This summer I had an internship in the music department of a talent agency in Los Angeles. I started out in the electronic department but later joined the music for visual media (MVM) department. The MVM department focuses mainly on finding films/projects for its clients, who are primarily film and television composers and “crossover artists” – touring musicians experimenting in the visual art world. Some of these clients were musicians whose work I greatly admire, making it a very enjoyable experience.
My day-to-day tasks varied, which kept me happily engaged throughout the 8-week program. The other interns and I were trained on the processes behind booking live shows, documenting ticket sales, and searching/signing new artists, and we sat in on talks about the present & future states of the music industry. (And, of course, there was some of the standard work that goes along with being an intern anywhere.) The people I worked closely with were extremely friendly, intelligent, and creative, and the work environment was always busy but never overly stressful.
My work during the internship frequently prompted me to consider the ever-changing ways in which music is distributed and consumed. How people listen to music, even how they conceptualize the “ownership” of music — i.e., iTunes versus cloud-based programs like Spotify — have been in flux for some time now. The music program at Wesleyan doesn’t focus much on the industry/business side of music, so this internship put a new and different light on what I’ve been studying here. At this point, I don’t yet know what I’ll be doing after graduation, but my experience this summer was nonetheless enlightening and gratifying!