Music Business Schools

A little background:
2013 graduate.
3.4 GPA (can’t remember if this was weighted or unweighted), just barely in the top 10% (I was like 10.59% or something like that) so I graduated with honors.
1920 SAT (only took it once. No ACT scores)
10 AP tests, a 5 in Calc AB; a 4 in Lit, Enviro, Psych, Stats, US Hist; a 3 in Lang & Macro; a 2 in 2D Studio & Micro.
Not really any extracurriculars. I was in a bad mental state for most of high school and I went to 3 different high schools. Never had much motivation or incentive to be involved in extracurriculars. I feel like this is really going to hurt me.

I applied to 3 schools in 2013 after I graduated and was accepted into all 3. I started at Towson University in Maryland because it was affordable and nearby. I completed a year or two semesters taking general classes not covered by my APs, changed my major twice, from undecided to forensic chemistry then to electronic media & film. Never took classes for either major. Then decided after that year was over to not return to Towson because it wasn’t really my thing.

Very seriously considered applying to UMBC to major in statistics because I am very good at math and I enjoy it but I couldn’t see myself being content and happy with a math major.

Fast forward to summer of 2015 when I thought I wanted to become a mortician so I enrolled at the only community college in MD that has a mortuary science major. Completed a few more general pre-reqs, got into the major, then realized when I started major classes that it wasn’t what I wanted to have as a career.

Now I am pretty sure I’ve decided what I want to ACTUALLY pursue, after cycling through a lot of decisions and interests. Due to my previously mentioned love for math, I decided to begin getting an Associate’s (at least) in Accounting, at the local community college so I can pay in-county tuition, because that felt like the most practical way to apply my mathematical abilities, and I will begin classes for that either in the fall or next spring, and I plan to try to get an accounting assistant job or something after that.

And then my goal is to finally get a Bachelor’s in Music Business because music is my favorite thing, but I am not and don’t really have interest in being a musician and centering my life and career around music only feels natural and I’m honestly kicking myself for not having thought about it as a possibility 3+ years ago because I think if I had begun then, I would have stuck with it. I was going to have my musician father teach me how to run sound for shows because he often did that for bands on the weekends but he unfortunately passed away in June before being able to teach me.

For the MB degree I was considering:

  • Berklee Online, because that’d be cost-effective and convenient, but it would lack the connections and community that would come with being on campus;
  • NYU Steinhardt, because I love NY and it seems like a wonderful place to make connections and seems like the kind of place that a degree would hold more weight from, but I feel like it’d be significantly harder for me to be accepted into the program;
  • Musician’s Institute in LA, because the connections there I think would be the best, but it’s very far away from me and very expensive

Those were the main places I had looked into so far, but I just was looking for advice, opinions, other schools, etc. I’m not really interested in Full Sail at all though.

There is music business program at SUNY Oneonta. I have a friend whose daughter is in it. She’s a musician but isn’t interested in pursuing music as a performer, however, she loves being around the music business. She attended a couple of conferences in her freshman year and has an internship at a record company.

SUNYs are fairly reasonable even for oos students.

@aleesahn Music Business programs at Music Schools sometimes require that you are actually a musician. You cannot apply to Berklee without an audition. If you are interested in Music Business check out Belmont University in Nashville. It has a great Music Business Program with a great reputation and it’s in Music City so lots of internships.

What can your family afford? Two of the three schools you mention are extremely expensive and won’t offer any aid. Also you would be a transfer student so no scholarships offered to freshmen. Why not look at a vanilla business major and see about getting jobs/internships related to music.

I second Belmont if it’s affordable. They have the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. Mike Curb was the founder of Curb Records, which (among other acts) helped bring Tim McGraw to fame.

Several current and past stars went to Belmont or are closely aligned with the school:

  • Brad Paisley
  • Vince Gill & Amy Grant
  • Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line)
  • Kimberly Locke
  • Larry Stewart (Restless Heart)
  • Pam Tillis
  • Josh Turner
  • Lee Ann Womack
  • Trisha Yearwood
  • Minnie Pearl

There are also alumni who have gone on to careers on Broadway, in Hollywood, in opera, in literature/poetry, and as agents, managers and producers.

The music scene is big at the school and in Nashville as a whole. Belmont borders Music Row.

I’ll look into Belmont! Thank you. I wasn’t really interested in Musicians Institute because it is SO expensive.

Berklee online does not require an audition, since it is online, but it is true that they do not offer/accept aid. My family won’t be contributing more than maybe a couple hundred bucks past whatever I can pay for myself so cost is absolutely a factor. I wouldn’t be heading into the degree within the next year most likely, I would be working pretty much non stop as I have been doing and saving up as much as possible and covering the rest with aid, scholarships, and loans.

NYU is very appealing but I’m very concerned about actually being able to get in.

Also in the Nashville area- look at Middle Tennessee State University-- about 40 minutes from Nashville. MTSU has degrees in MusBus, Audio production and songwriting.

Nashville is a music hub I hadn’t really considered so thank you guys for suggesting schools in the area!

Upon my traverses through the internet I also found Harris Institute in Toronto? Does anyone know anything about that?

Drexel in Philadelphia: http://drexel.edu/westphal/academics/undergraduate/MIP/