At first glance, Ryan Miller is not what you’d expect in a marketing representative for Sony Music. The suit and tie are replaced with a backwards baseball hat and jeans, the briefcase is a backpack and what could be considered his office is his home . . . an organized chaos of boxes, stickers and posters.

Although casual in his attire, Miller, 24, holds a key position in connecting Sacramento State with the latest in music. As a College Music Representative for Sony, he is one of only three in the region.

“There’s a rep in the Bay Area, there’s me in Sacramento and a rep in Seattle, and that’s it for the Northwest territory,” he said.

Miller’s job is to get students interested in the latest bands. He is sent new CD releases and information every two weeks, and it’s up to Miller to decide how to promote them.

“[Sony] is willing to see what I can do,” said Miller, who works alone and maintains his own ideas. “I make all my own fliers . . . I make everything by myself.”

The job unfortunately doesn’t pay much, Miller said, and makes it difficult to pay his rent at times, providing him a budget of a $100 a week ($85 after taxes) to get the names of these up-and-coming bands out to the public.

With most of the bands appearing on their first major label, Miller said, a lot of the responsibility falls into his hands.

“If I don’t break them in Sacramento, if the radio hasn’t broke them, that’s it,” Miller said. “It’s word of mouthEthat’s their chance.”

A full-time student majoring in business at Sac State, Miller manages to promote new releases as well as bands during a schedule that keeps him “99 percent in the field.” When he’s not tacking up posters, passing out fliers, or giving away free T-shirts and CDs, he’s regularly brainstorming new ideas to get the campus involved.

“Ryan has to take a creative approach of marketing bands you have never heard of before,” said Tim Thompson, the Bay Area’s Regional Alternative Marketing Manager.

By taking developing artists and creating a buzz around the band, Thompson said, Miller helps the band get noticed until they hit the top entertainment waves, such as MTV.

Mudvayne, a band Miller began heavily promoting in February, Thompson said, is a perfect example.

“When the band first came out it was only popular on the East Coast. But after the reps hyped it up going to tattoo parlors and handing fliers out, Mudvayne has been performing to sold-out shows everywhere.”

One way Miller begins promoting new bands to the Sacramento area is through KSSU, the university’s radio station.

“He’s one of the many people we talk to from various record labels. As far as Ryan goes, he’s just a little more there because he’s actually face to face instead of being just over the phone , which is how I talk to most of the people I deal with from record labels,” said Scott De Medeiros at KSSU.

“To actually have that person there-you have that much more intimacy when you’re talking to him. I could just see Ryan on campus and say ‘Hey-what do you have for this band?’ Ryan would be able to bring it right away,” De Medeiros said.

Occasionally, Miller also deals with widely known bands such as Cypress Hill. In February, Sony sent Miller a supply of lighters to use in promoting the band’s upcoming album, “Live at the Fillmore.” Miller then decided to involve Twisted, a local clothing and novelty shop, by offering the lighters to customers that spent over $35.

To keep himself organized, Miller created a packet called The Sony Music Info Pak that he sends to all of his retail accounts.

The packet contains all of the information about the bands, tours, and the current list of artists that Miller is working to promote. By sending the Info Pak back to Sony as well, said Miller, he lets them know what he’s working on and they in turn make sure that particular CDs are stocked in the local stores.

Although Miller has been interested in music since childhood, having played the drums, saxophone and clarinet, it wasn’t until he took over for the owner at In-A-Minute, a Bay Area record label, that his career in marketing music got moving. After becoming the buyer for the store, he sold rap music, of which he is most familiar, to “mom and pop” record stores and soon began interacting with sales reps from larger companies, allowing him to get his foot in the door with Sony.

Now a junior, Miller said he hopes to continue building contacts, which have doubled in number since last semester, in order to increase his effectiveness in promotions and to get his own rep company started in the future.

“Business is really helping me,” said Miller of his decision to continue his education at Sac State. “Especially with this job that I have. Everything that I learn I can actually implement in the fieldEI can use it in real situations. I know I’m on the right track.”