ACCESSING INTERNSHIPS

Hariet Ellis PHOTO : Connor Crawford

Accessing your career in the New Zealand music industry could be kicked off with an industry internship .

The Music Commission ’ s Industry Internship Programme seeks to help emerging music professionals find their place in the local scene . It gives them a chance to gain knowledge , meet people in the industry , and potentially find a job pathway . Below you can hear first-hand from three people who took part in the Programme and discover what they gained from it . Perhaps you ’ ll even be inspired to apply for the Programme yourself and have a chance to take up one of the roles on offer each year .

Applications for businesses to be Host Organisations open in October . Once the list of confirmed Hosts is finalised the Music Commission advertises the Intern roles available on its website from November , with most Intern positions beginning in February or March the following year . Each prospective Intern can nominate up to three roles they want to apply for .

Thanks to the support of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage ’ s Te Tahua Whakakaha I Cultural Sector Capability Fund , the 2021 Industry Internship Programme was able to expand to over 20 placements , which included working in recording studios ; as events assistants ; working at management and publishing companies – and more ! The last intake of Interns had almost 400 applicants for the roles available , so it takes

16 • NZ MUSIC COMMISSION MAY BOOK 2021 a few months to complete the process of assessing the applications , job interviews and contracting .

For more information about the Industry Internship Programme , have a look in the RESOURCE section of the Music Commission website .

HARIET ELLIS - Interned at : The Label

Hariet Ellis ’ current role as Flying Nun ’ s A & R and Label Manager is a long way from where she started out in the industry , bartending at Whammy Bar and working at custom audio for DM Acoustic . She was feeling rundown from working in hospo , and was already playing in multiple bands so wanted to remain in the music industry .

In order to find a new path forward , Ellis applied for the Industry Internship Programme and was placed with music publicity organisation , The Label . She says she learnt a lot from her three months with them :

‘ It was a little daunting because I didn ’ t know what music publicity really involved before starting the internship , but Lisa and Lu were amazing teachers ... A major thing that came from the internship was the lasting relationships I formed with media , whether it was radio hosts or producers , etc . Obviously I also learnt about music publicity too .’

After the internship , Ellis became operations manager at music store Flying Out , which was then closely tied to legendary local label Flying Nun . Her first job was helping with the massive set-up for The Others Way festival , though her work also extended all the way between painting walls and doing royalty accounting work .

When Flying Out and Flying Nun were separated out , a new role opened up as A & R and Label Manager for Flying Nun , and Ellis successfully applied for it . She found that her experience at The Label came in handy :

‘ I ’ m not the best publicist in the world , but I can get the job done and link the right people up . At The Label , I learned the skill of cold-calling and introducing myself to people in music media , and I ’ ve definitely used that a lot in my current role . I ’ m constantly in contact with writers and reviewers about Flying Nun artists and arranging to get tracks on the radio .’

These same skills are also helpful for Ellis ’ s current bands Na Noise and Dick Move . She says people thinking of applying for the Internship Programme should look at it as a great way to start searching for a job that you really love , even if you ’ ve already been in the industry for a while :

‘ You don ’ t have to be an eighteen-yearold recent graduate , it ’ s not just for spring chickens . I was 27 when I did it . You ’ re never too old to learn or to change careers , especially if you ’ re like me and didn ’ t have a defined career in the first place .’

ASH WALLACE - Interned at : APRA AMCOS

Ash Wallace will be known to many as the singer for dance-pop group , Foley .