For 2001 录音艺术 graduate and 名人堂 inductee Nadine Santos, 音乐行业的职业生涯是不可避免的. 从小就开始, the New York native was obsessed with reading album inserts and familiarizing herself with the names credited alongside her favorite artists, needing to know every aspect of every song she loved.

“I would be looking at producers at very young ages where I feel like no one else really cared,她说。. “但我必须了解它的每一点.”

When Nadine discovered 满帆 in an issue of 氛围 杂志, she realized that her early obsession represented more than thoughts of a life in music, 而是一条可行的道路.

“I don't think it was until that moment sitting there listening [at the Behind the Scenes Tour] that I started to think, ‘This is actually something that could be a career path.’ And it just felt like it was like a full-circle moment for me. 就像，好吧，这可能就是它了.”

Soaking up all there was to offer in her time at 满帆, 纳丁学习成绩优异, finally getting to focus on something she was passionate about. 毕业后, 她渴望进入这个行业, so she took a job answering phones at Power 105.1, one of New York’s most popular stations for hip hop and R&B. That job that would set the trajectory of her career in motion.

While hanging out with a friend at the station who worked in the production department, Nadine got a unique opportunity to showcase her skills. Armed with her knowledge of ProTools audio editing software from her time at 满帆, 纳丁帮了她的朋友一把, covering some edits while he took a quick lunch break.

“He left and I was in there and I was working on some of the [production edits],” she recalls. “All of a sudden the Program Director who runs the radio station, Michael Saunders, was walking by. 我看见他在往里看，于是继续往前走, but then double back and come back and look in the window like, “这个女孩在干什么??’”

After chatting with Michael and surprising him with her recording arts knowledge, 纳丁很快就不再接电话了.

她在队伍中一步步前进, Nadine would go on to become an assistant to the program director and eventually music director/assistant program director at the New York station.

“A lot of people work their whole careers trying to get to the number one market, 哪个是纽约. And I was blessed enough to start my career there and be able to work my way up.”

今天, Nadine serves as the Vice President of Programming and 艺术家的关系 with 音乐 Choice, overseeing the team responsible for all of the music played on the digitally broadcasted service which reaches more than 40 million households in North America.

“I get the wonderful opportunity to run a team of 12 programmers who are in charge of all of the music that you hear on 音乐 Choice. 我们可以发掘新的艺术家, 播放新音乐, 播放一些热门歌曲, and really just curate the music experience that lives across residential homes and commercial spaces.”

With a career spanning more than 20 years in the music industry, Nadine is still as excited about music as she was when she was a young girl.

“这要追溯到音乐，对吧? 新艺术家, 新歌, getting a first listen at something that you know is going to change the business, that is going to change the way people listen to music…When I hear those new artists and something gets played, 这就像, 这就是为什么你要这么做. Because there's a whole new generation that's going to listen to this music.”