Who are you, and what do you do?- My name is Nikki Claine and I am a Licensing Coordinator for SESAC in Nashville, TN. We're one of three PROs (those being: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) in the USA, and we focus on paying the songwriters of music you hear every day for their mechanical (or recorded) work as well as live performances.
What made you get into the music industry?- I come from a very small town, and as a young girl seeing these female musicians sing and tour the world, it was a dream. It all started out as a dream. It's kind of funny thinking of how I first got enamored with it when I was a kid, to the sub-area that I work in now!
What kind of person excels in the industry?- People that are driven. People that are passionate about the arts. People that are overwhelmingly excited to learn, but also not afraid to hit some "roadbumps" in the process. People that are willing to make huge sacrifices (this is big).
What obstacles did/do you face being a woman/transgender/non-binary etc. individual in the industry?- When I first started I would get overlooked a lot, simply because I was a female. I'm sure it'll continue to happen, too. Unfortunately it's one of those things that happens in ANY industry, and it's not ok.
INTERNSHIPS. Have you had them? How do you score them, and how do you stand out from other candidates?- Yes, I did three internships before my first full time job in the music industry. My first was with a company called Charterhouse Music Group, which is based out of Philadelphia, as a general intern. I did a lot of remote work through this internship, my childhood neighbor was the one that set me up with it- it was her folk music management group. I spent a lot of time one-on-one with her band packing mailed goods, working merchandise booths, and helping run social media. It was like me first dipping my "toe" into the industry pool. My next internship was with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, as their Licensing Synchronization Intern. This is what I really credit me getting the position I am in now. I credit getting that to honestly: sheer luck. I believe that they had a candidate drop out from the internship program last minute, and so they quickly came reaching out to me. I became really close with all of my co-workers during my duration of my stay at Sony and made some life-long connections that really positively impacted my goal of moving to Nashville after my collegiate graduation. Although I don't work with them anymore, I still keep in contact with my old manager, the woman in HR who hired me, and even the director. After my short stay in Nashville (which was over a summer), I went back home to finish my last two years of college and I interned with RCA Records, in Manhattan, New York, for their Marketing department. I got this internship with the help of the wonderful woman in HR who hired me at Sony. RCA is a division of the Sony family, so she was able to get in touch with the people who ran the internship program at their NYC label offices.
Publicity essentially makes or breaks an artist in terms how they are viewed by different audiences. As an up and coming manager, how does publicity need to be managed at the beginning of an artists career?- What a lot of bands and artists don't understand is that a lot of it you can do yourself. If you're JUST starting out, and buy some books on it. You will save yourself a lot of headaches by not hiring someone who ends up being subpar and not meeting your expectations. It gives you a chance to research and find out what options are best for you. Educate, educate, educate. I cannot reiterate that enough.
What is the most important lesson you have learned since starting within the industry? What do you wish you knew going in?- HAVE TOUGH SKIN and getting rejected is a-ok. Criticism as well as working with people who are tough to handle are too common in this industry. It's important to know to listen, and really use your ears to hear where they're coming from, but it's also important to know you can shrug things off at the end of the day and not take it personal. If you get rejected from an application you put out there, or a school you get into- don't get discouraged. Use it as FUEL and motivation to get you even further. That's what's always helped me.
Ideally, what aspect of the industry do you think needs to change for the industry to be more exclusive?- People who want to work on the "business" side need to understand more of the musician perspective- they by no means have to be a professional, but for example: I went through courses of Elementary Music Theory, Music Theory I, Music Theory II, all the way up to European Analysis of Music, and European Analysis of Music II. Of course I complained half the way through all of them and some of the topics within were extremely difficult for me to grasp, but going through each has made me more qualified for ANY music related job, or just having an intelligent music-related conversation. (I'm NOT talking "Oh I don't like that new Taylor Swift song!", but talking WITH musical terms.) You don't necessarily need a college education to do this!! And people who want to be the musicians themselves need to educate themselves on the business side. For several different reasons, but to protect themselves, being the biggest. There are wonderful books on this. Passman is your Bible.
Nikki L. Claine Licensing Coordinator,
