From shaping alumni like James Newton Howard to fostering emerging artists such as Ponytrick, the Thornton School of Music’s popular music and music industry programs are home to many of the industry’s up-and-coming artists. Simultaneously, the distinct programs offer the opportunity for students from each major to form long-term pairings. 

Throughout their years at Thornton, students studying popular music performance and music industry will take classes where they coincide, sometimes leading to the creation of artist-manager pairings.

Ayla Claire, a sophomore majoring in popular music performance, met her current manager through mutual friends in her major. After Claire met Ruby Block, a sophomore studying music industry, and saw her interest in Claire’s projects, they began their creative partnership.

“It was kind of perfect because she’s my best friend and also there to support my artistry,” Claire said. “So it just blossomed naturally.” 

As a team, Claire said both she and Block stay in the loop with different organizations and groups on campus that are hosting live music events for students to partake in, searching for Claire’s next gig. 

Though the pair usually agree on most things, according to Claire, she said they set separate times aside to work on music to maintain the balance between their friendship and work relationship.  

“We have different names for the different conversations we have,” Claire said. 

Claire said the two shared a special moment filming a music video for her EP. She said she is excited to look back on the experience of putting together the EP, which included constant studio sessions, photo shoots and recording sessions. 

“It’s a lot of working with the people around me and just being on top of everything and not stopping because it’s not going to get done unless I just keep going,” Claire said. “Me and Ruby are the ones that keep the wheels turning.” 

With her EP in the works, Claire said the pair is going for a relatable, honest sound. Claire said the two scour Pinterest for visuals they feel represent Claire’s vision and reach out to photographers to bring that to life.  

“I just hope that we grow together and see what we’ve been working so hard on, speak to people and mean things to others, and not just us,” Claire said. 

Julia Apodaca, a junior majoring in music industry, said the USC music industry has been impactful with professors always willing to help out.

“The relationships that we’re building are really genuine […] whether those be other students or people that have super established careers,” Apodaca said. “A huge thing is getting out there and just going and meeting new people.

Apodaca said that there are some classes, like music technology, where the different music majors overlap, which allows students from different majors to interact and build managerial relationships. 

“Students at the Thornton School of Music are presented with opportunities, experiences, and in-depth study from a dedicated faculty comprised of award-winning musicians and esteemed music industry professionals who bring real-life knowledge and success into the classroom, practice space, recital hall, concert venue, and record studio,” wrote Joseph Poindexter, an adjunct instructor in music industry, in a statement to the Daily Trojan Magazine. 

Apodaca works as a co-director of marketing for 840 West Records, a USC student-run record label. Apodaca said she meets with the whole club on a weekly basis and then works in her team where they research the most effective ways to market their artists. 

Apodaca said that management is unique because the manager works closely alongside the artist, with both the artist and manager wanting to see each other succeed.

“It just takes one person who really believes in you to kind of change everything in the best way imaginable,” Apodaca said. “A lot of that starts somewhere like USC, getting to meet the new generation of music talent.” 

With 840 West Records, Apodaca said they’ve seen “great success” with artists like Michele Lu, who went on to have over 900,000 streams on her song, “Shotgun.” The label continues to get the message of the artists out there, along with their music. 

“What we all want is to share the love of music with other people and put our joy for music out there in the world,” Apodaca said. “It’s really fun to see everything that we’re going to achieve in our careers.” 

Brandon Goldman, a sophomore majoring in popular music performance, said he met his now-manager, Whitney Enenstein, a sophomore majoring in music industry, during a GRAMMY Camp that happened at USC around five years ago.  

Enenstein said that she was working at 840 West Records on the artist and repertoire team her freshman year and brought Goldman to the team to advertise Skusic, his alternative band.

“I kind of became his manager by accident because I just started doing everything for him with scheduling and booking shows and helping with social media,” Enenstein said. “We had a chat one day that was like, ‘Do you want me to officially be your manager?’ And he said yes.”

While Goldman is no longer with 840, Enenstein said she has continued to manage him and distribute his music. Creatively, Enenstein said that they bounce ideas off of each other, some of Goldman’s ideas being “too futuristic.” 

“Sometimes I have to bring him down to Earth,” Enenstein said. “It’s more in the sense of working our way up and hitting desirable goals and also making bigger goals for the future as well.” 

With Goldman writing and recording, Enenstein said she focuses on the administrative (some descriptor) — making spreadsheets, sending out invites and sorting out logistical details. 

Enenstein said that her role as manager depends on a day-to-day basis and what Goldman has in store for the future. 

“He just released his first album, so it was a lot of making sure all of the credits were right on the distribution and working on cover art and music videos,” Enenstein said. “[My work is a matter of] getting him where he needs to be, either physically or mentally, in order to reach deadlines.” 

While Goldman said it has never been easier to create and release music, she said it is also easier for it to get lost within other artists’ tracks being published as well. 

“It’s been coming more together, at least in our year, with the music industry and pop students,” Enenstein said. “Realizing we all are interested and want to do the same thing, and more so, helping each other out to achieve that.” 

Between the music industry and popular music performance majors, Enenstein said both groups are interested in the same thing but in different ways. 

“You can’t run a show without the behind-the-scenes people,” Enenstein said. “The behind-the-scenes people can’t run a show without the performers.”