840 West connects artists to music industry
(Lydia Whitman | Daily Trojan)
Last year on the first day of school, four music industry majors’ paths — or, rather, Zoom screens — aligned as they answered the call to revamp an abandoned organization called Music Industry Connections. Seniors Nina Tanaka and Jack Mangikyan, and sophomores Allana Taghioff and Cadie Nussbaum met remotely to decide how to run the club. But what started as a rebrand turned into a complete reimagined expansion within the music industry program.
“We all kind of came up with the idea of a record label because I had always gone into college knowing I wanted to do something with an on-campus record label,” said Nussbaum, a member of the promos team. “I was shocked to find out that [USC] didn’t have one.”
Now rebranded as 840 West, the organization allows members to not only connect as students but also as their own respective teams and artists. Taghioff said she could make connections to the classroom through her work at 840 West as she learns how to apply her school studies in a realistic and professional setting.
“I’ve never had a job in [the] music industry, and so you learn about these things in class, but when you’re actually put into it and you’re needing to make these calls and put on a show … That’s what class doesn’t teach you,” Taghioff said.
Student artists are able to put their curriculums to the test in professional settings while still having the support from the University, Nussbaum said. Similarly, Taghioff said she has enjoyed bringing more people on to the 840 West staff this year, now that classes are in-person.
“I’m in a show on Friday; I play bass for my friend and that whole 840 West community was there, rather than just like two or three people. And so, I just feel like it is really great for those connection purposes,” Taghioff said. “And we’re all in the same boat — we’re all undergrad students with a passion for [the] music industry, so being able to come together in a safe space is really, really awesome and everyone is just so supportive of one another.”
When 840 West’s meetings were still held virtually, each department only had one or two people. Since returning to campus, however, the label has added many new members, with teams now ranging from five to 15 people, Nussbaum said. One of the largest groups within 840 West is the arists and repertoire team, commonly known as A&R. This team listens to pitches and picks artists for the label. 840 West currently has only a handful of artists and is hoping to add new ones, something that requires a unanimous decision from the A&R team, Taghioff said. Even though the label is split into these different departments, Nussbaum said they still work as a larger unit.
“The nice thing about all of us being together rather than just having sub-meetings is that if I need something from another team I can just walk over and say, ‘Hey, what’s your plan for this?’” Nussbaum said. “One of our artists, Megan Winsor: She likes coming to the meetings a lot, so it’s nice when the artists are there; I can collaborate with her about what she wants on her social, how she wants to be represented through our social, just things like that.”
This closeness is also one of the upsides to working in a smaller, university wide label, according to Nussbaum. While major record labels are forced to work though non-music-related tasks and jump through financial and legal hoops, student-run labels have a greater amount of flexibility as they are supported by the university. This agency allows them greater creative license.
“The number one difference [between major record labels and student-run labels] is that we get to run it. There’s not a whole set of rules … and everyone is participating,” Nussbaum said. “It’s nice to have the freedom and collaboration to do what we want to do, figuring it out together.”
Although the group is close, it is not exclusive; 840 West welcomes all majors to the events it hopes to host in the future, which can be found on its Instagram.
840 West made its debut Tuesday at Surf House with Mid-Week Insomnia, a Halloween-themed concert. The event featured a DJ and five different music artists, some of which are already signed to 840 West. The line-up included Megan Winsor, Nic Skrabak, Tippy Balady, Frat Mouse, Alex Oliva and Biata as DJ.
Among the crowd of Halloween costumes in front of Surf House’s porch-turned-stage, Mangikyan said, while he recognized many members of 840 West, there were lots of newcomers as well. This audience aspect, which was not possible during quarantine, is part of what made this first event so exciting.
“I’m a music fan first and foremost,” Mangikyan said. “So I’m just excited to listen to good music, and of course meet everybody … and just embrace live music again, because we’ve been under quarantine for so long.”