Los Angeles is the capital of American entertainment. Whether it’s cinema, video games, art or music, Los Angeles is the premier location where artists go to take their careers to the next level. A city known to create the biggest stars, many come to fulfill their dreams of making a living from the art they create.

Unfortunately, many artists come to LA and end up waiting and grinding for longer than expected, maybe never getting a chance to get their time in the spotlight. Thankfully, a small group of college students in the San Fernando Valley is willing to help artists get to that point.

CSUN Five of Five Entertainment (VoVe) is a student-run music label based entirely in a classroom in Cyprus Hall with only about twenty-five members. The label takes care of all the work needed to sign, produce and promote its artists, preparing them for the music business.

The project is spearheaded by three co-executives: Matthew Lombardi, Xavier Morante and Destiny Ramos. They lead teams of departments essential to the success of their artists. From finance and marketing to graphic design and live events, CSUN VoVe practices all aspects of the current industry with all staff studying in the same classrooms as we attend college.

Even though VoVe is a student-run organization, they don’t have their talent given to them. Instead, they do the professional work as a record label to scout and hand-pick their artists from Los Angeles’ budding performers to pick who they want to represent and the work they believe has the most potential. Here, we see how VoVe helps their artists grow their skills and brands by putting them through all the processes that industry record labels use to grow their artists. Through marketing, live performances and songwriting, these artists can experience what it’s like to work with a record label for support.

Sohpistolethemoon, Cayden Corbett and aziboh are some of the most recent acts to work with VoVe, managing to shine brightly every time they hit the stage at VoVe’s live events. Cayden Corbett and aziboh, having been working artists before being signed to VoVe, they’ve been able to finally be given the support needed to lift their platforms to another level. With Caden’s beautiful vocals in his alt-pop songs and aziboh’s high-energy EDM tracks, these artists are finally getting the recognition they deserve for the talent they showcase in their music.

Sophistolethemoon is a special case for VoVe, as her artistic development has been the most shocking within this recent lineup. With her time at the record label, Sophie was able to write her first few tracks and perform live as a working musician. Sophistolethemoon is an example of an artist supported by her record label through marketing and improving her craft.

After working with VoVe for nearly a year, these artists have greatly benefited from being signed to the record label, as it prepares them for the challenges of the music industry. Now, near the end of their time at VoVe, they prepare for their final big event: a tour across California! If VoVe can successfully run a tour with their current artists, they would have made a major achievement for VoVe’s legacy, as it would be one of the first organized by a student-run record label. With amazing potential and the ability to provide smaller artists with the support they need from a professional record label, VoVe is an experience invaluable to the students who run it, as it marks a crucial point of development within their careers.

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