Partnership provides link between university and one of the world’s
top music festivals
MURFREESBORO — MTSU’s College of Mass Communication and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts
Festival have entered into a partnership that will help students better
understand the dynamics of one of the world’s most successful entertainment
events.
Bonnaroo officials will
visit campus this month for a question-and-answer session with students. Then,
students from the college will participate in the behind-the-scenes activities
at the festival as part of their education. This year’s festival is set for
June 12-15 in Manchester, Tenn.
“Bonnaroo is one of the
most successful, ambitious and diverse music festivals in the world,” said Mass
Communication Dean Ken Paulson, “and it is also one of the most generous.”
Paulson said Bonnaroo
partners Ashley Capps, owner of AC Entertainment, and Rick Farman, co-founder
of Superfly Presents, will come to MTSU on April 9 to work with mass
communication students.
Capps, recognized as
one of the foremost independent promoters in the U.S., creates, produces, books
and presents hundreds of concerts every year through his company, AC
Entertainment. He began promoting shows while a student at the University of
Tennessee in the late 70s.
Farman’s Superfly Presents is an entertainment and lifestyle company
with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. In addition to
Bonnaroo, it is the creator of other groundbreaking events such as San
Francisco’s Outside Lands held annually in Golden Gate Park. Superfly Marketing Group (SMG), the company’s
marketing arm, has worked with a who's who of corporate titans, both at
Superfly-produced festivals as well as standalone marketing programs.
In 2002, Capps and
Farman teamed up to create Bonnaroo, which was acclaimed by Rolling Stone
magazine as one of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
The festival is now known not only for its legendary lineups but also for its
commitment to green initiatives, philanthropy and the improvement of the
community it calls home.
The partnership with
MTSU is the culmination of an emphasis on education in Tennessee. Capps and
Farman have done speaking engagements across the state, including at UT as well
as Belmont and Vanderbilt universities.
“MTSU and Bonnaroo are
neighbors, so it makes sense to work together,” Farman said. “While creating
Bonnaroo, we learned lots of lessons we can share with students studying
business, communications and the music industry.”
Paulson
said the partnership also includes a symposium that MTSU will host in the fall
of 2014 on the “Anatomy of a Music Festival: The Bonnaroo Story and the Future
of Festivals.”
“Bonnaroo has always
given back to the community and is now offering a new generation of aspiring
music industry professionals a real understanding of what goes into a
world-class, live music event,” Paulson said.
MTSU boasts the fifth-largest mass-communication college in
the nation and is the only one that features departments of recording industry,
journalism and electronic media communication. It also is home to the Center
for Popular Music, which maintains a large research library and archive and
interprets various aspects of American vernacular music.
A survey by Radio Television News Association, published by
TV Week’s NewsPro magazine, recently listed the college among the nation’s top
20 programs. More information about the college can be found www.mtsu.edu/masscomm.
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