For the past few months, one of the key factors to getting things done at UMUSIC has been the help of the phenomenal interns! With today being National Intern Day, we thought we would bring a spotlight to our interns. This being for their countless hours promoting, managing and creating new ideas to help every team prosper. Today, we give them the recognition they deserve as without them, not nearly as many seeds would blossom as are planted.
This summer, we have interns from a variety of different programs with a wide array of interests – but always a shared love of music. Working separately but still managing to come together, this group of wonderful people will inspire the coming generations of the music industry.
Meet Amadeus (he/they) – Social Media Marketing Intern
A 21-year-old Capricorn who is often compared to the energizer bunny, Amadeus currently studies Media Production at Ryerson. With affirmations of fame and gratitude in his back pocket, this student of the cosmos is a huge music nerd with a passion for KPop. When he is not surrounded by music, he is probably making someone’s latte, dancing, watering his plants, attempting to remain calm or surrounded by positive energy (and crystals).
What’s your role at UMUSIC? My role at UMUSIC is helping in content creation across platforms for all of you lovely people. Everything from all the web blog posts, (such as this and New Music Friday, my literal child, check it out here) to helping create assets and captions across our social media! All the little pieces to bring you the full artwork!
What’s the reward of this position? Just being creative reaps me so many rewards in the most minuscule ways, that and gratitude, this experience has reminded me to be grateful.
Tips for future applicants? Manifest it, show you’re passionate, the right opportunities will find you at the right time.
3 skills needed for the position? Organizational skills, ability to take constructive criticism and patience. Also, good wifi.
Quote you live by? I don’t chase, I attract, what belongs to me will simply find me.
What’s on repeat for you? I like listening to albums so heres some
- ‘Troubled Paradise’ by Slayyyter
- ‘DEAR OhMyGirl’ by Oh My Girl
- ‘Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land’ by MARINA
- ‘Summer Queen’ EP by Brave Girls
- ‘SAWAYAMA’ by Rina Sawayama
- ‘Pop2’ by Charli XCX
Future Goals? I am famous, the only way to go from here is up, this is only the beginning. I am going to open my own record label, direct a few films, travel the world and love what I do. I am currently forming a hyperpop band and writing my first script.
Meet Ashley (she/her) – Communications Intern
Ashley is a multitalented PR professional with a longstanding love of Hip Hop and R&B, both old and new. A passionate Cancer and an eclectic writer, she aspires to thrive in communications within the entertainment industry. She is currently in the last stretch of her Public Relations postgraduate certificate program at Humber College. One day, Ashley hopes to achieve big boss status in the PR and Communications space, while also helping to amplify diverse voices within the industry.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? My role at UMUSIC is Communications Intern, where I work with the Comms team on all things publicity. I help out with everything from writing press releases, to media monitoring to sitting in on promo days.
What’s the reward of this position? The biggest reward from this position is being able to shadow and network with people working in the entertainment industry. Rarely do you get the chance to (virtually) share rooms with so many seasoned professionals and have convos centred around your mutual love for the music biz. I learn something new with every convo.
Tips for future applicants? ASK QUESTIONS. The great thing about being an intern is nobody expects you to know everything. UMUSIC is a great learning environment so don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions or seek out help if you need it. You’ll be better at your role for it.
3 skills needed for the position? Initiative, organization and a positive attitude.
What’s on repeat for you? Savannah Re’s EP Opia, bangs at any time. I also love Lil Baby. Simply put- he doesn’t miss.
If you could only listen to one album everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be? The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. A timeless classic.
Words you live by? Progression not perfection.
Meet Audrey C (she/her) – Video Production Intern
Audrey Crunkleton is a passionate media creator who loves telling stories through all forms of media, including video creation, post-production and photography. Audrey is going into her final year at Ryerson University in the Media Production program, and can’t wait to dive into the world of media and create some killer content.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? My role at UMC is video producer intern. I work as a part of the creative team to bring artists’ visions to life through video advertisements, music videos, and even Spotify canvases.
What’s the reward of this position? The best thing about my position is getting to collaborate with so many talented professionals, both in my department and across several others in UMC. I have learned so much from those I work with, and have been greatly inspired by the work they do. I also love seeing an artist’s vision come to life through the content we create.
Tips for future applicants? Be open to learning new things. Every day at UMC is different in what you are doing, and who you are working with, so my advice is to be open and excited to learn new things.
3 skills needed for the position? Organization, time-management, initiative.
Whats on repeat for you? The Beaches and Valley.
