Real Industry

October 10, 2018

New York University Pandora Challenge with The War on Drugs & GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition

Real Industry

October 10, 2018

September 26th, 2018 | In partnership with The War on Drugs and the GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition, presented with New York University #PandoraChallenge

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

On Wednesday, September 26th, New York University students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with The War on Drugs and the GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition for the Pandora Challenge. The GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition is a non-profit collective dedicated to building universal music education participation in elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support the GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition in positively impacting the lives of young people. This is the power of music and technology powering social impact.

“The program educates, empowers, inspires thousands of students for careers in music, media, marketing, and business. Students make a dent in the universe, while gaining the real-world experience and professional networks they need to secure future employment.”

— Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drive awareness to the mission of GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition. The playlists will include an introduction from The War on Drugs and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have four weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The New York University Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 24th! Congratulations to the winning teams!

The Comedown

Carmen Lustik - Music Composition for Film and Multimedia - Class of 2021

Elizabeth Croteau - Music Composition for Songwriting and Production - Class of 2021

Akua Amponsah - Journalism Class of 2022

Raised by Radio

Emily Knesevitch - Music Business - Class of 2019

Aranyaka Verma - Music Business - Class of 2019

Paul Sergent - Music Business - Class of 2019

Stephanie Goldberg - Music Business - Class of 2019

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Real Industry

October 8, 2018

University of Michigan Pandora Challenge with Bryce Vine & Barn Sanctuary

Real Industry

October 8, 2018

September 25th, 2018 | In partnership with Bryce Vine and Barn Sanctuary, presented with the University of Michigan #PandoraChallenge

“We are so excited to host the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact here at the University of Michigan. The Department of Entrepreneurship and Leadership (in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance) is committed to catalyzing pathways for passionate, creative students who believe in the potential for music to make the world better...the chance to work with rising star Bryce Vine to support a local organization like Barn Sanctuary is exactly the kind of experiential learning platform our students need as they develop their professional voices...all while applying the UM traditions of leadership, innovation, and social responsibility.”

— Jonathan Kuuskoski, Chair, Department of Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Director, EXCEL Lab, School of Music, Theatre & Dance - University of Michigan

Photo Credit: Sam Goldin

On Tuesday, September 24th, Real Industry and Pandora took the Pandora Challenge:Music & Social Impact tour to Ann Arbor, Michigan! University of Michigan students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Bryce Vine and Barn Sanctuary. Barn Sanctuary is a hands-on animal sanctuary dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and caring for farm animal refugees. This includes any animals that have been abused, abandoned, sentenced to death or are victims of natural disasters. Bryce grew up with Dan McKernan, the Founder and Executive Director of Barn Sanctuary, making this organization and program especially significant to him and everyone involved.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support Barn Sanctuary in it’s mission to better the lives of farm animal refugees. After receiving instruction from the Pandora team, students got to work on creating their campaigns.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

Photo Credit: Sam Goldin

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to the Barn Sanctuary. The playlists will include an introduction from Bryce Vine and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The University of Michigan Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 16th! A big congratulations to the students on the winning team.

Andrew Reed - UX Design and Business - Class of 2020

Naman Gupta - Business Administration - Class of 2021

Tiana Colovos - Economics - Class of 2020

Sanjit Johri - Business - Class of 2022

Muskaan Bajoria - LSA Undecided - Class of 2021

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Real Industry

October 3, 2018

University of Hartford Pandora Challenge with Andrew McMahon & Dear Jack Foundation

Real Industry

October 3, 2018

September 17th, 2018 | In partnership with Andrew McMahon and the Dear Jack Foundation, presented with University of Hartford #PandoraChallenge

“The University of Hartford is thrilled to participate in the 2018 Real Industry Pandora Challenge. This event presents the real-world intersection of music, marketing and social advocacy to our students as an exercise that will better prepare them to enter the workforce career ready. This is truly an educational experience that cannot be had any other way...The opportunities for innovative teaching and critical thinking are truly endless and we can’t wait to see our students grow from this collaboration.”

