{"id":966702,"date":"2026-07-29T11:49:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/966702\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:49:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:49:22","slug":"sola-and-live-nation-train-entertainments-next-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/966702\/","title":{"rendered":"SoLa and Live Nation train entertainment’s next generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the hours before the fifth annual Beehive Block Party kicked off on Saturday, the venue was, appropriately, abuzz.<\/p>\n

Vendors landed on the Beehive\u2019s<\/a> 20,000-square-foot courtyard in South Los Angeles, filling it with food, art and secondhand clothing vendors. Young people fluttered about, wearing custom white T-shirts emblazoned with the festival\u2019s retro cartoon-style poster art. Jack McGrail and Aiyana Da\u2019Briel, staff leaders for the SoLa Live Accelerator program behind the event, seemed to be everywhere at once, passing out wristbands and scribbling on clipboards.<\/p>\n

Inside an adjacent building known as the SoLa Technology and Entrepreneurship Center, 21-year-old UCLA students and current SoLa Live participants Audrey Ohwobete and Gladis Verenice Ram\u00edrez Veliz were eager to chat about the event, which they worked for months to curate.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven down to the coloring, the branding \u2014 like orange and blue, going into that sunset-type vibe,\u201d Ohwobete said. \u201cWe\u2019re a cohort of 19, bringing all of our ideas together to create this moment and now it\u2019s just like boom, here we are. You blinked and now you did all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every aspect of the 2026 Beehive Block Party \u2014 featuring soulful octet wst cmplx, jazz artist Veritus Miller and headliner Navy Blue \u2014 was planned by their SoLa Live Accelerator group, aspiring live entertainment professionals between the ages of 16 and 22 from South L.A.<\/p>\n

\"Wst <\/p>\n

Wst cmplx band performs at the Beehive Block Party by the SoLa Foundation and the SoLa Live Accelerator Program at the Beehive in South Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

(Ariana Drehsler \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

The program is a partnership between the SoLa Foundation, a nonprofit affiliate of the affordable housing and real estate investment company SoLa Impact<\/a>, and entertainment behemoth Live Nation<\/a>. SoLa runs a slate of youth-focused programming, including the tech center and a scholarship program.<\/p>\n

The live entertainment accelerator started in 2022 as a 10-week experiment and has since grown into a six-month intensive program with weekly guest speakers from Live Nation, which culminates in the annual block party.<\/p>\n

According to SoLa Foundation Executive Director Sherri Francois, the partnership was born out of a conversation with Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino about the disparity between the percentage of artists who were people of color and the percentage of diverse leaders behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe found out about the work that we were doing here, specifically because we serve low-income, underinvested young adults and youth, who are typically in our neighborhoods Black and brown. And he literally said, \u2018We have a pipeline problem,\u2019\u201d Francois said.<\/p>\n

\"Audrey <\/p>\n

Audrey Ohwobete, 21, rising senior at UCLA and a member of the 2026 SoLa Live Accelerator cohort.<\/p>\n

(Ariana Drehsler \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

Live Nation does not publish a staff diversity report, but a 2021 study<\/a> by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that 12.5% of senior managers across live music and concert promotion companies came from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups (who comprised 40% of the total U.S. population), and less than 1% were Black. The study no longer measures live entertainment specifically, but the most recent report<\/a> found that people of color held 16.7% of senior management positions across major music companies.<\/p>\n

The SoLa Live Accelerator program is geared toward students with a wide array of industry interests. Each week, a visiting professional introduces a different aspect of live entertainment \u2014 booking, marketing, event production, venue operations, ticketing, merchandise \u2014 which the students then use to plan the festival.<\/p>\n

For many, the program doesn\u2019t end there. Live Nation reserves 10 spots in its competitive internship program for SoLa Live alumni, meaning at least half of every cohort receives a paid career advancement opportunity. Five \u201ctop performing\u201d female participants also get additional mentorship from Live Nation Women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to the true support of Live Nation, but also that these kids are ready, and they thrive there,\u201d Francois said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really the goal \u2014 to expose them, but then really train them to succeed in these roles,\u201d McGrail added.<\/p>\n

