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It was the third day of being the special guest at various meet and greets with �鶹��Ƶ students, but Len Brown felt anything but drained.

Last month, Brown visited the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information to share his experiences working in the music industry. Now a senior manager of hip-hop, R&B and reggae at the Recording Academy, Brown lives and breathes music—not necessarily picking Grammy winners, but educating people about joining the academy and how to get nominated.

In a Q&A session at a joint student group meeting, he explained that day-to-day, he works with many teams to develop business strategies, and finds a lot of joy in the interpersonal responsibilities of his job, like managing artist and media relations as well as connecting with students during visits to campuses like �鶹��Ƶ.

�鶹��Ƶ’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and Ad Club invited him to their meeting last month to learn more about the industry. Both organizations have a strong presence within CMDI, and the room was nearly full with the number of students who showed up for the conversation.

Over the course of an hour, Brown fielded questions covering everything from his experience breaking into the music industry to whether or not he was concerned about generative artificial intelligence. (He’s not a fan, but thinks it can be a tool, and hopes there will ever be an A.I. category at the Grammy’s).

As a senior manager at the Recording Academy, it was natural for Len Brown, right, to stop by Radio 1190, where he chatted with students like Elliana Nickel about what it's like to work in the industry. Photo by Hannah Howell.

“It’s important, in any industry, to be inquisitive, open minded, willing to ask the hard questions—so it feels pretty good and refreshing to be able to speak to students that are genuinely curious,” he said.

The Grammys’ mission is to advance a strong culture of diversity, largely through advocating for and educating music creators. Brown’s role directly plays into this goal through his personal mission of including more voices in the academy for voting purposes. For example, although he doesn’t directly work with Grammy U, he said the program is a worthwhile way for young people to get, and hopefully stay, involved in the industry.

“I would love to speak to more students. I just hope my perspective and experiences can help people,” he said. “You should never stop learning, and I’ve learned a lot just by interacting with the student body here. There’s a bright future ahead for them.”

Even after the event formally ended, a number of students stuck around to ask Brown additional questions, many remarking that the conversation gave good insight into the industry.

“I thought it was super beneficial to hear how Len made the shift from working in other fields to being in music and then being super dialed in,” said Zoe Stillman, a strategic communication junior and member of the Ad Club who will be president of the organization in the fall. “The recording academy is a dream company. I've always wanted to work in music.”

This semester, Stillman is interning with Boulder’s Sterling-Rice Group, an independent, female-owned creative agency who has done work for clients like Snooze, Avocados from Mexico and Almond Board of California. Working as an account intern, Stillman has learned a lot about the logistical side of advertising and loves it.

“I now have a good foundation of how things work at an agency,” she said. “So now, no matter who the client is—whether it’s culinary or entertainment—I know how to communicate with clients in a way that's beneficial and feel confident I can take that experience and implement it if I were to get a job in music.”

That’s a reason��Josh Shepperd, an associate professor and undergraduate chair of��media studies, brought Brown to campus.

“We teach our students how to build and engage a team, but it’s important to not just talk about it,” Shepperd said. “You have to see it in action by meeting the people who’ve made it to the top—that’s why we invited Len.”

Hannah Stewart graduated from CMDI in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news for the college.