My daughter is due 2 do her work experience in 6 weeks and she desperately wants it 2 be something 2 do with music.I suggested we approach a few music studios but I'm doubtful they would allow her a placement. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Her school are no help,they've told her 2 be more realistic,just want 2 stick her in an office or something. Thanx in advance.

skipper said:

there are all sorts of subdivisions in music...that might open a door for her..
1) Radio Station
2) Music Agent
3) Booking agent
4) Music Publishing
5) Concert/Promoter

tell her to keep knocking on doors and to not give up

how about working at a music mag or for a music section in a newspaper or magazine?

Great suggestions guys,thanx

Concert Promoter is best. You get to go to the gig for free and get given free posters and flyers. You're supposed to give them out to everyone. I always keep a couple and people are always willing to take the rest. It's great!

i think many schools, especially those who aren't strong in the arts will always encourage their students to take on sciences and office work

its sad

i dont know much about the music industry myself, but the suggestions given so far do seem like awesome ideas to look into

tell your daughter to not give up on this especially if its her passion
and kudos 2 u for not trying to make her do otherwise

good luck!

start a band!

the benefits...

1.you create art.
2.you choose your hours
3.you chose the people you want
4.you have fun..

SammiJ said:

the science part isn't sad, that's actually good.

sinisterpentatonic said:

no im not saying its bad
im just saying you cant force a young creative mind into doing something systematic like science because someone thinks that being in the arts is a dead end job.

it almost happened to me and i can say right now i'd be miserable.
[Edited 6/29/06 18:38pm]

SammiJ said:

true. i know it's hard to believe but there's art in science too or should i say that art is a science?

sinisterpentatonic said:

there is some truth in that yeh

skipper said:

How exciting. If she really wants to do something in music tell her to not give up on it.

I have a degree in music production and recording engineering. See if maybe something along those lines interests her, and if so, I would definitely approach some local studios and see what they have to say.

There needs to be more women in this field!

weepingwall said:

5. you lose more money than you make!
6. you'll probably get into drugs at least a bit if not big time!
7. you'll probably spend most of the time not working on music at all but feeling cool cause you're in a band... which leads to #6

as much as i think being in a band is an awesome thing, it's not exactly fitting for "work experience"

JPW said:

thats a stereotype ever heard of straight-edge..a movement that is anti-drugs..and anti-meat?

weepingwall said:

yes but they make even less money or are unusually famous for sucking

JPW said:

this is very true.

SammiJ said:

Thanks Sammi,yes u are right the school is trying 2 keep her apirations down but she is a determined girl with a lot of talent and all the family are behind her 100%. I had my dreams shattered I'm damned if I will let that happen 2 her too.

weepingwall said:

she's already in 2 bands,one with her school friends and one is an adult band and she's learning lots. She wants 2 experience the technical side of things and learn more about the workings of the music industry.

All my shattered child hood dreams, rest in pieces on the floor, broken willed child or so it seems, until I just can't take it any more.

JustErin said:

Wow! How cool! If I had not been compelled towards the visual arts, I think something with sound would have been up my alley. I think being a foley artist sounds like a blast!

I've always had bad experiences on interns in the studio environment unfortunately - so if I ever return to studio work I probably wouldn't take a single one ever again. There's just simply not enough work assignments they could handle alone without supervising them all the time (and let's not forget the clients are actually paying for the services) so the rest of the time they would just have to spend sitting around (and they're still in the way).

So it would have to be someone who is already nearly a professional by his/her skills, and basically willing to work for free. And I have always been very much against myself making people do the same line of work as the regular workers and not getting paid for it adequately. Of course, another factor is that often people claim "to be willing to learn" and it inescapably turns out that studio work isn't nowhere nearly as much fun as they thought it would be ("Can you make my singing voice sound better?" ). And some/most come to apply for these kind of positions in hopes of getting to use the studio gear for their own musical projects when the place isn't booked. That actually pisses me off, but I've never been able to fire them as there's always been someone above me handling decisions on such matters. And of course, a big part of the work is trying to figure out why some piece of equipment isn't working as it should and that's not definitely an assignment for an inexperienced person to handle as the clients are actually paying for their time.


... sorry. Had to vent.

Novabreaker said:

Thanx 4 pointing all this out Novabreaker- u obviously know your stuff. I had considered that a studio may be the wrong environment 4 a novice. There have been some great suggestions on this thread that sound like more pheasible options 4 her.

Well, I'm sure your daughter isn't the same kind of lazy bastard who steals stuff when I am not looking around as one our little angels turnt out to be.


But she can go asking around, as others might be more open. What's it going to take, a few days? Besides, there are other kinds of production facilities where one can practice the trade of media production, and where not a high level of expertise is required from the start. Youth organizations that deal with their own media production events at least here in Europe gladly will take interns, and always have a few in the house. Besides, a lot of state-financed media centre type of facilities might even actually offer a more professional environment for learning experiences than a modest recording studio where just a bunch of bands come to record a few songs a day. Besides most of those places are pretty vile to hang around at and some of the personnel can be very unfriendly.

I remember work experience! It's a joke No one I know has gone into the field of what they did for work experience. I myself went to a zoo and had the greatest 2 weeks of my young academic life feeding monkies Steer her away from music when it comes to the real stuff though, it's just a pathway to shattered dreams, like most arts.

In honor of all that was and no longer is... good luck

GaryTheNoTrashCougar said:

Well sure, I have to agree. Altough I do recommend that people find about firsthand what the "technical side of it" really is about and how goddamn boring it can be. When music becomes a profession most of the fun associated to it during one's teenage years magically gets drained away from it. At least you'd get to see what it's like if you get an intern position or something similar.

I've noticed that the best sound engineers are the ones who have truly forsaken their own dreams of becoming succesful artists themselves. I used to think men in their 40s or 50s were the best just because of their expertise and long careers, but that's not the only factor. They're good engineers because they've accepted a long time ago that they're not themselves the performers who are going to storm the charts once the record is finished. They've accepted the realities and can concentrate on their job. A lot of people in that end of the business have ended up in these positions as a sort of a consolation price. You're still dealing with music, but not in the sense you originally thought you would be.
[Edited 7/2/06 12:01pm]