October 4, 2017, October 9, 2017, October 11, 2017, October 21, 2017 | In partnership with BloodPop®, USC Thornton Music Industry Program, Manchester Orchestra, 1 Million 4 Anna, and the MTSU Music Business program, Common, and the NYU Steinhardt Music Business Program, Jack Antonoff, The Ally Coalition, and the UMass Lowell Music Business and Recording Technology Programs

In 2017, Real Industry and Pandora empowered the next generation of media, music, and business leaders on a US campus tour. Over 1,200 students worked with major artists (Tegan and Sara, Common, Jack Antonoff, Manchester Orchestra, and BloodPop®) to support the artist’s Foundations (The Ally Coalition, Tegan and Sara Foundation, Common Ground Foundation, Make Yourself Foundation, 1 Million 4 Anna, Made of Music) Student’s applied their music and business skills towards real-world awareness and social impact campaigns for mental health, cancer research, helping students and musicians in underserved communities, and LGBT equality. Students had exclusive access to Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform and real-world data provided by Pandora and Next Big Sound.

October 11, 2017 | In partnership with Common and the NYU Steinhardt Music Business program. #pandorachallenge

How might we engage Common's voice, music, platform and Common Ground Foundation to encourage wellness, mental health, and mindfulness in communities of color?

Between October 11-18, 2017, over 200 New York University students applied their knowledge of music business, marketing, and social impact towards this real-world challenge.

Students worked to identify campaigns and activations meaningful to them and then proposed how Common, his fanbase, or his artist collective could achieve impact. To accomplish their work, students had access to real-world listener and fanbase analytics for Common, provided by Pandora's Next Big Sound. Tutorials on Next Big Sound and Pandora's Artist Marketing Platform were provided by Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora.

“I am delighted to host the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact at NYU Steinhardt,” said Larry Miller, director of the music business program. “We teach our students how to meld their passion for music with their desires for social impact, so this challenge, and Common’s participation, is a fantastic real-world opportunity for tomorrow’s music business leaders.”

“We’re excited to collaborate with some of NYU’s brightest minds to leverage the power of music and art to make a difference in the world and help others,” said Michael Latt, social impact advisor for Common. “Together, we have the opportunity to support our brothers and sisters around the country through a campaign that Common and I are really passionate about.”

The winning team submission ("#WellGrounded") centered on creating three local pop-up shows in May 2018 (Chicago, NYC, LA) featuring Common, one other A-list artist and local artists.
To attend, participants will perform one of three online actions:
1) Submit a ~150 word writeup on how mental health has affected them (through friends,
family, workplace, or personally) to an online database.
2) Go to one of our local wellness-oriented business partners (Chicago, NYC, LA) and post
their experience on social media (#WellGrounded).
3) Creatively express what mental health means to them (sketch, poem, song, video, etc.)
and post this to social media (#WellGrounded).

Based on the online actions, attendees at the show will see:
1) Common freestyle on select submissions, illustrating real-life stories.
2) Local wellness businesses set up activation stations (yoga studios, beauty products, skin
care, healthy food, etc.)
3) Submitted art pieces displayed on big-screens.

Congrats to Ada Bensadon, Whitney Dublin, Jason Joven, and Josh Viner, all NYU Music Business '18 students on their winning submission!