That kind of foot in the door can make all the difference for young people like Ohwobete and Ram\u00edrez, who have creative aspirations but few opportunities to realize them on a large scale.<\/p>\n

\"Gladis <\/p>\n

Gladis Verenice Ram\u00edrez Veliz, 21, a rising senior at UCLA and a member of the 2026 SoLa Live Accelerator cohort.<\/p>\n

(Ariana Drehsler \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, we were never told you could go into music or the entertainment industry or anything. There was no hope in that,\u201d Ram\u00edrez said. \u201cThis really taught me that there\u2019s a chance for future generations, and they\u2019re creating a path for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this industry, it\u2019s usually word of mouth. You\u2019ve got to know someone in order to get in, and we don\u2019t know anyone at all,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt\u2019s very scary that we don\u2019t know how to get in, not even into the mail room. But here, there was a chance for us to get an opportunity and follow our dreams and our passions.\u201d<\/p>\n

For young people with similar ambitions, live entertainment could be a smart path to follow. Last year, Goldman Sachs<\/a> projected that the sector would grow 7.2% annually between 2024 and 2030, and in January, industry leaders called a career in live entertainment \u201crecession-proof\u201d in Bloomberg News<\/a>, noting that the \u201caging labor pool\u201d is eager for fresh talent.<\/p>\n

For SoLa Live alumni Aiyana Da\u2019Briel and Kyland Talbott, both members of the 2023 edition, participating in the program has already paid off. After stints in Live Nation\u2019s Venue Nation Rotational Internship and Early Career Touring Immersion programs, Da\u2019Briel came back to SoLa to assist McGrail in leading the program. Talbott, meanwhile, completed his own Live Nation internship before getting the opportunity to work as a back-of-house assistant on Kendrick Lamar and SZA\u2019s<\/a> 2025 Grand National Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never produced anything or had any interest in working with artists and stuff in a live setting\u201d before joining the program, Talbott said. \u201cBut I did love going to concerts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we did our own festival, it kind of reshaped my brain, coming from being in the audience. I loved it way more being back of house than being in the front of house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Beehive Block Party attendees prepare to draw their favorite albums.<\/p>\n

(Ariana Drehsler \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

One of the aspects that makes the program special, Ohwobete said, is how participants keep it in the proverbial family. Talbott was Ohwobete\u2019s freshman residential advisor at UCLA and director of the UCLA Hip-Hop Congress when she first joined. That connection exposed her to SoLa, and she hopes to do the same for younger members of the college club, of which she is now director.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy being able to give us this opportunity, it doesn\u2019t just stay here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt goes beyond and beyond to inspire more generations. We\u2019re graduating next year, but my club this year, I\u2019m going to let y\u2019all know, \u2018hey, do this. Make sure your resume is tight. Make sure your LinkedIn\u2019s updated. Make sure you\u2019re doing this,\u2019 so that when the opportunity comes, you\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ram\u00edrez agreed, adding that the opportunity creates a larger chain reaction within a community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the oldest sister of two babies, and those are my world and they see what I\u2019m doing,\u201d she said. \u201cI tell them what I\u2019m doing at SoLa and they\u2019re very inspired. Just motivating your family to move away from the traditional blue-collar jobs that we\u2019re forced to do. It\u2019s really beautiful that you can inspire your bloodline and you\u2019re going to change your family name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ram\u00edrez considered herself one of the creative directors of the cohort, masterminding video shoots and making sure their social media marketing stayed consistent with the festival\u2019s branding.<\/p>\n

By the time the party was in full swing, with trumpets crooning onstage, hundreds of guests sipping flower-adorned cocktails in the courtyard and the sun setting in the distance, everyone could see the vision.<\/p>\n

\"Crowd <\/p>\n

The fifth annual Beehive Block Party by the SoLa Foundation and the SoLa Live Accelerator Program at the Beehive in South Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

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