Sony Music Work Experience

On the 8th of July 2013, I began a two week work placement at the highly respected Sony Music record label in London. Seeing as my interests lie in journalism and the media, I was placed in the press department and given my own desk and computer for my two week period with them.
Unlike most other placements I have read write up's on, there were no coffee runs or answering phone calls, although there was the occasional administrative errand, such as updating their mailing list and organising a magazine cupboard.
But there were many other far more exciting tasks along with a few perks of the job and an amazing canteen area where lunches varied from chicken & bacon burger with chips, jerk chicken and rice to spicy fajitas.
The added bonus of this particular placement was that, although unpaid, they did reimburse my travel expenses and lunch costs which roughly came to £80 a week.

Day one was not as overwhelming as I had anticipated even though within the first hour of being in the building I ran into Example who was strolling casually down a corridor having just signed to Sony records.
I was given a quick tour of the building, which I mastered the lay out of by day three, and introduced to the team of people I would be working with for the next fourteen days.
On the press team there are only seven people, which surprised me seeing as Sony is such a huge company with hundreds of artists under their belt (Beyonce, Olly Murs, One Direction, J Cole and Justin Timberlake to name a few) so controlling the media coverage and exposure of all these artists is no mean feat.
Over the two week period I learnt exactly what their job entails and the sheer pressure they are under as new artists get signed and albums get released. It is their job to get the artists on magazine covers, in newspapers, on television and spread the word throughout the web in order to promote singles, music videos and shows.

Within the first week at Sony I had met Jahmene Douglas and Union J, X Factor 2012 contestants, and had been a part of Newton Faulkner's live documentary, Studio Zoo, as I accompanied his publicist to his house for a couple of interviews.
I had helped myself to a dozen or so CD's, a perk of the job which gained me quite a few friends, enjoyed free fry-ups and smoothies and got an exclusive look at a music video unseen by anyone else.
Of course, I had work to do too, as well as the early mornings, hour-long commute through London during peak hours and, being the hottest period London has seen for years, miss out on the sunshine; it all just seemed like a minuscule sacrifice I had to make in order to be a part of an amazing, once in a lifetime experience.

By the second week, I was bracing myself for the work to pile up and the idealised work environment I had become accustomed to to shatter before me - no job can really be this great, surely. But nothing changed.
Once again I shared a building with some huge stars - Miley Cyrus was spotted by someone on my last day and I saw Little Mix in the canteen - and got to hear unreleased music whilst eating delicious food and doing a bit of administrative work on my computer.
But the highlight of my work placement came on Tuesday, when I was invited to spend the day on the set of a photo shoot for a brand new teen girl group, Neon Jungle.
Although it was not a glamorous studio or a well-known magazine - we had to provide our own food so I took a trip to McDonalds to grab lunch for everyone - it was still an enjoyable day and made a nice change to get out of the office.I also got to meet the four girls that make up the band and see what it's like to be a girl group member for a day - oh, and I got a free ride across London in an Addison Lee car!
There were also some opportunities I missed out on, for example a free backstage pass to a Ke$ha concert and meeting Simon Cowell; however, I was lucky enough to have the experiences that I did, so I can't be too disappointed.

All in all, the placement confirmed and increased my passion to work in the music industry whether it be as a journalist or as a publicist or even in some other department of the Sony Music company. I loved every second of my time there and I am looking into going back in the near future.
I have gained some useful contacts, a stand-out addition to my CV and inside knowledge that can only help me on the pursuit of my career path, so I can safely say that this work experience has helped me and created some unforgettable memories that I'm glad I could share with you.