KU Students to Work with Music Industry Execs Through New Partnership with Spirit Music Collective
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – (May 27, 2021) – Kutztown University Foundation has entered into an innovative three-year partnership with Spirit Music Collective, a full-service music production and licensing company that will market and sell the compositions of KU's commercial music students.
"The quality of our students' work in the past has led to this unbelievable opportunity," said Kevin Kjos, director of commercial music at Kutztown University. "We are excited for what the future will bring in this amazing partnership with Spirit Music Collective."
According to KU music professor Todd Walker, "This is an incredible professional opportunity for the students, and we are thrilled to have them get started right away," he said.
"We at Spirit Music Collective and Spirit Production Music are very excited about this new and unique relationship with Kutztown University," said Alan Ett, C.E.O. of Spirit Music Collective. "Upon hearing the amazing level of these young musicians, we loved the idea of helping them get a start in the music industry with real-world application, criticism, opportunity, and maybe even income that is rarely available to university students or even beginning professionals. This collaboration will give them an enormous 'leg up' as they launch their careers and will give us the opportunity to present this wonderful emerging talent to the world."
This collaboration came about as a result of the friendship of Ett and KU bass professor Scott Lee. Lee shared recordings from KU's Rock Ensemble with Ett, who expressed interest in working with students writing their own material. As a result of this conversation, the commercial music program pivoted from performing other composers' music to creating their own.
All KU student musicians are encouraged to participate in this collaboration. Pieces intended for Spirit Music start out as workshopped works in one of the Rock Ensembles or Composers' Ensemble. "Students are given suggestions to make the pieces better, and the students collaborate on compositions and arrangements," said Kjos. "The finished pieces are almost a group effort."
When the piece reaches an acceptable performance and compositional level, it is recommended by Kjos for recording, all of which is done exclusively by KU student performers and engineers.
"Rarely do students at a university get a direct gateway towards a career in music like this," said Ari Sepulveda '22, a commercial music major with a minor in audio engineering. "The fact that I can write and produce works and have professionals from across the country listen, critique, and guide me towards creating a product is amazing. This is a real opportunity to start your future in making music.”
Students who participate in this initiative sign a donation agreement that states that their share of the royalties from the sale of their composition will go to the Kutztown University Foundation, ultimately benefitting students engaged in the University's commercial music program.
"This partnership is beneficial on multiple levels. It creates a cycle of success and truly enhances the student experience at KU," said Alex Ogeka, executive director of Kutztown University Foundation. "Our students are afforded the unique opportunity to work with music industry professionals, and they are given a chance for their compositions to appear in films, commercials, trailers, and more. In turn, their donation of the royalties is funding much-needed scholarships for tomorrow's students."
About Spirit Music Collective Spirit Music Collective (SMC) was started in 2017, but the company's history goes back to 1991 when Alan Ett established the company as "Alan Ett Music Group." SMC is a full-service music production house located in Studio City, California, offering creative music services, including composition, music supervision, music editing, music mastering, plus music clearance and licensing to the entire production community. In addition to the staff of extraordinary composers, SMC has relationships with top composers and musicians in Los Angeles and worldwide.
Given access to such a vast pool of talent, SMC has the capability of working on any project in any genre, no matter the time of day or night. SMC does it all, from indie films, network television shows, national TV commercials, and trailers. Given the deep understanding of the production process, SMC has gained extensive credits in scripted and unscripted programming, advertising, and film. The future is bright, and Spirit Music Collective is excited to be a major creative force for years to come.
About Commercial Music at Kutztown University Kutztown University's commercial music program prepares students for careers in recording studios, arts administration, popular music performance, and other positions in the music industry
About Kutztown University Foundation The Kutztown University Foundation is the fundraising and alumni relations partner to Kutztown University. For more information on the KU Foundation and how you can help transform lives, please visit www.kuf.org.
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