Donate NowAn inaugural class of 21 New York City high school students recently completed a new program designed and operated by Carnegie Hall, which provided them with an in-depth tour of the music industry.– short for business side – launched in February. According to its organizers, it's been 10 years in the making.
The B-Side introduced 21 New York City high school students to the inner workings of the music industry.The studio experience was part of a deep-dive introduction into how the music business works, and was designed to help reverse a historic trend of disproportionately low representation of people of color in corporate offices. The B-Side also allowed students to visit an actual record label and attend panels with industry professionals.
“There's been this consistent conversation with partners, with artists, with young people in surveys, and feedback that we've gotten from young people and lessons we've learned in doing this work,” Cole said, “that it's fun engaging in creative arts activities, but young people want to know how to develop careers in these industries.
The initiative challenges assumptions about who Carnegie Hall – commonly viewed as a bastion of European classical music – is meant to serve, as well as what forms that service might take. “We taught them about different kinds of marketing, whether it be radio promotion, whether it be content creation, what are the different budgets that apply to that – there’s so many facets in how you can promote a work differently,” Atkinson said.
Is this an ongoing program? If yes, when will the applications for the next cohort be available?