The beat is consistent, the kind you can snap your fingers or bob your head to, and the soft melody is a peaceful backdrop to the strong vocals. By the chorus, people who don’t even know the song are singing along with “I’ll Make You My World.”

Sound Clip
Listen to “I’ll Make You My World” from Chelsey Greenberg

The catchy tune is the latest single by Chelsey Greenberg, a singer/songwriter and junior television-radio major at Ithaca College. Chelsey Nicole, as she refers to herself, wrote the piece during her sophomore year and recorded it last May with Aaron Accetta, a record producer who has worked with artists like Aaron Carter, Brooke Hogan and Deborah Gibson.

Greenberg, who is from Long Island, NY, was introduced to Accetta last year after performing for music mogul Lou Pearlman, former manager of ’NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.

“There were security guards everywhere,” Greenberg said. “I felt like I was meeting the President.”

Pearlman contacted Greenberg after she sent him a recording of “Never Forget,” a ballad she wrote and recorded to raise awareness for Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005.

“I was sitting at the table with my mom after having been rejected from ‘American Idol,’” Greenberg said. “My dad handed me the phone and it was Lou. I was in shock.”

Hearing Greenberg perform her rendition of Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall in Love,” Pearlman was instantly impressed.

“There were eight different phones ringing the entire time I was in his office,” Greenberg said. “When I sang, he silenced his phone, which he never does.”

Pearlman, who is in prision awaiting federal charges for fraudulent investments, was already dealing with legal matters at the time of his meeting with Greenberg.

“He knew he was in financial distress,” Greenberg said. “He couldn’t sign me, but he really helped me.”

Pearlman advised Greenberg to develop an EP and press kit to send out to major record labels. With the help of her father and manager, Joel, Greenberg has spent the past year meeting with Pearlman and getting her name out to the music industry.

“My father’s very honest, very blunt,” she said. “If he didn’t think I had a chance, he wouldn’t be putting all this time and money into it.”

Joel Greenberg, an insurance and retirement planner, said acting as his daughter’s manager has been an interesting task.

“It’s a combination of being her biggest fan and helping support her, as well as being her father and trying to protect her,” he said. “You want your children to have the easiest path, not the most difficult.”

Greenberg began generating connections through her MySpace page, which features “Make You My World,” along with pictures and information. Her page garnered the attention of Mike C. Ross, a Grammy-nominated producer who has worked with artists like Christina

Aguilera, Vanessa Carlton and Lisa Loeb. Greenberg signed a three-track production deal for her EP with Ross, which she plans to record in Los Angeles in November.

Joel Greenberg said his daughter’s contacts, as well as her summer internship at Sony BMG, are putting her on the right path.

“Part of the growth of her musical career is in networking and evolving relationships where her music will be heard through more and more venues and hopefully will be purchased by listeners,” he said.

Chelsey Greenberg traveled to Orlando during fall break to work with Accetta on her newest song, “Lies, Lies, Lies,” an R&B track she said she hopes will lend itself to a voice-over with a rapper. She said she’s excited for a departure from her more “pop” songs.

“You have to try and find a happy medium between writing what you want but kind of conforming to what America and the world want to hear,” she said.

Junior Kira Walsh, Greenberg’s roommate, said she has watched Greenberg’s music evolve during the past few years.

“Some of the producers she’s been working with had more of an ’NYSNC sound,” Walsh said. “She’s above it, she can do better than that.”

Walsh said she supports Greenberg but maintains a level of caution as well.

“I’m afraid for her in the industry because it’s all so cutthroat,” Walsh said. “It’s make or break and, you’re putting your dream out there.”