First off, that is not a question. A better phrasing would read: May I intern for Sub Pop Records? But grammatical concerns aside, we DO accept interns. Interning is FUN and it Keeps Kids off the STREETS!

Sub Pop loves, loves, loves its interns and we do our best to provide a fun and educationally rewarding experience in a nurturing environment with minimal insults and/or off-color comments.

What’s that you say? YOU’D like to intern here at Sub Pop? Well, here’s almost everything you need to know and maybe a few things you don’t:

You do not need to know a ton about the music biz to intern here. It would be entirely appropriate to have an interest in independent music/labels, smaller press and/or music magazines, college radio, and a bit of knowledge regarding what Sub Pop is all about. (Trust me, we do NOT need you to be some sort of a bizarro historian, as that is actually more irritating than useful.) Our ideal intern would know how to count, use a computer, and maybe even have a writing skill or two. Prior experience is not required but it doesn’t hurt either. After all, learning something new is kinda what this whole interning thing is all about.

We all know resumes are pretty ridiculous and packed full of lies and other useless information, but we still want one from you, and we want a good one at that. We are mainly looking for people who are still in college and need to complete an internship as part of their course load, usually in Communications. Why? Because students have a set time-frame for completing an internship (no messy break-ups!), and there is a responsibility for finishing a commitment (no flakers!). Plus, they are usually better looking. In actuality, we often accept interns who are not in school, but these are usually exceptional candidates who are active in the local music community or who have otherwise proven themselves as passionate, trustworthy, and reliable. We want someone who will actually benefit from their time spent here stuffing envelopes, not someone who is just trying to fulfill a requirement. Also, please make sure to indicate which department most interests you so we have a better idea of what you are looking to do. This is important, so don’t brush it off. (Just to make this easier I’ll let you know that the only possible choices are publicity, radio, international, sales, and new media.)

Our internships last about 3 months, or one quarter/semester, and it is VERY IMPORTANT that you understand before you start that INTERNING RARELY, IF EVER, LEADS TO A PERMANENT JOB HERE AT SUB POP. (IT?S BETTER TO JUST THINK NEVER.) Your time here is about learning new skills and having something new for your resume, not about permanent employment. We are always looking for interns, but keep in mind that we rarely have more than 4 or 5 at a time and that we usually use more interns during the spring and summer months. It is best to try to set up an internship anywhere from 1-3 months ahead of time, but please don?t email or call every day to see if we?ve made a decision?it?s super annoying and it will most likely make your resume end up in the trash somehow. (That?s a life lesson, people?write that one down.)

Interning is somewhat of a thankless job that is historically tied to fetching coffee for the head honchos, but I want you to know that we already have someone who gets us our coffee and her name is Sasha. Most of your time interning will be spent helping out with mailings (ie. stuffing envelopes), finding and scanning press clippings, making one-sheets and/or press updates, counting buttons/stickers, making CDRs, and updating databases and project reports. Glamorous? No. Mildly interesting? Yes!

Still interested? Send your resume to sasham@subpop.com.