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The Berklee Sessions – COPE Radio Valencia
CULMINATING EXPERIENCE REFLECTION
Berklee College of Music’s Valencia Campus
Global Entertainment & Music Business
Melissa Caton
ID#: 0836026
Supervisor: Tano Darias
15 June, 2018
Caton 1
Project Summary
Widely known across the country, Cadena COPE is one of the largest national radio
stations in Spain. Coming in at just over two million daily listeners, they broadcast from several
locations nationwide; with one in Valencia. An amazing opportunity presented itself when the
local station connected with Berklee Valencia to feature live music performances on the radio.
With this knowledge, I approached the Berklee Valencia Communications department head,
Amanda Tornel, to express my interest in turning the COPE Radio collaboration into a monthly
feature that I would then organize and manage as my Culminating Experience. I wanted to
organize an opportunity to showcase the cultural and musical diversity of the Berklee Valencia
campus, while at the same time creating an invaluable experience for the emerging artists who
are currently attending various degree programs during the term.
From this came the COPE Radio and Berklee Valencia collaboration. Over the course of
six months I executed six different and genre diverse live or recorded music sessions to be
featured on COPE Valencia’s Monday show, ‘'La Tarde,’’ during a segment called “Escenario
FM”. Starting with a test show in December, a Berklee act was selected to be featured; students
coming from various cultural and musical backgrounds, as well as different degree programs
within Berklee Valencia. Out of six sessions, four featured graduate student performers and two
were undergraduate student performers. In addition to the student musicians, a Berklee
Faculty/Fellow/Staff member(s) were also selected to speak on various relevant topics in order to
incorporate an additional dynamic to the show. This created more live content which showcased
the exciting events happening on campus and the immense talent and diversity of the students
who attend Berklee.
Caton 2
This collaboration proved to be an invaluable experience for all parties involved. Not
only was it enriching for COPE’s programming, but it also created a unique performance
opportunity for new artists. Each of the student performers commented that they believed that the
COPE collaboration was an invaluable initiative to help students promote themselves and their
music. Pre-show and post-show social media numbers were collected from each artist in order to
gauge if any noticeable difference could be determined, however, throughout this process I was
able to determine that the true value of this collaborative initiative was on a more personal level.
For Berklee, organic promotional content, COPE unique and engaging programming, and for the
students, an industry relevant resume builder.
Plan of Action
The session lineup for each week was planned around key events happening with Berklee
Valencia in order to allow for maximum exposure in the Valencian community. The plan was
that each artist be evaluated based on ensemble size, genre, sound, diversity, social media
presence and language. Specifically, I looked for live acoustic performer(s) no larger than a
group of 2-3 or a group with larger instrumentation having recorded music, each also would need
to be able to adapt to the Spanish-speaking only requirements of the radio station.
Though acoustic, an effort would be made to showcase a variety of genres. At least one
performer would need to speak fluent Spanish in order to converse with the show host, Carles, in
a casual manner. Answering general questions about their background, musical influences, as
well as life in Valencia and their time spent attending Berklee. The application process would
consist of a Google Form in which student performers submit an artist bio, sample audio and
Caton 3
video clips, as well as links to any social media. Preference would be given to students with an
online presence if possible. This would provide a pre-established platform to gather data and
engagement. I would then review all of the applicants and make programming decisions with the
supervision of Amanda Tornel, Head of Communications at Berklee Valencia. A test session
would be executed in December, upon the completion of which COPE would locked us in for
our Monthly feature through June 2018.
Results
This project, at the execution level, immensely exceeded expectations. I couldn’t have
found better performers. Even though it became stressful at times, often due to forces outside of
my control, everything worked out in the end. COPE was thrilled with our monthly sessions and
often commented their amazement at the talent level brought to them from Berklee, as well as
expressing their excitement on air for the various concerts and initiatives happening on campus.
However, things were not only great on COPE’s end. Most of the student performers featured
had never done anything like it before, which made it an exciting learning opportunity for them.
