Hiya!
I know I’ve been a little distant recently but things have been crazy hectic. I’m moving to London TODAY. So amongst the packing, I’ve been eating out every day and drinking a little bit too much to catch up with friends before I leave. I’m going on a strictly ‘no dining out’ July. If I’m not careful, I’ll be rolling down to London.
At present, I’m waiting for UniBags to arrive to collect my luggage so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to post an update. In other words, I’m avoiding the hoovering/dusting/cleaning that needs to be done. But anyway.
It seems like only a few weeks ago I was looking forward to starting my internship at Bold Management and here I am, over a month later having completed it and soon to be on my way to London to start my next internship and placement. I thought I’d write a little post about my time at Bold as I did with my week at Influential. I have a few posts planned for the future on how to acquire an internship, prepare for one, what to wear, how to perform and what to do post-internship – watch this space.
A little background – How did I get the internship? / Why four weeks? / Why Bold Management?
Yes, I am a PR student and I usually spend my time getting experience in PR agencies but artist management has always intrigued me – read my post on why I chose PR to hear about my fascination with the music industry. When starting this blog and sitting in LJMU library back in August I started looking for agencies and possible places I could spend my placement year. I sent out a few emails to enquire about a year-long placement or any possible work experience. This is how I got in contact with Influential and was able to spend my Reading Week there in November.
I emailed Bold and received a reply within two days asking me to ‘pop in for a chat’. I thought it sounded quite informal which made me very relaxed and I looked forward to speaking to the people that looked after so many celebrities and musicians.
I called in for the ‘chat’ around October/November time and met with Felan and Joe. They informed me that they couldn’t offer paid internships and that they also didn’t offer year-long placements but that I was always welcome to do some work experience with them in the future. I was quite gutted that I couldn’t spend my placement year with them and had at this point already got a week’s work experience with Influential during my Reading Week so thought I would keep Bold in mind for after finishing my second year of uni.
With Bold always in the back of my mind, I received an email from the university at the end of March detailing a Career Accelerator Internship programme. The email explained that the student needed to find an internship that would last 20 straight days or one day a week over 20 weeks from May 22nd onwards. The first 50 students that were able to secure an internship that met this criteria would be paid £1380 from the university as a form of wages/living costs/expenses.
A lightbulb went off in my head and Bold Management appeared. I emailed Joe straight away, lucky to already have a contact and have already met with him. Joe replied to me straight away and said that the dates suited fine and I was also very lucky to be in the first 50 that secured an internship.
Since May 22nd, I have spent four weeks working for Bold Management as the intern with the added bonus of being paid by my university for doing so.
The basics
Before starting my internship (a few days before), I sent an email to Joe to ask about the hours, dress code and whether I should bring anything.
The hours were 10am-6pm (hello lie-in!) and the dress code was very casual. I’m talking jeans and trainers, which meant less time worrying about my outfit and more time spent in bed. It took me 20 minutes to walk to work so I left my house at 9.30am every morning in my Stan Smiths and laptop in my handbag.
If I hadn’t been to the Bold office before, I probably would have gone into a panic at not being able to find the door. The office is entered through a side door between Pho restaurant and Minksy’s salon on Bold Street with a little sign above a buzzer that reads ‘Bold Management’. Google Maps is not helpful at all in locating the door either.
Before setting off for a new job or internship, I would make sure to know how to get there, where it is and also have a contact number for the office or someone you have been dealing with so that they can direct you if you get lost.
What did I do?
Most of my internship was spent emailing and making phone calls, I’m not going to lie. I also conducted press round ups where, each day I had to look to see if any clients had been mentioned in the news in the past 24 hours. Bold manages celebrities such as Megan McKenna, Charlotte Crosby, Jonathan Cheban, Chris Clark and many more, so there was always something going on.
Bold Management were also in the process of organising the Pier Head Village, for the second year. This is a festival that runs along the Pier Head in Liverpool from June 30th to September 10th and features artisan markets, food stalls, amusement rides, pop-up bars and restaurants and music sessions. The team are hoping to bring in huge numbers this year and show Liverpool an amazing summer just like the year previous. I was able to attend the press launch for the Pier Head Village which took place in the Liver Building (my first time inside!) and see how press launches worked. I also helped secure sponsorships for a particular part of the Village which was also fun to work on.
I worked on a lot of different things for different agents and got a real hands-on approach working with the celebrities and musicians. The agents had all the inside scoop of what was happening in the TV world and music scene and what I loved most was listening to their stories of what the industry is like, how to get somewhere and what certain people in the industry are like.
During my last week I attended a showcase put on by Bold in Parr Street Studios which featured a roster of their artists performing new and old songs. A few of us even went out for drinks afterwards with a few of the artists! I also got to sit in on a meeting with a prospective client that wanted to be managed by Bold.
One thing I really took away from the internship was the importance of contacts. It seemed like the agents knew everyone and had contacts everywhere. From completing the internship, I also came away with a lot of contacts for myself.
Is artist management for me?
I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of it all, trying to secure interviews, TV appearances and music venues. However, artist management is a 24/7 hour job, with clients constantly phoning for any minor problem or occurrence. For me, I think brands are easier dealt with and I think I’d perform better working in PR than artist management. It’s a very lucrative industry, and not a pleasant one at that. I know I have the personality for it, but I think it would be extremely challenging and a very uncertain career path.
What now?
As I said above, I’m moving to London today so I may not be very active on here or on socials for the next few weeks until I get my bearings (and catch-up on Love Island). I’ll hopefully be settled this weekend and ready for starting my next week’s work experience at London Fashion Agency with my first #GirlBossMonday Rosie Davies on Monday. My blog will become very London focused, a virtual diary of what I get up to around the city!
After my week at LFA, it’s straight into placement year as I start with Coty the following Monday. Very exciting times ahead!
Day 1 of London is here!
Leave a Reply