Elena Flauto


Click the following pages to explore my work:
PROJECTS
Includes business & legal analyses, data analytics reports, writing samples, marketing plans, and creative projects.
WORK SAMPLES
Provides samples of my work as a founding member of Cherry Pop Records and my internships at Universal Music Publishing and Universal Music Group.

RECORDING
Highlights my creative work as a vocalist, producer, songwriter, and performer.
About Me My name is Elena Flauto, and I am a recent graduate of UCLA, where I studied Music Industry and Statistics & Data Science with a focus on the intersection of music, technology, and data. I am currently based in Los Angeles and originally from Akron, Ohio. I started singing at age five and began songwriting and producing at twelve. Through writing and producing music growing up, I fell in love with the process of making records. I discovered my passion for the business and strategy behind the music when I self-released my debut EP.

During my time at UCLA, I combined my deep interest in music with my analytical nature and love of mathematics. In my projects, I have enjoyed researching and leveraging streaming data, audience demographics, and social media insights to inform my decisions—whether for a business plan, marketing proposal, or creative project.

Over the past two years, I served as president of Cherry Pop Records, the first and only independent student-run record label at UCLA. In this role, I gained experience in kickstarting an independent label, label operations, business affairs, A&R, and digital distribution. In past projects, I researched how labels leverage relationships with DSPs to influence platform offerings, payment models, and more.

My internships in marketing and artist relations furthered my understanding of DSP-label dynamics. I developed marketing strategies for major artists and gained insight into how major labels collaborate with DSPs around releases. My interest in finding solutions to help the music industry better support artists, fans, and professionals led me to examine the issue of market oversaturation in digital music streaming and its effects on the record business in the United States in my music industry degree capstone project.

Ultimately, I intend to pursue a career in entertainment law, with the goals of solving licensing challenges in the business and advocating for artists.

CONTACT





SKILLS & MORE
Skills
Leadership, tenacious work ethic, attention to detail, collaboration, creative solutions, presenting and public speaking, conflict resolution, data-driven decision making, professional and analytical writing, organization

Business & Legal





Statistics & Data Science





Marketing




Creative





Software & Platforms

Language Music copyright, recording agreements, contracts, music publishing, music distribution, digital music licensing, royalties, trademarks, business types

Python, SQL, R/R Studio, LaTeX,
bayesian inference, statistical modeling, experimental design, data cleaning, visualization, machine learning models, Monte Carlo methods, API requests

Strategic partnerships, artist marketing proposals, branding, project management, presentation design

A&R, talent relations, content editing, songwriting, music production, recording, audio audio mixing, mastering vocals, piano, performance

Microsoft Office Suite, Canva, Capcut, Overleaf, Colab, Logic Pro

English (native), Spanish (intermediate)
PressDaily Bruin
Elena Flauto supports artists, explores future career through Cherry Pop Records
Awards Academic Honors (UCLA)

Scholastic Writing





Departmental Awards (Hathaway Brown School)

Performance
Dean’s Honor List (2021-23, 2025)


2 National Silver Medals, 3 Regional Gold Keys, 1 Regional Silver Key, and the Cleveland Institute of Art Journalism Award for works in Critical Essay and Journalism (2021)

Virginia Osborne Charman Award in English (2021); Outstanding Achievement in Vocal Music (2021)


Live Nation's Tri-C High School Rock Off at the Rock Hall: 3rd place winner with Charm the Guard (2019); performed at the live rounds (2020)

Shining Star CLE Vocal Competition: placed 2nd runner-up (2019); placed 3rd runner-up (2020)

Songbook Academy: chosen to study under grammy-nominee Michael Feinstein and grammy-winner Sylvia McNair (2018 - 2019)

Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) Solo + Ensemble Adjudicated Event: performances awarded superior ratings (2017 - 2020)

Akron Canton Regional FoodBank's Harvest for Hunger Virtual Idol Award Recipient: raised over 6,000 meals (2015)
Associations MUSE Undergraduate Musicology Journal (UCLA) - Technical Editor (2023-24)

