Music Industry Skills - Media and Communication Module

One of my modules that I was to complete in my first semester was Music Industry Skills. This module consisted of me identifying a particular music scene/genre and setting up an independent record company, sign a band(s) or artist(s) and promote a recorded release that compliments that particular scene/genre. I chose this module due to my love for listening, and creating music. I was also intrigued to find out more about the business side of music as I had only seen it through a consumer's point of view.

We were put into groups of five and were told to create a record label. The label we created was Ace of Spades Records, an independent multi-genre record label established by Birmingham City University students. This module consisted of several aspects all being of a near professional standard. We signed four artists in total. My role throughout was as Managing Director, this made me in charge of the decisions made, as well as ensuring everything was running smooth.

I also took on the role of creative designer as I created the logo we would use to brand 'Ace of Spades Records'. Two of the artists we signed were found by myself and these were De-Locx and Lola. I took on the manager role of these two as I ensured they stayed on social media keeping their followers up-to-date. For Lola, I recorded a song at my friend's mum's studio. The song is called 'Straight Up' and was released on the 16th November.

Being the managing director, I wrote a basic business plan for our portfolio.

Business Plan

My favourite part of this module was my role throughout as I felt as though I thrived off the pressure of being in control.