PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ian Su, Program Participant from Carnegie Hall B-Side Program
0:59:58
ยท
133 sec
Ian Su, a 19-year-old artist from Queens, shares his experience with Carnegie Hall's B-Side program. He describes how the program provided him with valuable tools, knowledge, and inspiration to pursue a career in the music industry.
- The program connected participants with professionals from major record labels and taught various aspects of the music business.
- Ian learned to handle multiple roles as an independent artist, including management, distribution, marketing, and booking.
- The B-Side program instilled confidence and humility in Ian, while showing him that a career in music was possible.
Ian Su
0:59:58
Good morning, and thank you to the committee for, listening to our testimony.
1:00:01
My name is Ian Soo.
1:00:02
It's an honor to be here.
1:00:04
I'm I'm 19 years old.
1:00:05
I'm from Queens, and I'm an artist.
1:00:07
I'm a producer.
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I'm an audio engineer.
1:00:09
I love to play guitar, and I play live shows with my band.
1:00:12
This year, we are going to Governors Ball Music Festival in 2025.
1:00:17
And I didn't really know what to expect with the b side when I first, entered the program and I got accepted.
1:00:23
I had nothing at that point in my life.
1:00:25
It was in 2023, maybe about 2 years ago.
1:00:27
I was finishing my senior year of high school and the idea of being a musician and pursuing a career as a professional one was it was always a dream, but it always seemed out of reach.
1:00:35
First thing when I entered a program that I found was that Carnegie Hall wasn't playing around.
1:00:40
On the 1st day, we got to hear from artist management in Columbia Records over the course of the next week's Sony Music, Alamo Records, RCA Records, people who worked with some of the musicians that I myself idolized.
1:00:51
I respected and still respect the b side extremely highly because from day 1, they made me feel like I was a professional, even though I may not have had the footing that I do now.
1:01:01
They gave me tools and knowledge that I could immediately start applying to my life no matter where in the timeline of the career I was in.
1:01:08
As an independent artist without a team of any kind, I really have to be my own manager.
1:01:11
I have to handle my distribution, my marketing, my press releases, I have to reach out for my own interviews, I have to make my own documentaries if I want documentaries about myself, I have to book my own venues for shows and work with the organizers.
1:01:23
And this is kind of a double edged sword in that I get to control everything, but if I lose track of stuff, that stuff begins to control me.
1:01:30
But because I got to learn about all this stuff through this incredible program, I never found it overwhelming or scary.
1:01:36
B sides taught me to be humble in every conversation, no matter who I was talking to and be eager to learn about their lives, but it also carried confidence in me so that they would take me seriously.
1:01:45
Ultimately, b sides set something in me not just with information, but with the inspiration to work hard.
1:01:51
And to close, I don't wanna make it look like the b side is something that gives you answers or a playbook.
1:01:55
There is no playbook or formula in the music industry to achieving your dream in that, but it was the people who facilitated this program, people like doctor Donald Garner and miss Alexis Atkinson, and the people that I got to meet through this program that show me that it was possible.
1:02:09
Thank you.
1:02:11
Good