Fortunately, I have known that I have always wanted to work in the music industry ever since I was a kid. Getting into music entertainment or working for a music company is not easy, you must be persistent, work hard, take some risk and keep up with the latest trends in the field or talented enough to create your own trends.
Thousands of people have dreams of becoming the next hot rapper, rock band, singer or entertainer. There are even thousands of people that are looking for jobs in the industry as well. Only the strong survive in this industry and nothing is going to be given, you have to build relationships with people in the industry, work hard and earn it.
Currently, I am a New Media intern at Warner Bros. Records in Burbank, CA. I definitely have bigger plans than to just be an intern and looking for other opportunities but please believe me, I have worked hard to get to where I am and will have to continue to work smarter and harder to get to where I want to be.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, my road starts from the age of 9 years old learning to play the trumpet. I then started to learn how to play piano at 11 years old. I played in school bands, pep bands, and started playing for people in my high school talent shows. I continued to study music going into college at Alabama State University and UAB and eventually majored in Music Technology, where I learned how to use music, audio and multimedia software and recording equipment. In college, I kept myself involved with music. I was in Marching Band, Pep Band, Jazz Band, Concert Band, Computer Music Ensemble, participated in talent shows, I was a rapper with a group called "Unusual Suspects", I was on the Entertainment Committee, and I hosted a Hip-Hop show called "The Cybercipher" on Blazeradio, an Internet Radio Station. I am also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, INC, which is a music fraternity. Being involved allowed me to network, build relationships and learn so much about music but at the same time I also learned that there are many shady people in the music business or trying to get into the industry that will try to take advantage of you as I learned interning at a recording studio in Birmingham, Alabama and had rights to my music I created pretty much stolen from me.
After college, I moved back to Cincinnati shortly after graduating to take a "break" from school to work with a friend who was having a studio built in his basement. After working with him for awhile things did not work out with us and we went our separate ways. Then all of a sudden I found myself working a 9 to 5 job and being in a challenging relationship, unhappy and getting away from networking and not creating music.
After dealing with wannabe artists and shady people trying to "make it", one day it finally clicked in my head to get my own equipment. So I started saving money and using extra money I had and bought my own equipment to where I didn't have to depend on other people anymore. Next, I finally made a tough decision to get out of the challenging relationship of 3 years because we were going in different directions in life and I could not be the man or caregiver she would need me to be and follow my dream of being in the music industry at the same time. So after "The Big Break Up" I started getting myself involved with music again and started working for BMI as a part-time music researcher, going to different venues and establishments in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana to create performance licensing and songwriter royalties reports.
So what was suppose to be a two year "break" from school and moving back to Cincinnati to see if I could get into the music industry from a street level, turned into seven years of walking away from a recording studio business a friend where we had our differences and on a business level could not see eye to eye with, working jobs I was not happy with, getting into a relationship that fell apart because of a life-changing experience that I could not handle and not getting anywhere in the music industry other than getting my own equipment and doing work for BMI.
All of a sudden, things started to change. I decided to go back to school for my Master's and enrolled at Full Sail University and studied Entertainment Business online. The program taught me the business aspect of music, learning management strategies, marketing techniques and how to put together a business plan. I started working on Official Life Entertainment, a startup label and I also gained friendships with classmates in the program that I can network with and networking skills I didn't have before. I started building relationships with artists, promoters and other music/entertainment professionals in Cincinnati and around the country.
Thirteen months later I graduated from Full Sail in June 2010 and recently in October 2010, I moved to Los Angeles (Burbank) CA to intern for Warner Bros. Going into 2011, I am still working on putting together Official Life Entertainment and interning at Warner Bros, as well as recently interviewing with other music companies seeking other opportunities. I am truly looking forward to 2011 and to see what happens next.
My advice to young artists, entrepreneurs and people striving to get into the music entertainment industry is to stay focus, persistent, get educated about the business side of music. Artists, it is truly not all of the glamour you see in videos or hear in songs. It's hard work, artists truly work hard in this business. It's more than making a song, performing on stage, pretty girls/guys and after parties. You got to work hard to play hard. Entrepreneurs and people looking to work or get an opportunity, you have to keep your integrity and build relationships in the business with professional people that are working in the business or that have had success, be very detailed and specific on your resume about things you have done in the industry and build a team of people who knows and sticks to their roles.
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