Spring Break
Breaking into the Biz Part 5
By: Valerie Bishop
Issue date: 7/3/07 Section: Aggielife
I've completed my first month working for an Indie record label in Austin. This is basically the halfway point of my summer internship. I already feel like this experience has been totally worth all of the work. I've already learned so much about the business, made so many great connections and had a wonderful time doing it.
In the midst of a massive mailing, I had an epiphany: my job is all about stickers. The labels that go on the envelopes, the seals for the envelopes and the postage are all stickers. I even put stickers on the promotional copies of CDs I mail out.
It's really quite a blessing that I was so fond of stickers as a child. I obsessed over Lisa Frank and collected her stickers in books. This internship would have been my dream job when I was five. I do a lot of counting too, so really everyday is like advanced kindergarten.
Monday was boring as usual with my routine inventory count and tour support. It was a hundred times worse this week though because I was exhausted. Sunday night I went to support my friend, Paul Banks, at his show at Stubb's. Paul was in MSC Town Hall with me at A&M before he graduated and moved to Austin.
The Polyphonic Spree played outside and then was followed by a set of three artists playing on the inside stage. Paul landed the headlining spot for this gig, which is beyond impressive, so I went to watch him. He didn't go on until after midnight though, so it made waking up early for work on Monday morning a little difficult.
Tuesday was another day of mailings. There was nothing out of the ordinary except for a special visitor. Clare's boyfriend came to visit her in the office and I got to meet him, which was neat because he's the frontman for a successful band from Denton. He's noted as being a brilliant lyricist, so it was an honor to meet him.
Wednesday and Thursday were nothing to brag about. I basically cleaned out a huge storage room full of random merchandise and old products. The label holds on to boxes full of old singles, albums and advanced copies for nostalgia but eventually needs to get rid of most of it to create more space.
In the midst of a massive mailing, I had an epiphany: my job is all about stickers. The labels that go on the envelopes, the seals for the envelopes and the postage are all stickers. I even put stickers on the promotional copies of CDs I mail out.
It's really quite a blessing that I was so fond of stickers as a child. I obsessed over Lisa Frank and collected her stickers in books. This internship would have been my dream job when I was five. I do a lot of counting too, so really everyday is like advanced kindergarten.
Monday was boring as usual with my routine inventory count and tour support. It was a hundred times worse this week though because I was exhausted. Sunday night I went to support my friend, Paul Banks, at his show at Stubb's. Paul was in MSC Town Hall with me at A&M before he graduated and moved to Austin.
The Polyphonic Spree played outside and then was followed by a set of three artists playing on the inside stage. Paul landed the headlining spot for this gig, which is beyond impressive, so I went to watch him. He didn't go on until after midnight though, so it made waking up early for work on Monday morning a little difficult.
Tuesday was another day of mailings. There was nothing out of the ordinary except for a special visitor. Clare's boyfriend came to visit her in the office and I got to meet him, which was neat because he's the frontman for a successful band from Denton. He's noted as being a brilliant lyricist, so it was an honor to meet him.
Wednesday and Thursday were nothing to brag about. I basically cleaned out a huge storage room full of random merchandise and old products. The label holds on to boxes full of old singles, albums and advanced copies for nostalgia but eventually needs to get rid of most of it to create more space.
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