Last semester, University of Massachusetts Boston student Andrew Faller scored an internship working for Sony Music through a company called RED Distribution, where he will be interning through May. RED designs marketing and distribution strategies for the labels and artists connected with Sony Music. Faller heard about the internship program through the communication department, which helped him get involved.
Although RED works with multiple genres, Faller works specifically with the urban department on hip-hop and R&B projects. Faller’s tasks at the internship range from working on online and social media marketing campaigns, to reporting on live TV shows, and coordinating with lifestyle accounts and businesses across the city to help with promotional aspects for the artists.
By interning at RED Distribution, Faller has had the opportunity to work on projects with popular artists like Mack Wilds (@MACKWILDS), Joey BadA$$ (@JoeyBadass_), Childish Gambino (@DonaldGlover), and recent Grammy Award winner Lecrae (@Lecrae).
One of Faller’s favorite experiences was when RED had their interns visit their office in New York City during the annual CMJ Festival. He was able to attend two days of conferences around a professional table that included in-office performances by a few artists. Faller says the interns were able to meet with several labels and successful industry professionals, including Ultra Records, Drake’s lawyer Chris from Last Gang Entertainment, and Ben Lovett from Mumford & Sons, who all dropped by the office to talk about new projects. The interns were also invited by RED to go on a boat cruise through New York Harbor with two full bars, a stage, and four live bands.
On the last day of RED’s conferences, Faller got the chance to speak with legendary hip-hop producer Salaam Remi, who has written and produced tracks for The Fugees, Amy Winehouse, Nas, Miguel, Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys, and more. Remi has just signed Grammy Award nominee Mack Wilds to his new record label Louder Than Life Records, and Faller has been working with Mack since September to get his new album into the Boston scene. Faller has been playing Mack’s single “Own It” on JAM’N 9.45 and seeing its video all over MTV.
Faller finished out his fall semester working with Childish Gambino and the ONKYO audio brand. To prepare for the release of Childish Gambino’s new album “Because the Internet” on Dec. 10, Faller worked with  new promo material on his Boston lifestyle accounts.
Faller also held a listening event for ONKYO’s new line of in-ear and over-ear headphones. ONKYO sent Faller samples of the headphones to use for the event and even gave a couple free samples out to students. Glassnote Records was also kind enough to allow Faller to stream the new Childish Gambino album at the event before its release, so people could enjoy it in the high-quality noise cancellation ONKYO headphones.
Faller says that working as a Stache Lifestyle Rep for RED Distribution has been a valuable opportunity which has allowed him to acquire job skills in the music industry and build his network before graduating. He highly recommends applying for this internship to any one interested in this field.