Business News

28 Oct 2025

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Teams With Save the Music to Fund Music Education Initiatives: ‘It’s an Incredible Boost’

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Shortly after Paramount began pulling back its funding for Save the Music, which has donated instruments and tech equipment worth nearly $78 million to 2,800 U.S. schools, John Sykes held a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame board meeting in spring 2024. “This is the perfect fit for what we’re doing,” he told the group. “We have this huge, powerful platform, with some of the greatest artists in the world that we could put out there, going to schools, preaching the importance of music education.”

Beginning with a $1 million grant, and the promise of Hall of Fame inductees like Sheryl Crow and pop stars like Harry Styles and Olivia Rodrigo talking to students at schools around the U.S., the Hall of Fame announced a partnership with Save the Music on Tuesday (Oct. 28) to help fund Save the Music’s dozens of programs. “We hope the politicians and the local governments will hear about this story and find out why music education must stay, or must be reconnected with a public education,” says Sykes, the Hall of Fame’s foundation chairman, a top executive at broadcast giant iHeartMedia and an MTV co-founder who created Save the Music in 1997.

Save the Music was once synonymous with VH1, where Sykes was president, and major stars like Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey headlined charity performances broadcast live on the powerful cable-music channel. But in recent years, Paramount has deemphasized its MTV and VH1 holdings, ramping down on its Save the Music support in the process. As a result, Save the Music has spent the last few years turning to other sources, including TikTok, Meta, Amazon and top promoters Live Nation and AEG Presents. In 2021, MacKenzie Scott, co-founder of Amazon and Jeff Bezos‘ ex-wife, provided a $2 million grant.

“As Paramount’s support gradually came down,” says Henry Donahue, the Save the Music Foundation’s longtime executive director, “we were very fortunate that a number of large foundations came in to fill the gap and actually grow the program.”

Save the Music, whose operating budget was $11 million last year, supports high-school students with initiatives like the J Dilla Music Technology Grant, named for the late hip-hop producer, which provides music-tech equipment and software for students and teachers. “The program is extremely valuable to students,” Samuel Davis, a Therrell High School teacher whose Atlanta classroom benefited from the grant, told the AP in January. “It increases their attendance. They’re more willing to come to school. They feel more connected to the school.”

Sykes created Save the Music after participating in a principal-for-a-day event at a New York high school, where he encountered music students playing instruments “held together with tape and missing strings,” he recalls. He offered $5,000 on behalf of VH1 to prevent the school from cutting the music program, then decided to expand the channel’s philanthropy after learning that “students who learn music education go on to do better on math and verbal scores on tests.”

Today, Save the Music invests in 100 to 150 U.S. music programs, drawing celebrity support from Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll and others who’ve donated time and money. The Cleveland-based Hall of Fame, according to Sykes, has music-education programs, but the partnership with Save the Music will take them to “a whole new level.” Says Donahue: “It’s an incredible boost.”

27 Oct 2025

Amsterdam Dance Event: 7 Takeaways From the Rave Scene’s Biggest Conference

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Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) took place in the Dutch capital last week (Oct. 22-26), with the city’s vibrant dance and electronic scene taking over bars, clubs and venues for a week of performances, panels and professional networking.

It’s not an overstatement to suggest that the city, a diverse and fun-loving hub of creativity in Europe, is totally taken over by the 600,000 fans and 10,000 music industry professionals who live and breathe electronic music. The city’s trams are given a special yellow-hued ADE decal, branded flags flutter in the wind next to the city’s canals, and beats spill out of bars onto cobbled streets. Move over Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh: Armin van Buuren, Amelie Lens and Charlotte de Witte are coming to town.

Speaking to Billboard U.K. earlier this month, the festival’s director, Jan-Willem van de Ven, said relished the idea of making ADE the pinnacle of the electronic music industry’s calendar. “ADE is both an experience and business meeting point,” he said ahead of this year’s event. “You can discover well over a thousand events in the city, get marketing intelligence and find yourself in a space where creative communities are celebrated. For music pros, the priority is to come back every year because everybody is there; we want it to be the best moment of the year to do business.”

To that end, ADE is undoubtedly a success. Major figures from tech companies, labels, distributors and more convene in Amsterdam, while local ravers are treated to a feast of parties at the city’s most influential and revered venues. Next year is set to be the conference’s 30th anniversary, and this year’s edition teed up an almighty celebration. These were the biggest takeaways from 2025’s event.

Electronic Music Gathers at ADE

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Speaking to Billboard U.K. prior to the event, van de Ven boasted that “the electronic music scene gathers here” in Amsterdam. And he’s right: virtually every big player in the scene hosted mixers, parties, panels, workshops and more in an attempt to shore up support for its brands and products.

Doing so authentically, however, was crucial to Stephen Campbell, Apple Music’s global head of dance/electronic. “We want to be present, but we also want to offer up a lot of value. We don’t just want to be a place for people to have a drink,” he says. Beyond their in-person events – including a DJ workshop in collaboration with AlphaTheta – Apple Music captured a number of sets throughout the week to listen back to on their service in Dolby Atmos.

“The general consumption of dance and electronic music across the business on a global scale is massive,” Campbell continues. “We want to ensure we’re offering the depth and breadth of what dance music is to different people around the world in a way that’s meaningful and enjoyable.”
The Lineup Everyone Wants to Be on

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Music conferences live and die by their programming. ADE’s is undeniably one of the strongest in the market, with nary a dull moment and a user-friendly app that showcases the offerings smartly. Whether it’s conversations with Daft Punk creative director Cédric Hervet on the duo’s appearance in Fortnite, or insights into Google’s AI project DeepMind from director of product Jeff Chang, the week was stuffed with insights and opportunities to network. The performances at the city’s club scene — from intimate spaces to warehouses and football stadiums — reinforced ADE as the lineup the entire scene wanted to be on.
Amsterdam Is Europe’s Best City for Raving – But for How Long?

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Amsterdam has long been considered a shining beacon for the dance community: a European city that invests in arts and culture and protects and empowers creative spaces. Power of Production: How Amsterdam Sets the Benchmark for European Clubbing, a panel hosted by DJ Mag and featuring local figures from the scene, provided a more holistic picture of the city and the challenges they face in maintaining these clubs.

Jeroen Fontein, managing director at promoter Audio Obscura, said that while the local government is progressive, constraining leaseholds on buildings makes long-term planning for venues particularly difficult. Chrissie Quast, an artist and technical manager at Club RAUM, concurred that things were becoming “more tight and difficult” for spaces to succeed in such a competitive industry, especially with growing costs. Amsterdam’s nightlife scene is still the envy of many in Europe, but whether it’ll remain good times forever is up for debate.
Confidence Man Throws a Hell of a Party

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ADE caters to virtually all strands of dance and electronic music, and even acts like Confidence Man, which borders on mainstream pop, feel at home. The Aussie-born, London-based band is known for its energetic live persona, which has made it a bankable festival booking and a frequent presence on the European festival circuit. Taking over NDSM Warehouse in the north of the city on Thursday (Oct. 23), the group proved that their sharp, bouncing songs (including the bitchy “Gossip” with former Little Mix star JADE) belong next to mixes and DJ sets at ADE.
Spatial Audio Is No Gimmick

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Advances in audio quality can be hard to quantify for casual listeners. Can the average ear truly identify the benefits of lossless or spatial audio? To that end, a number of tech giants decided to show, not tell, the benefits of their systems. Dolby Atmos hosted a programme at the Tobacco Theatre, while Mercury KX’s serene label showcase was presented in 360° audio by L-Acoustics. It sounded sublime, of course.

The former collaborated with Apple Music for the playback of a mix by techno legend Jeff Mills on Friday (Oct. 24) to demonstrate the benefits for both listeners and creators. Stephen Campbell at Apple (which has invested heavily in Dolby Atmos) said that the events and mixes allow the “artistry to express just how good Dolby Atmos is” rather than “us just telling you.”
Skepta’s Scene Takeover Continues

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British rapper and DJ Skepta drew one of the conference’s busiest crowds for his fireside chat with BBC 1 Xtra radio host DJ Target. The grime pioneer’s presence had long been coveted by ADE organisers — festival director Jan-Willem van de Ven said negotiations had been years in the making — and it proved worth the wait.

In recent years, the Mercury Prize winner’s focus has been on his house label Mas Tiempo with longtime collaborator Jammer; releasing house tracks and hosting residencies in Ibiza; and curating his own festival in London. During the panel, he discussed bypassing gatekeepers to prove he could excel with both “bars and beats,” how growing up with an open-door policy at his home in north London prepared him for the chaos in the DJ booth, and why his next rap album will match the energy of an electronic music set.

“Rap music and albums are having a tough time. It doesn’t have the same crescendo as a house set,” he told the crowd, teasing his next full-length project. “I’m making sure that even though [my next album] is grime, that if you’re playing it next to a house music set, it doesn’t sound flat.”
Fighting for a Gender-Balanced Scene

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Diversity in the dance space was a topic of discussion throughout the week, most pointedly in a panel titled Breaking the Feedback Loop: Redefining Success and Identity as a Woman in Electronic Music. Hosted by journalist Claire Francis, the discussion with three leading women on the scene touched upon the lack of progress made in recent years to ensure equal representation on lineups — and how female artists can chart their own paths of success.

