Beautiful Vinyl

New vinyl-only college record label

In an exciting time for Northbrook music and creative media students, a new record label has been formed by the music department in order to develop the industry knowledge and experience of their students.

The new label, Beautiful Vinyl, is kicking off with a bold new project for students organised by Music Curriculum Leader, Mick Feltham. They will have the opportunity to design, produce and manufacture a limited edition, high quality ten track vinyl album. The album will be a compilation of exclusive music produced by local emerging artists and bands as chosen by Music Business and Management students.

Graphic design students will have the chance to promote their artwork as part of Beautiful Vinyl’s first project, having been invited to enter into a competition to design the record cover. The winning cover will appear on around 500 vinyl sleeves and the artist will receive a £200 prize to boot.

The project will not only be counted as an assessed piece of work for Music Business and Management students, but will also provide valuable work experience for over 350 students, allowing them to gain an insight into working in the music industry in areas such as retail, media, studio and marketing. These highly entrepreneurial projects not only equip students with industry knowledge and techniques but they also make students far more employable and instil the confidence and skills required to start their own labels.

Northbrook College’s music student alumni have achieved an array of successes in the industry and are being consulted for their potential industry and business support. Past students who have offered their assistance include Caitlin Lock, owner of digital marketing and PR agency Little Gold, Radha Medar, A&R consultant at Warner Music, who manage Ed Sheeran and Rudimental, Alex Ball, Head of Music at MC Saatchi, Tom Simpson, who works in Music Licensing at Music Publisher Fivemissionsmore.com and on manufacture design and production, Darren Harvey owner of Dog Knights vinyl distro company.

With a full business plan in place and estimated profits of over £5,000 from the sale of the record and T-shirt merchandise, the project is set to be a huge success. The profit from this first project will be invested directly back into the company to produce a yearly compilation album release, each one providing experience, new skills and networking for Northbrook College students.