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Career exploration education to prospect the future of new jobs associated with cultural and artistic content

First Half of 2023 Short-term ACC Career Exploration

Date

Mar. 29 (Wed) – Jun. 28 (Wed), 2023
(every other Wednesday, refer to the schedule for further details.)
*Application period: Mar. 14 – Jun. 26

Time

6 PM – 8:30 PM every other Wednesday

Place

B2, Culture Education Hall 2, ACC Archive & Research

Target

Those who are interested

Person

20 per lecture (on a first come, first served basis)

Fee

Free

The First Half of 2023 ACC Career Exploration Program is provided to prospect the future of new jobs associated with cultural and artistic content, in line with the rapidly changing culture and art industries, based on the research by Kim Jung-jin, a researcher of the Korea Employment Information Service. The program consists of a total of eight lectures. Lectures are delivered from Mar. 29 to Jun. 28 on every other Wednesday at ACC Archive & Research. The lecturers explain and go over seven different jobs: audio book narrator, music industry expert, culture and art sponsorship intermediary, exhibition technician, performance (digital) media expert, convergence cultural director, and web novel director.

The jobs listed above have a great possibility of development in cultural and artistic content, which can respond to and adapt to a rapidly changing social environment including the advancement of 4th industrial technology and digital innovation. All the lecturers are experts in each field. Music Industry Experts was the second lecture. Each session shows different characteristics of attendees. Mainly those in their 20s or 30s attended Music Industry Experts, whereas Audio Book Narrators, given as the first lecture, was generally participated in by those in their 30s or 40s.

A&R representative who finds new artists and plans musical projects

There has been a growing interest in the music industry in line with the global popularity of K-pop including BTS and numerous popular music tv shows. The lecture Music Industry Experts was given to those who want to start their career in the music industry with their passion and love for music.

The lecture was given by Chili Music Korea CEO Lee Jun-sang who has been working for K-pop in the front line more than two decades. As expected, attendees were mainly those in their 20s or 30s who are the main consumers of popular music content. A majority of the attendees were women. The lecturer provided practical information about the structure of the contemporary Korean music industry and its characteristics. He gave a lecture enthusiastically for two and a half hours. Moreover, he shared his field experience and introduced artists & repertoire representative, one of the key jobs in the music industry. Artists & repertoire (A&R) representatives refers to those who are mainly responsible for music business planning. They find and cultivate new artists by strategically matching them with a right music concept and songs. He introduced legendary foreign A&R representatives and gave the attendees a chance to think about necessary roles and abilities for the job. Personally I was impressed with the saying of Eli Wolf, manager of the A&R Department at the storied jazz label Blue Note Records.

He also gave practical and detailed answers to the attendees’ questions. One of the attendees said that she has been having a great interest in music but experiencing difficulties entering the music industry due to the regional limitations. Lee emphasized that he has been doing his job for a long period of time even though he was born in Busan.

He said, “It is true that the network of the music industry is concentrated in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do since the market is everything. However, it is important to find new local indie musicians in order to secure the diversity of music and develop the music industry continuously.”
He added, “You should have a great interest in content, media, and people in order to work in this field. You will feel a great joy when you make a minor team succeed. So you should be always prepared with a challenging spirit.”

You need international business competitiveness to work in A&R. You should be able to use various office software programs and communicate with a variety of people in regard to copyrights, contracts, etc. Those who majored in liberal arts are more easily found in A&R than those who majored in music.

The exchange and spread of content through industry-academia partnership

What must be noted in ACC Career Exploration Program is that the program is also provided for undergraduate students of Chonnam National University as a liberal arts course titled Understanding of Culture and Art Management through industry-academia partnership. Students who are considering starting their career in the culture and art industries can listen to vivid experiences of field experts of different fields such as culture and art planning and management. They will be able to understand a variety of jobs associated with the planning, management, and creation of culture and art content and utilize their knowledge for their future business or creative activities.

This year, the program is first provided at Chonnam National University as a pilot project. The ACC is planning to provide the program to other colleges in the region as well. The ACC is planning to provide Content Development & Action and Artists Empowerment as ACC expert courses. The Asia Culture Center’s future steps are expected as an alternative educational institution in culture and art.

You can apply for the ACC Career Exploration Program from 15 days prior to each lecture via the website of the ACC (www.acc.go.kr). Each lecture can be attended by up to 20 persons, on a first come, first served basis. You can apply for multiple lectures. Visit the website of the ACC for further details.

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