Dutch DJ KI/KI — speaking ahead of her performance to 40,000 fans as part of the AMF rave at Johan Cruyff Arena — said she still feels that opportunities are limited and that there has been a “decline in the energy” behind making the space more representative. The panel also featured Australian-born, London-based producer HAAi and New York-based BASHKKA, and the trio discussed navigating all-male bills while sharing their own experiences advocating for change.

“The more vocal you are, the more open you are to criticism from the scene,” HAAi said, but added that approaching uncomfortable conversations in a fair, non-confronting way was the route to progress.

For BASHKKA, redefining success in the modern scene was an act of preservation and artistic integrity. “Success to me means the freedom to live self-sufficiently, which for people from a marginalised background isn’t a given,” she said. “I want to live through my art without compromising who I am.”

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27 Oct 2025

Would You Buy Snacks Endorsed By Bailey Zimmerman? New Study Thinks You Might

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From tour sponsorships to Taco Bell commercials featuring Turnstile, major companies see billion-dollar branding opportunities in partnering with artists, and a new study from Luminate has some matchmaking suggestions.

The industry-leading music analytics platform looked at five years’ worth of survey results and metrics measuring likability, awareness and brand endorsement to determine the best artists to market sodas, snack foods, cosmetics and credit cards. “Cultural capital isn’t something brands should tap into retroactively,” the report authors write. “Behavioral audience entertainment data can inform marketers, helping them to locate artists whose fan base matches a brand’s target audience. Think of it as ‘moneyball’ for brand partnerships.”

Luminate has collected quarterly online survey results from a representative slice of U.S. consumers, ages 13 and up, since 2021. It identified super-purchasers of food & beverage, personal care & hygiene, travel, telecom, mobile apps and banking & finance products, and analyzed the survey results and other metrics to understand their attitudes and perceptions toward some 600 artists and 100 music genres and sub-genres.

The study deliberately stayed away from megastars like Taylor Swift and instead identified artists who may be less well known, but who among certain groups are well-liked and trusted, and therefore could provide brands with a better return on their marketing dollars, says Grant Gregory, a researcher and manager at Insights at Luminate.

“The decision-making process was a mix of identifying artists with high likability AND artists who are uniquely appealing (in terms of likability) or have uniquely high reach (in terms of awareness) among that category purchasing group vs. the general population,” says Gregory.

The artists who scored among the highest in each consumer category were: country crossover star Bailey Zimmerman for food and beverage products, the queen of regional Mexican music Ana Bárbara for personal care & hygiene products, rising country star Lainey Wilson for banking and finance, Bebe Rexha for telecom, Jamaican singer and rapper Shenseea for service and e-commerce apps such as ride hailing and food delivery and electronic artist Kenya Grace for travel.

Here are some of the highlights from the report.

Bailey Zimmerman

The study plotted the “Fall in Love” singer’s likability and brand endorsement scores from survey respondents who bought at least three packaged snacks, coffee or other food products recently. Zimmerman outscored JENNIE, Leon Thomas, Dolly Parton and Queen as a good bet for marketers. While Chris Stapleton had the highest awareness score, Zimmerman won on likability. His fans tend to be younger and more affluent than the overall population and are more likely to listen to music at least twice a week on Apple Music and Spotify.

“Zimmerman presents a narrower but deeper fandom among category buyers,” Luminate’s authors found, while “Stapleton offers a broader though still highly efficient fandom.”

Ana Bárbara

The longtime grupero singer/songwriter Bárbara beat Young Miko, Arya Starr and Dolly Parton when it came to her strength as a personal care product brand endorser, with only Parton beating her on likability. Bárbara scored particularly well in awareness, perhaps due to the current popularity of regional Mexican music. She over-indexes with Millennial, Gen X and even Gen Z consumers, and fan devotion is particularly strong. Those audiences are more likely than most to use social media apps, including TikTok and Instagram.

Lainey Wilson

Wilson falls in the middle of a pack of superstars that includes Stevie Nicks and Kelly Clarkson, who both rank slightly ahead of Wilson on awareness. However, Clarkson ranks high on awareness and public perception but in the average range for fan engagement metrics. Wilson ranked among the highest for likability and purchase likelihood.

Wilson’s fans also tend to have higher-than-average income, with 38% earning more than $75,000 a year, compared to the general population, and more than three-quarters of the banking and financial product consumers surveyed said they would be more likely to buy a product she endorsed, the report found.

Bebe Rexha

“Recognizable, out-of-the-limelight performers such as Bebe Rexha can still shine through in the data,” Luminate’s report found. The Brooklyn born “Meant To Be” singer has had four top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and her audience tends to skew young, with roughly two-thirds being from the Gen Z and Millennial generations. This audience is more likely than the general audience to use a streaming service like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix or HBO Max at least weekly, and 60% reported they would use a telecom product if she endorsed it. Among the general population, 42% said they would try a telecom product Rexha endorsed.

Shenseea

The Jamaican dancehall singer/rapper is among the best artists to market to a mobile app like Seamless, Uber or Airbnb, Luminate found. While Leon Thomas and Adele ranked slightly higher on likability scores among mobile app super-consumers — defined as people who use two or more mobile apps for services, such as food delivery or ride-hailing — 78% of those consumers who are aware of Shenseea said they would try an app if she endorsed it. That group tends to be more racially diverse, come from the Millennial and Gen X generations and they’re active across social media platforms, the report found.

Kenya Grace

The South African-born British electronic music singer Kenya Grace ranked is less well-known than Shenseea, Lola Young or Riley Green, but Luminate found that her U.S. audience looks a lot like the people travel companies want to target. Their annual incomes are more likely than most to be middle-to-high, with 61% making more than $50,000 annually, compared to less than half of the general population, and Grace’s audience frequently uses video streaming services like Disney+ or YouTube –appealing places for travel companies to advertise.

27 Oct 2025

BMG Enters Faith-Based Music Market With By Design Partnership

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Recently-launched music company By Design, co-founded and led by music execs Josh Bailey, Jeremy Holley, Rod Riley and Josh Thompson, has partnered with BMG. The new partnership is set to include global distribution, label services, joint label signings and a co-investment strategy that will reach across catalog acquisitions through Archetype Music (a music rights holding company acquiring faith-based music rights).

By Design’s roster currently includes country singer-songwriter Frankie Ballard, as well as pop-folk singer-songwriter Zoe Levert and singer-songwriter Alex Jude. The label is also part of a larger company ecosystem, which includes Archetype Music, and nonprofit organization Blueprint, which aims to equip and empower faith-based creators.

“Faith-driven music has long been of particular interest to many members of the BMG team,” Jon Loba, President of Frontline Recordings, BMG Americas, said in a statement. “Even though we have not specifically engaged in that line of business, there has always been the desire and intention to do so. The opportunity to partner with By Design offered the perfect, complimentary alliance with exceptional, proven industry executives, who have the same heart and artist-first approach to music as BMG. We are so incredibly excited to join forces with Rod, Jeremy, both Josh’s and the entire By Design team, to enter a global genre that is one of the most powerful cultural forces rising today.”

“We partnered with BMG to scale purpose-driven music without compromising values,” Thompson said. “Their global reach empowers us to honor each artist’s original design – and share it on a global stage.”

“We believe the next global movement in music will be rooted in faith and community, not algorithms and trends,” Bailey added. “With BMG’s international infrastructure and our shared commitment to empowering artists, we’re building a new kind of platform, one that’s both spiritually grounded and globally scaled.”

“By Design exists to champion the creators behind this movement, artists who carry purpose in their message and originality into a culture hungry for meaning,” Holley added.

By Design’s launch comes as the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) genre has seen a surge. Earlier this year, two CCM songs made simultaneous appearances on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100, marking the first time two CCM songs have reached that mark simultaneously in 11 years. Those songs were Forrest Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” and the Brandon Lake-Jelly Roll collaboration “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” Earlier this month, Phil Wickham also made his Hot 100 chart debut with the song “What An Awesome God.”

27 Oct 2025

Billboard’s 2025 Top Music Business Schools

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“I hope you feel so proud, and I’m sure you might feel a little scared, too,” said Maggie Rogers as she gave a wisdom-filled commencement address in May at Radio City Music Hall to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts class of 2025 — the school from which Rogers graduated in 2016.

“A lot of speakers might tell you that they remember how you feel,” Rogers added. “But I was sitting where you were sitting just nine years ago, so when I tell you that, I promise that I mean it.”

Nine years ago, Rogers also appeared in Billboard for the first time, on the opening page of the 2016 Top Music Business Schools list. She was shown in a photograph with Pharrell Williams, whose astounded reaction to her self-released track “Alaska” went viral on YouTube and ignited her career straight out of the Tisch School’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.