Nervous and full of anticipation, each executed a fantastic interview, regardless of radio
inexperience.
Though each session was a success, there were still plenty of areas that I struggled with.
To start, the actual selection process of the student musicians was not successful. The Google
Form, great in theory, did not get as many submissions as expected. In fact, as was often the
case, there were 0-2 submissions per form. This lead me to lean heavily of a more traditional
approach of seeking out the musicians myself and familiarizing myself with the assets around
Caton 4
me, on my own. This, in turn, made it rather difficult to stick with my selection criteria. I had
originally anticipated being able to take my pick from a wide variety of submissions, but it was
not the case. I found myself, more so than not, having to actively seek out the students whom I
felt would be a good fit. It was a difficult situation at the time, but it ultimately worked in my
favor and it became much easier to connect with the musicians in this way.
Despite the fact that there are many musicians who perform acoustically, this
performance requirement did present another problem and limiting factor to the selection
process. Many of the on-campus musicians perform in large ensembles, as well as using nontradition instruments for performance. To combat this, I was able to arrange with COPE the
potential to feature the recorded music of featured student performers. This allowed a
performer(s) that required more instrumentation to still have their music featured and answer
questions. The final two months of sessions took advantage of this new arrangement and resulted
in excellent discussion content. April’s student feature was an aspiring DJ/Producer who was
being featured at the premiere of Berklee’s MUSAICO Festival, while May’s feature was an
undergraduate jazzy singer-songwriter who was promoting her featured single on Berklee’s
Women in Music Album project. COPE was able to play their recorded music, which would
have otherwise been impossible due to instrumental limitations.
On the side of social media impact, I monitored their social number growth over the five
days following the radio broadcast. With this, I noticed that it depended on the platforms that the
artists were already working with and their own interaction with their current followers whether
or not there was any growth in correlation to their radio session. For example, each artist gave a
shout-out for listeners to follow them on their social media. Upon review, follower count, on
Caton 5
average, did not change much in the hours following the show. Contrary, each artist who chose
to take advantage of the photos I provided to them of the sessions posted to their pages and
stories about the experience. To this their followers responded very well. However, no definitive
number growth was noticed out of the ordinary of the following days post-show. Ultimately the
true value that each performer gained from the experience was on a personal level.
Next Steps
If this project were to continue, one of the issues moving forward is how to streamline the
selection process and ensure that everyone has as much of an equal opportunity as possible. I still
believe that an interest form would be ideal, however the way that the students are reached could
be more efficient. Why were they not taking advantage of the performance opportunity when it
was advertised? Upon asking around, many students had not even heard about the Berklee
Sessions as an opportunity, so a lack of visibility was a clear indicator despite sharing an
promoting each month on social media. A great way to combat this could be to start promoting
it as soon as possible to the students so that there is a campus-wide understanding of the radio
performance opportunity. Having completed six sessions in total, there are a wealth of videos
and photos that could be utilized as marketing materials to future students. By getting the word
out to the new students as soon as the semesters start, this could be key to added interest in the
sessions.
At Berklee Valencia we have students from all over the globe, but with each term the
ratio changes with new students coming in and leaving for semesters abroad. Moving forward
with this project also presents the Spanish-fluency obstacle. Many Berklee students work and
Caton 6
collaborate with a variety of local ensembles and groups. Should there be a short supply of
Spanish-speakers, this could be a potential area of struggle. As a preemptive measure, it might be
best to limit the sessions to only one semester, so as to ensure enough participation and variety
for each session. But that is just one of many options.
While it is indeed heartwarming to know that everyone had a fantastic time working on
the project, in terms of an actual matric basis of proof, there is a severe lack thereof. This was
another issue moving through the session process because from the beginning I originally
planned to collect not just social media numbers from the performers, but also engagement data
from the COPE Broadcasts and posted podcasts of the monthly sessions. This was an intense
struggle after trying for many months to gain access to COPE’s information, after being told yes,
to never receive any data. I think moving forward, we should establish that requirement with
COPE from the get-go to ensure that we are gaining some insights on the engagement value.
