First-Year Student Dives into the Music Industry with Warner Music U

Although this is my first semester at the University of New Haven, I have already obtained an impeccable experience through the help of my Music Industry: Record Label course. Our professor, Mark Tavern, invited Kathi Ramsey, senior manager of Warner Music U and Director of Education at the non-profit Women in Vinyl, to our class. As someone who is an aspiring tour manager, I am confident that any experience I have with industry professionals is a valuable lesson learned.

Warner Music U (WMU) is Warner Music Group (WMG)’s marketing, creator, and brand ambassador program for college students or recent graduates. Ramsey shared a presentation that described their vision, mission, and values, and their work in promoting both up-and-coming artists such as Alec Benjamin, and established artists, such as Coldplay.

Ramsey explained that, “WMU aims to strategically align with the WMG label and product marketing campaigns while ensuring WMU representatives – the music business's next generation – are prepared to enter the music industry armed with memorable, hands-on learning experiences.”

WMU has core values when it comes to giving their representatives real-life experiences and a look into what their future in the industry could look like. I was able to take away many inspiring lessons from the presentation, which was just the beginning of the assignments to come.

‘I utilized my resources and strengthened my network’

Ramsey provided the class with two assignments to complete. The first was to create user-generated content: 3 TikTok or Instagram Reels to promote 1-3 artists from a list of eight that are signed to a WMG label. I chose Alec Benjamin, as I have been a huge fan. It just happened that I was planning to attend his concert the weekend the work was to be completed, and I was lucky enough to spend time with him.

Before the show, I mentioned the presentation and the assignment I had to complete, and Alec quickly made an 8-second video for me to put into a TikTok using his song “I Sent My Therapist to Therapy.” I then made two other videos, utilizing two other songs of his. I used “The Arsonist” to show off his reaction to my hand-painted jacket that related to his recent album “12 Notes” as well as “Found You First” to make a “Come with Me to NYC” photo carousel.

Although it was not necessary to post our creations, my audience on social media consists of Alec Benjamin fans and people interested in the music industry, so I felt that posting them would interest everyone. In total, I received 3,461 views and 252 likes across the three videos. Although these numbers do not seem high, I posted these on accounts with less than 2,000 followers and minimal hashtags. At the end of this first assignment, I felt I gained a valuable lesson. I utilized my resources and strengthened my network with not only Alec Benjamin, but with his team, my viewership, Kathi Ramsey, and Alec fans worldwide.

The second assignment involved playlist promotion. It turns out that WMG’s top-performing playlist consists of all classical music. The title is “Music for Studying,” and it has 700 songs for students to indulge themselves in while getting ready for exams. We were to create a plan to promote the playlist and gear it toward a specific demographic. We also needed to figure out where and how we were going to market the playlist, and estimate how many total “saves” we could gain from our promotions.

My response was very similar to the others in my class: use social media and word of mouth to best engage others on campus to use this playlist.

‘Any experience in your field is one step closer to achieving your dreams’

Completing these projects can, in the future, connect to our overall goals this semester, whether it be working with an artist currently signed to the University’s student-run Rein Records, signing new artists, or marketing for the label.

Ramsey joined our class two weeks later and presented to the class everyone's projects. She gave us constructive criticism, inspiring advice, and important insights. Knowing she is now a new connection for me and the others in my class is important, and I cannot wait to see where this connection may lead us.

This experience has proven that this is the correct career for me and has helped me prepare for a future internship. I hope to one day to be able to work for WMG, and WMU is a great start. In connection with this project, I would like to end by saying that I feel any experience in your field is one step closer to achieving your dreams, and these presentations and assignments gave me a personal boost to gain connections, confidence, and valuable life lessons.

Marina Del Santo ’28, ’29 MBA is a music industry major at the University of New Haven.