For more than a decade, Billboard has been spotlighting schools that are educating the next generation of music industry leaders, as well as the artists and producers who recognize the importance of the business skills that these schools teach.

Billboard chooses its top music business schools based on industry recommendations, alum information provided by honorees from our multiple power lists, years of reporting on educational options and information requested from the schools themselves. We invite selected schools to tell us what makes their program unique, to boast about accomplished alums and to describe specific courses, events and speakers. (This year, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts claims the coolest campus visit, as LIPA founder Paul McCartney hosted Bruce Springsteen, who took part in an hourlong Q&A session with students in June.)

The schools here are not ranked; they are listed alphabetically. “Rankings have created an unhealthy obsession with selectivity,” former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a 2023 speech. Despite moves to downsize the U.S. Department of Education, that federal agency still hosts a free, online college scorecard that provides quantitative information to complement the qualitative profiles on our list, including specific data on college costs, graduation rates, employment and student debt.

Acknowledging college costs and debt, Billboard has opted to emphasize more affordable public colleges and universities, which now make up one-third of this list. We also continue to recognize historically Black colleges and universities such as Howard University and Tennessee State University and to add schools from outside the music industry’s capitals, such as the newly included University of Georgia in Athens.

What Rogers said she would have told her younger self upon graduating nine years ago certainly also applies to those now searching for schools to start their music careers — on or off the stage.

“I’d remind her that two artistic careers will never be the same and that numbers do not matter — what matters is how you make people feel,” Rogers said. “I’d tell her that the people you do this with — and how you define what it means to live a beautiful life — matter more than anything. The world is waiting for you and all of the beautiful things you will create.”

Abbey Road Institute
London

The Abbey Road Institute offers its students an intensive music production and sound engineering diploma, which, as closely as possible, replicates the experience of working in the music and audio industry. The school prepares graduates to build their careers as professionals in music and pro audio. Its core program is the Advanced Diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering, which includes an in-depth music business module that covers management, A&R, marketing, synch, licensing and much more. The new Dolby Atmos Mixing for Music course is taught by Grammy Award-winning engineer James Auwarter. More than 90% of graduates are in music- and audio-related work within six months of graduation. The institute now has affiliated programs worldwide and is on track to open campuses in Mumbai, India, and Los Angeles.

Alum: Producer-engineer-mixer Gil Portal at RAK Studios, whose credits include work with Disclosure, Coldplay, Shaznay Lewis, J Balvin, Usher and DJ Khaled.

American University
Washington, D.C.

Housed within American University’s Kogod School of Business, the Business and Entertainment Program offers a core business background while students specialize in the entertainment industry with classes primarily taught by industry veterans. Kogod added a focus on artificial intelligence to every class this year, and many speakers at the fourth annual Artist Rights Symposium — including SAG-AFTRA general counsel Jeff Bennett — addressed topics surrounding AI and name, image and likeness rights. Each year, students head to New York and Los Angeles to visit business management firms, agencies and other entertainment companies. On campus, recent speakers include Lionsgate chairman/chief creative officer Kevin Beggs, Academy Award winner David Dinerstein and Kogod alums working at Live Nation, United Entertainment Group Worldwide, CAA and the three major music groups. Recent graduate placements include eight students hired at business management firm FBMM and 12 students hired at major agencies.

Faculty: New program director Linda Bloss-Baum also teaches a class where students attend SXSW and the National Independent Venue Association conference and help promote a showcase.

Auburn University
Auburn, Ala.

Auburn’s Department of Music established a music business minor in 2023, and the late-2024 completion of a state-of-the-art recording studio located within the Music Studies complex is the latest enhancement to the Music Studies Program, which offers courses taught by instructors with real-world experience. Students are introduced to all aspects of the music business, from labels and publishers to touring and concert promotion, with an emphasis on a global/entrepreneurial perspective. Speakers including Universal Music Publishing Nashville CEO Troy Tomlinson and former Warner Music Nashville A&R executive vp Scott Hendricks keep the conversation fresh. While the Music Business Program is relatively new, Auburn University grads include Apple CEO Tim Cook and executives working at companies such as WME, Sony, The Trenches Collective, Sun Records and Sweet Talk Publicity.

Course: Record Company Procedures gives students the experience of working for a record company by forming a label, working with an artist from a designated artist pool and creating a marketing, sales and media plan all while staying within a designated budget.

Baldwin Wallace University
Berea, Ohio

Located just 15 minutes from Downtown Cleveland, Baldwin Wallace offers a bachelor of arts in music industry and, in 2021, was invited to become an educational affiliate of the Grammy Museum. Last fall, music industry students had the opportunity to attend the Disney+ live production of the induction ceremony at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; in the spring, they traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with staff from NPR’s Tiny Desk, Live Nation and the RIAA. On campus, students this year were visited by NPR senior podcast operations specialist Darius Cook and Music Asset Management founder and CEO Mary Jo Mennella, and students also benefit from internship experiences with local partners including Blossom Music Center and Beachland Ballroom & Tavern.

Course: Music Licensing and Placement, taught by music supervisor Joe O’Riordan, delves into practical elements of song placement for film, TV and commercials. O’Riordan has placed songs for projects such as MTV’s Ridiculousness and Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules.

Belmont University (Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business)
Nashville

Belmont’s Curb College this year is opening a 17,000-square-foot facility on Music Row to house songwriting rooms, listening spaces, live-sound classrooms and student lounges. The college offers internships, unique projects and A-list guest speakers. Case in point: Ed Sheeran spoke to a songwriting class in the spring, sharing new songs, critiquing student work and participating in a Q&A. And Kelsea Ballerini dropped in with producer Alysa Vanderheym, A&R lead Kelly Bolton and the songwriters she collaborated with on her album Patterns. Curb’s program is enhanced by semester-long trips to New York and L.A. and leads to a bachelor of business administration. Alums include Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Ashley Gorley and Hillary Lindsey, and John Zarling, co-founder of Results Global, whose clients include Dolly Parton, Megadeth and Trisha Yearwood.

Course: Through a partnership with Dolly Parton; her management company, CTK Enterprises; and the team behind Dolly: A True Original Musical, Belmont this spring launched Dolly U, comprising four courses including Dolly Parton: Icon & Influence, which featured lectures and interviews with members of Parton’s team and even a surprise conversation with Lainey Wilson.

Ed Sheeran performs an impromptu jam of “Shape of You” with college students at Belmont University on March 17, 2025 in Nashville, Tennesse.

Mark Surridge/Belmont University

Berklee College of Music
Boston

Berklee offers two options for students interested in careers in the music business: its long-standing bachelor of music in music business, where students focus on the management, marketing or entrepreneurial aspects of the industry while simultaneously perfecting their musical craft, and a bachelor of arts program in music industry leadership and innovation, designed for aspiring business professionals in the creative industries who have an interest in music, technology and innovation. Both programs offer guest speakers, industry partnerships and events, including the inaugural TEDxBerklee Boston featuring a TEDx Talk by CD Baby president Molly Neuman, which took place last fall. The Berklee Popular Music Institute’s flagship program, BPMI Live, offers a yearlong experience in which students scout, develop and tour with emerging artists at the industry’s largest music festivals. This spring, students traveled to the United Kingdom with the band Park National.

Event: During “A Day With Lucius,” the Grammy-nominated band, whose members are Berklee alums, met with students to share stories, insights and advice.

Berklee College of Music (Valencia Campus)
Valencia, Spain

The master of arts in global entertainment and music business offered by Berklee College of Music on its campus in Valencia, Spain, helps graduate-level students gain a competitive advantage in the music industry. It offers networking and experiential learning opportunities and an elective-based curriculum that empowers students to curate their own learning experience. All courses are grounded in the realities of the music industry, encouraging students to design solutions for current business challenges. The program has welcomed more than 50 high-level industry guest speakers, such as Yvette Noel-Schure, founder of Schure Media Group and publicist for Beyoncé, and Marie-Anne Robert, head of Sony Music France. The annual Berklee Global Career Summit focuses on professional development and career paths through a series of keynotes, panels, workshops and mentoring sessions that provide practical knowledge to support professional development, mainly in the areas of business, film scoring, production and songwriting.

Course: Active music supervisors mentor students in the Publishing and Music Supervision course, in collaboration with the Spanish Speaking Music Supervision Association. Students work alongside 14 experts who guide mentees through projects and industry practices.

BIMM University (BIMM Music Institute)
London

The goal of the BIMM Music Institute is to immerse students in the heart of the music industry from day one of their education. The school’s curriculum for nonperforming professionals includes experience in areas like artist management, marketing, event promotion, A&R and music publishing, working directly on projects alongside industry experts. The institute has the unique advantage of affiliated campuses in cities with vibrant music scenes, including Manchester, England; Dublin; and Berlin. It also offers students a strong network of tutors, visiting professionals and alums who help graduates build their careers. The institute hosted the SXSW London Roadshow Tour, presenting numerous speakers at three locations in June. Alums include Iona Rodger, a graduate of BIMM Manchester, who gained an internship at Sony Music and subsequently a position doing creative marketing for indie label Music for Nations.

