Career Jam 2025: Insights, Images, and Inspiration

Career Jam 2025 delivered bold ideas, real dialogue about industry trends, and plenty of mic-drop moments. From Charlie Puth mentoring students to panels on music and mental health, gaming, and A&R, the day offered insights for a wide range of creative careers. Here are just a few highlights from the Career Center's flagship event.  

Support the Song, Don't Steal the Spotlight

At a panel stacked with heavy-hitting music directors, Adam Blackstone—whose résumé includes Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, and multiple Super Bowls—cut to the heart of the job: “The best thing to do as a great MD is to be selfless.” Too often, he said, young programmers “program for themselves”—throwing in flashy intros just for the sake of it. “It’s a ballad, it’s soft—you don’t need to do the distortion line.” Blackstone drove it home by half-singing a comically over-the-top intro to Boyz II Men’s classic ’90s slow jam “I’ll Make Love to You.” The audience cracked up, but the point stuck: the music director’s job is to support the song, not steal the spotlight. 

The conversation, moderated by Sean Skeete, dean of professional performance, explored the artistry behind the arrangements, with renowned music directors Kim Burse (Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez) and Stevo Evans (Lizzo, Doja Cat, Migos) echoing the importance of listening—not just to the music, but to the artist, the moment, and the audience. It’s a skill that reaches far beyond the stage: in any field, reading the room is key, and sometimes the most impactful move is knowing when not to play. —Nick Balkin

Streaming Wellness

There is huge potential for growth and innovation where music meets health and wellness, according to Bryan Stone, a Universal Music Group executive eager to share his bold vision for what that future could look like. “If I can have a device or an app that can look at my biometric feedback, look at songs that make me happy, and serve those songs to me when I need a pick-me-up, that would be really cool.” 

Stone was joined by David Knies, global lead at PA Consulting, and moderator Joy Allen, chair of music therapy, to explore how creatives and scientists are collaborating to drive health innovation in the growing wellness industry. “There’s an increasing openness to look at ways to keep people from being sick, and music is obviously core to that,” said Knies. “The industry is very open to new solutions.” —Daniel Pesquera

Camper to Emerging Producers: Keep It Simple

Music production and engineering students kicked the day off in the control room of Berklee's largest studio space, Shames Family Scoring Stage, with a conversation and production jam session with Grammy-winning producer Camper. Joined by his engineer, Morning Estrada, and by MP&E faculty members Patrick Viala and J. Rhodes, Camper shared insights from his work with artists such as Doechii, Drake, Doja Cat, and Tone Stith. The most important lesson for up-and-coming beat-makers? “Less is more.”

He spoke about the tendency of talented young producers to overdo it, creating flashy, virtuosic, but ultimately unsellable beats. “Where’s the place for the artist? You always gotta have that in your mind,” he said, reminding students that a beat should feel complete but still leave room for the artist to fully make it their own. —John Mirisola

Tayla Parx: From Arias to Ariana Grande

In a packed session at the Ark, songwriter, singer, and actor Tayla Parx shared highlights of her career journey and gave feedback on songs submitted by the dozens of students in the room. Moderated by Latoya Lee, director of industry relations—and an early mentor to Parx while Lee worked at Warner Music Group—Parx discussed her genesis story, from her classical training singing Italian arias in church to cowriting “thank u, next” with Ariana Grande, which would become Grande’s first no. 1 hit. 

She stressed that songwriters have to be well educated on the business side, because, “the moment that you step out of your bedroom making music, is the moment that you're in the music business.” —Bryan Parys

Press Start on Possibility

“I think the future of the music industry is the intersection of music and gaming,” said Anthony Pisano, CEO of Game Over Media, speaking on the panel Press Start: Music and Games. “When it hits the culture fully, it’s literally the pinnacle of entertainment.” He described the next evolution of the artist as a hybrid—part livestreamer, part musician—inviting fans into the creative process in real time. 