— Gabe Herman, Assistant Professor of Music Industry,University of Hartford

Photo Credit: Jonathan Olson

On Thursday, September 20th, University of Hartford students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Andrew McMahon and the Dear Jack Foundation for the Pandora Challenge. The Dear Jack Foundation provides impactful programming that directly benefits adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer in order to improve quality of life and create positive health outcomes from treatment to survivorship for patients and their families.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support the Dear Jack Foundation in positively impacting the lives of young people. This is the power of music and technology powering social impact.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

Photo Credit: Jonathan Olson

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to the Dear Jack Foundation. The playlists will include an introduction from Andrew McMahon and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The University of Hartford Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 11th! Congratulations to the winning team.

Sarah Watts - Music Management - Class of 2019

Gianna Bielenda - Music Management - Class of 2019

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Real Industry

June 14, 2018

University Startups Head to Silicon Valley for Real Startup 2018 Entrepreneurship Program

Real Industry

June 14, 2018

Real Startup, Real Industry’s two-week entrepreneurship program for university-based startup ventures focusing on media, entertainment, music, and technology, kicks off on June 18th in San Francisco. Teams experience a jam-packed schedule of mentorship and education from professionals at Dolby, Google, Pandora, Eventbrite, and many more. By leveraging Real Industry’s rich network of professionals in this niche sector of innovation, Real Startup accelerates the careers of young entrepreneurs.

Our 2018 Cohort includes five teams hailing from New York University, University of Southern California, Tufts University, Purdue University, McGill University, Malmö University, and the University of Iceland. These startups were selected from a pool of over 100 applications from across the globe. This cohort consists of teams working on ventures in various areas of media and technology, including innovations in live ticketing, AR/VR for concerts, wearables for creative expression and performance, mobile music creation apps, and media distribution platforms for cultural institutions.

Throughout the two week program, teams receive direct access to Real Industry’s network of corporate partners and over 300 expert mentors. Our 2018 schedule includes sessions with companies leading the way in industry-altering developments. We appreciate the support from all of our amazing hosts. With exposure to these organizations, plus the connections made with our fantastic community of mentors, teams complete the program with unparalleled professional networks.

Check out what two of our mentors from Pandora and Pyramind had to say:

““Mentorship is an incredible way for students hoping to enter the industry to start building their network. My own mentors have been immensely helpful in shaping my career so far, and their support and guidance continue to help me become a better professional and person. A great entrepreneurial spirit has always been alive at Pandora, and we’re proud to support the brilliant young minds that Real Startup is introducing to the world of music tech.””

— Heather Ellis, Artist Marketing Manager at Pandora

““Pyramind is excited to host Real Industry’s Real Startup 2018 Cohort as part of their two week accelerator program...At the core of Pyramind’s music production training ethos is the connection between real-world experience and the value that mentorship provides in bridging the gap between education in the classroom and the professional workplace. Pyramind’s over fifteen-year history in music education and production was built on this dynamic equation and we value greatly our partnership with Real Industries and what we believe is the future of education and entrepreneurship.””

— Gregory J. Gordon, CEO and Founder at Pyramind

As we gear up for a phenomenal experience, we want to express our gratitude to our major corporate sponsors: LANDR, Reverb, Stashimi, iZotope, Pro Sound Effects, New York University Steinhardt, Jaunt, and Polsinelli. Real Startup is additionally funded through a philanthropic grant from Olivann. Without the generous contributions of these organizations, we would not be able to reach the level of impact we strive for through the Real Startup program.

“Stashimi was a founding sponsor of Real Startup back in 2017, and we’re happy to continue supporting the student accelerator program for the second year in a row, as we believe experiential education and mentorship is invaluable in the music and tech industries.””

— Kosta Elchev, Chief Marketing Officer at Stashimi

Not in the San Francisco Bay Area? You don’t need to miss out on all the fun! We will be posting regularly to the Real Startup 2018 Facebook Group throughout the program. We invite you to join the conversation, see updates from the teams, and share your own thoughts on the interesting crossroad of media technology and entrepreneurship. The Livestream link to the final presentations from each of the 5 teams, taking place on June 29th, will be available within this group and on Real Industry’s Facebook page by June 22nd.

Real Industry aims to bridge the worlds of industry and academia. Our community is always growing, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. Join us today.