Speakers: Miles Leonard of Parlophone and Warner Music, James Threlfall of BBC Music Introducing, Emma Hardie of Aardman Studios and Alyx Holcombe of BBC Radio 1.

The BRIT School
Croydon, England

The British Record Industry Trust (the charitable division of U.K. labels trade group BPI that presents the BRIT Awards) partnered with the British government in 1991 to create The BRIT School to offer a tuition-free education for students ages 14 to 19 for careers in performance and creative arts and related industries. Nearly 35 years later, the school thrives with a music and arts specialist vocational curriculum taught by industry professionals skilled in live sound, production, recording, music tech and business. The school has unparalleled connections within the music industry to offer students work experience. It has two venues on-site, including The Obie Theater (recognized with the PRS Music Heritage Award in 2022), and houses the Sir George Martin Recording Studio and the YouTube Music Studio for live TV broadcast and radio. BRIT School alums include Adele, RAYE and Lola Young.

Speakers: Billy Bragg, Ezra Collective and Kate Nash are among those who have offered their perspectives on the music industry.

Billy Bragg during a visit to the Brit school on Oct. 13, 2023 in London, England.

Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images

California Institute of the Arts (Herb Alpert School of Music)
Valencia, Calif.

At CalArts’ Herb Alpert School of Music, all students — even those who intend to pursue nonperforming roles after graduation — engage in creating, producing or otherwise developing music. Laurel Halo, a composer, producer, live musician and DJ, recently joined the school’s faculty. Weekly one-on-one lessons in production and studio-based composition in the school’s recording and mixing studios are led by L.A.-area producers, such as Jake Viator at Stones Throw Studios and Sami Parez at Wiggle World Studios. Those producers often connect students with internships and job opportunities at studios, labels and venues. Courses tailored for nonperforming students include The Art of the Mix, which focuses on efficient workflow and effective decision-making in an era of self-production, and Interface Design, which details how to use sensors for human computer interface in creative projects.

Alum: Greg Kurstin, a nine-time Grammy-winning producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, has worked with Adele, Beck, Sia, P!nk, Maren Morris, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters and Kendrick Lamar, among others.

California State University, Northridge
Northridge, Calif.

CSUN’s Music Industry Studies program offers a comprehensive curriculum designed to prepare students for diverse roles in the music industry. Based in Los Angeles, the program, which connects students with the professional world through internships, guest speakers and experiential learning, has graduated executives including Regard Music founder and CEO Sean O’Malley and entertainment company PERME8 founder Joe Willis. Courses include Music Industry Fundamentals, a class that extends over two semesters to provide a foundational understanding of contracts, publishing, royalties and professional pathways, and Digital Strategies for the Working Musician, focused on branding, content strategy, digital revenue and social media tools for entrepreneurial musicians. A signature component of the program is the student-run, faculty-advised label VoVe, where students manage artist development, marketing and live events. Rising L.A. acts including Sohpistolethemoon, Cayden Corbett and aziboh have worked with VoVe.

Event: For the WME Career Insights Panel, music agents Carly Huffman and Kidder Erdman joined CSUN faculty for a conversation.

Delta State University (Delta Music Institute)
Cleveland, Miss.

Students ready to embrace technology, creativity and business strategy will find their muse at the university’s Delta Music Institute program. Located in the famed region that gave birth to the blues, the institute provides a bachelor of science in entertainment industry studies along with experience in studio facilities that include a Dolby Atmos Immersive Audio Studio. Students also participate in real-world projects like live-event production and gain experience through partnerships with Grammy Museum Mississippi, GrammyU and lessons leading to an Avid Learning for Pro Tools Certification. This past year, Rick Sanjek, a former BMI and Atlantic Records executive and author of American Popular Music and Its Business in the Digital Age, came to campus, as did Paul Mathis, entertainment lawyer and legal counsel for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Spinners.

Class: Entertainment Product Marketing explores online tools, emerging technologies and data analytics for marketing recorded products. Students will examine music industry structure, design marketing campaigns and develop brand strategies with a focus on digital distribution, social media and integrated promotion across platforms.

Drexel University (Westphal College of Media Arts and Design)
Philadelphia

Students in Drexel’s Music Industry Program begin business-focused coursework in their first year and build real-world skills through Mad Dragon Music Group, a practicum simulating a full-service music company. A six-month co-op is built into the curriculum, and this past year, students executed an album rollout for Brooklyn-based folk artist Gemma Laurence in collaboration with the e-commerce company Mainfactor. Drexel’s proximity to New York enables students to visit the headquarters of prominent music industry companies and labels such as Warner Music and REPUBLIC Collective, where they gain insider access to leading executives and creatives. The program also hosts an active roster of speakers each year. Recent guests include Spotify’s Chissy Nkemere Cherian; Major Seven, a producer for Jay-Z; and Sony/ATV’s Omar Grant. Successful alums, like Catherine Cahill, president/CEO of Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts, are profiled in the student-run zine Double Platinum.

Courses: Artist Representation, taught by Recording Academy trustee Nikisha Bailey, and Streaming and Radio Promotion, led by WXPN Philadelphia’s John Vettese, offer insight into the evolving music landscape.

Full Sail University
Winter Park, Fla.

Students enrolled in Full Sail University’s bachelor of science music business program participate in a comprehensive curriculum that includes artist management, artist development, music copyright and publishing, music supervision, concert management, marketing, data analysis and distribution. For the course Concert Management and Touring, for example, students collaborate with peers in other classes such as Music Evaluation for A&R and Music Business Marketing to work on the planning, logistics, talent booking and marketing for a monthly networking event. Additionally, the Artist Development Initiative provides students with opportunities to gain experience by supporting working artists through real-world activities. The program offers frequent daylong workshops presented by business program faculty members in specific areas like AI, branding, social media strategy and live events. Executives from Udio, Revolt TV, SteeleSync, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Warner Chappell Music recently visited to speak with students.

Alum: Ziggy Chareton is senior vp/head of A&R for Island Records and co-manager of Shawn Mendes.

Hofstra University
Hempstead, N.Y.

Hofstra’s music business curriculum is an interdisciplinary program that includes courses in content creation, radio, TV and film and elective concentrations in marketing, general business, pre-law and music technology; courses for the latter take place in its new state-of-the-art recording studio. Most music business students participate in at least four internships during their time at Hofstra, and the school’s proximity to Manhattan, less than 30 miles to the west, provides abundant opportunities at companies including Primary Wave, Columbia Records, Warner Chappell Music, Spotify and BMI. On campus, the curriculum is constantly evolving. In the spring, former Atlantic Records president of A&R Pete Ganbarg taught A&R in the Music Industry, a course for which students assembled pitches for Ganbarg’s Pure Tone Records from artists they discovered online.

Speaker: During the spring semester, WME head of music brand partnerships Shari Lewin led the three-part master-class series Brand Partnerships in Music, which included a visit to the company’s New York office.

Howard University (The Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business)
Washington, D.C.

The Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business at Howard University equips students with skills and experience for nonperforming careers in the music industry, with a focus on developing social justice leaders, industry trailblazers and global game-changers. Students have access to executives, resources and opportunities. During the last academic year, the program welcomed more than 50 executives and artists to campus, including Grammy winners Poo Bear and Ne-Yo. Executives including RIAA senior vp Tom Clees and The Kelly Clarkson Show talent booker Christopher McDonald lent their expertise. Partners such as Interscope Records, the NBA and Live Nation serve as career pipelines, and the center’s ICONFest 2025 featured a Sports and Entertainment Summit in partnership with Monumental Sports. The program also expanded its partnership with the government of Ghana for panel conversations and artist exchanges as part of Ghana Week in Washington, D.C., and the West Africa Music & Arts Festival in Accra, Ghana.

Event: In partnership with Howard’s School of Business, the center launched a free summer institute program that hosted 40 high school students from across the country.

Kennesaw State University (The Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business Program)
Kennesaw, Ga.

Part of the Michael J. Coles College of Business, the Katz program — endowed by renowned entertainment attorney Joel A. Katz, who died in April — is a 24-credit certificate program and an 18-credit undergraduate minor where students can focus on areas such as audio production, artist, venue, live-event management and entertainment entrepreneurship. Courses are taught by entertainment industry executives, professional actors and recording artists. Two members of Zac Brown Band — guitarist Coy Bowles and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter John Driskell Hopkins — are current artists-in-residence. Off campus, the Music and Entertainment Business Program’s externship offering enables students to participate in three semester-long externships while in the program that have led to job placements at companies including Sony Music, Greenberg Traurig, Live Nation, Sixthman, Topeka, Red Light Management and Coca-Cola Studios.

Faculty: Bryan Calhoun, director of artist marketing and industry relations for Pandora Media and head of digital strategy for Blueprint Group/Maverick, serves as executive-in-residence. Calhoun has developed digital strategies for Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, T.I. and The Roots.

John Driskell Hopkins (center) on stage during the 2025 30A Songwriters Festival on Jan. 19, 2025 in South Walton, Florida.

