Hello! I’m Simone Johnson, a third-year Public Relations and Cinema Studies major at the University of Oregon with a focus on the music, media and entertainment industries. My studies dive deep into how branding, audience engagement, and media narratives influence the public perception of artists, companies, and cultural movements.
Through my courses, I’ve worked on projects analyzing public relations strategies across the entertainment industry and how that reflects on corporations and businesses. Additionally, focusing on examining how artist branding, public image, and media involvement and positioning reflect on their career success. I’m particularly interested in being involved with artist development, talent scouting, album rollouts and creative direction in public relations, studying further how strategic communication, visual storytelling, and reputation management work in tandem to create a long-term public identity.
I’ve always been interested in pop culture and music. When I first saw Taylor Swift win her first four Grammy Awards in 2010, my curiosity for the behind-the-scenes of the entertainment industry sparked. In middle school, my curiosity deepened when I discovered BTS and observed how fandoms develop globally, especially as the group gained mainstream popularity in the United States. I became interested in how predominantly female fanbases influence the commercial success, popularity, visibility, promotion, and how their labor is often overlooked or dismissed within the industry.
I also have followed emerging artists like PinkPantheress from the early releases of her music on SoundCloud. I have found it interesting to analyze how aesthetics, internet culture, and visual branding have a hand in the modern music industry. More recently, I have developed an interest in legacy artists like The Beatles and movements like the Britpop movement of the 1990s, and how media narratives, branding strategies, creative direction, and audience-artist relationships evolve across time.
Alongside my academic studies, I currently work with University of Oregon Communications as a student copywriter. As the student copywriter, I help promote the research that comes out of the university, manage copy for the university president’s LinkedIn presence, and produce copy for the university podcast. This blog allows me to merge my academic studies and my passion for pop culture and entertainment and showcase my writing skills, while continuing to develop an industry-focused portfolio.
After graduating from the University of Oregon, I plan to pursue a career in music and entertainment public relations, with long-term goals of attending law school to work in entertainment law and advocate for the personal and creative rights of artists.
Simone's Session Notes 