Motown Records Is Creating a Legacy of Next Gen Music Execs

The record label famous for defining the Motown Sound is making some new noise this month with the launch of a first-of-its-kind internship program that aims to connect students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with career paths into the music industry.

Called the New Legends program, the 10-week intensive course—running June through August at Motown’s L.A.-based offices—gives students hands-on learning opportunities and mentorship in the areas of marketing, digital, creative, and branding. The ultimate goal is to create a pipeline of future executives that can help shape the industry in the years to come. Not unlike how Motown founder Berry Gordy did in the 1950s and ’60s, developing the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5, and through the process, bringing Black music and culture to the world.

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“Our tagline now is ‘built by icons, inspiring new legends,’ and it’s really about making the correlation between legacy artists like Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye with new talents on our roster like Lil Yachty and Leon Thomas,” says Dante Smith, senior vice president of marketing and head of digital at Motown Records. “We also know the people working behind the scenes with the talent are just as important, and our investment in these New Legends helps build the next generation of superstars, too.”

Launched during Black Music Month in June, the New Legends program is unique in exclusively partnering with HBCUs and is helping to fill an important gap. According to a report by USC, just 7.5% of music industry executives are Black. And the Motown team sees a correlation in the fact that HBCUs are typically limited from major label opportunities due to their geographic placement.

“We kept thinking about how a lot of the HBCUs are not centered in Los Angeles or New York. They’re largely in Atlanta, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina,” says Philadelphia-born Smith, who understands the limitations. When he was an intern, Smith commuted to New York three times a week on a Megabus.

“We had to go to where the opportunity was,” he adds. “But with our program, we wanted to give an opportunity to the schools where there maybe wasn’t always a direct route for students to apply for an internship at Motown or Capitol or wherever it may be. This was our opportunity to find the students that would like this kind of opportunity and then build an infrastructure around them so they could get firsthand experience from all of us that work here.”

The inaugural application period resulted in 500 submissions, though Motown had just four slots to fill, choosing students from Howard University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Spelman College. Because of the large interest, Smith and his colleagues, including Jessica Eason, senior vice president of marketing and head of the urban marketing department, as well as marketing manager Tariq McAllister, and senior marketing coordinator Gabe Brown (both alumni of HBCU Morehouse College) are looking at ways to possibly expand the summer term into the spring and fall semesters, so more students have access every year.

Says Smith, “For us, it’s our way of figuring out our own Rolodex of fresh talent, fresh minds, fresh energy that we can bring into the building and continue to build on what we’re building here.”

“Our whole reason for starting this program was to create something that will be left behind when we have moved on, to have something that can continue over the years,” adds Eason. “I think that sort of legacy is what Motown is all about.”

Below, Smith and Eason share more about how the program works, how it fits into Motown’s overall mission and how students can find out about future application windows.

What is the application process like and what were you ultimately looking for in the students you chose?

Dante Smith: We came up with an idea where the students pitched themselves through social media. Two of our interns, Carina and Calin, offered creative campaigns for our artists: one was for JT, the other one was for Lil Baby, where they came up with a concept to get people to engage and share their thoughts. It was basically a video content application, and they really utilized their platform in a great way. On the digital side is Bryanna who came up with different content angles that Motown can take to really lean into Gen Z and become more forward-facing with our newer talents versus when some think of Motown, they think of the Diana Rosses and other icons that really, like, set the stage. She showed a bridge with that idea. And then on the marketing side, we had Phil, who made a whole marketing campaign for Lil Baby and came up with merch ideas and a slogan for it, Mrs. Trendsetter. All of their content submissions really made them stand out because they thought differently. They were really creative, and it was something where, when we saw the submissions, we were like we need to talk to them.

What are the interns doing on a day-to-day basis during these 10 weeks?

DS: One, they have a capstone project where they’re working on a certain artist and coming up with an overall rollout plan, from a four-tier approach: creative, marketing, digital, and branding. They also have a curriculum where they sit with the different departments. For example, we may send them to our streaming team where they’ll learn the art of streaming and work with our revenue department, or they’ll work with our creative team, too. So even if you came in as a digital intern, you’ll still get to see what the creative team does and get to work hands-on with our brand partnerships. Jessica and I also launched a lunch and learn where we break down some concepts that are important for them to learn, like world building. 