R. Diamond/Getty Images

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Liverpool, England

A dream fulfilled for Paul McCartney, who launched the school in 1996 with Mark Featherstone-Witty (who retired as principal/CEO in 2021 and was succeeded by Sean McNamara), LIPA offers students the opportunity to pursue a bachelor of arts degree and a master’s degree in music industry management. Those candidates train alongside musicians, dancers, engineers, producers, technicians, designers and filmmakers in LIPA’s world-class facilities. The school’s distinctive mix of performers and practitioners provides everything students need to create, produce and manage fully realized productions and projects. LIPA’s three-week, student-run music festival, 2ube Xtra, is held in the school’s flagship venue, the Paul McCartney Auditorium. In their final year, bachelor of arts students complete a three-month industry placement tailored to their career ambitions — placements that often lead directly to employment. Recent placements have included roles with Various Artists Management, Warner Music, Live Nation and Blackstar Amplification.

Event: While visiting LIPA in June, Bruce Springsteen was given a tour of the campus by McCartney and took part in an hourlong Q&A session with students.

Sir Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and LIPA students pose in front of the Paul McCartney Auditorium at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts on June 6, 2025 in Liverpool, UK.

Brian Roberts

Long Island University (The Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment)
Brooklyn

Long Island University’s Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment continues to expand its facilities while still offering its Hope Scholarship, which covers full tuition for 25% of enrolled students from each incoming class. (It does not cover room and board and additional costs.) Most recently, the school unveiled a state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos studio — one of the largest of its kind in New York — providing learning opportunities for students pursuing careers as producers, engineers, sound designers and more. The school also expanded its partnership with JPMorgan Chase to bolster its financial education curriculum in partnership with the Money Smart Financial Coaching Program. Empire president Tina Davis, RIAA president/COO Michele Ballantyne and HartBeat CEO Thai Randolph are among recent speakers, and off campus, students partake in a robust internship program that’s included placements at Universal Music Publishing Group, Interscope Records, iHeartMedia, Live Nation and SiriusXM.

Course: Music Entrepreneurship guides students through developing business proposals and includes the New Venture Pitch Off, which enables students to present their ideas to executives from companies including Universal Music Group and Live Nation.

Los Angeles College of Music
Los Angeles

LACM offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performance, composition, music business and music production — and each degree program focuses on three essential elements: craft, business and technology. Across all areas of study, LACM believes students must be well trained in how the music industry functions and also must have core production skills to succeed. Many of the faculty members are active in the industry, working as music supervisors, entertainment attorneys, artist managers, touring players and more. Their input enables the curriculum to be consistently updated to keep pace with the demands of the music industry. Beyond coursework, students take part in numerous field trips to companies in the greater L.A. area. Recent company visits have included Spotify, Warner Music Group, East West Studio, Sony Music Publishing, Disney and Warner Chappell Music. Recent speakers on campus have included music journalist/author Katherine Turman and Nic Harcourt, former editor-at-large for music and culture at Los Angeles Times Magazine.

Course: Music Licensing & Song Placement Practicum is taught by new music business program faculty member Angela Sheik, a film/TV composer and former executive manager for the Guild of Music Supervisors.

Los Angeles Film School (The Los Angeles Recording School)
Los Angeles

Located in the heart of Hollywood and offering both an associate of science degree in audio production and music production and a bachelor of science in audio production, entertainment business, music production and media communications, The Los Angeles Recording School, a division of The Los Angeles Film School, prepares students for every stage of the production process. The music business program covers topics including marketing strategies, brand development, A&R and tour management. Augmenting the curriculum, a TechKit — a bundle of industry-standard software, equipment and tools designed to support remote learning — is given to each student. Students also benefit from access to entertainment professionals who regularly visit campus. In May, the Alumni Mentorship Event brought together current students and distinguished graduates. Earlier in the year, the Entertainment Business Department welcomed sound mixer Thomas Cruley, who offered insight into his work in film and music production.

Alum: Grammy-winning audio engineer Henrique Andrade worked on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, as well as Colombian songwriter Juanes’ debut album and Zayn Malik’s second full-length.

Loyola University (School of Music & Theatre Professions)
New Orleans

The curriculum of the School of Music & Theatre Professions at Loyola University continues to evolve for students seeking careers in the music industry. Its new entrepreneurship hub, Wolfmoon Entertainment, provides opportunities for students to build businesses in music publishing and synch licensing, label operations, venue management, graphic design, music booking, digital radio streaming and more. This year, the Music Industry Program teamed with a private firm to purchase and revitalize New Orleans music venue Gasa Gasa, and students in the upper-level course Venue Management II will book, market, manage and produce artists and other projects at the venue. Among recent speakers, members of the band (and alums) The Revivalists joined a master class to share thoughts on the live-performance business and trio The Nth Power performed and shared insights.

Faculty: Tavia Osbey, artist manager for acts including Tank & The Bangas and co-founder of Midcitizen Entertainment, is now helming the Music Management class. Sami Slovy, a live-event industry pro, developed the course Business of Live Entertainment.

Middle Tennessee State University (Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment)
Murfreesboro, Tenn.

In August, MTSU celebrated the new name of the Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment, recognizing the deep support of the program by the Big Machine Label Group founder and chairman/CEO. The college offers multiple degrees including a bachelor of science in recording industry/music business concentration — all with a strong focus on practical experience. The Recording Industry Department facilitates frequent opportunities for students to collaborate with others studying film, TV, game development, journalism, digital media and more. Students have produced live concert streams on Hulu for Bonnaroo, handled sound reinforcement for concerts and athletic events, and worked at the Grammys, SXSW, the Country Music Association Awards and AmericanaFest. More than 60 speakers visited the program during the 2024-25 academic year — including veteran record producer/mixing engineer Bob Clearmountain — and career fairs attracted 35 companies to campus each semester.

Course: Students taking the class Living in James Brown’s America: From Doo-Wop to Hip-Hop curated a museum exhibit about the life and legacy of Brown. The exhibit was awarded best temporary exhibit by the Tennessee Association of Museums.

From left: Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment dean Beverly Keel, singer-songwriter Carly Pearce, Scott Borchetta, Sandi Borchetta, and Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee.

MTSU/J. Intinoli

Monmouth University
West Long Branch, N.J.

Monmouth University’s music industry program blends business and music coursework, offering an interdisciplinary foundation for a variety of careers in the field. Students gain experience as A&R representatives, managers, producers, promotional content creators and artists through Blue Hawk Records, the student-run label that releases a new compilation each semester and dovetails with the course Record Label Strategies. Students also curate and stage events for the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, which broke ground in 2024 on a 30,000-square-foot facility. They also benefit from frequent guest speakers including Atlantic Records senior director of digital marketing Erin Munezza and DreamWorks manager of music Matt Manna.

Event: On Sept. 6, the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music hosted a full-day symposium on the 50th anniversary of the release of Born To Run, featuring panels, presentations and interviews with members of Springsteen’s E Street Band, as well as performances by Springsteen of “Thunder Road” and “Born To Run.”

New York University (Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development)
New York

NYU’s Steinhardt School launched the Sony Audio Institute in March to foster interdisciplinary research and collaboration at the intersection of technology, music and business. The groundbreaking endeavor, led by NYU music business professor Larry Miller, gives students access to researchers who are inventing the future and business executives who will bring their discoveries to market. (Miller was named the 2024 music business educator of the year by the Music Business Association.) Combining a curriculum featuring courses in the business of recorded music, publishing, management and fan engagement, the institute provides students a competitive advantage by training them in all areas of a fast-changing industry. Among the guest speakers this past year were Republic Records co-founders Monte and Avery Lipman, Sony Music Publishing chairman/CEO Jon Platt and UTA partner/co-head of global music Samantha Kirby Yoh.

Course: Corporate Finance & Valuation in the Music Industry, taught by new adjunct faculty member and Apollo Global managing director Paul Sipio, addresses the financialization of music that has attracted investment by private equity and other major funds.

New York University (Tisch School of the Arts, Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music)
New York

The Clive Davis Institute combines music production, songwriting and liberal arts studies in a holistic curriculum that gives equal weight to creativity, business skills and professional development. Located on NYU’s Downtown Brooklyn campus, the institute offers a state-of-the-art facility containing six recording studios including Oscilloscope, the Beastie Boys’ studio that was donated and rebuilt on campus; live-music venue The Garage; and the Clive Davis Gallery. It draws faculty, adjunct professors and artists-in-residence — including, recently, Joey Bada$$ — with deep experience. In the spring, executive-in-residence and former Atlantic Music Group CEO Julie Greenwald provided students with feedback in marketing and business classes and held office hours. Students create a Professional Development Portfolio, including business, marketing and funding strategies, which they present to industry professionals as part of their graduation requirements.

Course: Two-time Grammy-winning A&R executive Pete Ganbarg (Atlantic, Pure Tone Records) teaches the new course A&R: Past, Present and Future, where students learn the history of A&R and pitch artists for potential signing to Pure Tone.

