WaterBear Wraps Up a Successful Year of Industry-Leading Opportunities

WaterBear, the leading college of music with campuses in  Sheffield and Brighton, is celebrating a landmark year of industry opportunities, with several monumental milestones surpassed. 

This year, 115 new WaterBear graduates celebrated their special day in the iconic Brighton Dome auditorium. An occasion to remember, the anticipated event marked the achievements of WaterBear’s BA and MA graduates from WaterBear Brighton and online – and, for the very first time, MA graduates from Sheffield.

With a strong emphasis on learning by doing, during 2024 the college’s dedicated Careers and Industry team has worked closely with its industry partners and contacts to deliver a wealth of new and exciting opportunities across all areas of the music industry, helping WaterBear’s artists, musicians and industry professionals to build connections and supporting their career pathways. Alongside a series of masterclasses, events, work experience and placement opportunities, the experienced team has been committed to providing students with an abundance of live performance slots at venues and festivals nationwide.

Across both college campuses, and for online students, a significant 299 industry opportunities and masterclasses have been secured this year to benefit the college community. Students had exclusive access to soundchecks with Q&As, lighting and sound engineering shadowing and paid roles, and notably a single release campaign, leading to radio play and national chart. Additionally, WaterBear students undertook work placements with national promoters and at over ten venues, music industry internships with organisations such as Ditto X, Venn Records, Prolifica Management and Corporation Sheffield, and festival work at Glastonbury, The Great Escape, Contained, Float Along, Get Together, Rock and Roll Circus and ArcTanGent.

Speaking about their experience working at Corporation Sheffield, Lu Bolsover, Music Business Degree Student in Sheffield said: “Since starting WaterBear, I've had the opportunity to start work at Corporation Sheffield and since then I've been learning loads about booking shows, promoting shows, running and repping, and I've even had the opportunity to start repping my own shows and booking my own gigs here, which has been brilliant, helping me advance my career. I made loads of industry contacts. I will further my career in the future and in the music industry wherever this course decides to take me.”

No less than 296 invaluable live performance opportunities were secured for students at WaterBear Sheffield and Brighton, enabling them to hone their craft on stage. WaterBear artists had the chance to play at events such as Tramlines, Glastonbury, The Great Escape, Brighton Fringe, and iconic venues including The Leadmill and Concorde 2. Further live performance opportunities included freshers support slots for Wargasm, Girli, Window Kid, Alfie Dukes and Cassyette. Other opportunities included special sets with A Night of Bass (Paul Turner/Marco Mendoza), A Night of Drums (Eddy Thrower), A Night of Amy (with Amy’s original band), and A Night of George Michael (with George’s backing singers).

Tia Ice studying a degree in Songwriting in Brighton comments: “I have had a surplus of opportunities, both with my music and industry based, and the course itself is so informative and in terms of opportunities. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to play with the Amy Winehouse band, which was incredible. I was also given the tools and knowledge to set up and organise my very first event, which I headlined, which was incredible. The turnout was amazing, and the opportunities just keep flowing.”

Music Performance student in Sheffield, Jay Hargreaves, added: “I’ve had so many opportunities through WaterBear, I wish I could go through them all. I'm currently in three original bands - Taking Back Tomorrow, Yoodoo Voodoo which is a funk band, and I'm playing drums for Liz Mann who's a solo artist from Manchester. I've also started my own student night in Sheffield at the Dorothy Pax alongside drum lecturing and tutoring thanks to the support of my tutors.”

Greg Archer, Careers & Industry Manager at WaterBear Sheffield comments: "This year has been a standout one for WaterBear, with incredible opportunities across Brighton, Sheffield, and online. Our students have had the chance to shine at legendary events like Glastonbury and Tramlines, work on exciting video game projects, share the charts with artists like Kendrick Lamar, and perform live at venues and festivals all over the UK.

“The music industry is such an exciting and creative space. Whether it’s event management, music production, or carving a path as an independent artist, there are so many ways to get involved. That’s why it’s so important for our students to explore and gain as much hands-on experience as they can across different areas.

“Over the past 20 years, the music industry has gone through some huge changes—full of both challenges and opportunities. As we look to the future, it will be up to our students to find their place in it, push boundaries, and help shape where it goes next."

About WaterBear: WaterBear - The College of Music, offers BA (Hons) degree and master’s courses made for today’s musicians, artists and industry professionals. The colleges are based in the heart of Brighton and Sheffield, two UK cities with incredible musical roots and heritage. WaterBear also has a range of online distance-learning courses.

WaterBear is a College of Falmouth University, a pioneer in creative industries education, entrepreneurship and innovation. All courses delivered at WaterBear are approved and awarded by Falmouth, meaning students graduate with a Falmouth University degree or master’s qualification.

With a combination of a DIY ethos, smaller class sizes, 1-1 mentoring with experienced industry professionals and a catalogue of career and performance opportunities to offer our students, we are dedicated to supporting musicians and artists, with a strong focus on building sustainable long-term careers.

www.WaterBear.org.uk

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