BOONE—Split Rail Records at Appalachian State University will hold a signing party Feb. 16 to announce the signing of their first two bands to the label. The event will be held at 2 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Attic Window Room.

The student bands that have signed with Split Rail Records are Defending Brooklyn and Philmont. Band members, most of whom are students at Appalachian, will attend the signing party.

The bands were chosen by the student members of the record label based on their submitted demos and live performances scouted by the label’s artist and repertoire teams.

Split Rail Records is based in the Mariam Cannon Hayes School of Music. Students in the school’s music industry studies program oversee the record label’s recording and production, publishing, artist and repertoire, legal, publishing, marketing, and finance departments.

New officers are elected to run the company each semester. This semester’s president is Bryan Chisholm. He will preside over the signing party.

Kim Wangler, director of the music industry studies program, guides the students through the ins and outs of the music industry-from contracts and negotiations to marketing and promotion.

“The label is very excited to start a collaboration with these talented musicians and is still searching for more bands to join the roster of Split Rail artists,” Wangler said.

Appalachian has one of the oldest music industry studies programs in the country. It was established in the 1960s to train music store consultants who marketed instruments to music educators in school band, orchestra and choral programs.

The program has evolved over the years to include a recording studio and now a record label to enhance the degree.

“Our degree is designed so that students have a core of music industry classes, then they can choose a concentration in music products, recording and production, or music business,” Wangler said. In addition, students are required to have a performance concentration.

“Some programs are housed in music schools and have a music requirement; some are housed in communications or business schools,” Wangler said. “It’s a very clear focus of our program to train musicians and business people. There aren’t enough people out there now working in the music industry who have both of those skill sets.”

The program also focuses on entrepreneurship and experiential learning,” Wangler said. “It made sense to move this forward where students are learning how to start a company and everything that goes with it,” she said.

###