This is not only beneficial for the artists, but is also very helpful for Berklee to know the
audience that they are reaching in the area. Additionally, in an effort to increase social media
exposure for the students, it would be interesting to see if we could take the Sessions on a “tour”
of local radio stations and then compare the effects of one show versus multiple shows over a
short period of time.
Aside from problem-solving, moving forward it would also be interesting to explore the
idea of having larger live ensembles more accessible. For example, a pre-recorded or live session
on-campus at Berklee in our studio with the Flamenco Ensemble. This would be an exciting
chance to involve more students and showcase live performances with multi-instrumentation.
Caton 7
Contribution to the Discipline/Profession
Though I had an amazing experience executing this project, if I had the opportunity to do
over again, I would still choose to do it. However, I do not thing that I would choose it as my
Culminating Experience. Upon my initial start of the program, I was very much set on the Live
track. Through my experiences and various classes I took here at Berklee, I ultimately decided
that the Record track with a marketing focus was the ideal path for me. With that, I personally
believe it would have been more advantageous for me to design a music marketing based CE,
one that could have potentially established some connections for future career prospects or
projects. Nevertheless, I am still extremely proud of the work I did this year and I stand behind
this project and an invaluable learning experience.
Personal Impact
The opportunity to work with one of the most established and well-known Radio stations
in Spain was not only a fantastic opportunity for Berklee artists, it was also an invaluable
learning opportunity for my development as a Music Business professional. My role as curator
within this Culminating Experience ties in a variety of key elements of this area of the Business
such as A&R, Promotion, Managing, and Marketing. Each coming together to form the whole
project as a diverse industry experience and contributing to the professional development of
these artists through their exposure to radio on a local and national level. The successful
execution of this process was and excellent opportunity for me to showcase my ability to manage
a long-term project.
Although a success, the project was not without its struggles. I believe the area where I
was the weakest was the maintaining of a schedule to have sessions lined up and organized. I
Caton 8
found it extremely difficult to keep to the original timeline that I laid out at the beginning of the
project. There were many factors that lead to this struggle, some being: lack of artistic interest,
genre diversity, communication, language barrier, and schedule flexibility. I am very proud of
the work that I have done, but I believe the planning and execution of each session would be far
less stressful if each session was finalized a month in advance, as originally intended.
On a more emotional note, it was very rewarding for me to see the show process come to
life for the artist. Many of them were quite nervous, never having performed on the radio before
or done anything similar. Each performer expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to put
themselves and their music out in such an extent. One artist even became slightly emotional
while listening to herself on the radio for the first time. It was moments like that which made all
the little stressful moments worth it.
Following up on this experience, I spoke with Amanda Tornel about her thoughts on the
institutional value of the project. She mentioned, “Berklee's campus in Valencia proactively
seeks opportunities to give visibility to students' music and projects. Having been able to move
this initiative forward thanks to Melissa's involvement in it, has provided the campus with a
platform to showcase its students' initiatives and talent among the Valencian society through one
of the main radio stations in the region, hence further connecting with the local community and
positively increasing its presence among them. For our students, having access to these
opportunities is a way to develop tools to face similar situations in a professional setting in the
future, which can definitely benefit their careers.” All performers throughout this process have
listed their experience on their artistic resume and claim that this experience was invaluable for
their growth as a performer.
Caton 9
For all parties involved, each gained invaluable assets throughout the experience of the
Berklee Sessions. By result of this collaboration, COPE Radio has decided that they would like
to continue their partnership with Berklee in the future and schedule radio sessions in the
following school year. It is my hope that this relationship continues for many years to come,
continuing to grow and allowing a countless number of students the opportunity to showcase
their talents and the many different cultures, genres, and backgrounds that come together to
create amazing music at Berklee Valenica.
