Music industry students use campus label as career launch pad

Working at a record label can appeal to people who are interested in hearing new music and working closely with red-carpet celebrities. Before the high life can even begin though, people have to somehow set their foot in the industry door.

Students at Syracuse University have been given just that opportunity by working for SU Recordings.

SU Recordings, created about two years ago by the university specifically for music industry majors and minors, gives these students hands-on experience in running a label. Through the program, students learn to scout artists, negotiate with disc manufactures, develop artwork and organize promotional events.

Last year, SUR released some CDs that weren’t marketable, and in the process lost large amounts of money from its budget. This semester, the recording studio SUR uses suffered flooding, which pushed back production.

Students involved with the program call their mistakes learning opportunities, but say now the program is now going in a stronger direction. This year alone SUR is releasing three very different artists: Eli, Fat Camp and Karel Husa.



‘It’s a really strange environment, just like a workplace.’ said Dane Aconfora, a junior music industry major. ‘We have a mix of both music industry majors and minors, and everyone focuses on their own specialty. I made sure all the manufacturing gets done and worked all year long with disc makers. Then we also have students who aren’t part of the major who work on the art aspect.’

For its first record, SUR integrated with the city by helping local street performer Elijah Harris Jr. – best known as Eli – to release his biographical album. Eli has been playing music for more than 20 years in Syracuse and has become an icon. His album was released on April 18 at a party at Chuck’s Caf and Bar.

‘In the past, SUR students had fantasized about the idea of having Eli,’ said Jack Taylor, a senior music industry major ‘I thought it might be great to use Eli because of his economical standing and also being a face of Syracuse … a couple of classmates and I brought the idea to class. I was a strong pusher for Eli, and I didn’t want the idea to fly by.’

Eli has warmed the hearts of people in the city and students from the university with his energetic performances in any type of weather. The students who worked with Eli directly had interesting experiences because he wasn’t very accessible, and they often had to make do by leaving messages at places like SU Taxi to reach him.

Besides working with Eli, SUR is also producing Fat Camp’s album. Fat Camp, a group of individual hip-hop artists who join together to create their music, has members who are both in college and in high school in Syracuse. None of the group members are students at SU. The SU students who worked with Fat Camp were given the opportunity to directly connect with local artists in the area.

Fat Camp has been working with SUR for two years. During the first year an album was not released because it featured samples from current artists and the licensing could not be approved. A year later, Fat Camp and SUR were successfully able to put out an album together, which will be released at a party on May 1. Fat Camp had the facilities to record the album on their own, but the students of SUR facilitated all promotions, events and album artwork.

‘Some kids in the class maybe don’t necessarily like the music we make, and that may be the only downfall.’ said Andy Mineo, a member of Fat Camp ‘But the students won’t always get to promote music of a certain genre in the real world. I think it’s a good experience for them.’

The Husa album separates itself from the others because it is a joint venture between SUR and Syracuse Bands. Husa will feature all-original classical composites, and the album is scheduled to be released on May 2.

In the future, SUR hopes to find other ways to distribute its albums other than hard-copy selling and at the bookstores. SUR has been looking into online e-commerce, but negotiations with the university’s polices have held them back.

‘We can only sell the albums physically.’ Aconfora said. ‘We are trying to get support to go online, and it can be pretty frustrating. We would like to go online, because nobody buys CDs anymore.’





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