Ad Creative Student Finds Her Rhythm with Sony Music Internship
How a unique combination of majors and minors distinguished Courtney Cohen in the competitive music industry
By: Nora Cunningham
Courtney Cohen was on vacation when she received an email from one of the top companies in the Music Industry, Epic Records. She laughed off the email, forgetting that over 100 applications ago, she took a shot at interning with the company. Her persistence, combined with an MSU degree path centered around ad creative and business, turned a forgotten application into a dream opportunity.
Cohen came to Michigan State University as a graphic design major. Later in her academic career, she realized she wanted to apply her creativity differently. This led her to pursue the ad creative major.
Within her major, Cohen gained experience in creating pitch decks, campaigns and gaining experience with Adobe Creative Suite. Cohen decided she wanted to fulfill her education at MSU and bridge the creative field with business. She knew that business was versatile and that even in the creative field, is a necessity.
The hard work Cohen put into her studies at MSU all seemed to pay off when Epic Records, the Umbrella company of Sony Music (link), was seeking a brand partnership intern, who would be responsible for pitching artists to different brands, sending outreach emails and designing pitch decks.
After numerous AI interviews and resume reviews for the position, Cohen accepted the offer with Epic Records (link).
Cohen credits her diverse background with distinguishing her as one of the 200 people selected for Sony’s internship program.
“There are many prestigious music business schools across the country, specifically for positions like this, and my Michigan State background helped me stand out, said Cohen.
She credits her understanding of the business world as something that helped improve her resume in the creative space.
There is more to the music industry than just the songs we hear. Cohen described the industry as fast-paced, where you may be thrown multiple projects at once.
“My business knowledge and mindset helped me to be in a corporate environment,” said Cohen.
For most interns, their work would take place at Sony’s headquarters in LA, but Cohen was given permission to work remotely from her home in Michigan.
Cohen compared working at home to how she approaches doing her schoolwork.
“There is an adjustment when working remote, you must be thinking two steps ahead, and overcommunicating,” said Cohen. “You can’t just pop in the office and ask a question.”
While the internship was remote, Cohen made it a priority to maximize her time at Sony Music. She consistently expanded her professional network within the company by arranging informational interviews and seeking out individuals whose careers she wanted to learn more about.
“Your network is everything,” said Cohen.
The MSU business classes, along with her entrepreneurship minor, taught her the importance of building a professional network and taking advantage of opportunities, while not losing touch with your creative side.