Pitch, Please! A Cappella (UCLA) - Business Director (2023), Soprano 2, Soloist

Tri-M Music Honors Society (President 2020-21)

Cum Laude Society (inducted 2021)
Links
LinkedIn
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube






Last Updated 25.06.26
PROJECTS
Business & Legal

1. Shaping the Future of Music Streaming: How Record Labels and Digital Service Providers Can Foster Sustained Growth 

View project here.
View report here
Skills: Music copyright, music distribution, digital music licensing, presentation, communication, experimental design, API requests, data cleaning, statistical modeling, machine learning models, R coding

An In-Depth Analysis of the State of the Record Business and Keys to Growth in Saturated Markets.
June 2025
Music Industry Capstone Project
UCLA

This project poses solutions to how record labels can leverage their relationships with digital service providers to ensure continued growth in revenue as well as push for better artist and fan services and features, in a way forward that refocuses efforts and capitalizes on fans’ increased connectedness and engagement with their favorite artists today. 

2. Super-Serving Superfans: Business Plan for an Upgraded Music Streaming Service

View project here.
Skills: Business plans, marketing timelines A Marketing and Business Plan for Launching a Superfan-focused Streaming Service.
March 2025
Digital Music Marketing & Promotion: Final Project
    UCLA
    3. Digital Dilemma: Exploring the Legal Obligations of DSPs in AI-Generated Music Takedowns

    View project here.

    Skills: Digital music licensing, copyright
    Analysis of Takedown Prodecures of AI-Generated Music and Complications for DSPs.
    November 2023
    Forensic Musicology: Final Project
    UCLA



    4. DSPs & Digital Licensing: An Examination of the Direct Licensing Scheme for Sound Recordings

    View project here.
    Skills: Digital music licensing, record labels, music publishing
     Analysis of Record Labels and DSPs’ Intertwined Relationships and Effects on Music Licensing.
    November 2023
    Legal and Business Aspects of Record Business: Final Project
    UCLA


    Data Analytics

    5. Examining Relationships Between Demographics, Psychometric Scores, and Organization Level

    View project here.  View report here.
    Skills: Statistical consulting, statistical modeling, presentation, communication     Report on Personality Test Dataset and Career Outcomes.
    March 2025
    Statistical Consulting Capstone Project
    UCLA

    This project involved working with an external client as a statistical consultant to provide insights on how personality assessment respondents’ psychometric scores, gender, and country of residence may impact their job level in the organization at which they work.
    6. Pitchfork Album Review Analysis 

    View project here.
    Skills: Structured Query Languages, statistical modeling, data visualization, LaTeX, Overleaf
    Analysis of Pitchfork Album Review Dataset through SQL Queries.
    June 2025
    Databases & SQL: Final Project
    UCLA



    7. Statistical Analysis of Musical Features and Emotional Perception

    View project here
    Skills: Bayesian inference, statistical modeling, data visualization, Python, LaTeX, Overleaf     Bayesian Inference on Musical Features Dataset to Predict Emotional Perception of Stimuli.
    June 2025
    Bayesian Social Statistics: Final Project
    UCLA


    8. Predicting Track Popularity from Genre, Artist Popularity, and Musical Feature Metadata

    View project here.
    Skills: Data cleaning, statistical modeling, data visualization, Python     Analysis of Relationships between Music Track Metadata and Popularity Scores in Spotify Dataset.
    June 2025
    Introduction to Python: Final Project
    UCLA



    Writing Samples
    9. Uncovering Exploitation: Examining the Compulsory Mechanical License and the Racist History of Cover Songs

    View project here.
    Skills: Music copyright, music publishing, analytical writing     Analysis of the History of Race Records and Exploitation of Black Artists and Creatives.
    June 2024
    Legal and Business Aspects of Music Publishing: Final Project
    UCLA

    10. Cisco Swank Mock Press Release

    View project here
    Skills: Press release writing
     Press Release for a Prospective Signing.
    August 2023
    Universal Music Publishing Group
    11. ‘Fake’ Artists and ‘Unmusical’ Songs: Spotify’s Disincentive to Champion Quality Control

