An alumnus returned to Slippery Rock University to share her journey to becoming a successful artist manager and to see how the student-run radio station where she got her start is now evolving.
Delaney Shaffer, a 2020 graduate with a degree in communication, visited SRU Nov. 20 and met with students from WSRU-FM to share her expertise in the music industry and reflect on its ties to her college experience.
Shaffer co-founded Mothers Know Best Management after obtaining a master’s degree in audio arts at Syracuse University.
Mothers Know Best Management is an artist management agency that handles the business, legal, planning and professional operations of musical artists.
“I have a roster of six individuals, bands or duos, and I basically run their lives on a daily basis,” Shaffer said. “My job is to manage the business side of things, so that they can stick to being an artist.”
Since 2023, Shaffer has coordinated multiple European tours for notable artists like Shallow Alcove and The Army, The Navy in addition to their regular runs in the United States. The Army, The Navy has nearly 800,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Shaffer’s negotiation and promotion prowess were sharpened by her time as music director at WSRU-FM. The station fueled her enthusiasm for emerging artists, allowing her to interact directly with the managers she would later work alongside in the industry, bringing her career full circle.
“It’s fun to support rising talent, and that’s why I’m so passionate about it,” she said. “I work with bands who started out with 100 followers until now, where they’re probably going to reach a million by the end of the year.”
At WSRU-FM, Shaffer was responsible for vetting music submissions from independent artists and their agencies, determining which to add to the station’s library. If accepted, artists could quantify their success with a broadcast radio feature.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit campus before Shaffer could step into the station’s general manager role, and, for a variety of related reasons, WSRU-FM was off the air during this time.
Once students returned to campus, Shaffer spent her time rebuilding the station from the ground. The constitution and policies she established are still in place today.
Her diligence and commitment to the functioning of WSRU-FM positioned the organization for several years of success and growth.
Shaffer’s lasting momentum has made WSRU-FM what it is today –– the station broadcasts more than 30 individual student DJ shows over the air, produces eight podcasts with weekly episodes and collaborates with other student organizations to DJ their events.
The station has run multiple initiatives, including a charity campaign last spring culminating in the club’s notorious Car Smash, an event dedicated to the demolition of a junkyard vehicle.
WSRU-FM offers real-world experience in tandem with the fun that makes college clubs worthwhile. But according to Shaffer, it’s all about the atmosphere.
“Some college stations are run like the military, but here, the energy the station brings is really healthy, and that makes it more welcoming,” she said.
More information about WSRU-FM is available on the organization’s webpage. More information about strategic communication and media at SRU is available on the program’s webpage.
