Creative Music Technology graduate joins one of Australia's leading media companies

Creative Music Technology BA graduate Elliot Orban has recently joined Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) as their Assistant Network Operation Coordinator. SCA is one of Australia’s leading media companies, reaching more than 95% of the Australian population through its radio, television and digital assets. We chatted to Elliot about living abroad, his time at Falmouth University and his new role.  

Alongside his studies, Elliot ran his own small music business called Orbsound. “Orbsound started out as a small project in which I created a local zine celebrating local artists as well as spotlight upcoming artists. This developed into creating playlists such as ‘Falmouth finest’ and ‘blooming stars’ identifying up-and-coming artists such as Paris Paloma, who now has over 3 million monthly listeners.

"Eventually the business also included music and magazine merchandise distribution for local artists. My best moment I would say was having a stall at Wanderfal [a town-wide music festival] and selling merchandise promoting my own work and the work of local artists.” 

After graduating in 2022, Elliot headed to Australia with the intention of travelling but with the possibility of staying permanently. He travelled around the country, seeing the Great Barrier Reef and the east coast before going to Bali for a month and finally landing in Sydney, where he picked up a job at the Universal Store and had a chance encounter with his future employer.

“I started speaking to a customer about his job, which turned out to be Operational Manager at SCA! I told him about my background in the music industry and my degree, and this conversation led to me being offered the opportunity of a job with the company." 

My course allowed me the freedom to explore different interests and helped me discover what I enjoyed. 

Elliot is excited to be starting a job working in the music technology industry. “My new role is incredible – I love my job! The role contains various important aspects, from setting up connections to ensure Australia-wide radio shows can communicate to i. Investigating off airs across the country and getting those station’s back on air, and looking after some of the biggest podcasts in Australia such as Hamish & Andy, which has over 1 million monthly listeners. The job is so fun, and the environment is great. I also have options in the future to explore producing my own podcast, becoming a producer and many other opportunities.” 

Elliot explained how the Creative Music Technology BA degree at Falmouth University helped him to prepare for a career in the music industry: “My course allowed me freedom to explore different interests and helped me discover what I enjoyed. I started off learning various skills in areas I may not have been interested in but were transferable. In the second year, I honed these skills into music production. And then, in my third year, I was able to apply all this knowledge into a business aspect.” 

Asked what advice he would give to future music graduates, Elliot said: “My advice would be to follow what feels right and be adaptable. If you like producing, explore that! If you want to move into something else, follow that! Whatever you enjoy, you need to follow that and work hard! Focus on the 1% and the doors that need to open will open without you even knowing.” 

To find out more about getting the skills to create music and sound, explore Creative Music Technology BA(Hons) at Falmouth University