Media Transcripts

KTLA TV SEGMENT | A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE
MIS PROGRAM RECRUITMENT | ROLAND MUSIC EDUCATION VIDEO

KTLA TV SEGMENT

Reporter/KTLA 5: Meet the rising stars of ‘DownRising’:

Matt Bieler/DownRising: Our sound is a combination of rock and hip-hop. People are kind of like thrown off at first. Normally by like the end of the set, like, they seem to be rockin’ with us, so as long as that keeps happening, I feel like we’re doing something right.

Reporter/KTLA 5: This 7-member band from L.A. has found a unique way to break into the music scene. It currently has a deal with MIS Music Group, a record label run entirely by students at Cal State Northridge.

Matt Akana/MIS Music Group: A lot of people are unaware of this program, so when you know, you can tell a starving artist: ‘Hey, you know we can get 40 college students to work for you for free. You get to keep all your masters, you get to keep all your publications, we just help you for a year then we go away.’ You know, who’s going to say ‘no’ to that?

Joel Leach/Professor of Music, CSUN: The basis of the music industry…

Reporter/KTLA 5: Professor Joel Leach created the Music Industry Studies program 12 years ago to teach students the ‘ins and outs’ of the industry.

Joel Leach/Professor of Music, CSUN: You couldn’t do this on this level in Wisconsin or Nebraska or Mississippi; it’s indigenous to Los Angeles and Hollywood.

Student/CSUN: I’ve got a question...

Reporter/KTLA 5: Here’s how the class usually works: The Artist and Repertoire, or A&R team finds the talent. This year, DownRising was chosen out of 200 applicants from across the country.

Matt Akana/MIS Music Group: The band themselves are incredibly diverse, they’re extremely hard workers.

Andy Grammer/MIS Music Group: They rocked!

Darrin Kohavi/MIS Music Group: Yeah, that sounded good…

Reporter/KTLA 5: Next, the production team helps the band record a professional demo at an off-campus studio.

Darrin Kohavi/MIS Music Group: The band’s very hard-hitting, so what we wanted to do was capture the MC’s vocals just raw.

Untitled Song/DownRising: What makes the world turn? / I often wonder how it stands /

Reporter/KTLA 5: Meanwhile, the Marketing team designs a press kit complete with bios, pictures, a CD and DVD. The Publicity team then works on getting the band into film and television. The student co-producers oversee it all with a budget of only $1500 dollars.

Jeremy Kuhle/MIS Music Group: But that’s the whole point of this project, it’s for us to be creative; for us to be cutting edge.

Andy Grammer/MIS Music Group: The things I’m learning in this class… record contracts; publishing; intellectual property; it all just helps you to be able to do it when you get out of here.

Bryan Tilford/DownRising: As much as we’ve been through, it definitely, you know, seems like a light at the end of the tunnel. It just… it pushes us to keep going and to make good music.

Newscaster #1: Isn’t that amazing? That’s great stuff!

Newscaster #2: It is really great!

Newscaster #1: Professor Leach says many students from this program go on to have successful careers in the music industry. In the meantime, DownRising is looking to sign with a big-time, professional record label.

Newscaster #2: They’ve got futures; all of them; very cool. We’re going to take a short break. Be right back!

“Alone” / DownRising: Keep a straight face / Eagle-eye point of view / I straight lace / Any ties that we intertwine /

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A STUDENTS PERSPECTIVE

(Coming soon)

MIS RECRUITMENT

(Coming soon)

ROLAND MUSIC EDUCATION

Hello, I’m Joel Leach-- founder and head of the Music Industry Studies or MIS degree at California State University, Northridge. Our MIS degree was the first of its kind in the state of California, and one of the first in the nation.

The MIS major was designed for students wanting to pursue executive and administrative careers in the music industry. Unlike Music Business majors at many other universities, MIS majors must pass an entrance audition on a musical instrument. Once admitted to the program, students learn about music copyright; recording; music sequencing; management; business law; major labels; minor labels; as well as the functions of performing rights organizations; managers; agents; attorneys; and much, much, more… And, all our students graduate with a Bachelors of Arts in music.

Each fall, our Music Industry Studies class undertakes on a year-long project under the banner of the MIS Music Group; a student-run record label created in 1998. It was conceived and designed to give our students real-life experience in the way a record label operates. The process begins when the class announces via print and on-air broadcast that it is seeking submissions. Musical acts from across the country submit demos that are then evaluated by the class’ A&R division, which chooses 3 finalists to appear in a concert on the CSUN campus. Following that concert presentation, the artist for the year is selected by the class.

Next, the production team records the act in a professional studio. Simultaneously, the marketing team develops a media kit; the graphics design committee generates art work; and the publicity committee begins developing a ‘buzz’ in the industry. All of this is overseen by the line producer, who reports to the co-producers. Ultimately, the class mails the media kit containing the CD to the music industries of Los Angeles, Nashville and New York City.

The MIS Music Group project is intended to enhance our students’ educational experience; develop team-working skills; and hopefully to introduce a new and exciting artist to the music industry.

Graduates of CSUN’s Music Industry Studies program move into virtually all facets of the music and entertainment industries. Recent graduates are experiencing successful careers at major and independent record labels; motion picture studios; music libraries; music production companies; music publishing companies; software development firms; advertising firms, and more. Each year, several students use the MIS major as a springboard to enter law school with the intention of practicing entertainment law.

Based on feedback from the music industry, CSUN's MIS major offers a unique blend of both the art of music and the discipline of business. Graduates of the CSUN MIS program are rapidly becoming leaders in the music and entertainment industries; they will without a doubt help shape the future of the music industry. - Joel Leach