CULMINATING EXPERIENCE REFLECTION
Berklee College of Music’s Valencia Campus
Global Entertainment & Music Business
Melissa Caton
ID#: 0836026
Supervisor: Tano Darias
15 June, 2018
Caton 1
Project Summary
Widely known across the country, Cadena COPE is one of the largest national radio
stations in Spain. Coming in at just over two million daily listeners, they broadcast from several
locations nationwide; with one in Valencia. An amazing opportunity presented itself when the
local station connected with Berklee Valencia to feature live music performances on the radio.
With this knowledge, I approached the Berklee Valencia Communications department head,
Amanda Tornel, to express my interest in turning the COPE Radio collaboration into a monthly
feature that I would then organize and manage as my Culminating Experience. I wanted to
organize an opportunity to showcase the cultural and musical diversity of the Berklee Valencia
campus, while at the same time creating an invaluable experience for the emerging artists who
are currently attending various degree programs during the term.
From this came the COPE Radio and Berklee Valencia collaboration. Over the course of
six months I executed six different and genre diverse live or recorded music sessions to be
featured on COPE Valencia’s Monday show, ‘'La Tarde,’’ during a segment called “Escenario
FM”. Starting with a test show in December, a Berklee act was selected to be featured; students
coming from various cultural and musical backgrounds, as well as different degree programs
within Berklee Valencia. Out of six sessions, four featured graduate student performers and two
were undergraduate student performers. In addition to the student musicians, a Berklee
Faculty/Fellow/Staff member(s) were also selected to speak on various relevant topics in order to
incorporate an additional dynamic to the show. This created more live content which showcased
the exciting events happening on campus and the immense talent and diversity of the students
who attend Berklee.
Caton 2
This collaboration proved to be an invaluable experience for all parties involved. Not
only was it enriching for COPE’s programming, but it also created a unique performance
opportunity for new artists. Each of the student performers commented that they believed that the
COPE collaboration was an invaluable initiative to help students promote themselves and their
music. Pre-show and post-show social media numbers were collected from each artist in order to
gauge if any noticeable difference could be determined, however, throughout this process I was
able to determine that the true value of this collaborative initiative was on a more personal level.
For Berklee, organic promotional content, COPE unique and engaging programming, and for the
students, an industry relevant resume builder.
Plan of Action
The session lineup for each week was planned around key events happening with Berklee
Valencia in order to allow for maximum exposure in the Valencian community. The plan was
that each artist be evaluated based on ensemble size, genre, sound, diversity, social media
presence and language. Specifically, I looked for live acoustic performer(s) no larger than a
group of 2-3 or a group with larger instrumentation having recorded music, each also would need
to be able to adapt to the Spanish-speaking only requirements of the radio station.
Though acoustic, an effort would be made to showcase a variety of genres. At least one
performer would need to speak fluent Spanish in order to converse with the show host, Carles, in
a casual manner. Answering general questions about their background, musical influences, as
well as life in Valencia and their time spent attending Berklee. The application process would
consist of a Google Form in which student performers submit an artist bio, sample audio and
Caton 3
video clips, as well as links to any social media. Preference would be given to students with an
online presence if possible. This would provide a pre-established platform to gather data and
engagement. I would then review all of the applicants and make programming decisions with the
supervision of Amanda Tornel, Head of Communications at Berklee Valencia. A test session
would be executed in December, upon the completion of which COPE would locked us in for
our Monthly feature through June 2018.
Results
This project, at the execution level, immensely exceeded expectations. I couldn’t have
found better performers. Even though it became stressful at times, often due to forces outside of
my control, everything worked out in the end. COPE was thrilled with our monthly sessions and
often commented their amazement at the talent level brought to them from Berklee, as well as
expressing their excitement on air for the various concerts and initiatives happening on campus.
However, things were not only great on COPE’s end. Most of the student performers featured
had never done anything like it before, which made it an exciting learning opportunity for them.
