Now a production manager at Polydor, one of Universal Music’s labels, Klara completed the 6-month professional program Production Manager in Contemporary Music. She shares her experience with us.
What was your path before IESA?
Before IESA I was a law bachelor’s student at Université Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Which program did you complete at IESA and why did you choose it?
After devoting a lot of time to my studies and being in a career change, I chose to follow the professional program Production Manager in Contemporary Music. I needed a short, complete and effective program so I could professionalize quickly in the music industry.
What did you expect from this program? What do you take away from it?
Music is a small, closed world, and it is very difficult to break in from the outside without prior experience in the field. I mostly expected to gain a better understanding of this world and of the specifics of music production. What I learned helped me place myself in relation to my own ambitions and projects.
What did the school and your program bring you?
My program at IESA arts&culture gave me a network of professionals and above all relevant skills specific to the music industry. Indeed, I use all the theoretical courses from the program every day. One of the great advantages of this program is notably the instructors, who are almost all music professionals, as well as the many outings that let us dive into the professional world through internships.
What are the highlights of the program?
In addition to the many outings and internships mentioned earlier, there is the personal project to hand in at the end of the program, which was a very important and very useful activity. It was one of the most enriching points of the entire program because we had to design a development strategy for an existing artist. This gave us the opportunity to take on this challenge with our instructors' advice and to fully experience the various issues involved in working with an artist.
What Is Your Job Today?
Today, I am a production manager at Polydor, one of Universal Music France’s labels. I am in charge of organizing all of the label’s recordings and acting as a link between artistic directors, musicians, studios and other contributors. It is a fairly cross-functional position that allows me to work with all the other divisions of the label.
What did IESA bring to your professional project?
IESA arts&culture first allowed me to be directly immersed in the music industry, to meet professionals in the field and to build my own network. I was able to gain a very global view of the production manager profession as well as of the music market in a very short time.
A side project?
I try to keep working on my personal projects as I did during my program. I occasionally work with musicians around me to help develop their careers as artists. In the future I would like to work abroad to compare the different music markets.