AUBURN - Ryan Warner knows what he wants to do after he graduates from Cayuga Community College.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
The marketing team for the band This is Why, whose first album, “Deceivers,” was recently released, is made up of Cayuga Community College students, from left, Alex Lewis, Ryan Warner and Dustin Young. The group sits at the console in the recording studio at CCC where the band recorded its album.
The marketing team for the band This is Why, whose first album, “Deceivers,” was recently released, is made up of Cayuga Community College students, from left, Alex Lewis, Ryan Warner and Dustin Young. The group sits at the console in the recording studio at CCC where the band recorded its album.
The 19-year-old from Flandreau, S.D., seeks to break into the music industry working in digital production.
And he's already gotten a good start to fulfilling his dream, working as president of a record label.
Last year, a group of CCC student entrepreneurs launched their own record label, Cayuga Records, and through its operation are learning the ins and outs of the music biz, from recruiting talent and recording an album to devising album artwork and selling CDs and related merchandise.
“It really gives you an opportunity to get an edge over other students,” Warner said of the leadership position. “I can put on my resume that I was president of Cayuga Records. “I got to see what it looks like from the ground up.”
Warner and his fellow entrepreneurs recruited a local metal band, This Is Why, as its premiere talent. After crafting and signing a contract with the band, the students brought the musicians to CCC's recording studio to record tracks from which they fashioned an EP titled “Deceivers.”
After a year-long process, students can tangibly see the fruit of their work as hundreds of CDs have filtered into CCC's Telecommunications Department in recent weeks. Now they will market the album, sending it to various college radio stations - including their own - with the hopes of eventually selling CDs and merchandise through their Web site, www.cayugarecords.com, or digital tracks off SNOCAP, a digital music marketplace, to students.
“I think it's really important to know all the aspects of running a record label, from recording to marketing,” said Dustin Young, 22, of Union Springs, who joined Cayuga Records this year. “And it's a good opportunity.”
That's what Cayuga Records is all about, explained Steven Keeler, director of CCC programs in video and electronic media, audio and music production and telecommunications.
“The point of the label is to give students the experience of operating a record label so when they leave here they can do it on their own,” he said. “The great thing nowadays is that you can operate a record label from anywhere.”
Cayuga Records is made possible through a two-year grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a national foundation dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship.
Last year, CCC and five other central New York higher education institutions teamed-up to bring the region various projects that foster economic and social entrepreneurship. Led by Syracuse University, the institutions received $3 million for their five-year “Enitiative” from the Kansas City, Mo.-based Kauffman Foundation.
The foundation approved six $10,000 to $12,000 two-year grants last year and eight this year, through which Keeler will establish a student-managed video and digital film production company, C3 Studios.
“Why not give video and film students the same experience,” Keeler said.
Keeler also designed new courses to correspond with the two companies: music business practicum and video/film business practicum.
Young and his Cayuga Records colleague, Alex Lewis, 18, of Lynn, Mass., are excited to begin the marketing process, but doubly so to start from the beginning, recruiting new talent and recording in the studio.
Young said he doesn't know much about digital production, which is a must in a world placing increased emphasis on new technology.
“It's a totally different world,” he said.
After just a few months at Cayuga Records, Lewis already recognizes one of its benefits and what it will do for him in the future.
“It may be a small record,” he said, “but it'll allow us to go on to bigger and better things.”
And he's already gotten a good start to fulfilling his dream, working as president of a record label.
Last year, a group of CCC student entrepreneurs launched their own record label, Cayuga Records, and through its operation are learning the ins and outs of the music biz, from recruiting talent and recording an album to devising album artwork and selling CDs and related merchandise.
“It really gives you an opportunity to get an edge over other students,” Warner said of the leadership position. “I can put on my resume that I was president of Cayuga Records. “I got to see what it looks like from the ground up.”
Warner and his fellow entrepreneurs recruited a local metal band, This Is Why, as its premiere talent. After crafting and signing a contract with the band, the students brought the musicians to CCC's recording studio to record tracks from which they fashioned an EP titled “Deceivers.”
After a year-long process, students can tangibly see the fruit of their work as hundreds of CDs have filtered into CCC's Telecommunications Department in recent weeks. Now they will market the album, sending it to various college radio stations - including their own - with the hopes of eventually selling CDs and merchandise through their Web site, www.cayugarecords.com, or digital tracks off SNOCAP, a digital music marketplace, to students.
“I think it's really important to know all the aspects of running a record label, from recording to marketing,” said Dustin Young, 22, of Union Springs, who joined Cayuga Records this year. “And it's a good opportunity.”
That's what Cayuga Records is all about, explained Steven Keeler, director of CCC programs in video and electronic media, audio and music production and telecommunications.
“The point of the label is to give students the experience of operating a record label so when they leave here they can do it on their own,” he said. “The great thing nowadays is that you can operate a record label from anywhere.”
Cayuga Records is made possible through a two-year grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a national foundation dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship.
Last year, CCC and five other central New York higher education institutions teamed-up to bring the region various projects that foster economic and social entrepreneurship. Led by Syracuse University, the institutions received $3 million for their five-year “Enitiative” from the Kansas City, Mo.-based Kauffman Foundation.
The foundation approved six $10,000 to $12,000 two-year grants last year and eight this year, through which Keeler will establish a student-managed video and digital film production company, C3 Studios.
“Why not give video and film students the same experience,” Keeler said.
Keeler also designed new courses to correspond with the two companies: music business practicum and video/film business practicum.
Young and his Cayuga Records colleague, Alex Lewis, 18, of Lynn, Mass., are excited to begin the marketing process, but doubly so to start from the beginning, recruiting new talent and recording in the studio.
Young said he doesn't know much about digital production, which is a must in a world placing increased emphasis on new technology.
“It's a totally different world,” he said.
After just a few months at Cayuga Records, Lewis already recognizes one of its benefits and what it will do for him in the future.
“It may be a small record,” he said, “but it'll allow us to go on to bigger and better things.”
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