Apple helps 50 students chase their musical dreams by recording and promoting a single

Apple has helped 50 students pursue their dreams of a career in the music industry, supporting them in recording and promoting a single.

The initiative is part of Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI), working through two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) …

Racial Equity and Justice Initiative

The REJI was first announced back in 2020, with an initial funding commitment of $100M.

Apple will focus specifically on education, economic equality, and criminal justice reform to improve the lives of people of color and particularly Black communities.

The company has provided additional funding in the years since, announcing the Propel Center (below) in 2021.

Apple helping students chase their musical dreams

Apple partnered with universities in Nashville and Atlanta, giving students the chance to work on different elements of the process, from writing a song to creating artwork for it.

This summer, 50 participants — including Liza Montgomery — were selected from 19 HBCUs to attend an immersive 10-day experience on the campuses of Tennessee State University in Nashville and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. There, they received mentorship from HBCU faculty and industry professionals in both creative and executive roles, and worked side by side with experts at the Apple Music Nashville office.

The accelerator was launched with the PROPEL Center as part of Apple’s $25 million investment through its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to help dismantle systemic barriers to opportunity and combat injustices faced by communities of color. Its curricula was designed to provide new pathways for HBCU students into careers in industries that are notoriously competitive.

The PROPEL Center is a first-of-its-kind global innovation and learning hub for HBCUs. To support the next generation of diverse leaders, PROPEL provides educational programming and career preparation across a wide range of disciplines, including AI, agricultural technologies, social justice, entertainment, app development, augmented reality, design, and the creative arts. Experts from Apple help develop the curricula, and provide ongoing mentorship and internship opportunities.

The experience included hands-on project time with experts from both Apple Music and Universal Music Group.

As part of the project, each team was assigned a genre and tasked to record a music single, put together a marketing plan, shoot a visual campaign using iPhone, and pitch their concept to a panel of judges made up of industry professionals.

In her role, Montgomery designed the marketing plan and the cover art for her group’s song. While using Apple Pencil and the Procreate app on her iPad Pro, she was grateful for its speed and the versatility the app’s tools provide.

Fellow participant and musician Emmanuel Strickland said the program helped him see how much work is needed behind the scenes to make it in the music business.

During the accelerator, Strickland, Montgomery, and their teammates collaborated with artist, producer, musician, and songwriter Fresh Ayr — who provided the beat for their track — and the audio engineering team at UMG East Iris Studios to produce their song in Logic Pro. This level of access and visibility for the students is just one of the benefits of the program.

“The biggest ‘aha’ moment for me would probably be understanding that it’s not what you see on the surface, but what’s underneath,” says Strickland. “The accelerator is enlightening, showing how to do a tour, or this is what’s going on behind the scenes. We’re realizing that it’s more than just a couple of people that you can see making things happen.”

Strickland added that it’s not just about the things students learn on program itself, but the doors it opens.

“It allows us to be in the room. It allows us to be heard. It allows us to have the reach to actually talk to the people who are in the industry that we’re aspiring to be in,” says Strickland. “With this program, there are going to be internships that come out of this. There will be apprenticeships that come out of this. There are going to be real-life connections that people can foster, nurture, and potentially really make something shake with.”

Photo: Apple