Music for a Cause Manager (Volunteer)

Music for a Cause Manager (Volunteer)

PromiseStudios | Music, Artist Collaborations & Social Impact

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseStudios

Initiative: Music for a Cause

Department: Music, Audio & Sound

Location: Fully Remote — United States, with NYC collaboration and in-person creative opportunities as appropriate

Type: Volunteer Creative Management Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Minimum Commitment: 6 months

Reports To: PromiseStudios Creative Leadership / Director of Music Composition

Works Closely With: Music Composers, Scoring Artists, Singers, Songwriters, Producers, Audio Engineers, Sound Designers, Voice Talent, Filmmakers, Animators, PromiseBrands, PromiseVoice, PromiseGiving, PromiseBridge, PromiseRise, PromiseTrust, and other MAP teams

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit supporting children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, enrichment, creative expression, career development, advocacy, and community-centered opportunity.

MAP believes creativity can do more than communicate a mission.

It can create connection, belonging, expression, opportunity, and experiences that stay with people.

Music for a Cause brings that belief into sound.

About Music for a Cause

Music for a Cause is a PromiseStudios creative initiative using music, artists, storytelling, performance, and collaboration to create original work connected to meaningful ideas and social impact.

The initiative may include:

• Original songs
• Artist collaborations
• Cause-driven singles
• Compilation projects
• Music videos
• Live performances
• Virtual performances
• Songwriting projects
• Studio sessions
• Artist conversations
• Youth music experiences
• Music-industry career exposure
• Community music projects
• Cross-disciplinary creative projects
• Digital releases

Music for a Cause should not simply attach MAP's mission to music.

The music itself should have something meaningful to say.

Role Overview

MAP is seeking a Music for a Cause Manager to build, coordinate, and grow this emerging creative initiative within PromiseStudios.

The Manager will help develop original music projects, identify and engage artists, coordinate collaborations, manage creative production, organize releases and experiences, and build relationships across the music community.

This person will operate at the intersection of music, artist relations, production, storytelling, community, and social impact.

The central question is:

How can we create music that stands on its own creatively while opening new ways for people to connect with one another and MAP's mission?

Creative Development

Develop a strong creative pipeline for Music for a Cause.

Use a process such as:

Idea → Purpose → Artist → Creative Concept → Rights Review → Development → Production → Review → Finalization → Release → Audience → Learning

Help determine:

What are we creating?

Why should it exist?

Who should create it?

Who is it for?

What should someone experience when they hear it?

How does it connect to the broader purpose?

What makes the work creatively distinctive?

Not every meaningful cause automatically produces meaningful art.

The creative work must be strong enough to stand on its own.

Artist Relations

Build relationships with:

• Singers
• Songwriters
• Musicians
• Bands
• Producers
• Composers
• DJs
• Recording artists
• Independent artists
• Audio professionals
• Music educators
• Music-industry professionals

Identify artists whose interests, creative perspectives, and values may align naturally with individual projects.

Artists should never be approached simply as promotional vehicles for MAP.

Creative collaboration should begin with mutual respect.

Original Music Projects

Coordinate the development of original songs and music projects.

Projects may include:

• Singles
• EP concepts
• Collaborative songs
• Compilation projects
• Instrumental works
• Original scores
• Music videos
• Live sessions
• Acoustic performances
• Experimental music projects
• Cross-disciplinary works

Each project should have a defined creative purpose, audience, production plan, ownership structure, and release strategy.

Music Production

Coordinate with the Director of Music Composition and PromiseStudios' Music, Audio & Sound teams throughout production.

A typical workflow may include:

Creative Brief → Songwriting → Composition → Arrangement → Recording → Editing → Sound Design → Mixing → Mastering → Quality Control → Final Delivery

The Manager does not need to personally perform every technical function.

The Manager ensures the right creative people are involved and the project continues moving forward.

Creative Collaboration

Music for a Cause should encourage collaboration across PromiseStudios.

Potential intersections include:

Music × Film

Music × Animation

Music × Photography

Music × Storytelling

Music × Dance

Music × Podcasting

Music × Visual Art

Music × Fashion

Music × Community

A song may become a film.

A poem may become a composition.

An illustration may inspire a soundscape.

An animated story may create an opportunity for an original score.

PromiseStudios should create an environment where creative disciplines strengthen one another.

Youth Music Experiences

Where appropriate and properly safeguarded, help develop opportunities for young people to experience the creative and professional world of music.

Potential experiences may include:

• Songwriting workshops
• Music-production demonstrations
• Artist conversations
• Studio experiences
• Composition workshops
• Rhythm and movement
• Music technology
• Sound-design demonstrations
• Career exploration
• Behind-the-scenes production experiences
• Mentorship from music professionals

Young people should not simply consume creative work.

They should have opportunities to discover what they can create.

Youth Creative Rights

Any youth participation must follow MAP's safeguarding, privacy, consent, and intellectual-property requirements.

Young people's creative contributions should be recognized as creative work.

Their lyrics, voices, performances, ideas, images, or stories should never automatically become organizational property simply because they participated in a MAP activity.

Coordinate appropriate review before youth-created work is recorded, published, distributed, or commercially used.

Live & Recorded Experiences

Develop appropriate opportunities for audiences to experience Music for a Cause.

These may include:

• Live performances
• Listening sessions
• Artist showcases
• Virtual concerts
• Recording sessions
• Release events
• Community performances
• Creative panels
• Artist conversations
• Behind-the-scenes experiences

Every experience should have a reason to exist beyond filling a calendar.

Music Releases & Distribution

Coordinate release planning with relevant MAP teams and participating artists.

Support:

• Release calendars
• Artist credits
• Metadata
• Masters
• Artwork coordination
• Distribution preparation
• Promotional assets
• Music videos
• Social content
• Release communications
• Archiving
• Performance tracking

A project is not finished when the final master is exported.

The audience still needs an opportunity to experience it.

Rights, Licensing & Ownership

Work with PromiseTrust before music is published, distributed, licensed, sold, adapted, or commercially developed.

Projects should establish appropriate clarity regarding:

• Songwriting credits
• Composition ownership
• Master ownership
• Copyright
• Publishing
• Licensing
• Artist agreements
• Performer releases
• Image and likeness
• Distribution rights
• Revenue sharing
• Royalties
• Usage rights
• Derivative works
• Archiving

Creative collaboration should begin with clarity about ownership rather than waiting until a successful project makes ownership important.

Dignity-Centered Storytelling

Music for a Cause may explore themes including belonging, home, childhood, identity, community, imagination, resilience, opportunity, dreams, mentorship, connection, voice, and hope.

But MAP should never turn housing instability or personal hardship into an aesthetic.

A young person's difficult experience is not automatically material for a song.

Creative power does not override human dignity.

Collaboration With PromiseBrands

PromiseStudios owns the creative development and production of Music for a Cause.

PromiseBrands may support:

• Brand expression
• Fashion collaborations
• Merchandise
• Product extensions
• Commercial opportunities
• Brand collaborations
• Audience experiences

Creative ownership and commercial development should remain coordinated but distinct.

The music should never exist simply to sell the merchandise.

Collaboration With PromiseVoice

Work with PromiseVoice on communications, audience development, release storytelling, digital distribution strategy, social content, and public-facing narratives.

PromiseStudios creates the work.

PromiseVoice helps people discover and understand it.

Collaboration With PromiseGiving

Where appropriate, Music for a Cause may support fundraising campaigns, benefit performances, or donor experiences.

PromiseGiving owns charitable fundraising strategy.

PromiseStudios owns the creative work.

The cause should inspire the art.

Fundraising should not control it.

Creative Portfolio Management

Maintain visibility across Music for a Cause projects.

Track:

• Concepts
• Artists
• Creative owners
• Production stages
• Rights requirements
• Deadlines
• Dependencies
• Deliverables
• Release plans
• Completed projects

Use a portfolio framework:

Concept → Development → Production → Post-Production → Rights Clearance → Release → Distribution → Archive → Learning

Creative freedom benefits from operational clarity.

Team Development

Help recruit and develop a multidisciplinary music community within PromiseStudios.

This may include:

• Songwriters
• Musicians
• Singers
• Producers
• Composers
• Audio Engineers
• Sound Designers
• Artist Relations Volunteers
• Music Coordinators

The Manager should not become the person responsible for creating every project.

The responsibility is to build the environment in which talented people can create together.

Qualifications

Strong candidates may come from music production, artist management, music business, record labels, songwriting, composition, creative production, arts administration, entertainment, music marketing, event production, artist relations, or community arts.

Candidates should demonstrate strong creative judgment, project-management ability, relationship-building skills, organization, communication, collaboration, and an understanding of how music moves from an idea to a finished work.

Knowledge of music rights, licensing, publishing, distribution, royalties, recording, or artist agreements is strongly valued but candidates are not expected to be experts in every area.

What Success Looks Like

Music for a Cause develops a distinctive creative identity.

Artists want to participate.

Original music reaches completion.

Projects have clear ownership and production plans.

Artists receive appropriate credit.

Rights are addressed before releases.

PromiseStudios' creative disciplines collaborate effectively.

Young people gain meaningful exposure to music and creative careers.

Audiences discover MAP through work they genuinely want to experience.

And Music for a Cause becomes known first for creating meaningful music—not simply for attaching music to a meaningful cause.

Why This Role Matters

Music can reach places an organizational message cannot.

A melody can hold memory.

A rhythm can change the energy of a room.

A lyric can give language to something someone has carried without words.

And sometimes a song can create a connection between people who otherwise might never have found one another.

That is why Music for a Cause belongs in PromiseStudios.

We are not asking artists simply to lend MAP their voices.

We want to create something worth using their voices for.

Commitment

Approximately 5–10 hours per week with a minimum six-month commitment.

The Manager will maintain consistent communication with PromiseStudios leadership, coordinate Music for a Cause projects, develop artist relationships, recruit creative collaborators, and maintain strong follow-through across the creative-production process.

How to Apply

Interested candidates must apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Cover letter

Relevant music, artist-management, production, songwriting, event, or creative-project work samples are strongly encouraged.

This is an unpaid volunteer role requiring approximately 5–10 hours per week and a minimum six-month commitment.

At this time, MAP volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, compliance, and programmatic requirements.

Listen first. Find the artists. Build the collaboration. Protect the creative work. Make something worth hearing—and let the music carry the cause because the music itself deserves to be heard.