For the record: Music industry curriculum provides real-world experience through Rowan’s record label

Donnah Campbell is a singer-songwriter with Adele aspirations for releasing powerful pop ballads. As a senior Music Industry major, Campbell is learning the ins and outs behind-the-scenes to help realize that dream. 

While most upperclassmen attend their classes prepared for lectures, notetaking and required reading, Campbell and her classmates understand that on Mondays and Wednesdays, they are showing up for their shift at Rowan Music Group (RMG), Rowan’s record label. 

“It’s your job”, says senior Donnah Campbell, in her second semester of Artist Services, the class that becomes the label. “In that classroom, we’re all at work.” 

Students take their seats within RMG’s various departments, each with its own set of responsibilities. For Campbell and the publicity department, they handle drafting artist biographies and press releases for promotion, while the art department works on designs for the website, fliers and social media. There’s a sponsorship team seeking out partnerships with local businesses and a touring department responsible for scouting artists and locations for future shows. Whatever the departments are working on, everyone in the class is in-the-know. The course operates as a full-functioning record label with each department working toward a common goal – promoting the artists they’ve signed. 

This year, RMG is transitioning from a student-run label to an independent record label, under the direction of faculty lecturer and industry pro Steve Feinberg, who joined the College of Performing Arts this Fall. With input from students, Feinberg restructured the courses so students can work more collaboratively together. Starting this spring, Artist Services 1, taken by juniors and Artist Services 3, taken by second-semester seniors will run concurrently, so juniors can learn directly from their peers and seniors can take on more responsibility and leadership within the label. This also means the juniors will work with an artist for the entirety of their year-and-a-half contract. 

Another programming change is shifting the touring department out from under RMG and over to the Touring and Promotions course and their group, 856 Touring. According to Feinberg, major labels handle marketing and promotions for artists, but typically work with external touring group partners to set up live events and shows. In practice, RMG will be contracting with 856 Touring, creating cross-collaboration between music industry students and their peers, allowing both groups to operate on a larger scale. 

“The course reflects real life as much as possible,” says Feinberg, who has more than two decades of experience in the industry including discovering artists like Good Charlotte, managing his own indie label and consulting for SONY Music. 

And that real life experience is exactly what students want. 

“The opportunities are vital,” says senior Alyssa McAvoy who has a double concentration in both music technology and music business. “This is the stuff you can talk about in interviews and put on your resume.” 

Campbell echoed her classmate, remarking how impressed the supervisor at her internship was with her work with RMG. 

As part of the Music Industry program, students take classes in public relations, marketing and business, but RMG allows them to actually do the work. While internships tend to be short-term, siloed experiences, students in RMG work across departments and with a professor who is an active member of the music industry. Feinberg says students can graduate and go right into working at a label because of the practical, hands-on experience. 

“Students can walk into an interview saying ‘I did the marketing for this artist distributed by SONY Music,” added Feinberg, “That becomes crucial for your next step.”

So, what’s in it for the artists? 

“Sometimes with bigger names or companies, the passion gets lost,” says McAvoy, “We honestly care about our artists and want them to succeed.” 

In this new era, RMG aims to serve as an artist incubator, signing day one artists from the region and supporting and amplifying them until they are ready for a major label. According to Feinberg, this label provides a unique experience for artists – transparency. One of their artists, Gianna, recalls sitting in the classroom with her contract on a projector screen, reviewing it line by line with Feinberg and the people who will actually be doing the work. 

The 21-year-old R&B artist from Philadelphia was making music independently before signing with RMG. Now, Gianna won’t have to pay out-of-pocket to release her music as RMG absorbs those expenses at no cost to the artist. The artist also receives the royalties on streaming platforms and, in Gianna’s case, owns the rights to their work. 

“The fact that I have an entire team behind me is really helpful,” says Gianna, who will release her first single with RMG, Come My Way, in 2024. “I’m super grateful for the opportunity. It’s huge for my career.” 

RMG’s finale for the fall semester was their “On the Radar” showcase, where five area artists competed for a contract with the label. Students planned the live show top-to-bottom, sourcing talent, scouting the location, developing the run-of-show, designing materials, promoting the event and the on-site logistics. The label’s pick from the showcase, Polaroid Fade, will begin working with RMG in the spring.

“Running that show was huge for us,” says McAvoy. “It’s what happens in the industry and we can say we did it already.” 

According to Campbell, the vibe in the classroom following the showcase was happiness and excitement in seeing their hard work pay off and being able to sign another artist. After posting pictures and videos recapping the event, the group was back to business, enthusiastically looking ahead to what they can accomplish in the spring. 

Support Rowan Music Group by following @rowanmusicgroup on Instagram and Facebook for updates and events and stream artists @KiauraRose and @GiovJones wherever you get your music.