While I'm no expert, I did learn a lot about the music industry in college. Here are my top five pieces of advice for getting the most out of your school experience:
1) Do as many different internships as possible. Most people will tell you that internships are your best bet at landing a job in the future, and they are also a great way to figure out what part of the industry you'd like to eventually work in. I interned at several different types of companies: a tech startup, a magazine, a trade organization, a major publisher, and an indie publisher. While it may seem that I didn't have a clear focus, I was able to experience all different facets of the industry - which can be applied to any career. I chose to focus on publishing for two internships because I found that most interesting, and that gave me more thorough experience in that area.
2) Go to all extra lectures and seminars that you can. At Belmont we were only required to go to a few seminars each semester - where someone in the industry would come in and talk about their experience - but going to as many as possible was incredibly valuable. I heard people talk from labels, PROs, marketing companies, radio - basically anywhere you can think of. The Best Job Ever conference is especially great because you can meet so many people in one day. It's how I met Bill Werde, and Marcie Allen was the keynote speaker last year.
3) Try to be heavily involved in one organization. I know a lot of people that signed up for a ton of campus organizations freshman year, and then kept them on their resumes for four years even though they went to maybe one meeting. While it looks good to have those names like GrammyU on your resume, you're not getting the most out of the experience if you don't participate. I chose to work with CMAedu my freshman year, and loved it so much I worked on the marketing team and then became vice-president. It was a valuable experience because it taught me a lot about leadership, working with a team, and connecting with the industry in a professional way.
4) Find people that will support you. I heard the term "mentor" thrown around so much in school, but I never felt like I was able to find one. How do you just approach an industry person and ask them to help you consistently? I found the best way to do this was through keeping in touch with internship supervisors, but also through interviewing people for Songbird. You won't hit it off with every person you work with through internships, so getting perfect recommendations out of them isn't always possible. By approaching people for an informational interview for my magazine, it was a way to get to know them and also show my interest in their work. After graduation, I also found just asking people for coffee was a good way to start as well.
5) Keep in touch with everyone. Tied into #4 is an important tool: following up with everyone you meet, interview, ask for coffee, or work with. Just sending a note telling people what you're up to or asking them about what they're working on can feel awkward - and I certainly haven't perfected the art of it yet - but it will keep you in their minds. I don't always get a response from people, but just sending out a handwritten thank you note gives a good impression.