Loveland, Ohio – What does it take to launch a successful album? A lot of talent, even more luck, and the right team of in-the-know marketers, like the students in Miami’s music business courses.

Across two classes – Intro to Music Business and Record Labels and Music Publishing Operations – students in Willie Caldwell’s lectures learn the ins and outs of the music industry while working directly with label executives.

The collaboration began when Caldwell, an adjunct instructor in Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship, was researching the regional music scene to learn more about the local music venues and record labels. Terry Cole’s name stood out in his search.

Cole is the founder of Colemine Records, which is housed above the label’s shop, Plaid Room Records in Historic Downtown Loveland, Ohio. As the story goes, he cooked up the idea for Colemine Records in 2007 and drew the logo on the back of a Subway napkin right here in Oxford – while he was a graduate student at Miami.

Together, Colemine executives and Caldwell workshopped a collaboration. Cole visited one of Caldwell’s classes to guest lecture on the industry, which Caldwell said was very well received by his student, but they had sights on a bigger partnership.

“They were interested in better understanding Gen Z’s new music discovery habits,” Caldwell said. “So what if we target the Miami student population? How do they discover new music? Where’s it coming from? What are their listening habits?”

Caldwell and his class generated a survey that was sent out campus-wide before students left for spring break. They received over 300 responses in just two weeks’ time and ended up with a solid pool of data for further research.

With that baseline, the class could use the data to inform their next stage in the Colemine Records collaboration. The students were charged with creating an artist release campaign that would engage Gen Z listeners for the launch of artist Kendra Morris’ upcoming album.

The students had the opportunity to interview Morris to learn more about her and her artistic style, and then they combined that information with the survey results to build out their projects.

“It’s just a really cool opportunity where we were able to connect with the largest independent label out of Southwest Ohio and get access to a signed artist that is underneath them,” Caldwell said. “(Students) got to put their creativity to work and actually come up with some campaign ideas for her release.”

The entire collaboration culminated in a visit from the Colemine Records executive team, which led a panel for music industry questions. As part of their final exam for the class, the student groups set their campaign pitches to Colemine Records.

Morris and Colemine Records executives latched on to student-generated ideas circling around social media livestream and broadcasting features that would help promote Morris’ upcoming release.

“We absolutely loved this collaboration and continue to explore possibilities for future engagements between the Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship program and Colemine Records,” Caldwell said.

For Ian Dilenschneider, this collaboration was one of his last hurdles to graduate with a degree in Music Technology – one he’s glad he got to be involved with.

“As a graduating senior hoping to go into the music industry – especially the indie scene – it was immensely helpful to have this opportunity,” Dilenschneider said. “The chance to talk to the label felt like I was taking my first steps as a professional artist.”

Working with Colemine Records executives on this project pushed the course beyond the norm of textbook work, according to senior music technology major Isa Riddle. She said she was truly inspired by the executives when they spoke to her class.

“I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity,” Riddle said. “As someone who wants to pursue a career in the music industry, all of the work we’ve done has helped me build confidence in myself to start enacting some of my plans!”

With the success of the project, the Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship program plans to continue working with Colemine Records in the fall and will be introducing a new course, Live Music and Touring, alongside Intro to Music Business and Record Labels and Music Publishing Operations.