Julie Greenwald speaks with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe NYU's Clive Davis Institute on April 1, 2025 in Brooklyn. — Julie Greenwald speaks with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe NYU’s Clive Davis Institute on April 1, 2025 in Brooklyn.

Hellen Elizondo

Northeastern University (College of Arts, Music and Design)
Boston

Steeped in experiential learning, Northeastern’s music industry program serves students with an interest in all facets of the music industry, from label operations to publishing to emerging technologies. Through professional co-op placements, most music undergraduates complete at least one paid six-month co-operative education stint at a major industry company, and in February, the program launched Amplify NYC, a three-day networking experience that connected students with alums. Plans are in the works to expand next year to other cities including Nashville, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Also, in 2026, the program will host the Boston season of How To Build a Sustainable Music Career and Collect All Revenue Streams, a podcast created by alum Emily White, partner at Collective Entertainment and founder of the #iVoted Festival. The student-run label Green Line Records was featured on NPR’s World Cafe and is the home of Good Dog Licensing, which allows students to act as music supervisors.

Alums: Atlantic Music Group CEO Elliot Grainge and Drew Simmons, partner at Foundations Management, where he manages the careers of Noah Kahan and Chappell Roan.

Occidental College (The John Branca Institute for Music)
Los Angeles

The past academic year brought the launch of the John Branca Institute for Music, endowed by alum and music attorney John Branca with a $5 million gift to the school. (The Mike Curb Foundation has gifted another $500,000 to the institute.) With David Kasunic, associate professor of music at Occidental, as its director, the institute is dedicated to bringing personnel, opportunities and knowledge of the music business to students. Other noteworthy alums include former Warner Music CEO Steve Cooper and AMR Music Rights partner Tamara Conniff. One of the institute’s principal partnerships is with the Harvard Negotiation Project, where students work directly with Harvard Business School professors on research projects involving music negotiations. This past year, the course Directed Research focused on Branca’s negotiations involving the Michael Jackson estate. Participating students presented their work in a spring public forum highlighting faculty and student research collaborations.

Speaker: To launch the partnership with the Harvard Negotiation Project, Harvard Business School founder and director James Sebenius gave a 90-minute workshop for students.

Oklahoma State University (Greenwood School of Music)
Stillwater, Okla.

Located in the town where alum Garth Brooks got his start, the Greenwood School of Music at OSU offers a bachelor of science in music industry that draws students interested in production, songwriting, publishing, live entertainment, entrepreneurship and musical products. Extracurricular activities include the student-run music company Poke U, and for the third time, students this past year organized and promoted their annual festival, Stillystock. The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, which adjoins the new Greenwood School facilities, has enabled the New York Philharmonic residency to take place in Stillwater, and this year the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed and worked with students. Music industry majors also have access to four studios. The program’s capstone is a required internship, which often becomes students’ first job after graduation, and music industry majors can start an MBA program their senior year.

Faculty: Engineer-producer Luke Tallon, whose engineering credits include TV shows Family Guy, Reservation Dogs and Tulsa King and the Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon, recently joined the school.

Rhodes College (Mike Curb Institute for Music)
Memphis

Founded in 2006, the Mike Curb Institute draws upon the distinct musical traditions of Memphis and the South. More than 75 students each year attend the institute, which uses the strong liberal arts focus of Rhodes College as a foundation for music and entertainment-based education. Rhodes offers certificates in music industry studies in the areas of content production and arts entrepreneurship, and the institute offers experiential opportunities through the Curb Community Fellows Program, which provides funding for students to work with local professionals and organizations such as Goner Records, Royal Studios, the Memphis Music Initiative and the STAX Museum of American Soul Music. Other offerings include Dredge, a student-produced zine and social media platform that looks at the broader arts and industry scene in Memphis, and Audubon Sessions, a student-produced concert series.

Event: During the 2024-25 academic year, Grammy- and Emmy-winning percussionist-producer Shelia E. spoke about her life and career, performed with student musicians and participated in master classes with students.

Sheila E. attends El Premio ASCAP 2025 at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on April 29, 2025 in West Hollywood, California.

Robin L Marshall/Getty Images

Rowan University (College of Performing Arts)
Glassboro, N.J.

Rowan University’s music industry program is a launching pad for a career in the business backed by a network of accomplished alums, industry-leading faculty and business-related experiences beginning as early as the first semester. The bachelor of science degree program offers concentrations in both technology and business, and Rowan’s proximity to both New York and Philadelphia enables students to gain industry and event experience in top markets. In 2025, the music industry program debuted Red Oak Records, an independent, student-operated label complete with marketing, distribution and social media departments. An annual career fair attracts top industry employers to campus, and recent speakers include Kristal Oliver, songwriter for Mary J. Blige and Justin Timberlake, and Ali “AMAC” McGuire, hit-making mixing engineer/vocal producer.

Faculty: Steve Feinberg brings more than 20 years of experience as an artist manager and is best known for discovering and managing global acts including Good Charlotte and My Morning Jacket and consulting for Duran Duran.

State University of New York, Oneonta
Oneonta, N.Y.

All music industry majors at SUNY Oneonta must complete a curriculum that includes five core courses, a series of courses in the SUNY Oneonta School of Business and general education courses relevant to nonperforming roles in the music business. In addition to courses such as Music Industry Communications and Commerce and Consumerism in Popular Music, students participate in multiple extracurriculars including the Music Industry Club, which produces concerts and seminars and runs the label Red Dragon Records; the Songwriters Club; and campus radio station WONY. Students also have access to a suite of state-of-the-art studios for studying music production as well as studio operations, studio management and other technical, managerial and logistics skills. The program provides a continuing series of alum presentations on campus as well as Backpacks to Briefcases, a series of networking trips to Manhattan, where students meet with alums serving as top executives at music, media and entertainment firms.

Alum: Veteran business manager and Cal Financial Group founder Rit Venerus has provided SUNY Oneonta students with access to major acts including John Mayer and the Dave Matthews Band.

Syracuse University (The Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries)
Syracuse, N.Y.

The Bandier program, part of the Newhouse School of Public Communications, provides a close-knit community and industry-facing curriculum with all the benefits of a university setting. The weekly David M. Rezak Music Business Lecture series brings together top executives with students for networking, dinner and conversation. Guests this past year included alum and CAA managing director Rob Light and Partisan Records COO Zena White. Last December, a panel of five Bandier alums who work for Island Records discussed their roles in working with Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. In May, the program continued its tradition of taking students on emerging-market immersion trips. Program director Bill Werde led 13 students to explore the Latin music industry in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, including a meeting with Karol G’s management team in Medellín, Colombia. This year saw the launch of a Bandier alum advisory board, featuring industry executives who graduated from Syracuse and Bandier, including chair Jon Cohen, co-founder and CEO of The Fader/Cornerstone.

Course: The Bandier program recruited alum and mtheory senior vp of marketing Kaitlyn Moore to teach Social Media and Data for the Music Business.

Temple University (Klein College of Media and Communication)
Philadelphia

Klein College’s new home, the Caroline Kimmel Pavilion for Arts and Communication, will open in fall 2027, supported by a $27.5 million endowment from businessman and philanthropist Sidney Kimmel and his wife, Caroline, the largest single gift in Temple’s history. The pavilion will include a reconstruction of Philadelphia’s iconic Sigma Sound Studio 1. Klein’s interdisciplinary bachelor of arts in audio and live entertainment combines courses in the schools of communication, music, business and event management. Students can work for the student-run label, Bell Tower Music, and intern at companies including Concord, Red Light Management, Primary Wave, Universal and Live Nation. Those enrolled in the course Life and Work in Music City spent spring break in Nashville visiting Blackbird Studio, Sony Music, East Iris Studios, UMG’s 1824 and Neon Coast, arranged by Klein alum and jump.global CEO Nick Maiale. On campus, recent speakers included Sony Music Entertainment senior vp of commercial partnerships Jennifer Fowler.

Alums: Ruffhouse Records founders the “Butcher Brothers,” Joe and Phil Nicolo. Phil returned to teach Klein’s mixing classes.

Tennessee State University (Commercial Music Program)
Nashville

Its location in Nashville affords Tennessee State University’s Commercial Music Program access to numerous resources and opportunities in Music City. Guest speakers are abundant, mentors are eager to share and nurture students, and internship opportunities abound. Many of the program’s faculty members are active in the music industry, and past adjuncts have had full-time careers in the business and taught part time in the program. The size of classes — including the foundational course Music Business and Law, which covers intellectual property, copyright law, contracts and sources of revenue including publishing, touring, performing rights organizations and retail — tend to be small, allowing students to have more interaction with teachers. Guest speakers this past year included Sweetwater talent acquisition specialist Jordan Bridges and Betsy Lee, business manager at FBMM, the Nashville business management firm.

Event: In November 2024, TSU’s Commercial Music Program presented what is believed to be the first music industry career fair held at a historically Black college and university, with 30 companies from various areas of the industry participating.

