Editor’s Note: This is the ninth in a series of articles about summer internships for students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mike D’Avella has loved Music since he was little. D’Avella, a senior at Penn State, can remember listening to the Backstreet Boys, his babysitter’s favorite band at the time.Then, when he was in third grade, the movie “School of Rock” came out. He decided he wanted to be like the kids on that movie, so he started taking guitar lessons. Soon after came the drums. Now, he’s versed in several instruments.“I love being able to express myself in a musical way,” said D’Avella. “Ever since, I’ve made friends around music. I don’t think there’s a better feeling than being able to collaborate and see your ideas from your head translate to that type of forum in a song or lyrics or anything like that.”This summer, he’s continuing that love for music as a licensing and marketing intern at Interscope Records in Santa Monica, California. Interscope, one of the top record labels in the country, has top artists including the All American Rejects, Aloe Blacc, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Fergie, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, OneRepublic, Selena Gomez and X Ambassadors.For D’Avella, landing the internship can be attributed to his persistence and hard work, as well as his Penn State connections.In October, Penn Stater Rob King, senior vice president of “SportsCenter” and news for ESPN, visited campus to discuss the future of sports television as part of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism’s Conversation Series. D’Avella, who is a member of the Curley Center, attended the session.During the talk, King mentioned rapper Lil’ Wayne performed on “SportsCenter.” That triggered a question for D’Avella: How does “SportsCenter” go about booking talent and getting music on its shows? After the talk, D’Avella approached King, who then gave D’Avella contact information for ESPN’s music licensing person.D’Avella reached out to ESPN’s Kevin Wilson and the two spoke a couple of times. Later, he had the chance to travel to ESPN over Thanksgiving break to shadow Wilson. While ESPN didn’t have an internship available in its licensing and music department, Wilson gave D’Avella contact information for Interscope Records and Atlantic Records. After some more networking, D’Avella ended up at Interscope.“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be here. It’s pretty crazy,” said D’Avella. “It’s basically for broadcast majors, ESPN’s equivalent for music majors and music coordinating majors, that kind of stuff. So, the fact that I was able to get this, especially since I’m the only intern in my department, it’s mindboggling to me because I feel like sometimes I don’t even deserve this.“Simply because of that, it changed my life being here. I moved 3,000 miles away to chase a goal and a dream of working in the music industry that I never thought I’d end up doing.”On the licensing side, D’Avella works mostly with the sports and video game departments. The company tries to sell its artists’ music for use in TV shows, movies or video games like EA Sports’ Madden or FIFA.The marketing side consists of trying to think of different ways to get exposure for the company’s artists. For example, trying to pair an artist with ESPN’s “College GameDay” or other shows.While the internship might not be a broadcast journalism position, D’Avella said it’s still communications based. D’Avella attributes his success to a lot of the skills he learned as a sports director and member of the management team for CommRadio, the student-run radio station housed in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.“I’ve been able to become such an organized person and a really good communicator with other people being able to work with a team,” said D’Avella.According to Jeff Brown, CommRadio’s general manager, D’Avella has always gone above and beyond, and is always looking to try something new. Since he was a freshman, D’Avella was always looking to volunteer for extra shifts, Brown said. He called him “trustworthy and dependable,” saying if he assigns something to D’Avella, it always gets done, and it’s usually done ahead of schedule.“He’s very humble and he’s very gracious,” said Brown. “He has never, ever, missed an opportunity to thank me for a trip that he went on or a play-by-play opportunity he had, or something like that. He’s a very, very good and humble kid and very talented as well.”Taking his talent and what he has learned to the West Coast has provided D’Avella a handful of perks. For example, the company gets sent video games with their artists’ music in it. So, sometimes D’Avella gets to take home copies. In addition, D’Avella is the first person to hear new music from Interscope’s artists. Recently, he got to sit in on a conference call that included Kendrick Lamar and a few athletes.  “It was just so cool to be able to be affiliated with that kind of stuff,” said D’Avella. “Right behind my desk is a studio and that’s where Zedd made his first album. Selena Gomez was in there all the time, Lady Gaga used to be in there all the time, and Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic comes in there every once in a while and mixes songs.”The other big perk for D’Avella, whose favorite music right now is rock and roll or alternative rock, is being in Los Angeles for the summer. D’Avella is set to be part of the Penn State Hollywood Program in the spring, where Bellisario College students spend a semester taking classes and interning in L.A. This summer, he’s living with Penn Staters who participated in the Hollywood Program in spring 2017. D’Avella spends his free time exploring downtown Hollywood, going to the beach, and hiking.For D’Avella, who has always wanted to get a chance to experience California, this internship and the Hollywood Program are giving him that opportunity. A native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, D’Avella never really thought he could be a city guy, but being on the West Coast has given him a different outlook.“Here, it’s so spaced out and beautiful, it makes you want to do crazy good things,” said D’Avella. “It has pushed me to do so.”Let’s block ads! (Why?)
Source: Princeton

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