Kenny Cordova has more music industry position titles under his belt than many of his peers achieve in a lifetime. Over the years, the Full Sail graduate has served as a producer, studio and artist manager, A&R, and production coordinator, and his most recent position as Associate Director for performance rights organization SESAC and SESAC Latina is just another step in an evolving career that’s progressed through nearly every facet of the recording industry.
“When I get into something, I really want to know everything about it,” Kenny explains. “My background even before coming to Full Sail was that of a musician, and the deeper I got into the industry, the more I learned about other aspects of what makes things work and the different roles that comprise everything that goes on in the industry.”
As a professional bassist and studio assistant, Kenny continually interacted with other industry professionals on a daily basis. “I noticed the one guy from the record label who always seemed really cool, looked like a musician, and always carried this mysterious bag with him,” he recalls. “I found out that he was the A&R guy, and I started surrounding myself with those types. That was the job that I wanted to have.”
With the firsthand knowledge he’d learned about the business and his musical background, Kenny entered Full Sail’s Recording Arts program in order to become well-versed in the studio experience.
“A&R [people] were always in the studio with the engineers, so I knew that it was important that I be comfortable in that kind of environment,” he continues. “Full Sail was the hardest I ever studied in my life. I thought to myself then, ‘if I can make it through this program, nothing can stop me.’ The knowledge that I gained in school enabled me to be more informed in all aspects of this business and continues to give me an edge even today.”
After graduating and doing A&R work for Sony Discos, Kenny landed a position in Miami working for Estefan Enterprises, the company responsible for introducing much of the United States to the sounds of Latin America.
“I was lucky enough to be inside of a company at its peak that was overseeing every single aspect of the music industry, from video shoots to getting songs on television to press to marketing to production and publishing,” Kenny says. “It was not long after when I started dealing more heavily with publishing companies, which led to my current position at SESAC.”
One of three performance rights organizations in the U.S. (the others being ASCAP and BMI), SESAC represents songwriters and publishers and ensures that they are compensated when their music is performed publicly, from radio and television to hotels and restaurants.
“As Associate Director, I do sort of an A&R-ish job, looking for prospective writers or artists and affiliating them with SESAC,” Kenny details. “We monitor all public performances of their music, and collect the money that is owed to the songwriter and, in turn, pay them.
“The company was attractive to me because of the way that they do business. It’s about establishing relationships with our artists and really being there to give them good customer service, to be able to talk to them one-on-one about any questions they might have,” he says.
With a daily schedule that includes listening to music, meeting songwriters, listening to sessions in the studio, and checking out bands at live venues, Kenny’s life doesn’t look like it’s going to shy away from music anytime soon. And years later, he now has his very own “mysterious bag.”
“It was such a great day when I discovered what those A&R guys had in their bags – they were carrying a CD player, CDs, notepads with notes, ear plugs, maybe a certain microphone that they used for their sessions,” Kenny laughs. “Nowadays I have my own ‘mysterious bag’ that I carry around with me on the job!”
