“The music and entertainment industry is complicated, frustrating and powerful,” said Joe Bentley, president of the Music Entertainment and Industry Student Association (MEISA). 

The MEISA chapter of Appalachian State University provides students with valuable experience and dedication that is needed to truly understand the Music and Entertainment Industry. MEISA organized a Songwriters Showcase on Dec. 1 at which 12 musicians performed. 

“The concert went very well with lOO attending. We will probably make it an annual concert,” said Bentley. 

This showcase was an opportunity to network an idea instilled in the minds of every student hoping to enter the music and entertainment business. 

Members attended a four day music festival Sept. 15-18 in New York. 

During the festival, 1,000 bands performed and members had the opportunity to meet professionals of the music and entertainment industry. 

Members also annually attend “Grammies in the Schools” in Nashville, Tenn., where they perform and receive feedback from a panel consisting of music and entertainment professionals. 

“It’s not as much what you know but who you know in the music and entertainment industry,” said Bentley. 

MEISA provides students with the chance to apply what they are learning in the classroom to the real world. 

By putting on several concerts a year, students get to see what it takes to put on a production through necessary advertising and promotion. 

MEISA also takes time to invite various speakers to relay information on topics such as writing, interviewing and arts management to enhance what is being taught in the class and to help prepare students for their job search after college. 

MEISA has 45 members, a number that has increased by 10 since 1992. 

MEISA has a strong committee program of promotion/marketing, technology, travel, recording/live sound reproduction and an alumni newsletter committee. 

“The future of our chapter is uncertain. With the organizational skills and creative spirit that we possess there is nothing that we cannot accomplish,” said Bentley.