20 Music Week 30.11.12 FEATURE BREAKING INTO THE INDUSTRY
“The course I was on offered a broad overview of not only academic topics that relate to the world of music, but also more
vocational areas such as the workings of the recorded music industry, artist management and the multifarious legal issues that arise within the industry” PHIL CONNOLLY, SONY MUSIC
“I definitely think that the internship process gave me a chance to learn while showing what I’m capable of in a real world sense” MATT O’DALY, WARNER
understanding of how the music trade worked as a whole before targeting a specific area that suited his particular skillset. “If you’re not lucky enough to already be
working within the industry in some capacity, it’s difficult to appreciate how its various sectors function, or where you might fit in career-wise,” he says. “The course I was on offered a broad overview of not only academic topics that relate to the world of music, but also more vocational areas
ABOVE Master of all trades: With more industries forming partnerships with the muisc industry, a non-music background can actually be a useful attribute
such as the workings of the recorded music industry, artist management and the multifarious legal issues that arise within the industry. “I was most interested in the recorded music
side of things,” Connolly adds. “I stumbled upon a marketing role at Sony Music, where the knowledge I gained at university stood me in good stead at the beginning of my career.” Degrees can obviously help inform the music
industry’s next generation about their dream job, then. But as the old addage goes, there’s no substitute for experience. And what experience could be more relevant than that gained from your future employer? Warner Music eCommerce manager Matt O’Daly landed an internship on the major label’s Direct To Consumer team after
TAKE INTERNS UNIVERSAL MUSIC’S SCHEME FOR ASPIRING EXECS
leaving university. “I definitely think that the internship process
gave me a chance to learn while showing what I’m capable of in a real world sense,” he told Music Week. “It allowed me to build relationships that were beneficial when I was interviewed for a full time role, so in a sense gave me a head start. “I have been at Warner for three-and-a-half
years now,” he adds. “I’m an ambitious person and I think the internship program gave me an opportunity to show this first hand. “I love the fast-paced nature of the business, the
landscape has changed a lot since I joined the department and I feel privileged to be part of it.” Warner Music UK Human Resources director
Peter Wheeldon says of the label’s scheme: “Internships have always been important to the music industry but at Warner we are particularly pleased with how our internship programmes have developed. “Not only are we able to offer a number of
differing pathways into the business for both school leavers and university graduates, by investing the time and resources into training and development, we are able to offer many of them permanent positions and thus significantly reduce our recruitment costs.” In the last couple of years, around 70% of
Warner Music UK’s junior vacancies have been filled by either previous or current interns, according to Wheeldon. “This represents a win-win situation for all
concerned," he says. Between a music industry-specific degree and
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Senior director of HR Morna Cook outlines Universal Music’s paid internship scheme: “Before we launched this scheme in October 2009, we offered unpaid work experience but we weren’t particularly comfortable with it. We felt that not everyone could work for six months unpaid – it narrowed the talent pool as not everyone could apply. “So now we pay the London living
wage for a 12-month internship and take on around 20 new interns each year. That’s in every part of our business from the creative – A&R, marketing, promotions, Digital - through to legal,
finance and sales. “We recruit interns in exactly the
same way that we recruit other employees and once they are hired they are treated like any other employee: they are set objectives at the start which are reviewed and monitored and they are able to go on all training and development courses offered to other employees. We also do intern networking brunches, giving the interns the opportunity to share their experiences. We invite guest speakers from around the business. “Towards the end of the internship we speak to them again to find out what
they’re looking to do next. They’re eligible to apply for all of the roles within our business. “It’s been such a successful scheme
and one I’m really proud of because making it paid really did open up the eligibility to work at Universal Music and I know it’s now a model which is being followed in other media businesses. “There’s a really good conversion rate
of interns becoming permanent employees but even if that doesn’t happen within Universal, most of them go on to find roles within the industry as they have gained the key skills required to get entry level roles.”
“I am deeply concerned about the future of the industry and the enormous challenges we face as music creators and distributors. Henley Business School is being proactive in addressing these issues” JOHN ANTHONY MARTINEZ, PRIVATE PLANE
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