Toronto Metropolitan University
Toronto

The professional music program at Toronto Metropolitan University is the first of its kind in Canada and designed for artists and nonperformers alike. The curriculum combines music fundamentals with business and production skills and hands-on experience. Students typically tally 240 internship hours, with access to top industry professionals and use of leading technologies, labs and resources. The learning environment encourages collaboration with creatives across multiple disciplines, preparing graduates to shape the next wave of innovation in the industry. Alums include singer, songwriter, dancer and choreographer Carina, who was nominated for a Juno Award in 2020 with her band GirlPow-R; Daphne, who was named winner of the Garage Band People’s Choice Award at the NXNE festival in June; and producer Selah Weekes, who has gained attention for his educational music production-related tutorials on YouTube.

Speakers: SALXCO CEO Lindsay Unwin, EMPIRE president Tina Davis and Juno Awards CEO Allan Reid.

University of California Los Angeles (The Herb Alpert School of Music)
Los Angeles

The opening of the Berry Gordy Music Industry Center during the 2024-25 academic year capped 10 years of growth for the Herb Alpert School of Music, which offers the only music industry bachelor of arts in California’s state university system. The center, funded by a $5 million gift from the Berry Gordy Truth and Justice Foundation, provides students with professional training and career mentoring, as well as sponsoring critical and historical research on the music industry worldwide. The school also has a liberal arts-oriented curriculum to give students a broad map of paths into the industry, with an explicit commitment to social justice. Classes specifically targeting aspiring music professionals include Finding Your Voice, Forensic Musicology, and Music and Data. Warner Music Group finance manager for deals analysis Michelle Moreno recently took the lectern for the Accounting for the Music Industry course.

Event: At the full-day Music Industry Career Fair in May, students connected with industry leaders from companies including Kobalt, APG, Universal Music Group, BMG, Boom Records, Too Lost, Sturdy, Primary Wave, SoundCloud and Live Nation.

University of Colorado, Denver (College of Arts & Media)
Denver

At the university known as CU Denver, students learn from faculty with career experience and strong connections within the industry. Whether their aspirations are to manage artists or establish a career in entertainment law, students will find the training, guidance and network to help them succeed. The music business degree is offered by the Music & Entertainment Industry Studies Department, which is part of the university’s College of Arts & Media. That track enables students to study alongside music performance, recording arts and singer-songwriter students. Faculty arranges partnerships with local venues and companies such as AEG and Live Nation, and student organizations include a student chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Music Industry Student Association, Grammy U and Denver Lynx Radio, CU Denver’s first student radio station.

Courses: Introduction to Music Cities and Advanced Music Cities dive into the development, enhancement and economics of music communities, using as templates the music communities in the city of Denver and other locations throughout the world.

University of Georgia (Terry College of Business)
Athens, Ga.

The University of Georgia’s music business program, contained within the Terry College of Business, is all about people and place. All faculty members have significant music business experience, including program director David Barbe, an engineer, producer, musician and writer who has worked with Sugar, Drive-By Truckers and Chase Park Transduction Studios. And Athens has an iconic indie scene with affiliated businesses providing hands-on opportunities for students. The program — which has graduated music industry executives including Lost Highway Records executive vp/co-head Robert Knotts, Warner Records senior director of A&R Brad Beausir and Roc Nation Publishing associate director Kelsey Reddick — hosts a regular series of industry gatherings called MBUS Talks. Singer-songwriter and 2020 alum Megan Moroney recently discussed negotiating her record and publishing deals and building her touring operation.

Course: Emerging Issues in Music Business tracks trends and technology. For its Microcosm of the Music Industry Project, students start businesses in management, booking, publishing and labels that interact with one another as they would in the business world.

University of Miami (Frost School of Music)
Miami

The Frost School of Music and the University of Miami shared a centennial celebration this year. What was then known as the Conservatory of Music was one of two schools comprising the new institution when the university was founded in 1925. Frost now offers undergraduate degrees for both musicians and nonperformers. In April, it hosted Shaping the Industry: Alumni Panel on Career Pathways in the Music Industry, which featured 29 speakers including Grammy U managing director Jessie Allen, Reservoir Media Management president/COO Rell Lafargue and Los Angeles Philharmonic COO Daniel Song. Frost’s faculty members are experienced industry professionals who are active in the field, and the school’s proximity to the Latin offices of many major music companies provides ample internship and post-graduate opportunities. Campus life is rich with student-run enterprises including ’Cane Records, Cat 5 Music, Frost Sounds, a campus radio station, a concert production organization, numerous concert halls, the student Music Industry Association and an active Grammy U community.

Event: A centennial concert in April brought performances by notable alums including Bruce Hornsby, Pat Metheny, Joshua Henry of Hamilton, Jon Secada and Ben Folds.

Bruce Hornsby performs on stage during the University of Miami celebrates Centennial with a concert featuring the University of Miami and Frost School of Music alumni on April 8, 2025 in Miami, Florida.

Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images

University of North Alabama
Florence, Ala.

During this fall semester, the Department of Entertainment Industry at the University of North Alabama marked 50 years of educating students for careers in the music and entertainment industries. Situated across the Tennessee River from the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and within a few hours’ drive of Nashville, Memphis and Atlanta, the department has deep relationships with recording studios, venues, publishers, labels, performing rights organizations, artist managers, tour managers, booking/talent agencies, producers and musicians. Those connections, coupled with a rich pool of alums — including The Red Clay Strays manager Cody Payne and producer-director Ben Skipworth, a two-time recipient of the Academy of Country Music video of the year award — open doors to internship and job opportunities. Students learn directly from industry professionals and benefit from guest speakers including ACM-nominated musicians Sol Philcox Littlefield and Jimbo Hart, the former bassist for Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit.

Course: Multiple Grammy winner, label owner and alum John Paul White teaches music business and songwriting courses in the program, through which students gain knowledge from the perspective of sectors including labels, publishing, licensing, streaming and touring.

University of North Texas (College of Music)
Denton, Texas

The Music Business Program in the College of Music at the University of North Texas strategically integrates music and business, enabling students to successfully pursue careers in music retail, labels, music entrepreneurship or arts nonprofits. The university — whose alums include Hal Leonard Publishing CEO Larry Morton and Aspen Music Festival and School manager of personnel Nicole Mendyka — offers a music business track within both the bachelor of arts in commercial music and the music business minor. Other recent alums have gone on to work for Atrium Music, GroundUP Music and the Pittsburgh Symphony. The undergraduate and graduate music business programs are designed to allow undergraduate students to seamlessly progress to UNT’s MBA in music business degree, which offers a fully online, flexible format option allowing students to balance their studies with work or other commitments.

Speakers: Arnaecia Alridge, founder and CEO of A JAM Records and Methix and former publicist for Yolanda Adams, and artist Paul Wall, a Recording Academy/Grammys Texas Chapter leader serving as governor, chair of the education committee and a national rap/R&B membership committee member.

University of Rochester (Eastman School of Music)
Rochester, N.Y.

In September, the Eastman School of Music announced the largest gift in its 104-year history from two alums — Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beals (House of Cards, Blackfish, Pollock) and his wife, acclaimed vocalist and artist champion Joan Beal — that will provide for a multimillion-dollar expansion of the Beal Institute for Film Composition and Contemporary Media. Students in the institute compose and produce music, perform and conduct in studio orchestras and collaborate on cross-disciplinary and multimedia projects. Emmy-winning composer Mark Watters continues to lead the institute, as well as North America’s first film-music festival and conference, Sountrax, which took place Oct. 16-18. (The event was a dream project of school founder George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Co.) The Eastman School of Music offers a master’s of arts degree in music leadership, focused on arts administration, musical development and leadership development, which can be combined with an MBA from the university’s Simon Business School or an Eastman master’s of music performance.

Faculty: Eastman alum Dennis DeSantis, a composer, percussionist, sound designer, author and educator, recently joined the school in the new position of associate professor of music and technology.

Eastman School of Music alums Joan Beal and Jeff Beal after Jeff’s Master Chorale Sunrise performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Jan. 12, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

Courtesy of Shore Fire Media

University of Southern California (Thornton School of Music)
Los Angeles

The music industry program at USC Thornton prepares students through classroom study and insight from experienced faculty. Facets of the program include artist management, the recording industry, publishing, supervision, artist branding and marketing, law, concert promotion, festival management, DIY touring, industry ethics, venue management, music and mindfulness, and data analysis decision-making for artists. Students are mentored by professionals such as Kevin Lyman, founder of the Vans Warped Tour. Solange has been named the school’s first artist-in-residence. The annual Music Mentorship Program initiative connects music majors with leading industry professionals. In April, the school’s Industry Fair brought hiring executives from Universal Music Group, Live Nation, the Association of Independent Music Publishers and Too Lost and speakers including Reed Matthews, co-founder of American Dogwood (whose management clients include Shaboozey); Virgin Music Group North America president Jacqueline Saturn; and Republic Records co-founders Monte and Avery Lipman.

Faculty: Amy Blackman has served as global business manager for numerous Grammy-winning artists and producers for 18 years and from 2007 to 2011 was cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State.

William Paterson University
Wayne, N.J.

