by Bri Cummings
Wrapping up my second semester interning for Olivia Management is incredibly bittersweet, here’s why…
I decided to pursue music industry at a pretty inopportune time–the semester the entire world came to a halt, to be specific. I was halfway through my “Basics of the Music Industry” class, had just purchased Passman’s infamous yellow book, and recently added Music Industry as minor when USC sent students home for Spring Break (permanently). I leveraged the time online as much as I could by getting to know my professors, taking the maximum amount of industry classes allowed for minors, doing monthly informational interviews, and producing my first virtual concert. But, the summer before my senior year, I still had no internship experience. After being turned down for countless remote internships in LA I decided to expand my search. I came across Olivia Management after a quick Google search for “artist management company in Nashville”. #thankyouverymuchSEO
I enjoyed my interview with Maggie so much that I wondered whether all the employees and interns at Olivia Management could possibly be as cool and kind as she was (spoiler alert… they are). I was thrilled to get the internship offer and the opportunity to gain industry experience I had wanted for so long. I wasn’t sure how much “hands-on experience” I could gain as a remote intern at the time, but at that point, I just needed a glimmer of hope that the music industry could be for me. A year later, my time at Olivia Management has proved to be just that, a glimmer of hope.
I’ve had two full and incredibly worthwhile semesters here. I’ve been valued as an intern, encouraged to learn and ask questions, trusted with tasks for artists that felt really important, cared for as a person, and given a real look into artist management. I don’t know what else I could ask for from an internship. The hands-on value of Olivia Management wasn’t in physically being in the office like I expected, but in the variety and amount of tasks I was trusted with, the consistency and value of the team’s communication, and Erin/Grace/Merk’s skills and accessibility.
The Olivia Management team set the bar pretty high in the employee department. I got to know Erin, Grace, Merk, and the other interns over Slack and our weekly staff meetings, which might sound crazy, but I still feel like I know and really enjoy everyone. Also, Erin might have messed up my standards for everything that a boss should be from here on out in a good way… she is ambitious, skillful, dedicated to the success of her employees, and incredibly patient. I’m lucky to have met such fun, genuine, and kind women in music so early on in my career and plan to stay connected with them for the long-haul. I love this team a lot more than I should for having never met almost any of them in person.
I’m graduating next month and plan to find a music industry job in LA–my experience here has made me really excited to do that. This internship has been a great launching pad (hopefully all the people interviewing me in the future will agree).
Logging off for today, Bri
