Culminating Experience Reflective Paper
May 24, 2019
Cristina Nadal

The process of developing my Culminating Experience Project has been one of
both professional and personal growth. It has been a months-long process during which
I have faced up and downs that ultimately have prepared me for what is next: going into
the music industry as a well-equipped professional. During this reflective paper, I will
share my main takeaways of the past year. More importantly, I will try to convey what I
believe were the strongest and weakest elements of the experience, in an effort to help
future students.

THE IDEATION PROCESS
In a way, the ideation process for this project started even before arriving in
Valencia last August; it started back when I was just researching Berklee’s Global
Entertainment and Music Business program and came across the description of the
culmination experience. From the onset, I knew I wanted to do something related to my
home country: Puerto Rico. Although Puerto Rico has had a long history of success in
the Latin music industry, and in recent years, the global music industry, there is very
little written about the subject. Hence, I wanted to help change that by contributing my
own personal project.
I had some ideas before arriving in Valencia, but of course, during that first
semester there were many moments I questioned what I really wanted to do. For a
moment, I wanted to stay away from the Research Paper format and move into an
Operational Project: I thought the ladder would give me more “real life” experience and
would give me the opportunity to network and collaborate with other professionals.

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However, even though I wanted to something more “practical,” the truth is that all the
ideas that were coming to mind were better presented in the Research Paper format.
I knew the subject would be Puerto Rico, but struggled to find the angle, the
scope that would make the project specific, interesting and insightful. Then, around
October, I watched Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny’s performance of his hit single
“Estamos Bien” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in which he sang the song with
pictures of Hurricane María’s effect in Puerto Rico on the background. It was an
emotional, heartfelt performance of a song that, right until then, I had perceived as a
fairly simple, catchy trap song about being “ok” no matter what. What I had failed to
realize was the context in which the song was created and released. Bad Bunny was
using his art to send a message to all Puerto Ricans: it did not matter what had
happened to us, it was ok, we were ok, we would get through it.
This performance sparked my interest in the subject. I started thinking of similar
songs that had come out since the Hurricane’s passing in Puerto Rico…and before I
knew it, I could name at least 10. I would say the ideation process was a fairly smooth
one. Once I had the subject identified, I had to spend some time deciding the scope of
the paper: even though I wanted to do a lot, I had to be realistic. Moreover, I had to find
a way to veer my project towards a business angle, rather than only a creative analysis
of the songs. In the end, I think I managed to merge both worlds (the creative and the
business) for a fairly encompassing view of the subject.

THE SCOPE

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One of the big problems I faced during this project was wanting to do too much. I
believe this obsessive need to cover more subjects and information, deterred me from
my ultimate goal at times. As they say, less is more and when I started realizing it, I
believe I started to move forward with a clearer view towards the culmination of the
project.
Another aspect that I did not realize could become such an issue was that of
missing data. Thanks to Berklee and classes such as the Data Analytics course, I was
able to identify myriad data sources that could be very beneficial to my project.
However, once I started using them in more detail I started noticing big gaps in the data.
Of course, this is mostly related to the fact that the songs and artists I decided to study
were not as big as mainstream American artists, but I never thought the problem would
be so recurrent, even with “bigger” Latin artists. In the end, I had to pick and choose the
data and sources that were the most complete and accurate.

THE ADVISING
Having an advisor guide me during this whole process has been one of the most
positive aspects of this experience. Above all, it has given me the chance to meet a
great professional in Prof. Tony Woodcock, who has supported me along this journey
since day one. He was insightful, respectful and, above all, committed to helping me
develop a successful project. He gave ideas, but never imposed; he was keen on
helping rather than instructing and I believe this is reflected in the final outcome. I also
feel like he did much more than being an advisor for this specific project, he went
beyond that and was always keen of knowing more about myself both personally and

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professionally. Lastly, and in a more practical scope, we managed to keep a very
consistent schedule of meetings every few weeks, which helped me stay in track in
terms of timing.

THE FACULTY
Other faculty members also helped along the way, with more informal meetings
and guidance that was also greatly beneficial to my experience; from discussing ideas
with Prof. Dyson to determining the right data sources with Prof. Perrin. Moreover,
having at my disposal resources spearheaded by the Berklee Valencia Library was also
very helpful, especially in the formatting process of the paper.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Although I did start the research process early, I believe I could have been more
consistent with my working schedule. Researching and data collecting takes time, a lot
of time. I underestimated this, especially at the beginning. However, once I was able to
identify this, I believe I was able to adjust my habits and find a “happy medium” in which
I was able to work on the project without forgetting my other courses and extracurricular
activities.
Another aspect of the research process that could have gone better was that of
networking. To put it simply: it is hard, especially when you do not know the people first
hand and you are also on the other side of the world. Moreover, it is not only about
meeting the right people or finding someone’s email, it is the fact that these types of
professionals have complicated calendars and even if they want to help you, in the end

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they might not be able to aid you as much as they want. I did, however, confirm what is
quite evident: networking is easier when you have a middle man. The professionals I
was able to contact for the project, were many times friends or acquaintances of people
I knew. It was thus through existing relationships that I was able to foster new ones.

THE COURSES
The courses at Berklee have been diverse and encompassing. I believe I have
learned many topics that were completely alien to me and those that I did know about, I
now have a much more comprehensive view on. I especially enjoyed courses such as
the A&R, Music Publishing and the Global Distribution classes, all of which influenced
my research paper in different ways. I would encourage Berklee to also include more
“practical” classes or sessions that take us out of the classroom and into the studio, for
example. I believe this would help us, the business students, be more prepared to work
with artists and musicians.

THE VISITING PROFESSIONALS
One of the aspects that I enjoyed the most from this experience was getting to be
part of conversations with a great variety of music business professionals. Each week,
they would give us a new light on the industry. I especially enjoyed the visits of Fruzsina
Szép and Yvette Noel-Schure, among others. It was inspiring to hear them speak so
candidly and honestly about the industry. I also enjoyed the few times we got to hear
from past students since they were always able to give us great tips and suggestions to
better prepare us for the future. Although not directly related to my research paper, I

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always found these sessions helped me understand that, in the end, every “CEO”
“marketing director” etc…is a human and thus we must treat them as such. A point of
improvement in these sessions would be without a doubt more diversity: more women
and more people outside the US/UK “world.” Sometimes I felt we were getting the same
view over and over again and by bring in more diverse speakers, the students can
receive a more “realistic” view of the music industry, beyond the western world.

THE COMMUNITY
One of the most positive aspects of this experience was living it in the context of
a university community in which highly talented students co-exist. Many ideas for my
project came from conversations from the Berklee community or, for example, once
people knew the subject of my study, I had more than one person come up and say:
“Hey, I heard this song that I think fits your project!” This encouraging environment was
crucial for the development of my project and, without a doubt, I believe it would have
turned out very differently if it would have been done in another context.

THE LEGACY
I am aware that my project is one among many. Nonetheless, I am proud that I
am doing a contribution to my island, albeit a small one. As I explained before, there is
not as many research studies about Puerto Rican music as one would expect,
considering the island’s influence in the now global Latin music industry. With that in
mind, I am very happy I was able to complete this project and hope that it will inspire

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other people to tackle the subject of music in Puerto Rico – because there are many
angles that can be explored and investigated.

CONCLUSION
Ultimately, what I learned the most during the development of this project is that
you have to be passionate about what you are doing. That is the essential key in order
to deliver a quality product, of which you are proud. If you are not passionate about
what you are doing, it is very hard to complete it. This, I believe, can be transposed to
any situation in life including, of course, the job you choose. Therefore, I believe this
experience gave me valuable knowledge and tools that I will must definitely be using in
the future.

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