Career Jam 2025: Insights, Images, and Inspiration

Career Jam 2025: Insights, Images, and Inspiration Charlie Puth, Tiny Desk, top A&Rs, and more came together for a day of professional development and energetic performances. Here's how it all went down.

By

Editorial Staff

April 11, 2025

Josh Griffin, winner of the Choreography Award, and Hope Divine, winner of the Musical Theater Award, at the Career Jam concert and award show, a celebration of standout students from across majors and career paths.

Image by Kelly Davidson

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 Centers flagship event.

Support the Song, Dont Steal the Spotlight

Panelists on the Contemporary Music Director session (left to right): Stevo Evans, Kim Burse, Adam Blackstone, and Sean Skeete.

Image by Dave Green

At a panel stacked with heavy-hitting music directors, Adam Blackstone-whose r sum 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 (Beyonc , 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

The Wellness Remix panel at Career Jam 2025

Image by Teddy Kent

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

Camper leads a production workshop at Career Jam 2025.

Image by Kelly Davidson

Music production and engineering students kicked the day off in the control room of Berklees 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

Tayla Parx gives songwriting advice in a workshop at Career Jam 2025.

Image by Kelly Davidson

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 youre in the music business. -Bryan Parys

Press Start on Possibility

Panelists on the Press Start: Music and Games session at Career Jam 2025 (left to right): Yao Wang, Max Mullowney, Anthony Pisano, and Colin Yost.

Image by Teddy Kent

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 a

LINK:	https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/career-jam-2025-photos-recap...
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