Music and the music business in high school

Oliver Brown, a student in the Music Academy at Hamilton High School, writes:

Regardless of the preparatory classes we take and the clubs we haunt, very little that we, as students, learn in school can be applied to the world that awaits us. The harsh and unforgiving employment atmosphere is decidedly hard to teach in an educational setting.

Searching for an environment that would prepare us for our musical and business aspirations, several friends and I set out to create a program that would simulate the obstacles and dilemmas that we will face in our futures.

Working with a student outreach foundation, Blastbeat, we founded a production company in our high school. This mini corporation, A6 Records, gathered a force of students dedicated to a like cause and set out to achieve our life goals on a smaller scale. A6 came to accomplish more than that. In the last year, an intense dedication to our program has been a driving force in many students’ lives, allowing for a workspace that provided a sort of home away from home. Working long hours, we exceeded the expectations of friends and teachers, moving beyond the confines set for a vagabond group of hopeful teenagers.

As we booked shows, developed bands and honed our skills, A6 members gained an acute and wary understanding of the business world. We interviewed advertisers and courted investors. Soon, we found that what had once been a feeble after-school club had become the true article, a well-run commercial enterprise.

However, in light of our original goals, we decided to turn over the profit we had gained to a selection of charities that we deemed representative of our beliefs and ideals. With a detailed plan set for semesters to come, A6 Records is now a crucial program in the Hamilton Academy of Music.

In a culmination of the musical and business skills we have learned this last semester, A6 held a battle of the bands at the Mint, a club in Mid-City. The winning high school band got a trip to Dublin, Ireland, and a recording contract with our organization.