Berklee Popular Music Institute

Berklee Popular Music Institute

Nonprofit

 MA

The Berklee Popular Music Institute’s BPMI Live program is a one-year program that provides practical access to high levels of the music industry, with a focus on the thriving concert festival circuit. Founded by Jeff Dorenfeld (former manager of the band Boston) and now under the guidance of Morgan Milardo, students learn how to navigate careers in the ever-changing music industry as they hone their skills in artist discovery and development, communication, marketing, promotion, and live music. Curriculum activities are designed in collaboration with today’s top industry figures to reflect contemporary trends and practices in the music business. The capstone of the curriculum includes opportunities for students to participate at prestigious festivals and industry conferences. Students travel to festivals such as Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, and Bourbon & Beyond, where they act as artist managers, production and tour managers, and artist media representatives.

BPMI Live serves as a springboard for careers in the music industry. Alumni of the program have gone on to work at Interscope, Capitol Records, DreamWorks, BMG, Universal, Live Nation, AEG Live, Oak View Group, DWP, YouTube, Google, CAA, ICM, Paradigm, WME, Billions, Snapchat, the Lincoln Center, Red Bull, Spotify, Stem, Republic, Red Light Management, Songkick, Kobalt, Sony, Darkroom, and C3. Notable BPMI Live artists include Jackie Foster B.M. ’18 (The Voice), Jobi Riccio B.M. ’20 (Yep Roc Records), Mom Rock, and Lizzy McAlpine ’20, who was featured as the program’s first virtual performer during the COVID-19 shutdown, in March 2020.

BPMI Live’s program predecessor, Heavy Rotation Records (HRR), was founded in 1995 in an unprecedented deal between Epic and Sony Records. Prior to transitioning the focus to music festivals integration, HRR released 18 albums, including Shekinah: 13 Artists, distributed by Epic; Apollo Sunshine’s eponymous second album, coreleased with spinART; Dorm Sessions 1–13; and Under the Influence. Notable artists who appeared on HRR albums include Annie Clark ’04 (St. Vincent), Shea Rose ’11, Nini & Ben (HAERTS), Big D and the Kids Table, members of Passion Pit (as the Peasantry), Isom Innis ’10 (Foster the People), Amy Allen ’15 (Grammy-winning songwriter on Harry Styles’s Harry’s House), Madi Diaz ’07, Julia Easterlin B.M. ’14, and Bent Knee.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS