Adam Baliban
Listen to the interview (approx. 38 minutes) or download it.
Graduated in 2005, with a major in Music Business. Primary Instrument: Drums.
Position: Senior Digital Marketing Strategist at Cooper Katz. Adam works for this Public Relations firm to build the social media side of their business.
Overview: After graduation, Adam moved to New York City, where he worked as a temp for two years, including at multiple music labels, but nothing led to a permanent job. Eventually he used craigslist or a similar service to find a job at a music-marketing startup, where he worked for long hours & low pay, focusing on social media (MySpace at the time), for about 18 months until that company failed. From there, Adam decided that he liked marketing and social media, but he wasn’t wedded to music, so he sought non-music jobs doing that. He worked for the Kaplan Thayer Group and Nautica, as well as freelance, before getting his current job.
You can see his LinkedIn profile here.
Choice Quotes: “Back in the early days of social media, there were no rules–all you knew was it had to be cool. Berklee gave me a good sense of what’s good vs. what’s ‘luck of the draw.'”
“If you got into advertising you can’t expect to be at one company for a long time and get paid what you deserve. You have to bounce around. Yeah it sucks, but you will get paid much more.”
“Accept the fact that the first couple of years are going to be a bitch–that’s just part of the game. You won’t have lots of contacts ready to hook you up with a job. But you’ll come out of it OK and you’ll be better off for it.”
“Network as much as you can–learn to ‘perform’ and promote yourself in the business world like you promoted your band.”
Adam as a Berklee student with his drum kit. “A Berklee degree does make you stand out, and that’s good! You HAVE to be different.”
See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.