Music professor Merlyn Van Regenmorter, director of the Commercial Music program, has been inviting music professionals to speak for students for over ten years, but in 2017, he officially introduced his Inside the Music Industry workshop and speaker series to offer his students advice and hands-on experience with professional networking.

Van Regenmorter’s goal is to provide Commercial Music students with the practical skills and knowledge that they will need for the music industry and give them the opportunity to connect with leading music industry professionals. 

“I initiated the ‘Inside the Music Industry’ workshop/speaker series to feature guests who represent the pinnacle of our field,” Van Regenmorter said in an email to the Current.

On Feb. 8, Van Regenmorter welcomed his first guest for the Zoom workshop, Matt Bourdeau, author, producer and host of the “Working Class Audio” podcast.

“It was an excellent event,” Van Regenmorter said. “Students were able to hear first-hand about what it takes to produce a successful podcast, from procuring guests, topic selection, sponsorships and monetization, including editing, mixing and delivery methods.” 

Bordeau says the workshop went great.

“We covered podcasting, talking about the technical and business side of things as well as editing for the medium,” Bourdeau said in an email.

According to Van Regenmorter, through this workshop students were given the keys to success.

“Matt fielded every question that students asked with complete candor and completeness,” Van Regenmorter said. “Students were able to hear first-hand about what it takes to produce a successful podcast.”

Live sound reinforcement engineer Stanley Soares appeared next for the workshop series on February 11. Soares has toured with Megadeth and worked a reunion show with Motorhead at the Apollo. 

Van Regenemorter says Soares’ expertise and advice would be especially helpful to students in the Concert Sound Reinforcement class.

Daniel Pampuri, a Los Angeles-based producer and engineer who worked on the “The Lion King” soundtrack in 2019, spoke on February 18, sharing insight on professional growth, life as a producer and recording engineering techniques.

“This workshop gives students the chance to glean insights from those working in various facets of the music industry,” Van Regenmorter said. “But it also helps to jump-start their process of professional networking development, which is so incredibly important.”