    View project here.
    Skills: Music distribution, digital service providers, critical writing     Examination of Spotify’s Policy on “Noise” Music.
    March 2023
    Music & Data Science: Final Project
    UCLA 
    12. On Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey Finally Breaks Character

    View project here.
    Skills: Music review writing
     Album Review: Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey.
    December 2022
    Music Journalism: Final Project
    UCLA 
    13. Through a Shattered Lens: An Ambitious but Fragmented Narrative in Schoenberg in Hollywood

    View project here.
    Skills: Music review writing
     Opera Review: Schoenberg in Hollywood by Tod Machover.
    May 2025
    Musicology, Modern and Postmodern Era: Review Paper
    UCLA

    14. Fallacies, Biases, and Power Imbalances in “First Graders and Fairy Tales: One Teacher’s Action Research of Critical Literacy”

    View project here.

    Skills: Critical writing
    Rhetorical Analysis of an Essay on Teaching Critical Literacy.

    November 2021
    English Composition: Rhetorical Analysis Paper
    UCLA

    15. Digitization and Its Effects on the Recorded Music Market

    View project here.
    Skills: Music distribution, music publishing, record labels, royalties     Independent Study of the Record and Music Publishing Businesses in the Age of Music Streaming
    June 2021
    Hathaway Brown School Global Scholars and Honors Economics Thesis 
    16. Michael Feinstein on the Future of the Great American Songbook

    View project here.
    Skills: Profile writing
     Profile on 5-time Grammy Nominated  Musician and Performer Michael Feinstein
    October 2020
    Scholastic Silver Key & Journalism Award Winner
    16. Scholastic Gold Key Awarded Works

    View project here.
    Skills: Journalism, critical writing    1. A Letter to Governor Mike DeWine.
    Also received a National Silver Medal in Critical Essay.
    2. Dan Flowers: His Life and Career as a Food Banker and CEO.
    Also received a National Silver Medal in Journalism.
    3. The Romanticization of America in The Quiet American and “Fatherland”

    2020-21
    Marketing / Creative
    18. The Power of Online Fandom: K-Pop as a Model for Breaking International Superstars

    View project here.
    Skills: Marketing strategy, digital marketing research, presentation design
     Examination of Fan Engagement Strategies in K-Pop and their Potential Applications Across Genres.
    March 2025
    Global Music Industry: Final Project
    UCLA 



    19. The Neighbourhood & Jesse Rutherford: Career Analysis and Future Recommendations

    View project here.
    Skills: Marketing strategy, strategic partnerhships, A&R, branding, artist management, presentation design, Language and sentiment analysis, R coding
     Career Re-launch Strategy for The Neighbourhood and Jesse Rutherford.
    March 2024
    Artist Management: Final Project
    UCLA 


    20. Art of a Marketing Proposal

    View project here.
    Skills: Marketing strategy, strategic partnerships, activations, college marketing, lifestyle marketing, presentation design     Guide to Artist Marketing Proposals.
    August 2024
    Internship Capstone Project
    Universal Music Group


    21. The Rule of 7: Breaking Artists in the Digital Age and Changes in Marketing Strategy Over Time

    View project here.
    Skills: Marketing strategy, presentation design     Examination of How Artist Marketing Has Changed Over Time in a World Saturated with Content.
    August 2024
    Internship Capstone Project
    UCLA




    22. Alesso Marketing Proposal

    View project here.
    Skills: Strategic partnerships, A&R, data-driven marketing     Marketing Proposal for Legacy EDM Artist and DJ Alesso for Geffen Records.
    May 2023
    Music Business Now: Final Project
    UCLA


    23. Visualizer Lyric Videos for Helen Welch

    View “You’re the One” here.

    View “Hurting Each Other” here.

    View “Superstar” here.         Created Lyric Videos, Distribution Assets for Summer Singles and Deluxe Album Rollout.  
    July - September 2024
    Marketing and Distribution Consultant for Vocalist and Performer Helen Welch

    Skills: Content creation, lyric video editing, Capcut, marketing timelines, project management, digital music distribution



    © ELENA FLAUTO 2025