AMP SPOTLIGHTS – Emily Heaton
For the next instalment of our SPOTLIGHT series of interviews, today we’re having a chat with Emily Heaton to unpack her experiences on our 2023 AMP Producers scheme! Over the past few months, we’ve been spotlighting some of the amazing creatives and young professionals we get to work with as an arts charity working in the youth music sector. Read on to hear about what Emily got up to working as the press coordinator on our youth-led DIY Festival, ‘Come As You Are’!
Callie: Hi Emily! tell me a bit about yourself! How are you involved with the arts?
Emily: My name’s Emily, I’m a former AMP producer, and I’ve recently been undertaking a paid work opportunity with a local cultural education partnership, doing their marketing and trying to promote youth voice across organisations in North Yorkshire.
I actually came from a background of very limited arts and creativity. At university I studied economics, but music and being in a creative industry is something that I’ve been really passionate about. The arts are something that I really wanted to work on for quite a long time, but I didn’t really know how to get into that world. So when I saw this opportunity for AMP, it seemed perfect for me!
Callie: How did you first hear about AMP, and what made you want to get involved?
Emily: I first read about AMP on social media – I remember seeing an advert for the AMP Producers scheme and saw there were lots of different roles available. For me, I’ve always been interested in hearing about the stories of how people develop their music and learn more about the process behind it, how they choose particular sounds, particular rhythms, particular melodies.
I thought that going into more of a journalistic role would be great for me – a dual role involving direct work with the artists as well as coordinating press and social media, a great way for me to learn more about how to write as a journalist and be able to showcase that to different press organisations. That’s definitely something I was really keen to learn more about and I thought that’d be a great opportunity for me to get some more experience.
Callie: Tell us a bit about what you got up to on the AMP Producers scheme as a Press Coordinator! What was it like, what were your favourite bits and what things challenged you the most?
Emily: The way I took toward the role was in two different elements, the first being reaching out to the press and the publicity side of our DIY festival. This involved drawing on what I learned on the scheme from my personal mentor, how to format emails and press notices so that I could provide all the information that press organisations would want in a way that was easy to digest and that would get noticed. I found this part to be an exciting challenge as I didn’t have much prior experience doing something similar, but having a mentor, regular team meetings, and group workshops were a huge help.
The second aspect of the role was music journalism, where for our festival I decided to create a podcast to engage potential event attendees and keep the conversation going after the event. I’ve always wanted to create a podcast, but never had the understanding of how to use software or own the technology to be able to do that, and AMP’s support enabled me to build up those skills.
I’d say that developing this podcast was the best part of the experience as it let me explore my passion for the arts, understand the artists’ stories, and help promote the event by sharing the finished interviews on social media, which I think it was a really nice way for the audience to get to know each of the artists before the festival.
Callie: How has this work impacted your future pathways? Do you feel it has changed your outlook on careers in the music industry? Why?
Emily: This opportunity has been incredible. I’ve gone from having absolutely no idea of how to get into the industry to now having some really great experience behind me; experience that I was able to gather at my own pace like in a safe environment where I wasn’t pressured into anything. By learning and practicing having that safe space to develop I was then offered a position at Forge LCEP and that was my first paid opportunity in the creative industry. Now, obviously that was a little bit of a change going from music journalism to marketing, but from the bits of marketing I got to do for our festival Come As You Are, I found it’s something I really enjoyed and want to pursue more of.
Going forward, AMP has really opened my eyes to more opportunities that I can get involved in, and it’s given me the confidence to believe that I can work in the industry that I’ve always dreamed of wanting to get involved in. Being on the AMP Producers scheme, it’s given me access not just to one area of the industry, but several different areas. I know that I’ve got a range of experience that I can use when applying for future roles – not even necessarily in the music industry.
Having a degree in economics has a lot of transferable skills that I can bring over to a career in the arts, but I think at least in the long term I’d like to focus more on being with artists and being involved in the music itself – behind the scenes, or management, trying out as many different roles as possible.
Callie: Do you have any similar experiences through other schemes or funding opportunities?
Emily: As I mentioned before, I was doing some work with Forge LCEP back at the start of the year, running their social media accounts – and Forge are working to make creative opportunities more accessible for young people across Yorkshire. Having these skills in organisation, promotion, and content development which I developed during the AMP Producers program enabled quite a smooth transition into this role, as well as getting the amazing opportunity to speak at several conferences to promote the benefits of Youth Voice on behalf of AMP.
Callie: Who would you recommend this scheme to? How do you think it can benefit folks just breaking into the sector?
Emily: I don’t think there is any single perfect approach, or perfect person for the programme. I think that AMP is a really accessible employer, and that anybody who has a passion for music for the wider creative industries should absolutely apply. Like I said, I came from a background of no experience but I had a strong passion which came through in my application, which is how I got onto the scheme. So, if you haven’t got much experience in music, if you don’t play a musical instrument or you’ve never done anything like it before, I’d say don’t let it put you off! AMP Producers is an amazing opportunity for you to learn and develop and gain those skills, it’s a really low barrier to entry.
That said, it’s also a great opportunity for people who already have loads of experience, since you learn so much from the other people on your team and you can try out a new aspect of the industry you might never have considered before, like music journalism or sound tech. I’d really recommend it to anybody who is passionate, driven, and wants to showcase creative industries for what they are.
You’re not on your own with it at all. You’ve got your peers that are also in the group and then you’ve also got massive support from AMP to help you learn and develop. This helped me so much in developing my confidence in the role in a safe and nurturing environment, especially when entry-level opportunities are so few and far between these days. And to actually be paid for our time as well was even more of an amazing opportunity.
Callie: Any advice for writing an application for opportunities like this? What do you think made you stand out?
Emily: The biggest piece of advice that I’d give is just to be authentic and show who you really are. They’re looking for someone who is going to make the most of the opportunity. In my application I tried to highlight the transferable skills that I had and I just wrote very honestly about what I wanted to get from it, which as I’ve outlined was developing confidence and having the opportunity to get some more experience.
Callie: What’s next for you? Any new projects you’ll be working on that you want to promote? Where is your career going next?
Emily: To be honest, I haven’t quite planned that far ahead yet! I’m just coming towards the end of my degree but my plan for the future is to hopefully continue working full-time, whilst having a look at other opportunities in the arts that I can take part on the side. I think it’s a lot easier to apply for roles knowing that I’ve got this experience from my work with AMP and that I’m not completely brand new to it. I’m hoping to move to London and that there’ll be some opportunities in the big city, but at the minute I’m still quite undecided, just excited for the future!
This interview was conducted by me, Callie, a Young Trustee and AMP’s Marketing Intern! I’ve been a participant in various AMP projects for the last five years, and now getting to work with AMP directly to promote some of the amazing work that’s being done. Keep an eye out for more Spotlights in the future!
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