by Meghan McCormick
The route to my summer 2007 experience began back in October 2006 when the music industry faculty at James Madison University (JMU) invited David Reynolds, the former VP of Pop Promotion at Universal Republic Records, to come to JMU and speak with music industry students about the business.
During his visit, David emphasized the importance of having a proactive and flexible attitude if we wanted to be successful in the music industry. With that in mind, I sent him an e-mail thanking him for coming to speak with us and inquired about getting an internship with Universal Republic for the summer. I even mentioned that I'd be prepared to lick a thousand envelopes if that's what I had to do to make connections and move up in the industry.
David liked my wit and had his assistant, Madeline, contact me with information regarding Universal’s internship program. She explained to me that they would not hire summer interns until April, but told me to keep in touch with them throughout the year. Since the music industry is very people oriented and built on relationships, I e-mailed both David and Madeline every so often throughout the school year, telling them what I was learning in my music industry classes and reminding them of my interest in an internship. When April came around, Madeline hired me via a phone interview.
After moving into a resident hall at Columbia University on the upper west side of Manhattan, I started my first day at Universal Republic Records. Once I was cleared through security (a standard in most New York offices), I ventured to the top floor of the building where I was met by Madeline. The promotions office was located a few blocks north of times square on Broadway and was everything I imagined a record company would look like: posters of musicians covering the walls, trendy furniture, music on constant play, and of course, very busy people.
The first thing that caught my eye as I entered the office was a wall covered in posters of the singer/songwriter, Colbie Caillat. I first heard Colbie Caillat on MySpace where she spent four months as the site's most-played unsigned artist. In burst of excitement, I mentioned to Madeline that I loved Colbie and that she was one of my current favorite artists. Madeline told me that Colbie had just been signed with Universal Republic and would be visiting the offices that day! I couldn't think of a better thing to happen on my first day.
As I became oriented at the office, I was assigned to work for a promotion assistant, Andre Grell. Working with Andre taught me a lot about working by doing and paying attention to details. He had once been an intern with the company and was now in a full-time position. He made his interns do everything he had to do as an intern, but always explained the significance of the work we were doing and made sure we understood why we were doing it.
My daily tasks included managing and maintaining Facebook and MySpace pages for seven artists, including the Shop Boyz who had the hit, "Party Like a Rockstar." I researched Billboard charts, iTunes Charts, and SoundScan reports, and of course had a lot of those typical intern duties—getting people's lunch, running errands around Manhattan, and general office tasks.
I loved every minute of my time at Universal Republic. There were times when the president of Universal Republic, Monte Lipman, would invite the interns into his office to listen to potential new artist and ask for our feedback and opinion on their sounds. Even while working together with other interns on tasks as mundane as putting together hundreds of promotional mailings, I still felt a sense of empowerment. We were a team working together, and everyone from the executives to the interns were vital to the success of the office.
Daily I was inspired by the hard work and creativity produced by every individual in the office. I was constantly challenged to do my best, to think quickly on my feet, and to learn all that I could.
Working at Universal was just half of the experience. Living in New York City, without the watchful eye of mom and dad or the support of a college community behind me, was another thing. I had to learn how to live with complete strangers from all across the country, to navigate one of America's busiest cities, and budget with a limited income.
When people ask me about my summer, I tell them that I felt like I took a time machine to the future. Participating in an internship in my interested field not only confirmed my interest in the music industry, but it really gave me something to strive for and a great experience to put on my resume.
JMU faculty helped me open the door to such a great internship, and now I am spending my last year at Madison preparing to step through that door.