DSP Shows Intern Works Her Way Up Into A Male Dominated Music Industry.

Key Points

• Cameron Coughlin is a DSP Shows Intern who helped plan Ithaca's second annual Cayuga Sound Festival.

• Coughlin created a student ambassador program that encouraged other students to get involved in the music industry.

• Coughlin acknowledges the challenges she may face going into a male dominated industry.

Cameron Coughlin, a junior Emerging Media major at Ithaca College, has had a passion for live music since she was just 13 years old. Coughlin's determination to succeed in the male dominated music and media industry took her to London last spring.

While studying abroad in London, Cameron interned with Jackie Davidson Management. This internship was focused the artistic management of the band Weslee. Cameron said the internship made her certain that she wanted to go into the music industry.

She had already admired Dan Smalls, founder of DSP shows (which stands for Dan Smalls Presents), and the Cayuga Sound Music Festival. DSP Shows is one of the top independent concert promoters in the country.

"Dan Smalls does all the shows in Ithaca. He’s definitely such a cool entrepreneur. I love how he started his own company and is just so successful in Ithaca, so I knew I wanted to work with him," said Coughlin.

As a DSP shows intern, Cameron worked this summer at Ommegang Shows in Cooperstown, New York. She says she learned about ticketing, promoting the show and dealing with the unexpected chaos that can happen at crowded outdoor events. She also learned a lot this summer about design, making concert posters for the Haunt.

One of Coughlin’s biggest accomplishments with DSP Shows was working on planning Cayuga Sound. This was the second annual Cayuga Sound Music Festival, put on by local band X Ambassadors and DSP Shows.

Coughlin with X Ambassadors lead singer at Cayuga Sound

Cameron created an “ambassador program” over the summer, gathering students from Ithaca to Syracuse to help promote this festival. In the fall this program was executed and students promoted Cayuga sound to people in their community and college campuses. Cameron made this program to try to get more students outside of Ithaca involved in DSP Shows and Cayuga Sound.

The student ambassadors that Coughlin recruited each got free tickets to the festival. At Cayuga sound she hosted an ambassador meet-up, where these students could meet each other and learn about more ways to become involved with DSP Shows in the future.

Cameron encourages other students to become interested and active in the media industry, but she knows that she may be looking at an uphill battle in her career.

Coughlin leading a meet-up with her group of student ambassadors

In regards to the music industry she says: “It’s definitely more male dominated. I look at the Billboard Power 100 list alot, and it's the top 100 music executives in the country. There were only eight women on the list last year out of 100, which was pretty upsetting.”

Coughlin understands the struggles she may face going into this industry, but she hopes for change.

She says that for girls going into the industry you have to “do what’s expected of you and then do it times 100.” It’s a very competitive industry so for those interested, she says that you should always be thinking about creative ideas and what your next move is.

Coughlin says her dream job would be to work at Spotify, however after working with DSP Shows she has a passion for working with live music and music festivals. She says that maybe one day she would like to start her own music festival.

Cameron Coughlin, at Cayuga Sound