Meet Lauren (she/her) – Commercial Affairs Intern
The embodiment of an old soul, Lauren is a 23-year-old Capricorn who wakes up obnoxiously early. She also enjoys embroidering or spinning vinyl on her grandparents’ record player from the early 80s. When not on the clock for her internship, she can often be found watching the same tv show on a loop or un-ironically taking in the world’s best romantic comedy series – the Twilight film saga. She’s finishing up her formal education career at George Brown College’s renowned Sport & Event Marketing program, and hopes to continue working in the entertainment world.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? I’m proudly this summer’s Commercial Affairs Intern. While I’m interning my role includes helping Universal Music’s Bravado team and their partners in licensing retail merchandise, making their monthly newsletter and any other work I can get my hands on.
What’s the most rewarding part of this position? Honestly, it’s all the new skills and knowledge that I’ve been able to pick up. I’ve learned so much about the work behind merchandising- which, as someone who has spent more than her fair share of money on merch, I appreciate these individuals’ creativity and hard work even more. Not to mention that I’ve been lucky enough to meet some amazing people along the way.
Tips for future applicants? This is rich coming from me, but we need to trust and believe that you’re worthy of these opportunities. UMC is filled with a lot of smart people so if they put faith in you as an applicant (and hopefully as an intern) you must be doing something right. Believe in yourself and in your capabilities then go from there.
3 skills needed for the position?
- I think above all of the skills that you should have for any position, the three most important ones are 1) Having a great work ethic 2) Being a great communicator and 3) Enjoying music and entertainment.
- Great work ethic – Since there are always things that you can tick off your to-do list in this position, you want to be sure to maintain a steady workflow so that you’re not always playing catch-up and getting overwhelmed.
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- Being a great communicator – This is especially important in a work-from-home world like ours since we don’t have the same amount of face-to-face interaction that working in an office gives. Questions that could be asked from one desk to another now has to go through our screens. Be sure to be as clear and concise as you can for the benefit of everyone.
- Enjoy music and entertainment – This one may seem obvious, but I can assure you that it will do nothing but enhance your knowledge and your experience. Knowing who artists are, what they do and what they’re known for will help you in the work you do here. It can help you in offering suggestions in meetings or it can make it so you can appreciate all the behind the scenes that go into your faves new work.
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What’s on repeat for you?
I have a playlist that I frequently listen to while interning titled “Picture me white girl dancing” that energizes me and gets me dancing while at my desk. Some of the bangers on this playlist include:
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- In My Head by Ariana Grande
- Supercut by Lorde
- Black Sheep [cover] by Brie Larson (from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World)
- Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied by The 1975
- Roman’s Revenge by Nicki Minaj (feat. Eminem)
- All me by Drake, 2 Chainz and Big Sean
- Replay by Zendaya
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What Universal Music Artists’ concerts do you look forward to post-pandemic? While I’m excited to see a bunch of different artists on the road, I’m probably most excited to see Lorde when she inevitably tours for her new album. I saw her during the Melodrama tour and it was easily the best concert experience I’ve ever had.
If you could swap lives with an artist for a day, who would it be and why? I’d easily be Ariana Grande for a day. Being able to sing like an angel, hit all of those whistle tones, getting to be good friends with Nicki Minaj, and having a pet pig all sound ideal to me.
Meet Maho (she/her) – Brand & Business Development Intern
Chasing the dream to work in the music/entertainment industry, Maho currently studies at the School of Creative Industries at Ryerson University. Her passion is to help creative peoples’ ideas come to life. She loves to jam to classic 90’s R&B and has been dancing since she was 8-years-old. She’s thrilled to be a part of Universal Music Canada this summer and excited for what’s ahead of this journey.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? As a Brand & Business Development Intern at Shed Creative Agency, I help them find and match artists/talents with brands who are interested to work with us in a variety of ways from music programs to TV/media content series.
What’s the reward of this position? Being able to get involved in the process of everyone’s creative ideas come to life – Witnessing Shed’s ability to connect music and brands utilizing their extensive relationship in this industry has been a very eye-opening experience!
Tips for future applicants? Be honest!! Be honest about your passion, work experience etc.. At the end of the day, people would love you for your willingness to learn and a genuine interest & love for the work UMG does :))
3 skills needed for the position? Organization skills, Staying flexible, and Eagerness to learn & grow.
What’s on repeat for you?
