Music Industry Jobs|Music Business Jobs|Music Internships

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Over the years, a lot of people have asked me when I thought was the best time to begin looking for an internship in the music industry. My answer has always been, and still remains, the same. The absolute best time to begin looking is right now.

And it doesn’t matter if you’re 15 years old and in high school, or 20 years old and in college. Heck, if you’re 34, or 50 and still think you should be working in music instead of wherever you’re at currently, the time to get that gig, is still right now.

Check out our new Music Industry Jobs and Internships board at MusicIndustryJobs.com It’s FREE!

To read part one of this story, visit: How to get an internship at Fashion Rocks: Part One.

Welcome back, folks. Alright. So you’ve invested some time and energy into locating the names of music business companies affiliated with Fashion Rocks. Maybe your little list contains a few of these types of firms: record labels, band managers, booking agents, street team companies, brand ambassador firms, lighting companies, rigging companies, modeling agencies, Fortune 500 firms.

What a record label internship might look like

Internships can be a funny beast. In one regard, you’re treated as part of the team, hanging out with the Vice President of Promotion, hanging out with your favorite bands backstage and walking around with that laminate of yours that screams “I’m with the band”. And yet, on others, back at the office (if you’re lucky) or on campus ( if you’re not as lucky, but still in like Flynn). . .you’re just the kid from the street team that hangs up posters and stickers the heck out of campus.

The running theme in just about everything I say as it relates to jobs in the music industry, or an entertainment career in general, is that it’s not as hard as it looks. The most difficult thing you’ll have to tackle if you’re going to pursue this trek is your own reticence to move forward and take a gamble — and perhaps equally as important — the necessity of working for free.

Most of you have probably never heard of Norman Whitfield. But I’ll bet hard cash you’ve heard of The Temptations, and most likely, a song named “Ain’t too proud to beg”. Well, Mr. Whitfield co-wrote “Ain’t too proud to beg” with Eddie Holland Jr., later of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame when he was a mere 23 years old.

The best thing, though is that Norman Whitfield was just a 19 year old kid when he began hanging around the Motown studios bugging the heck out of Motown’s founder Berry Gordy for a gig. Eventually that persistence paid off and Berry put him to work in the control division of the label determining which hits were going to get released on the label.

Great short article in today’s FMQB reporting on the first day of the Digital Music Forum East event in NYC. Seems like folks are a little hot under the collar regarding digital rights management (DRM) and what some see as the dismembering of all that used to be good about working in rock n’ roll. Even Britney Spear’s recent hairdo, or lack of it, made it into the discussion. Interesting. Heck, and where else can you stand up at a conference, point your finger at an executive and throw expletives in their direction. . .nowhere but in music, baby. Sometimes, I really do miss that level of candor!

I popped an old friend in my cd player today A distant one. . .dusty, yet still as crisp as it was the first time I heard it.

REM’s Life’s Rich Pageant is perhaps one of eponomously-named bands’ best records, and still stands as one of my all time top-ten discs. . .the one disc of ten I couldn’t live without on that far off deserted island of mine.

If you’re going to be in NYC February 27th-28th, 2007, you might want to wander on over to check out Digital Music East. Its a great place to schmooze and learn more about what’s happenening in the world of digital music. $800. bucks will get you in this year if you’re dying to pay to hear the speakers, etc. HOWEVER, if you’re a student or a music business wannabee as I imagine you are, how about getting a little bit creative? The entertainment business is, after all, a creative industry, right? So if you don’t have the dough, you’re going to miss out on the speakers. That kinda sucks, but what you can do is meet the people GOING to the events by walking right into the lobby of the Museum of Jewish Heritage where the event is being held. Now, I am not advocating breaking any laws, or trying to sneak your way into this event. Please note! However, the registration is most likely in the lobby and there will be a lot of people getting their things straight before the event starts. So, if you’re up to it, wander in and see if you can’t strike up a few conversations. Most folks will be wearing badges with their names and companies right on their chests, so it should make things easy. Try it!