STEAM Ahead: Turning the Dial through Music and Entrepreneurship
This summer, STEAM Ahead hosted four virtual courses as part of its Summer S.T.E.A.M. Academy. The S.T.E.A.M. Academy reduces summer learning loss by providing students space to virtually explore different branches of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) through guided student and hands-on activities. This summer, the academy impacted 68 middle school students with 94% of students having an increased interest in STEAM.
One of the courses offered was Music and Entrepreneurship. The Arts is an important discipline within STEAM education because it teaches students creativity and how to express themselves which enables them to solve some of the world's toughest challenges.
During the Music and Entrepreneurship course, students explored the world of music, technology, and entrepreneurship through the lens of the Music Industry. Students worked in small teams to form their own music label and write and record an original song. In addition, students created a business plan to distribute and market their song as well as learned about the different genres of music and the technology needed in order to record and produce music.
One Peace Studios
One Peace Studios was one of the music labels formed by the students. When asked how they chose the name, it was “because everyone in our group had seen or heard of the anime One Piece, so we decided to change Piece to Peace”. Their vision is to make music for the people and to put out good vibes for artists and listeners.
Their song, “The Greatest Story Ever Told” is about a kid who is home alone one day and has some fun doing whatever they want to do until their parents come home. The sound was inspired by their group's love for all different genres of music: classical, rap, rock, pop and R&B.
Exclusive Records
The second music label formed by the students was Exclusive Records. When asked how they selected the name, it was because “as young artists, we thought the name Exclusive sounded unique, almost like VIP”. As a record label, their mission is to make a path for new artists so they can succeed.
Their song, “Robots Are Outside" is about a kid who wakes up one day to see robots have taken over everything. The kid tries to drive away only to realize robots are in the car too. The sound of the song was inspired by the group's love for hip hop, pop, and rap.
The Importance of Exposing Students to Music Producing
Did you know that of the popular songs from the last decade, only 2.8% were produced by women? In an effort to improve this shocking statistic, Bose launched the Turn the Dial Initative, focused on addressing the barriers causing this deficit - bringing awareness to the issue and seeking new opportunities for women and non-binary music producers to create music that deserves to be heard.
Bose also partnered with She Is The Music, a non-profit organization with a mission to increase the number of women working in music, artists and industry professionals. Together, they are partnering with trailblazing artists and producers such as H.E.R, PinkPantheress, Blond:ish and Wondagurl to highlight the importance of the initiative and inspire the next generation of creators.
A big thank you to Bose for donating headphones to all students in our Music and Entrepreneurship course and for turning the dial to increase the number of women and non-binary music producers.
To learn more about STEAM Ahead visit: www.westeamahead.org.
Learn more about the Turn The Dial Initiative, visit: https://www.bose.com/stories/turn-the-dial-initiative