Hey everyone,

The picture above is me sitting in my office, on the phone with an important client. Just kidding. My supervisor and I thought it would be funny to start off my posts with a joke. I work in a cubicle, and don’t talk to clients. But hey, I still have two months left here 😉

I’m Christina, and I’m about to enter my last two semesters of school at Berklee. Crazy how time flies. Up until now, I was double majoring in Music Business & Film Scoring. Starting in the fall, I’ll officially be switched over to Music Business & Pro Music (focusing on film scoring and composition). I made the switch because while I love film scoring, and movie scores – they are one of the main reasons I decided to pursue music in college – I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last year. I’ve realized that I am not the type to be able to sit alone and write. I wish I was, but I am stimulated and excited by leading projects with a lot of moving parts and people. I love planning, coordinating and networking. Which is why I’m hoping to find my place in the film industry, but from a more behind the scenes role. 

This summer, I am in Los Angeles, interning for two companies: Music & Motion Productions / CHROMA Music and Tunecore. I’m going to be blogging mainly about my experience at Tunecore, but a lot of what I’ve been learning out here overlaps over both jobs. I’ve heard so many times that if I want to be involved in the music industry, and especially in terms of film, the best thing for me to do is to move to Los Angeles. I never wanted to hear this. My heart was always set on Europe or New York. But maybe LA is the right move, that’s what I’m here to figure out.

I was surprised to see how small the Tunecore office actually is. I think in my head, I see these music companies as these large entities with tons of people, but to see that there are only about eight people in the office making so much happen was pretty cool. I was pleasantly surprised that because of my music business classes, especially Legal Aspects of the Music Industry, I understood the basics of the publishing and licensing regulations that my supervisor and bosses would talk about. If I hadn’t learned about it, I would be completely lost in their conversation, but when I listen in, I’m able to keep up and understand whats going on. Pretty cool!

A lot of my day is spent listening to music that artists have registered with Tunecore, (we get new artists every single day!) and inputing adjectives into the database. This is so that when music supervisors call us asking for a certain type of song to fit some scene in their movie or TV show, we can go in and search things like “nostalgic” or “heartbreak” or “aggressive” and get a number of songs that may fit. Additionally, my boss actually takes songs and artists from our roster and pitches them to new TV shows or movies, lets say for their opening titles, or just for a transition in the show or movie. Around the walls of the office are posters of movies and shows that Tunecore has had placements in. This include shows like Better Call Saul, Vampire Diaries, Bones, Girls, and much more. It’s pretty cool to see this end of it, and to work alongside the people who are directly making it happen! I’ve already learned so much.

Christina Azarian

Christina Azarian

Creative Intern at Tunecore
Christina Azarian is an Armenian Francophile raised just outside of Boston. Following in her father's footsteps, she began playing piano at the age of four, and attributes her passion for music to her love of film scores. In her spare time, she can be found planning an event, her next trip, or most importantly, her next meal. Her LA adventures can also be followed on Instagram, @x.a.a.
Christina Azarian

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