UPDATED: Sept. 19 at 12:01 a.m.

When Syracuse University’s Bandier program joined the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, it created some buzz. But when Bill Werde was named director of the program, the news went viral on Billboard.com, Variety.com and the New York Post.

Now, after a month in Newhouse, Werde’s focus continues to be on strengthening the program, which moved from the College of Visual and Performing Arts to Newhouse at the start of the semester following discussions among program stakeholders. The degree program — which integrates media, marketing and entrepreneurship — accepts only 25 students each year.

“I’m geeked that Bandier is in Newhouse because Newhouse spends every day preparing people to make the keys to the media kingdom,” Werde said. “It is absolutely the best music program in the country, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it 300 percent better.”

As a former associate editor for Rolling Stone and editorial director for Billboard, Werde’s reach stretches across the music industry. He grew up reading Rolling Stone and started working for the magazine in 2004 as a music business reporter with a focus on emerging technologies. Werde broke into the digital journalism world in 2005, when he joined Billboard as a senior news editor and pioneered efforts such as behind-the-scene livestreams.

Growing up in Delaware limited Werde’s access to music culture, he said. During his childhood, music was associated with happy family memories, but it wasn’t until he moved to the University of Delaware in 1991 that his musical eyes and ears opened up.

In his freshman dorm, music was everywhere. Soundtracks and band rehearsal notes made their way through the hallways. He bonded with his floormates over music, and it soon became a way of life for them.

“I started traveling with them to go to concerts and just got the bug for music and the lifestyle that went around music,” Werde said.

One night while hanging out with a friend, Werde was asked to venture across campus to a computer lab. His friend needed to print schoolwork. While waiting, Werde sat at a random computer and noticed an unfamiliar icon on the desktop.

Like Alice going down the rabbit hole, Werde clicked on an the icon, which read “VRAVE.” It instantly connected to a Telnet chat — a chat network in the early days of the social web — for the underground rave scene.

VRAVE was a new world for Werde. He was astonished by the access to people from across the nation discussing dance and electronic music.

“This random act really became the defining moment in some ways of my life,” Werde said. “I spent all this time on this chat talking to people about the rave scene, but I had no real way of getting the music or hearing the music … and finally a friend sent me a mixtape of some hardcore techno and I loved it.”

Werde’s growing love for the rave scene opened many doors. One led to Heather Moore, his future wife. At the time, Moore was the executive editor of The Review, the university’s newspaper. Werde began working at the paper in an attempt to get to know Moore, he said. The two were also in a class together and eventually got coffee together.

The more they talked about art and music, the less Werde seemed like just a “frat boy” in Moore’s eyes, she said in an email, and they got to know each other by traveling to cities for dance parties, rather than “suffering through bad beer and sticky floors.”

With Werde’s solid musical foundation and love for the culture, Moore said the Bandier program is a great place for her husband’s industry know-how and natural bend to shine.

“Bill likes to find meaning in his work and it’s been wonderful to see how much meaning he finds in working with students,” Moore said. “I know he is excited to grow with this program alongside his students.”

The Bandier program came on Werde’s radar while he was working at Billboard and saw a music blog written by Gabz Landman, who graduated from the program in 2012. Werde loved Landman’s writing style and taste, and offered Landman an internship at the magazine.

Since Landman was on the shy side, Werde had her start each day by telling a joke. Their partnership naturally turned into a mentorship, and when Landman heard there was a position open in the Bandier program after the transition to Newhouse, she passed the message to Werde.

“I think it was one of the happiest moments of my life since graduating,” Landman said. “I stay very involved with Syracuse and Bandier especially, so it just feels like an amazing development and great step forward.”

At the first Bandier Soyars Leadership Lecture Series this year, Werde invited Charlie Walk, president of Republic Records, as the keynote speaker. Werde introduced Walk as an old friend, and their chemistry ignited the packed auditorium.

“We grew together,” Walk said. “I looked at him as credible and I trusted him with mutual respect.”

Walk said he was impressed when Bandier joined Newhouse, and said he believes Werde will bring a new foundation to the program.

Werde wants students to be a part of the change in the music industry. He said that what matters in life are experiences and relationships with people, and to “just go do it.”

“I view Bandier not just as an educational program or school, but also I think I’m going to evolve it into a platform,” Werde said. “I think we have some of the best thought leaders in the industry right now and I want the world to know that.”

This post has been updated with appropriate style.

Published on September 18, 2017 at 9:37 pm

Contact Myelle: malansat@syr.edu