other at the hotel. This required a good sense of communication among us which helped the event flow well. This taught me how crucial it is to have good communication between your team.
This event was also the first major concert of the summer and the first event where we all officially met each other. So it was another example of first impressions and how important they are.
Preparing for my first day, I wasn’t quite sure what the dress code was at Entercom. I dressed in a nice top and black slacks with pink flats. I happened to be one of the most overdressed people there. However, I learned that you should always be dressed in a nice put together way if you are not sure what the dress code is for your place of business.
One last thing I learned was making mistakes is completely normal and part of the intern experience. I was making a multitude of tweets to be sent out and after I had finished all 50+ tweets, I realized I posted them for the wrong day and times. I had to go back and fix them all, taking at least another 30 minutes out of my shift. However, it helped me to learn that I need to be more aware of what I am doing. Sometimes, work can get repetitive but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give it just as much attention as something that is more intricate.
Future Plans
This experience has opened so many doors for me. It has given me wonderful connections and an understanding of how the music industry flows. I was highly optimistic that I was in the right field of study before I began this internship but after completion, I am more confident than I have ever been that I am in the right major.
Now that I have made connections in radio, I will attempt to gain an internship at a record label that networks with Kiss FM. Hopefully that will lead to my first professional job as a graduate student.
Preparation/Recommendations
There were a few ways that my major classes assisted me in the internship experience. The class, Strategic Use of Information Technology, gave me useful tools in excel that I was able to apply at my internship whenever I was asked to make spreadsheets. In Advertising, I was able to learn ways to make things seem more appealing to the eye or enjoyable to the listener. Marketing helped me to gain an understanding of what sells. Communications helped as well by learning how to present myself in the work place and how to work well with a team.
Some recommendations I would make is that I would make more opportunities for music business students to learn more about the music/entertainment industry. There needs to be more classes in understanding music contracts, laws, and just an overall way to understand production.