Nervous and full of anticipation, each executed a fantastic interview, regardless of radio
inexperience.
Though each session was a success, there were still plenty of areas that I struggled with.
To start, the actual selection process of the student musicians was not successful. The Google
Form, great in theory, did not get as many submissions as expected. In fact, as was often the
case, there were 0-2 submissions per form. This lead me to lean heavily of a more traditional
approach of seeking out the musicians myself and familiarizing myself with the assets around
Caton 4
me, on my own. This, in turn, made it rather difficult to stick with my selection criteria. I had
originally anticipated being able to take my pick from a wide variety of submissions, but it was
not the case. I found myself, more so than not, having to actively seek out the students whom I
felt would be a good fit. It was a difficult situation at the time, but it ultimately worked in my
favor and it became much easier to connect with the musicians in this way.
Despite the fact that there are many musicians who perform acoustically, this
performance requirement did present another problem and limiting factor to the selection
process. Many of the on-campus musicians perform in large ensembles, as well as using nontradition instruments for performance. To combat this, I was able to arrange with COPE the
potential to feature the recorded music of featured student performers. This allowed a
performer(s) that required more instrumentation to still have their music featured and answer
questions. The final two months of sessions took advantage of this new arrangement and resulted
in excellent discussion content. April’s student feature was an aspiring DJ/Producer who was
being featured at the premiere of Berklee’s MUSAICO Festival, while May’s feature was an
undergraduate jazzy singer-songwriter who was promoting her featured single on Berklee’s
Women in Music Album project. COPE was able to play their recorded music, which would
have otherwise been impossible due to instrumental limitations.
On the side of social media impact, I monitored their social number growth over the five
days following the radio broadcast. With this, I noticed that it depended on the platforms that the
artists were already working with and their own interaction with their current followers whether
or not there was any growth in correlation to their radio session. For example, each artist gave a
shout-out for listeners to follow them on their social media. Upon review, follower count, on
Caton 5
average, did not change much in the hours following the show. Contrary, each artist who chose
to take advantage of the photos I provided to them of the sessions posted to their pages and
stories about the experience. To this their followers responded very well. However, no definitive
number growth was noticed out of the ordinary of the following days post-show. Ultimately the
true value that each performer gained from the experience was on a personal level.
Next Steps
If this project were to continue, one of the issues moving forward is how to streamline the
selection process and ensure that everyone has as much of an equal opportunity as possible. I still
believe that an interest form would be ideal, however the way that the students are reached could
be more efficient. Why were they not taking advantage of the performance opportunity when it
was advertised? Upon asking around, many students had not even heard about the Berklee
Sessions as an opportunity, so a lack of visibility was a clear indicator despite sharing an
promoting each month on social media. A great way to combat this could be to start promoting
it as soon as possible to the students so that there is a campus-wide understanding of the radio
performance opportunity. Having completed six sessions in total, there are a wealth of videos
and photos that could be utilized as marketing materials to future students. By getting the word
out to the new students as soon as the semesters start, this could be key to added interest in the
sessions.
At Berklee Valencia we have students from all over the globe, but with each term the
ratio changes with new students coming in and leaving for semesters abroad. Moving forward
with this project also presents the Spanish-fluency obstacle. Many Berklee students work and
Caton 6
collaborate with a variety of local ensembles and groups. Should there be a short supply of
Spanish-speakers, this could be a potential area of struggle. As a preemptive measure, it might be
best to limit the sessions to only one semester, so as to ensure enough participation and variety
for each session. But that is just one of many options.
While it is indeed heartwarming to know that everyone had a fantastic time working on
the project, in terms of an actual matric basis of proof, there is a severe lack thereof. This was
another issue moving through the session process because from the beginning I originally
planned to collect not just social media numbers from the performers, but also engagement data
from the COPE Broadcasts and posted podcasts of the monthly sessions. This was an intense
struggle after trying for many months to gain access to COPE’s information, after being told yes,
to never receive any data. I think moving forward, we should establish that requirement with
COPE from the get-go to ensure that we are gaining some insights on the engagement value.
