The Terry College Music Business program came together with the community this spring to celebrate the joy of live music at the student-run Beats ’n’ Brews music festival.
“This event is a yearly celebration of the Music Business Program and all the people who contribute to it,” said Sara Horowitz, a senior marketing major and sports management minor involved in the Music Business Program.
The students organized the Beats n’ Brews music festival, held at Southern Brewing Co. on April 30, to raise money for the MBUS scholarship fund.
Organizing the festival was a semester-long project led by David Barbe, director of the Music Business Certificate Program.
“This entire thing — picking the artists, promoting it, designing the merch, producing the lights and sounds, the stage management — was 100% done by the students,” Barbe said.
More than 15 local artists and bands headlined, many of whom were University of Georgia students also in Terry’s Music Business Program. Bands, such as Recess Party, Mars Hill and the Prodigal, drew large crowds.
Carlton Kell, who plays in Prodigal, is a third-year English and religion major also pursuing a Music Business certificate.
“I got involved with this event because, in the Music Business Program, any artist that wants to play gets to, which is a huge blessing and honor for all of them,” Kell said. “I think there was a great turnout from the community.”
Horowitz and Music Business senior Shawn Pollack were the Beats ’n’ Brews festival co-leaders. They helped coordinate a team of 10 students, each with a pivotal role in funding, promoting and organizing the event.
Pollack and Horowitz graduate from UGA this spring and hope to take the lessons learned from the MBUS Program into their post-grad life.
“When it all came together, I realized this is something I am going to be very proud of and remember for a long time,” said Pollack, a senior advertising major and sports management minor.
The festival committee, MBUS students, and faculty gathered to support the initiative and event. They raised more than $6,000 for the MBUS scholarship fund, which supports students pursuing an unpaid internship in the music field.
“I hope what my students take away from this event is an appreciation of what an amazing job they have done,” said Barbe.