An article by Kaitlin Bell, KDUP General Manager
Treefort is a festival in Boise, Idaho that brings together art, comedy, drag, film, ale, food, technology, kid’s activities, skating, storytelling, yoga, and music. Each has its own fort where there are activities, shows, and panels. I spent most of my time in the music forts. Treefort has a wide variety of musicians including Luna Li, Prism B!tch, The Shivas, Japanese Breakfast, Vundabar, Haley Heynderickx, Andy Shauf, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Waltzer, Alien Boy, Cat Hoch, and Rosie Tucker. In addition to music performances, Treefort hosts a series of music talks. Here, people in the music industry discuss their roles in the music industry and explore what the future industry will look like.
Working in the music industry has always sounded intimidating to me. I viewed it as an all or nothing career. I would either have to study music in school, move to LA, and pursue music full time, or I would have to not do it at all. In my head, the only way to be in the music industry was to be a musician, but in reality, there are a multitude of opportunities in the industry.
At the Careers in the Music Industry music talk, Nikki Baron led a panel discussing each of the panelists’ job in the music industry. Nikki Baron is the founder of Papercut. Papercut is a woman in music organization that works to create a more equitable music industry. They work to elevate women’s roles in the music industry by empowering their creativity and supporting their financial sustainability. Nikki Baron is also the marketing manager at the Crocodile, a music venue in Seattle, WA. In school, Baron studied tech marketing. It is often a misconception that to be in the music industry, a person must study music, but in cases such as Baron, she used skills she learned in marketing to work in the music industry as a marketing manager.
Baron spoke with four panelists: Emily Fox, Lou Lanser, Nathan Walker, and Patrick Hertz. Each panelist discussed their role in the music industry. Emily Fox hosts a music interview podcast called “Sound and Vision” at KEXP. In the show, she explores stories behind the music, and she explores issues in the industry. Like Baron, Fox did not study music in school or even plan to work in the music industry. Fox was a host reporter and producer at NPR before she found her passion for music. Then, she was able to use her news reporting skills from NPR in the music industry by hosting a podcast. The second panelist, Lou Lanser, works for an independent licensing company in LA called Greater Goods. Here, she partners with labels and works with artists to put their music in film and television. Lanser did not go to school or play music growing up, but she found her passion for music through reading books. She spent years studying and found her way to Greater Goods through networking. The next panelist, Nathan Walker, works as a booking agent for Duck Club, he does production for Treefort, he is the co-founder and managing director of the nonprofit Boise All Ages Movement, he runs a label called Sunless Sea Records, and he plays in bands. Walker demonstrates the diversity of opportunities
in the music industry. Walker studied communications in school, but his exposure to music came from playing in bands. His dream has always been to make a living as a musician, and he is able to do so by working a variety of positions in the industry. The final panelist, Patrick Hertz, did have a traditional path into the industry. He received a music degree and spent his college years studying music history and music theory. After getting an internship at Tinderbox, a music management and promotion business, he learned about music licensing and found his passion there. Hertz worked in music licensing until the pandemic, where he decided to start his own company, Dawn Patrol, which represents independent artists for sync licensing and partners with independent labels and publishers.
After listening to the panelists at the music talk, my mind was racing. I realized that there are so many opportunities in the industry that I had never been exposed to. Working in the music industry does not mean studying music and then moving to LA and playing as a musician full time. It can be that, but the music industry is unique because there aren’t very many limitations. In the industry, there is room to explore and create opportunities stemming from unique passions. I decided I wanted to learn more, and I reached out to Angel Abaya, who I met through working as press at Treefort.
Angel Abaya has been a musician her whole life. She started with violin and piano, and she eventually learned guitar. Growing up, she planned to go to music school and study classical music, but she ended up getting a communications degree and interned with Treefort while she was a student. Like many people working in the music industry, Abaya does not have one job. She explained that musicians often have their fun job, music, and then their day job. Abaya, however, has made music her full-time career, and she does this by working in a variety of jobs in the industry. She is a performer but also an administrator. Abaya works for the Boise Rock School as a teacher, she is the program director at LED, she works on the communication team with Treefort where she creates blogs and communications with press, project managers, and graphic designers, and she has her own band.
Listening to the panel at Treefort and speaking with Angel Abaya exposed me to a variety of roles in the music industry that I never knew existed. Working in the industry is so much more than performing on stage. There truly is a place for everyone in the music industry.
November 9th, 2021