Moderated by Yao Wang, assistant professor of screen scoring, the conversation also featured Colin Yost, who spearheads gaming partnerships for Republic Records, and Square Enix composer Max Mullowney (Final Fantasy Record Keeper). The panel touched on everything from imposter syndrome and indie game soundtracks to AI as a creative tool (“It’s a cheat code,” said Pisano). It all pointed to a future where music and gaming are wide open with possibility, especially for those willing to blur the lines. —Nick Balkin

Charlie Puth: Art First, Opinions Later

After his keynote to a standing-room-only audience in the Berklee Performance Center, pop star and producer Charlie Puth BM ’13 gathered with a small group of students for a more intimate Q&A and mentoring session. The students were all recipients of this year’s Career Jam awards, selected from a group of 700 applicants. 

The students asked questions about things such as whether there’s a future for albums (“People crave artistry,” Puth said), how he gets musical ideas (“I never start a song on piano because I know where I’m going”), and what advice he’d give his younger self (“Don’t show your demos. . . because one opinion can sway your opinion—until the song is done, that’s when you show your friends”). —Bryan Parys

Tiny Desk, Big Stories

"We want to take the opportunity to really start a music career," NPR Tiny Desk series producer Bobby Carter told the packed crowd of students eager to learn what Carter and his team are looking for in prospective Tiny Desk Contest submissions and future Tiny Desk Concert performers. Apart from the obvious nonnegotiables—great songwriting, musicianship, and arrangements—“I like to look at if there's another song, if there's another vision, because we really want to take it and move it forward." 

"We really care about the stories behind the music," added panelist Ashley Pointer BM ’21, who launched her own career as a Tiny Desk producer right after graduating from Berklee. "So knowing how to package that intentionally is gonna be something that really helps you break through a lot of the noise." —John Mirisola

Jessie Reyez: Keep Showing Up 

To make connections, just keep showing up, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez suggested at an artist development panel moderated by Sean Skeete, dean of performance. "It's playing with the brain's natural affinity to recognize a face . . . you have no idea how much familiarity can help you," she said. Her advice for getting past writer's block: "Surround yourself with people whose habits you want to emulate," give yourself a deadline, and finish the songs, "even if they're shitty," said Reyez. 

TheBasement founder Ericka Coulter and A&R exec (and Reyez's manager) Jermi Thomas then took volunteers from the audience to perform snippets of original songs in a pass-the-mic segment. "This is Berklee," said Coulter. "I'm really trying to see who grabs the mic and gives us a quick 1-2-1-2." —Tara Bellucci 

Women in A&R: Breaking in and Rising Up

The value of industry experience and determination came through powerfully during the all-female A&R panel She Scouts, She Signs, She Wins. Moderated by Latoya Lee, director of industry relations, the conversation featured Sara Knabe (Big Loud), Brandra Ringo (Quality Control Music), Ashley Calhoun (PULSE Music Group), and alumna Natalie Cotton ’16 (Warner Music Latina), who shared personal stories of climbing the ranks, from running errands as interns to signing and managing major-label talent. 

“When you get started, you have to build trust. You should be first one in, last one out,” said Calhoun. The panelists also spoke candidly about having to outwork their male peers to get noticed. “Working so hard until they don’t have to introduce you," noted Cotton. "That is the goal." —Daniel Pesquera

Salt: Protect Your Purpose

Most music fans know Cheryl “Salt” James as half of Salt-N-Pepa, the pioneering duo that paved the way for women in hip-hop—but students at her talk saw a more intimate side of the Grammy winner. In a conversation with Lenora Helm Hammonds, dean of professional education, Salt opened up about early struggles with confidence, her mental health, and lessons learned about staying true to her artistry.

“You weren’t born for a person, you were born for a purpose,” said Salt. “I’ve been through a process of letting people go quicker when I know they’re going to disrupt my purpose.” Salt also offered her take on hip-hop's influence on generations of artists and fans. “When we go do a show and I’ll meet someone backstage, it will be the grandmother, the mother, and the daughter—that’s three generations! Passing the culture down is important, and I respect young people that know other eras of the music.” —Daniel Pesquera

Check out more photos and social highlights below for a look at the performances and behind-the-scenes moments from Career Jam 2025: