LIVE SOUND ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP (PLACEMENT YEAR / YEAR IN INDUSTRY)

HOT VOX is a grassroots live music promotion company dedicated to helping emerging artists develop, perform and reach new audiences.

We programme hundreds of live events every year across London and beyond, working with thousands of emerging artists while also creating opportunities through festivals, competitions, charity campaigns, video production and other music industry projects.

Artists who have previously performed with HOT VOX include YUNGBLUD, Joy Crookes, JC Stewart, Jack Garratt, Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Starsailor, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and many more.

We also work with major UK festivals and music industry organisations, with previous and ongoing projects involving the Isle of Wight Festival, The Great Escape Festival, FORWARDS Festival, War Child UK, Solo Agency, Headliner, TuneCore, Cargo Rooms and many others.

HOT VOX has also been involved in artist casting for TV, film and advertising campaigns, including work connected with Sainsbury’s, KFC, Lucozade, Boots, Rimmel London and Guinness.

Charity is also a major part of what we do. Through live events, fundraising campaigns and artist competitions, HOT VOX artists have now helped raise over £535,000 for War Child UK.

Our national RISING campaign gives emerging artists the opportunity to raise money for War Child while competing for major opportunities, including festival appearances.

We’re a small, busy and highly hands-on team, which means placement students don’t sit on the sidelines. You’ll become genuinely involved in the day-to-day running of the company and gain practical experience across a wide range of areas within the live music industry.

THE PLACEMENT

We’re looking for an enthusiastic, organised and proactive student with a genuine passion for live music, events and sound engineering.

This is a practical placement designed to give you real-world experience of working as a live sound engineer within the grassroots music industry.

The main focus of the placement will be Live Sound Engineering, Stage Repping and Live Recording.

You’ll initially work alongside and shadow experienced sound engineers across multiple London venues, learning how to set up and operate live sound systems, run soundchecks, troubleshoot technical issues and engineer live performances.

As your skills and confidence develop, the aim is for you to progress towards regularly engineering your own live events.

You’ll work directly with artists, venues, promoters, engineers and other music industry professionals while gaining practical experience that goes far beyond simply observing someone else doing the job. 

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

Your responsibilities and opportunities may include:

• Shadowing experienced live sound engineers 
• Setting up and operating live sound equipment 
• Running soundchecks 
• Mixing live bands and artists 
• Working with analogue and digital mixing desks 
• Setting gain structures, EQ, dynamics and monitor mixes 
• Microphone selection and placement 
• Setting up stage equipment and backline 
• Troubleshooting technical problems during live events 
• Working with venue PA systems 
• Helping improve and optimise venue sound systems 
• Liaising directly with artists during soundcheck 
• Liaising with venue staff, promoters and other engineers 
• Stage repping and helping run live events 
• Managing timings and running orders 
• Assisting with live recording 
• Editing, mixing and mastering live recordings 
• Recording audio for video and online content 
• Supporting other technical and production projects 

At live events, you may also:

• Represent HOT VOX as the event Stage Rep 
• Look after artists throughout soundcheck and the event 
• Help coordinate stage changeovers  
• Liaise with venue staff and performers 
• Assist with Box Office where required 
• Make sure events run smoothly from beginning to end 

The placement is designed to give you experience of engineering different artists, different rooms, different equipment and different live situations, helping you develop the confidence and technical knowledge needed to work professionally within live sound. 

BECOME A LIVE SOUND ENGINEER

The aim of the placement is not for you to spend a year simply watching other engineers work.

You’ll begin by shadowing and assisting experienced engineers, but as your technical ability and confidence grow, you’ll be given increasing responsibility and the opportunity to engineer your own events.

Working regularly across different venues and with a huge variety of emerging artists gives you the opportunity to develop practical skills that are difficult to gain through university study alone.

You’ll learn how to react when things go wrong, communicate effectively with performers, work under pressure and deliver the best possible sound in a wide range of live environments.

Previous sound engineering placement students have progressed from having limited experience with live mixing desks to independently engineering hundreds of artists and working professionally within the industry. 

DEVELOP NEW SKILLS

Alongside live sound engineering, there are also opportunities to gain experience in areas including:

• Live recording 
• Mixing and mastering 
• Studio recording 
• Microphone techniques 
• Room acoustics 
• Stage management 
• Event production 
• Audio editing 
• Podcast production 
• Videography 
• Photography 
• Video editing 
• Content creation 
• Broadcast production 
• Live-streaming 
• Digital marketing 
• Charity fundraising 

You’ll also spend time working alongside the wider HOT VOX team, giving you an understanding of how other areas of the live music industry fit together, including promotion, artist relations, booking, venues and event management.

We actively encourage students to explore the areas of the music industry they’re most interested in.

FESTIVALS & INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Placement students will also have opportunities to work on some of our larger projects and partnerships.

This includes our long-running New Blood Competition with the Isle of Wight Festival, giving students the chance to help run the competition and attend the festival as part of the HOT VOX team.

You’ll also gain experience working alongside external music companies, venues, suppliers, agents, charities and other industry partners.

YOUR IDEAS MATTER

One of the biggest benefits of joining a small independent company is that good ideas can actually become real projects.

We actively encourage placement students to suggest new ideas, events, technical projects and business opportunities.

Previous placement students have helped develop and launch projects including:

• HOT VOX TV 
• Music podcasts 
• New event formats 
• Club nights 
• Charity events 
• Music industry brands 
• Printed music publications 
• Recording and studio projects 
• New marketing and content ideas 

If you come to us with a strong idea and are willing to put the work into making it happen, we’ll encourage you to run with it.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Passionate about live music 
• Genuinely interested in live sound engineering 
• Interested in developing practical technical skills 
• Confident communicating with artists and other people 
• Organised and reliable 
• Comfortable working independently  
• Happy working as part of a small team 
• Able to remain calm and think clearly under pressure 
• Keen to learn 
• Proactive rather than waiting to be given something to do 
• Comfortable working evenings at live events 
• Willing to take on increasing responsibility as their skills develop 

Previous sound engineering experience is useful, but you do not need to already be a fully trained live sound engineer.

Attitude, enthusiasm, technical curiosity, initiative and a willingness to learn are much more important.

WHERE CAN THE PLACEMENT LEAD?

This placement is designed to give students practical experience they can take directly into a career within live sound, production and the wider music industry.

Previous HOT VOX sound engineering placement students have gone on to work professionally across the live music industry, with several now working as part of the in-house engineering teams at venues we regularly work with.

One former placement student has progressed to become Head Technician across several venues, while many others are now working as competent freelance sound engineers and technicians within the industry.

We’re proud to still work with many of them today on HOT VOX events and at our partner venues.

Previous sound engineering placement student Robert Moisuc progressed from gaining practical experience across our live events to working as a technical consultant and later becoming our full-time Studio Manager and in-house sound technician. 

Previous placement student Megan Lawrenson later returned to HOT VOX as a Senior Promoter and was interviewed as an industry guest on BBC Introducing London, discussing emerging artists and careers within music.

Listen here:

https://soundcloud.com/hotvox/bbc-introducing-london-featuring-megan-lawrenson-from-hot-vox