Anyone Should Gain Experience by Working for Free

Written by Abby Power

January 19th, 2023

Kody Sloos is a recent Music Business Management graduate. He currently lives in Montreal, Quebec, and is an up-and-coming music journalist who specializes in writing about emerging and independent artists. Kody is eager to share his written works about emerging and independent artists who are also eager to share their stories, their experiences, and their musical works.

During his time in the Music Business Management program, Kody was a writer for Global Money World, a music blog platform that focuses on independent artists. Kody gained writing experience by writing articles about emerging artists, and gained journalism experience by conducting interviews with local and international artists. Later, after he graduated in 2021, Kody became the co-founder of Sol Music Ltd. with his friend and classmate Matthew St. Pierre. Kody took on the role of the director and content manager of Sol Music Ltd., and engaged in conversations with bigger corporations and those who were interested in funding emerging artists. Since October of 2022, Kody has been a freelance writer, offering written and published works to artists that have a following of less than 30,000. “I want to give artists an opportunity to be heard and to be seen... I want to help artists who are eager to share their [musical works] and provide them with opportunities that they may not be able to get because they have a smaller audience.”

Kody has loved writing ever since he was a small child. His dad often encouraged him to follow his dreams and to do something that he loves. He stated: “My dad always used to say, ‘follow your passion’, and get a job that makes you want to get up in the morning. There is nothing worse than getting up in the morning and thinking ‘Oh great, I have to go to work today’. You want to be able to get up every morning and think ‘Yes! I get to go to work today!’ I really wanted to be doing this because I have always loved writing, and even in school I was a proficient notetaker.”

Kody, having graduated in April of 2021, expressed that the faculty of Durham College’s Music Business Management program stood out from the other programs. “The MBM program was a lot less formal than a regular college program. The professors were eager to help you, the coursework was easy to handle, and even when we were hit with COVID-19, the coursework was very easy to balance... the faculty seem to have an open-door policy, [meaning that] you can talk to them or go to them for tips about anything. I really enjoyed the program! Greg, Marni, and Kathryn were always available.” Kody also felt that the professors were helpful in regards to job market after he had graduated. “Kathryn has been very helpful since I've told her that I've gone back into the job field. I can send her articles and ask, ‘what do you think about this?’ and she will give me her feedback on it.”

With his experience from the Music Business Management program, Kody developed a love for one of his former professor’s teaching styles, and has used it to his own advantage as a music journalist. “When I first started taking the program, I started taking Greg’s classes. Greg seemed like he was a really hard marker, but I really grew to love his teaching style and his no BS way of doing things. That rubbed off on me because that’s exactly how it is in the music industry."

Kody concluded by stating that anyone should gain experience by working for free. “Anyone going into the industry to become a journalist should do interviews for free, do press releases, and build your portfolio... I’m honestly still working to try to work at bigger publications.”