When she is not corresponding for the Steve Harvey morning show or keeping Tallahassee residents “in the know” with entertainment news as a 102.3 on-air personality, she is enabling other students to follow their music dreams.
Fourth-year FAMU public relations student Moriah Johnson, affectionately known as Moriah Monay from Ft. Lauderdale, hosted “Artist Meets Industry” Thursday in FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication Lecture Hall.
Students from a wide range of majors filled the seats of the lecture hall to learn from music industry professionals.
“I wanted to provide students the same opportunity that I had. For those who have talent but don’t have a clear idea of who to contact. I’m simply a liaison for the students at FAMU,” Johnson said.
The open dialogue seminar began with a Skype call from Universal Music Group vice president of college lifestyle and marketing Todd Goodwin. He advised artist to master their craft before releasing it to a targeted audience.
“It’s all about building your product before you push your brand. No one wants crappy work,” Goodwin said.
Fourth-year FAMU music industry student and recording artist from Jacksonville Jamal Wallace plans to use the advice that he received from Goodwin to enhance his music career.
“One thing Todd said that stood out the most is how it makes more sense to physically distribute hard-copy when you are in the marketplace while performing, you should always have goods on hand,” Wallace said.
Staff from Cumulus Tallahassee radio station 102.3 sat in on the open discussion panel. Edwin Correda, also known as DJ E-zone, spoke on the transition of being a disc jockey and on-air personality.
“I’m still working on me everyday, you have to listen to your competition and push yourself to be better,” Correda said. “I loved the event, loved the questions and all of the people that was here. Overall, great event and I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
This is not Johnson’s first time planning an event like this. Last year, she partnered with FAMU’s Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association to host the first “Artist meets Industry” seminar.
“I was actually given a job with blazin (102.3) because of last year’s event. The people I worked with originally, failed through on me, so I planned the event myself. Although it was hard, they (Blazin 102.3) noticed how hard I worked to make it successful and gave me a chance because of it,” Johnson said.
Johnson concluded the seminar by challenging students to start pursuing their dreams now.
“Be different don’t do what everyone else is doing. They are not looking for the same events. Go to corporate websites, google the city you want to work in,” Johnson said. “Don’t be discouraged with not being a good student as long as you’re a hard worker that’s all that matters.”