- I Didn’t Mean To Fall In Love – Snoh Aalegra
- “Time Flies” – Drake
- “Send It On” – D’Angelo
- “Something Special” – Pop Smoke
- “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By” – Method Man, Mary J. Blige
What are the benefits and downsides of interning virtually? The biggest downside for sure is that I would never meet the team I work with in person. It is easy to feel a bit isolated since you’re just in your own space. Connecting with people online can be sometimes daunting, especially when you’ve never met those people! I always worry if I’d bother someone, but I’ve realized anyone I talk to in UMG is very kind and open-minded and makes the conversations easy for everyone. A big benefit is that I can very much be flexible about planning my day. You get the best feeling when you have your bed right next to you right after you work all day 🙂
Why do you want to work in the music industry? Music is my biggest passion. It sounds cliche, but I cannot live without it. I knew I wanted to do something around music early on since I was young. I grew up listening to so many different genres compared to western music since I grew up in a typical household in Japan. But my parents also loved western music, so I’ve developed a very unique taste in music. I also took piano lessons for most of my early life, and I’ve been dancing since I was little, so I never lost my passion for music.
Meet Naomi Chen (she/her) – Catalogue Marketing Intern
Naomi Chen, made in China and imported to Canada, is a curious and adventurous media creator. With a mix of passions in broadcasting, media arts and communications, Naomi is a relentless action-taker to bring ideas into reality.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? Catalogue Marketing Intern
What’s the reward of this position? To be surrounded by inspiring colleagues with creative ideas, and the ability and resources to turn those ideas into reality.
Tips for future applicants? Be genuine and stay true to yourself. Your authentic self should speak for itself. Having relevant experience in the music/entertainment industry would definitely be helpful – more helpful would be what hard or soft skills you learnt from those experiences.
3 skills needed for the position? Communication, organization, attention to detail. Adobe skills are helpful assets!
Quote you live by? Life expands or shrinks at one’s courage & humility.
What’s on repeat for you? Valley, Sasha Sloan, The Recklaws, Conan Gray, “Intense Focus Work/Study Music” Playlists, of course.
What do you do to unwind from stress? Yoga! I pull out my Yoga mat first thing in the morning, and get in a 30-minute light workout before the day starts. Inspired by my mom and my former manager at the Canadian Music Therapy Fund, I’m training to become a Yoga Instructor this Summer.
How did you get started in the music industry? Music has no boundaries. When you’re a part of two cultures, you are exposed to different sets of ideals and expectations. Different cultures aside, music is universal. I come from a broadcasting background, and was cast as a part time host and “pirate” on this children’s series on CCTV back in Beijing. Throughout middle school and high school I got involved with theatre as well. Since then I’ve always had a passion for content creation in front of and behind the scenes. My first ever internship was at a Radio Station called MusicOnRoad in China, where I assisted with content creation and script writing. The following Summer in University, I interned at the Canadian Music Therapy Fund, and am currently working on a few exciting projects in media and entrepreneurship.
Meet Nea (she/her) – Label Partnerships Intern
Nea is a creative and adventurous young professional, originally from Finland. She’s passionate about music, traveling and living authentically. With a background in events management and now finishing her education with a postgraduate in marketing at George Brown College, Nea is excited to be working for UMC this summer and enjoying life in Canada.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? I work for the Label Partnerships team and my role consists of assisting the team with their weekly workflow and managing label clients.
What’s the reward of this position? I am learning all the ins and outs of the music industry and getting to see the entire process of how music labels and artists work. It’s been wonderful getting to know the independent label community.
Tips for future applicants? Always be yourself. Be a proactive, honest communicator and ask a lot of questions.
3 skills needed for the position? Organization skills, attention to detail, love for music.
What’s on repeat for you? Being new to Canada as well as the Canadian music scene, I have learned about a lot of new artists and my playlists have definitely got some new, fun additions, such as French Canadian music and less known artists. I also love my acoustic music that I can sing to. Dermot Kennedy is one of my favourites!
Why do you want to work in the music industry? Music has always been a huge part of my life. Whether it was as a kid performing a Spice Girls song to family, singing in the car on every road trip, healing breakups through sad songs or going to dance classes or hitting up karaoke on a night out, everything I do has always involved music. Work wise, I decided to pursue a career in the entertainment and events industry and through working in multiple music festivals and cultural events, I have found my way to now – still passionate about it.
Meet Rafa (She/Her) – Marketing Intern
Born and Raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rafa grew up in the Brazilian music industry, so this is not her first rodeo. Currently finishing her bachelor degree in Commerce – Marketing at Humber College, Rafa also has a marketing communications diploma from BCIT. A pisces sun with scorpio rising, she has love for Brazilian music, hip-hop and anything pop culture. When she’s not working, you can find her on some patio along Queen Street West laughing with her friends (a little comedy queen energy), curating a new playlist for her Spotify collection or planning her next trip (even if it’s to the grocery store).
