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kataba
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read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Kate
Country: United States
State: Tennessee
Metro: Memphis
Birthday: 9/25/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: writing, music, playing, dancing, two stick, proud larry's, chasing music, the feeling you get when a cute guy smiles at your from across the bar but you never meet, southern studies, wilco, big star, luna, sebadoh, destroyer, new pornographers, neil young, aesop rock, neutral milk hotel, velvet underground, etc...(too many good musicians to list)
Expertise: writing about local/regional bands (wouldn't call it an expertise, but it pays well), writing poetry (sometimes), denis johnson's books, the history of wilco, the delta and memphis, the legends of robert johnson...
Occupation: Student
Industry: Other
Message: message me
AIM:  ktb1983
Member Since:
2/27/2005
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| Okay, so it's raining, might as well, sit here and jot down a few
thoughts on my job at spinART. I have to admit, I don't really want to
say goodbye on August 6. So far, at spinART, I've written pitch letters
and a 6-page newsletter, sent hundreds of mailing, updated Myspace
accounts, fixed a copy machine, and sifted through numerous articles to
find just the right thoughts on each of our bands. On top of that, I've
gotten to see the Dears twice for free, and I've gotten to meet Murray,
which rocked. Plus, I've gotten to hear some great new music that
no one is even allowed to buy yet.
In addition, I've met tons of really great people, and I started
working at a new internship last Tuesday...Management, a firm that,
yep, you guessed it, manages bands. I'm helping them update their blog
and website list to promote bands such as Robbers on High Street,
Dressy Bessy, the Capitol Years and the High Strung. My boss, Anna, is
tons of fun, and I think that my one month spent at the small office in
Chelsea will be worth the once-a-week work schedule.
What else has happened...Oh, I saw Yo La Tengo and Stephen Malkmus last
weekend for FREE...did I say that...for FREE! And Susanna and I went to
Williamsburg to watch old Twin Peaks reruns...how great is that...
And I met a really nice oceanographer the other day...on the random side of things....
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| Wow, I really need to update my work journal! But anyway, if you're bored, check out the band I'm promoting at spinART: http://www.myspace.com/headoffemur | | |
| Ok, so I really haven't been keeping a steady journal of my internship. But here is a recap of things that I have been doing. This past week, I did tons of store checks. I went to almost fifteen stores and checked to see if and how our music was being used in stores. I looked for actual CDs, handed out in-store play copies of our albums, checked for bin cards, recorded sales/stock, hung posters, and put out tons of flyers and buttons.
Then, on Wednesday night, we had a party with Stuff Magazine at Crash Mansion on 199 Bowery (not Broadway!). After getting lost in New York for about an hour, I finally found the party. I was the only intern there, since I am one of the only ones old enough to get into NYC bars. The night was definitely exciting, as I got to see a totally different side of my bosses from spinART, including a bit of drunkeness and a bit of breakdancing.
Luckily, it ended all in good fun, and Chris had the brilliant sense to let me skip work the next day!
Finally, today I began working on a newsletter that we will be sending to spinART music distributors, listing the sales, ratings and press info on some of our most important bands. I've gotten to do a lot of work on Head of Femur things, which is always exciting since they are friends.
In addition, I have been helping Chris and Brendan with another label called Cooking Vinyl, that is from the UK. We have sent out tons of press and distributor kits, packed full with press releases, posters and promos. While the shipping aspect can feel a bit like grunt work, it is always nice to see how much physical effort goes into promoting music that we all know and love! | | |
| Day 2 at spinART
Just when you begin to be comfortable in a city, something has to set things off. This morning when I was heading to work on the subway, I had a little problem. I was getting off of my stop for work, and three guys cornered me against a wall, only to touch my hair and grab at my wrists. Luckily, I stayed calm, told the three to back off and leave me alone. Within seconds, I was able to continue my short commute to work.
Today, I did a lot of stuff:
-packaged/shipped CD orders
-mailed out promos to various stores across the country
-selected quotes for our upcoming distributor's newsletter
-put together promo cases for radio play
-learned how to use the online UPS center
Also, Jeff and Chris did a great job of pointing out important terms that I needed to know, and we discussed ways to meet and track target groups, such as distributors and genre-specific, CD stores.
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| For now, I will use this site to record my time at spinART.
Today was my first day to the office in Brooklyn, and things went great. While I'm interning, Chris Mooney will be my boss, so I met with him today to discuss ideas on what I can do this summer.
First off, I have to say that hard work pays off. I'm 21, and I have a professional enough resume that Chris was super excited about this summer. We discussed many options for me, but one really made me excited.
This summer, I will be working on building relationships with local CD stores in New York and Brooklyn. That means that I will spend a lot of time walking around the city, talking to salespeople, setting up displays, setting up deals and possible events, etc. with the local stores. In addition, I'll be keeping in touch with those stores, and tracking any feedback or results of my promotions. In addition, I'll be looking for other ways to get news out about spinART bands to places such as college campuses or regional stores and media.
On top of it all, I'm stoked to have a great group of people to work with. I met two of the other interns today, and they were both really nice, and everyone in the office seemed happy to have the free, yet untrained, help.
Tomorrow is my second day, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my summer here in NYC!
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