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Syracuse University Records began 20 years ago with two record labels, SU Recordings and Marshall Street Records. The two labels eventually combined, and now, students work with SU Records to get hands-on experience in the music industry.

Each semester, students in the “Music Enterprise Laboratory” course decide on the genre of music they want to produce with SU Records. Students can take the class three times over three semesters, and those majoring in fields such as sound engineering and public relations take the class.

The label is currently hosting artist auditions, mainly on Zoom.

“(SU Records) gives them the freedom to run it how they want. And it depends on the dynamic of the people in the class and who they want to bring into the fold as artists. The idea is really to have students be able to run this,” said Todd Herreman, the label’s academic adviser and an associate teaching professor in the Setnor School of Music.

The first month of the semester is usually spent assigning roles and deciding the type of songs students would like to produce, Herreman said. Students then move on to auditioning and vetting artists.

Gabriel Milluzzo is a singer for SU Records. The label focuses more on releasing singles because a record deal with the label lasts for a semester. Courtesy of Kali Bowden

Once they’ve finalized the artists, the students produce the music and put together a marketing campaign. By the end of the semester, SU Records releases the songs on its own website and SoundCloud. The music doesn’t belong to the label, allowing students to own their work, Herreman said.

SU Records focuses more on releasing singles because a record deal with the label lasts for a semester, which normally isn’t an ample amount of time to create a record, Herreman said.

But the short time frame isn’t always a problem. Taylor Bradbury, an SU senior majoring in communication and rhetorical studies, is taking the class for a second time. She enjoys the fresh start every semester.

“It feels good to be able to repeat the process that a record label uses from start to finish, because then it gives me practice,” Bradbury said. “By the time I’ve taken the record sample class for the third time, I’ll be able to say that I’ve mastered the process, and I absolutely love it.”

Bradbury works on the marketing aspect of the records and uses the class to hone her brand consulting skills. In the class, she works on content creation, social media and strategy.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the class and the way it works, Herreman said. A class such as “Music Enterprise Laboratory” requires a lot of close contact, especially for the recording process. But the class has found ways to get around this by using Zoom and Blackboard.

The majority of auditions with singers and songwriters have been over Zoom, Herreman said. The auditions normally consist of two to three songs that the artists are proud of, he said.

Lauren Goodyear, a junior music industry major, signed on as an artist in the spring and joined the class as a student this fall. Courtesy of Kali Bowden

Lauren Goodyear, a junior music industry major, signed on as an artist in the spring and joined the class as a student this fall. Despite the pandemic cutting her semester short, signing with the label was one of the best things she did as an artist.

“I would highly encourage anybody who has songs in their pocket and they don’t really know what to do with them to present them,” Goodyear said. “It’s really scary and intimidating, but what you receive after is really validating because they’ll give you tips and they will also say ‘Hey, I like your sound’ and it just makes you excited. It’s a really good way to encourage artists.”

Published on October 7, 2020 at 10:25 pm