This is not only beneficial for the artists, but is also very helpful for Berklee to know the
audience that they are reaching in the area. Additionally, in an effort to increase social media
exposure for the students, it would be interesting to see if we could take the Sessions on a “tour”
of local radio stations and then compare the effects of one show versus multiple shows over a
short period of time.
Aside from problem-solving, moving forward it would also be interesting to explore the
idea of having larger live ensembles more accessible. For example, a pre-recorded or live session
on-campus at Berklee in our studio with the Flamenco Ensemble. This would be an exciting
chance to involve more students and showcase live performances with multi-instrumentation.
Caton 7
Contribution to the Discipline/Profession
Though I had an amazing experience executing this project, if I had the opportunity to do
over again, I would still choose to do it. However, I do not thing that I would choose it as my
Culminating Experience. Upon my initial start of the program, I was very much set on the Live
track. Through my experiences and various classes I took here at Berklee, I ultimately decided
that the Record track with a marketing focus was the ideal path for me. With that, I personally
believe it would have been more advantageous for me to design a music marketing based CE,
one that could have potentially established some connections for future career prospects or
projects. Nevertheless, I am still extremely proud of the work I did this year and I stand behind
this project and an invaluable learning experience.
Personal Impact
The opportunity to work with one of the most established and well-known Radio stations
in Spain was not only a fantastic opportunity for Berklee artists, it was also an invaluable
learning opportunity for my development as a Music Business professional. My role as curator
within this Culminating Experience ties in a variety of key elements of this area of the Business
such as A&R, Promotion, Managing, and Marketing. Each coming together to form the whole
project as a diverse industry experience and contributing to the professional development of
these artists through their exposure to radio on a local and national level. The successful
execution of this process was and excellent opportunity for me to showcase my ability to manage
a long-term project.
Although a success, the project was not without its struggles. I believe the area where I
was the weakest was the maintaining of a schedule to have sessions lined up and organized. I
Caton 8
found it extremely difficult to keep to the original timeline that I laid out at the beginning of the
project. There were many factors that lead to this struggle, some being: lack of artistic interest,
genre diversity, communication, language barrier, and schedule flexibility. I am very proud of
the work that I have done, but I believe the planning and execution of each session would be far
less stressful if each session was finalized a month in advance, as originally intended.
On a more emotional note, it was very rewarding for me to see the show process come to
life for the artist. Many of them were quite nervous, never having performed on the radio before
or done anything similar. Each performer expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to put
themselves and their music out in such an extent. One artist even became slightly emotional
while listening to herself on the radio for the first time. It was moments like that which made all
the little stressful moments worth it.
Following up on this experience, I spoke with Amanda Tornel about her thoughts on the
institutional value of the project. She mentioned, “Berklee's campus in Valencia proactively
seeks opportunities to give visibility to students' music and projects. Having been able to move
this initiative forward thanks to Melissa's involvement in it, has provided the campus with a
platform to showcase its students' initiatives and talent among the Valencian society through one
of the main radio stations in the region, hence further connecting with the local community and
positively increasing its presence among them. For our students, having access to these
opportunities is a way to develop tools to face similar situations in a professional setting in the
future, which can definitely benefit their careers.” All performers throughout this process have
listed their experience on their artistic resume and claim that this experience was invaluable for
their growth as a performer.
Caton 9
For all parties involved, each gained invaluable assets throughout the experience of the
Berklee Sessions. By result of this collaboration, COPE Radio has decided that they would like
to continue their partnership with Berklee in the future and schedule radio sessions in the
following school year. It is my hope that this relationship continues for many years to come,
continuing to grow and allowing a countless number of students the opportunity to showcase
their talents and the many different cultures, genres, and backgrounds that come together to
create amazing music at Berklee Valenica.
Media of
