The Daily Campus

Issue date: 1/26/07 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Joshua Litwin Musician and entrepreneur Jenkins spoke with students about the music induustry.

"Tonight we're going to cover what it truly means to be independent," said Robbie Jenkins, musician, artist, producer and educator of the music industry, to a small group of UConn students and members of Husky Entertainment Thursday night.

Jenkins was at the University of Connecticut to deliver his lecture titled "Independence in Today's Music Industry." The purpose was to help Husky Entertainment, UConn's independent student-run record label, to develop, and Jenkins gave pointers on how to manage a label in today's world. No one could have been more fitting for the presentation than Jenkins.

Jenkins, of Stamford, has quite a history in the music industry. He has a degree in Music Composition from the Berklee College of Music and has been actively involved in music since 1989, when he started off on his first tour with Surface, a R&B trio from the late 80s and early 90s. Since then, he has had an extensive amount of experience including world tours with various artists (hip-hop group P.M. Dawn and country singer Jimmie Vaughn, to name a few), several records, music videos and 15 television appearances, including the "Arsenio Hall Show" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

In 1995, Jenkins launched Overture Entertainment, Inc., his own record label/entertainment company on which he himself is signed. He stressed the importance of creating one's own brand, and pushing that brand with everything you do.

"Everything I do is through my company," Jenkins said. "Getting me here today was dealt through my company and it's important to push your brand," he said as he pointed to the logo of Overture Entertainment on the Power Point slide.

Jenkins started off his presentation with a look back on the industry and what led to its current state. He asked the audience if there were any history majors in attendance. With only one hand raised, he followed up on his point.

"You shouldn't repeat the mistakes of history," Jenkins said. "I learned a lot through trial and error - a lot of error."

He then talked of how the past is irrelevant when it comes to priorities. "Focus on the future," Jenkins said.

Jenkins went on to explain the rise and fall of music in the early '80s, about how major labels were the only place an artist could find a deal, and how there really was no independence to it.

Continued...

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