A graduate has achieved his ambition of working in the music industry by landing a job at a PR company that manages the band Keane.

Jon Lawrence works for a music PR company that has a ìsmall but eclectic rosterî including Keane amongst other artists. Previously he was a press officer for a new independent record label and has also worked for free to gain experience.

He said: ìI undertook plenty of work experience placements at as many music pr companies as possible whether they were independent or major record labels. I just needed to get in there and learn the ropes. It was essential to getting where I wanted to be.î

By working in a small company Jon works closely with most of the acts they manage.

Exciting

ìOn a day-to-day basis I need to be involved, even if it’s for the menial tasks. For every menial task, there is something more exciting to followî he added.

Jon completed his BA (Hons) Journalism degree at UCLan in 2005. He spent a lot of his free time writing for national music magazines and in his second year edited the music section of the university magazine Pluto.

ìThat definitely gave me a foot-in for work experience, because it showed I cared enough to give up my free time for something I loved, despite being work based.

ìThe magazine always got complaints for the music pages that I was editing. I saw it as a triumph, because at least the readers felt compelled to complainî he said.

Jon admits its hard work to switch off from his job but says he enjoys the perks of working in the industry.

ìWe’ve just taken on a band in Paris so it would be rude not to go over and see them – especially if that coincides with our other bands playing out there.î

Though his degree was in journalism Jon likes working in PR and still keeps a hand in journalism by continuing to write for magazines.

He said: ìThere was a point where I decided that I didn’t want a life of always looking for the next opportunity as a freelance music journalist, and short of desperately knocking down the door for a staff job on a music magazine, music PR was a more than appealing alternative. You have to stick to your guns though ñ there are a lot of knock backs before you get an opportunity.î

He added: ìI still have a great deal to learn before considering future options and Iím happy where I am. I guess I am lucky to be working with one of the UK’s biggest bands because you see the industry from both ends.î

More info
BA (Hons) Journalism
Keane

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