Bills safety Bryan Scott has always been drawn to music. Blessed with the ability to play by ear it has not only come naturally to him, but been a passion of his as well. So when the opportunity arose to apply to be a part of the 'NFL Business of Music Boot Camp' he acted swiftly.
"I jumped on it," Scott said. "It was real interesting because we had a good group of about 20 guys and there is just so much talent within the NFL beyond just football. It was really good to just see guys taking advantage of the opportunity the NFL has given us and apply it to whatever business it is when we're done playing."
The Business of Music Boot Camp is part of an ongoing NFL Player Engagement initiative designed to prepare them for a post-playing career. The criteria for the inaugural Music boot camp was previous participation in the NFL Player Engagement programs, prior music experience, essays and NFL playing experience.
The four-day program took place at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in New York City from Feb. 27th-March 1st.
Scott wasn't rubbing elbows with the likes of Jay-Z or producer Rick Rubin, but he was getting insight from some pretty heavy hitters on the business side of the industry.
"We got a chance to meet Clive Davis, which was pretty cool," said Scott. "Just to hear his story about how he built up this empire from nothing. Throughout the week just getting a chance to meet high level executives, managers from all different labels and really just having an opportunity to learn from them, grow from them, hear how they got their break. Little secrets to the industry. Going forward it really armed us with the knowledge of how to make the most of whatever venture we have going on."
A handful of the NFL'ers in attendance want to be artists, others managers or owners of a record label. Scott's aim was a bit different from the rest.
"My viewpoint for this was because my foundation is geared toward the arts, really just seeing and getting an understanding of how I could bring together my non-profit organization and the music business," he said. "How to partner those two things together, and it worked really well."
The program is rooted in the classroom with lectures delivered by several high level executives in the music business, as well as accomplished songwriters and producers.
"They were long days, but well worth it," Scott said. "Our first session would begin at 8 o'clock in the morning. We would have hour and a half to two-hour sessions throughout the day up until about 9 o'clock at night. We spent a little bit of time in the studio. But you had guys there, some were artists, some already had record labels, others were really just trying to learn as much information about the industry because they were interested in it and wanted to get into it."
Every current and former player participating had the opportunity to present some of their own material at the Boot Camp. Scott offered his 'Dedicated' single that he released last fall.
"Yeah I did let them hear 'Dedicated' and I got some pretty good feedback from it which was exciting," he said. "Even when some of the execs heard it and I would shoot them the web links, I got some really good feedback on it. There's that stigma of athletes wanting to be musicians and one of the first things they said was, 'Wow I was actually pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect this.' So it was very cool.
"But there was so much talent. Brandon Lloyd is a rapper and he had some really nice tracks. Ashton Youboty was there and he's working with a bunch of people on a label and his artists were really good. It was good to hear everyone's body of work."
With his own TeamBryanScott Foundation all about pursuing your passion in life, Scott was glad to hear that message delivered during one of the lectures in the Boot Camp. It has only empowered Scott to continue with his efforts to help make the dreams of others come true.
"One thing that I do believe is I have an ear for music," he said. "To work as a manager to help people reach their goals and their dreams or living out their passion, I could see myself working in music in that way after I'm done playing. Maybe songwriting and producing or managing."
Networking with some of the industry's big names is what Scott found most beneficial from the program. He now feels he's better equipped to chart a course in music when playing football is over.
"The knowledge that I received and the information I acquired was awesome," he said. "I met a lot of people that pointed me in all the right directions. I'm excited."
