William Saunders (left) and Andrew Potterton (right) presenting at the Library Music Writing Camp at Leeds Conservatoire.
Photo credit (images throughout): Eliot Barley.
Leeds Conservatoire and MediaTracks are pleased to announce a new partnership, which aims to support talent development in the music industry, and highlight library music (also known as production music or stock music) as a potential career path for student composers and artists.
Leeds Conservatoire has a national and international reputation for creativity and innovation, and for being a truly contemporary specialist teaching institution. Its staff and industry partners are at the cutting edge of their creative disciplines, and its students are encouraged and supported to explore their individual artistic identities in an environment that is rich in diversity and free of aesthetic and stylistic limitations.
MediaTracks is a long-established independent production label, supplying authentic and innovative music for TV, film and advertising. It produces high quality tracks covering choral and vocal, pop and dance, and world music.
In line with the conservatoire’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, MediaTracks is committed to developing diverse talent through its collaborations and mentoring schemes, and seeks to promote music and artists currently underrepresented in the music industry.
To kickstart the partnership, Leeds Conservatoire and MediaTracks hosted the first Library Music Writing Camp at the conservatoire on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 October. This practical, two-day event was open to current students across all courses at the conservatoire and recent graduates. Attendees explored the skills required to succeed in this growing part of the music industry, and put these skills to the test in collaborative writing sessions. Mentors provided input and support throughout the writing sessions, and as the camp drew to a close attendees were invited to share their works in progress and reflect on their experience.
James Warrender, Employability and Enterprise Manager at Leeds Conservatoire, said: “We are delighted to partner with MediaTracks. It’s a brilliant opportunity for our students and graduates to exploit their works in a growing part of the industry, and to develop new skills that can be applied across sectors."
“The writing camp was focussed on collaborative writing and writing to brief, and encouraged our students and recent graduates to create music with peers they had never met. The results were fantastic, and it certainly helped to frame the opportunities available within production music and the value of working with composers across genres and ability.”
Core to the partnership, the conservatoire will create an online music library platform for student and graduate music. Utilising MediaTracks’ expertise and experience to support its development, the platform will provide an opportunity for the conservatoire’s composers to gain direct insight into the music publishing industry and, for successful submissions, the chance to gain income through commercial release of their music. In addition, students will have the opportunity to learn about the administrative and business side of running a library music platform via paid internships.
William Saunders, Creative Director at MediaTracks, added: “We are really excited by the opportunities this partnership will give to the students. Production music is a unique part of the music industry, and it is vital that we do our bit to encourage and support more creative talent to join the business.”
Find out more about MediaTracks
Read about performance and industry opportunities at Leeds Conservatoire
