Music industry education: Current approaches and future directions

In the late 1990s, the emergence of the digital era posed enormous challenges for the music industry, but afforded the development of new business models and creative platforms on which artists can build their careers. There are implications for music industry education in the higher education sector. If what we need to know today is likely to be out of date tomorrow, what then do we teach? And if a successful music industry career requires not just domain knowledge, but experience and the development of a more implicit and entrepreneurial suite of skills, then how do we teach it? This paper aims to evaluate and propose a re-design of the music industry unit at the author’s university through interviews with students who have completed the unit, and music industry educators from the USA, UK and Australia. Consistent themes included practical experience, engagement with industry, student-negotiated assessment, and the development of entrepreneurial skills. The data also revealed mixed sentiments around the role of peer-reviewed literature and academic writing in such courses. The benefits of the research highlight how collaborations raise awareness of practice, which have the potential to promote such activities in helping to reshape music industry education in higher education.