Guests galore at Solent Music Masterclasses

We have recently welcomed some great guests to discuss their careers in a series of Solent Music Masterclasses.

We were joined by digital consultant Olivia Edwards-Allen, who at just 25 years old has already worked with a wide range of both major and independent record companies. Olivia spoke about the importance of authenticity in artist branding and also discussed fast-developing HR practices in the music industry.

She recounted the fulfilling moments of her career, including her key involvement in the Love Music Hate Racism campaign. Olivia also chatted about digital marketing, social media tactics and her initial forays in to artist management.

Commenting on the experience, Olivia remarked: “It was so lovely to come in to talk to the students, they asked great questions! It was amazing to see how passionate they are about the music industry.”

Music Promotion student Daisy May said: “It gave me an honest insight into the industry from a female perspective and how she gained her success. It was interactive – and I enjoyed being given the chance to resolve some difficult music industry scenarios”.

We also welcomed artist manager Niko Michault and the Music Managers Forum (MMF)’s Industry Relations and Events Manager Joe Lever. Joe first provided an excellent overview of the music industry and MMF’s place within it, also speaking about the organisation’s influential campaigns and reports. Niko then recounted many interesting and entertaining anecdotes from his career to date, also discussing the successful development of Jack Savoretti’s career over the past decade. Jack has earned notable success in 2019 with a number 1 album and a sold-out show at Wembley Arena, so it was fascinating for us to hear about how this has been achieved.

Niko Michault
Joe Lever

Music Management student Melody Perry commented: “It’s great to have industry professionals such as Niko and Joe come in and talk to us about their experience in the music industry. I loved hearing about how their careers developed over time and how they tackled different issues. This shows that although it can be hard at first, it is worth pursuing and makes me feel like a career in music is achievable.”

Solent Music also hosted a masterclass with Mandy Wickham of Live Nation. Mandy is the General Manager of key local venues including Southampton’s O2 Guildhall and Bournemouth’s O2 Academy. She talked about her career progression to date, her day-to-day role Mandy ran through the recruitment process for major industry employers such as Live Nation and also gave the students a challenging task on programming a festival at short notice.

Southampton Guildhall

Music Management student Natasha Hurford commented: “Mandy’s lecture was fun and engaging. I found it useful that she showed us part of the Live Nation recruitment process. She was easy to talk to about her role in the Guildhall.”

Mandy stated: “I always enjoy engaging with the students and hearing their thoughts and opinions on different topics. It’s great fun setting scenarios for them to work though and seeing their ability to navigate the different challenges.”

In addition to the great presentations by Olivia, Joe, Niko and Mandy, we recently welcomed Nick Halkes (artist manager and founder of XL Recordings), Ian Mack (tech entrepreneur), Matt Williams (Music Jobs UK), Jamie Skinner (PR consultant), Oli Morris (UK Music) and our very own graduates Kenya Scarlett (Monocle Content Manager) and Joanna Howarth (TAP Music).