What’s your role at UMUSIC? As the marketing intern, I help managers with their day to day marketing deliverables, compiling updates to be communicated to all of the UMC team and assisting on organizing release strategies and making sure they come to life. There are also a couple excel reports but they are less boring than you think!
What’s the reward of this position? I love being able to work with so many managers who have different work and creative styles. I also get to learn how a strategy for an album/single is developed from the beginning and tied up until after its release. As a marketing student, seeing how all departments come together to work on an artist is so interesting, there is so much work that goes behind just one song or sponsored post!
Tips for future applicants? Be yourself (I know it sounds obvious) but that is what they are looking for. There are so many different personalities working at UMC and they want to embrace who you are and what you have to offer. You are unique, so why try to be someone else? Also to take initiative, there is always work to do and everyone can always need some help, don’t be scared to reach out.
3 skills needed for the position? Organization, good communication and being a team player. Some days you are going to have 6 managers communicating with you and you will have to be able to report to all of them and deliver what they need in time. Communicating your opinions and doubts is also important, everyone there knows you are starting and they are ready to help you learn and understand how the industry work. UMC’s team is huge! So you gotta be ready to work with different personalities and different departments that you maybe have never heard about.
Quote you live by? “Your thoughts can move mountains”
Whats on repeat for you?
- De nadie (Kali Uchis)
- What you see (Migos featuring Justin Bieber)
- Bipolar (Mc Davi, MC Pedrinho & MC Don Juan)
- Pretty (Benita)
- 1 0 0. M i l’ (J cole featuring BAS)
- Touch Me (Takara)
If you could only listen to one album everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be?? “Journals” by Justin Bieber. It’s the perfect take for Justin on R&B, each song has a concept and they all fit so well together. All the featuring artists are also amazing: Big Sean, Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne, Future, etc – I definitely listen to at least 2 songs of that album everyday. My favourites are “Swap it Out” and “ All Bad” and “ Heartbreaker”.
Meet Riley (she/her) – Promotions Intern
Riley is a 23-year-old, fast-moving and faster speaking Sagittarius, obsessed with all things pop culture. Wrapping up her postgraduate degree in Sport and Event Marketing at George Brown, Riley is putting her lifelong desire to make a career out of her love for music into action this summer at UMUSIC!
Her goals are to connect fans and artists alike and shake up the pop culture world as we know it. If she’s not rambling about random pop culture discourses, overusing the term “cultural-reset” or getting into debates about which pop girl has better vocals, you can probably find her watching music videos or binging Real Housewives.
What’s your role at UMUSIC? I’m the Promotions Intern at UMUSIC! My role consists of monitoring the overall radio journey of songs from UMUSIC’s artists’. My duties range from monitoring our artist’s streams, radio adds and chart numbers, to servicing music and creating the bi-weekly Promotions newsletter!
What’s the reward of this position? Being able to have the ins and outs of my day revolve around music is super rewarding within itself. Being involved in team discussions about what makes a song a hit and getting to further my understanding of the role radio plays in an artist’s success has truly been a dream come true. Also not going to lie, it’s definitely cool to be trusted with confidential information and get to hear some of my favourite artist’s new music early!
Tips for future applicants? Be yourself, trust yourself, and trust the process! Manifestation goes a long way, especially if it’s backed up by passion and hard work! Also, have fun and don’t forget to take a step back and soak it all in!
3 skills needed for the position? Great communication skills, an attention to detail and most importantly… a passion for music!
What’s on repeat for you?
- “The Devil” by Banks
- “Gotta Go Hard” by Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Wayne
- “Healing” by Fletcher
- “The Roof” by Mariah Carey
- “Sexxx Dreams” by Lady Gaga
- “Jump” by Mac Miller
- “Into You” by Ariana Grande (Never not on repeat)
If you could only listen to one album everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be? Channel Orange. Without a doubt. Until the end of time. Cultural reset.
Most iconic pop culture moment? Toss up between Gaga’s performance of Paparazzi at the 2009 VMAs, Beychella and the entire music video for “Me Against the Music” by Britney and Madonna. On that note and to end my section off… #FreeBritney
Hope you enjoyed meeting (a fraction) of the team, and who knows…maybe you’ll become the next UMUSIC intern. Don’t forget to check out our Instagram for more fun content and all things music. See you soon!