Sometimes you see artists as the campaigns roll out through social media posts or maybe brand activations, but you maybe don’t understand that it’s all a part of a creative world and narrative that’s built around it. So, our first session was really about the art of world building and how that is important to an artist as well as fan engagement. By being able to engage with all these sub departments, the interns can understand we all have one common goal and need to figure out how it all fits, like pieces of a pie.

Jessica Eason: That’s really one of the unique things about our program, as interns are able to touch different departments. I know a lot of internships that I’ve seen, you are assigned to one area, and you learn only those ins and outs. Our interns have sat with so many different team members already, and I’ve heard firsthand how great those meetings have gone, how inquisitive they are. They’re invited to artist meetings and overall label meetings and have access to larger department meetings. So, I think they’re able to see how a label works as a whole and how all of these departments have to be in lockstep and intertwined to bring a campaign together.

So, the interns are working on actual Motown artists campaigns in real-time?

JE: Yes, they’re able to apply their expertise and knowledge to real-time campaigns that are unfolding. As an example, last week we dug into a project with Offset. We also had Quavo and Lil Baby with songs that premiered in the Louis Vuitton fashion show, so we worked as a team to figure out, how do we chase that moment and how do we leverage that to benefit the artists? But we could be talking about a project that’s coming out in eight months or a surprise drop that came out of nowhere, so they see both sides.

After the 10-week program is complete, where do interns go from there? Is there a chance for job placement within Motown Records?

DS: We want to make a portfolio of everything that they were able to do here so we can share it with all of UMG [Universal Music Group]. So, if Republic has an opening, we’re able to figure out if there’s a way that we can get one of them to go there. Or Def Jam, for example. But moreso, we want to really tailor their portfolio to help them find their next opportunity. If we have an opening, we keep that conversation open. Sometimes when we look for new hires, the process becomes long and laborious going through a lot of résumés. This gives us the opportunity to build a new pipeline.

How does the New Legends Internship Program reflect the history of Motown and fit into the mission of the label?

JE: I think Motown has always been rooted in not only artist development, but talent development. One of the key factors of Motown since its inception has been the artist development process. So, I feel like we’re taking that in and also applying it to talent overall, which also means employees, executives, and building the internal talent at the label as well. Through providing world experience and nurturing all the different areas that are required to help build a well-rounded executive in the music industry, that’s another parallel of the label that applies in this situation too.

DS: While Berry Gordy is an important part of our history, there’s also people like Suzanne de Passe who really helped with artist relations and talent development. She’s also legendary to Motown’s history. There were certain people that throughout the course of time really helped shape Motown, and those were the people that worked behind the scenes. To me, they’re just as important.

Working with HBCUs can be an important step to create more diversity in music executive roles, which is also important for elevating Black artists. How does that relationship come through in this program?

DS: I think representation is important. I think talent is important too. So, when you mix both together, magic things can happen. Having both at the same time also feels like that’s our contribution. I was able to have mentors that really helped me come through. I’m a kid from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I never thought I would even work for Motown or get this far. And I think there are so many other dreamers, people that are 18, 19, 20 trying to figure it out. Representation matters and developing new talent matters. That’s the only way we do a service to the artists we work with today and artists that come tomorrow.

JE: Seeing people who look like you and can relate to you is important. For me personally, it helped me to realize that the dream could be realized, and that it was possible to enter certain rooms and sit amongst certain groups and make decisions. I think it’s very hard for people to realize that they can achieve something if they don’t have a physical example of it. That’s a very important part of this program as well.

For students that want to apply in the future, where can they find more info or stay tuned for when application windows open?

DS: We started an Instagram account that the New Legends have curated themselves. So, you can go to our Instagram account as well as our website, MotownRecords.com.

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The record label famous for defining the Motown Sound is making some new noise this month with the launch of a first-of-its-kind internship program that aims to connect students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with career paths into the music industry. Called the New Legends program, the 10-week intensive course—running June through August […]Selena Fragassi{authorlink}https://www.spinmagazine.com/feed/SPINMusic News, Album Reviews, Concert Photos, Videos and Morehttps://static.spinmagazine.com/files/2023/08/cropped-logo-spin-s-340×340.png