Students in the Music & Entertainment Industries Program at William Paterson University benefit from a robust balance between the classroom and the real world; they start applying for internships the summer after freshman year, with the advantage of a campus that is within commuting distance from Manhattan. Program director David Kirk Philp, an artist manager and tour manager, ensures the offerings are cutting-edge. Courses such as Entrepreneurship in the Music & Entertainment Industry — in which students write a business plan, research how AI can aid their work, learn marketing and understand the basics of insurance and accounting — help students learn how to think on their feet. The program emphasizes the live side of the industry and the importance of social media, from TikTok to Discord to text-message marketing.

Speaker: Joe Riccitelli, former co-president of RCA Records and current principal at Golden Retriever Entertainment, was a featured speaker in the 2025 Music Management Seminar Series.

This story appears in the Oct. 25, 2025, issue of Billboard.

24 Oct 2025

Sphere Shares Jump 15% on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Sales Milestone

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Buoyed by news that The Wizard of Oz surpassed 1 million tickets sold and $130 million in sales since its Aug. 28 debut, Sphere Entertainment Co. shares rose 14.5% to a new all-time high closing price of $67.24. The film has helped send Sphere Entertainment’s stock price into a new stratosphere. Shares of the Las Vegas venue’s parent company are up 58.4% year to date and have gained 56.4% since Sphere debuted its revamped version of the classic film.

While some music stocks had big gains this week, the 19-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 1.4% to 2,845.60, marking its fifth consecutive losing week. Three music companies had stock gains over 10%, but they are relatively small compared to the index’s largest companies, Spotify and Live Nation, both of which lost ground this week. Foreign exchange rates also played a role in the BGMI’s poor performance despite numerous music stocks posting gains. In the last week, the euro fell about 0.3% against the U.S. dollar while the Korean won lost approximately 1.2%.

Spotify had the week’s biggest loss after falling 3.8% to $645.78, bringing its five-week decline to 12.1%. Numerous analysts expect the company to raise U.S. subscription prices by early 2026, which would provide further margin improvement and help deliver streaming royalty growth to rights holders. Investors appear not to be taking a possible price increase into account yet, though. The Stockholm-based streaming company will announce third-quarter earnings on Nov. 4.

Live Nation shares slipped 1.5% to $152.86. Although the stock is up 18.0% in 2025, it has fallen 12.0% over the last six weeks. On Wednesday (Oct. 22), Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $173 from $175. Then on Thursday (Oct. 23), Citi lowered its price target to $181 from $195.

LiveOne rose 23.3% to $5.55. The music streaming company announced on Monday (Oct. 20) that it plans to launch a subsidiary in Africa, LiveOneAfrica, in partnership with Virtuosity Music Group. “Through this partnership, we’ll connect LiveOne’s technology and artist ecosystem with one of the most vibrant creative markets in the world,” CEO Robert Ellin said in a statement.

Anghami rose 0.4% to $2.85. On Wednesday (Oct. 22), the company announced it will issue 2.38 million shares of common stock to satisfy the convertible debt held by OSN Streaming Limited. Anghami’s share price fell 5% following the news but recovered on Thursday and Friday.

K-pop stocks were in the black this week. HYBE jumped 6.9%, JYP Entertainment rose 6.1% and SM Entertainment increased 1.5%. YG Entertainment rose just 0.6%.

Inflation data announced Friday showed a modest increase to 3%, leading to a jump in stock prices as investors anticipated a pending interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The economy hasn’t fallen apart despite reports of growing auto reposessions and a never-fail sign of tightening budgets: a surge in sales of Hamburger Helper.

In the U.S., the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.3% to 23,204.87 and the S&P 500 improved 1.9% to 6,791.69 — both record highs. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 3.1% to 9,645.62. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index soared 5.1% to 3,941.59 and hit an all-time high on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.9% to 3,950.31.

24 Oct 2025

In Canada: Taylor Swift Smashes Chart Records With ‘Showgirl’ — And Ties Celine Dion on One Key Metric

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Taylor Swift is breaking multiple Billboard chart records in Canada.

As with many of the artist’s recent releases, Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, has been a blockbuster success since its release on Oct. 3.

According to new data from Universal Music Canada, Luminate and Billboard Canada chart performance, in its first week of charting, Showgirl was the biggest album debut in the country for Swift in the modern streaming era — or for any artist.

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, her 15th No. 1 on the chart. With this milestone, Swift is now tied with Canadian icon Celine Dion for the most No. 1 albums of all time in the country and is the only non-Canadian artist to reach that mark.

Swift’s last album, 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, stayed at No. 1 for 12 weeks. Showgirl’s win continues Swift’s streak of 14 consecutive studio albums debuting at No. 1, beginning with 2008’s Fearless and including the four “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings: Red, 1989, Fearless and Speak Now.

Showgirl has now cemented Swift as the sole artist with all top 5 of the highest album debuts in Canada in the streaming era (since streams began contributing to Billboard chart performance in the early 2010s).

On last week’s Billboard Canadian Hot 100, the week of Oct. 18, the top 12 entries were all of the album’s 12 tracks. The album’s lead single, “The Fate of Ophelia,” hit No. 1 and has become the most-streamed song in a single day and a single week in Canadian history.

The Life of a Showgirl reportedly amassed over 1.5 billion global streams, securing the largest debut of 2025.

This isn’t the first time Swift has broken records in Canada — last year’s The Tortured Poets Department and her Post Malone-featuring single “Fortnight” earned similar chart records. At this point, Swift is competing with herself.

Samantha O’Connor Joins MRG Live as Senior Talent Buyer, Will Continue to Lead RAPSEASON

Samantha O’Connor has been appointed as MRG Live’s senior talent buyer.

The music industry executive will continue to lead RAPSEASON, Canada’s biggest hip-hop concert and culture promoter.

O’Connor previously led the brand in her last role as talent buyer at INK Entertainment. In her new role at MRG, she will continue to grow the RAPSEASON brand and promote shows across the country.

Founded in 2015, RAPSEASON has presented concerts with a-list artists including Future, Central Cee, Cardi B, Post Malone, Summer Walker and Daniel Caesar, to name just a small sample. Now, RAPSEASON moves from INK to MRG, one of the country’s largest independent concert and live event companies.

“With the support and resources of MRG Live, I’m excited to continue growing the RAPSEASON brand, not only in Toronto, but nationally and internationally,” says O’Connor. “This next chapter offers an incredible opportunity to expand our reach, connect with new audiences, and spotlight the talent that drives the culture forward.”

Under O’Connor’s leadership, RAPSEASON is set to be introduced to new markets across its network throughout Canada. Currently, The MRG Group owns and operates 14 properties in Canada, including Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Adelaide Hall, Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre and The Revelry in Kelowna, British Columbia, and produces over 1,000 live shows annually through MRG Live. RAPSEASON branded content will also be integrated with the company’s media publication, Beatroute.

“Samantha O’Connor has proven a great astuteness in securing top-tier, identifying emerging talent and continuing to build the RAPSEASON brand,” shares Matt Gibbons, president of The MRG Group. “We are looking forward to both her and the brand’s further growth as they both integrate into our global network, our resources and our overall strategic approach.”

Ms. Lauryn Hill Embarking On Intimate Cross-Canada Tour

Ms. Lauryn Hill is making her return to Canada.

Independent, female-led promoter F7 Live announced the news, sharing the details of Hill’s tour, which kicks off this fall. The legendary American R&B singer and Fugees member is set to perform eight cross-country shows in intimate venues as part of her Artist In Residence tour.

The tour kicks off in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Nov. 19 at Burton Cummings Theatre, with further stops in Vancouver, Hamilton, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa.

This marks Hill’s return to Canada since 2023, when she performed at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena and Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour. The rest of the North American shows came to a quiet ending after Hill cited vocal issues.

Since then, Hill has performed various pop-up shows, joining son YG Marley at this year’s Coachella, turning it into a Fugees reunion with Wyclef Jean. In July, she performed with Drake during day one of his three-day stint at the U.K. Wireless Music Festival. They debuted a mashup of “Ex Factor” and “Nice For What,” the former of which is sampled on Drake’s 2018 Scorpion track.

These shows will be at more intimate concert hall and theatre venues, including the iconic Massey Hall in Toronto.

AI Artist Xania Monet Had a Boom — And Hasn’t Gone Bust. Here’s Why.

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The Velvet Sundown is an AI-generated rock four-piece that captured worldwide attention in June after word of the surreptitiously computer-made music spread online. The music is a mix of classic rock, folk and psychedelic Americana. The album’s surrealist artwork evokes Salvador Dali during a stint in the high desert of the American Southwest. The band came replete with an AI-generated press photo and a halfway believable bio.

News of The Velvet Sundown’s AI origins spread like wildfire, and U.S. on-demand streams quickly jumped to approximately 140,000 per week, according to Luminate. The dramatic rise revealed strong curiosity about a band with a fully formed concept but no human creativity. Interest reached a fever pitch the following week when weekly on-demand streams jumped to 760,000. That turned out to be the band’s high-water mark.

Streaming activity dropped 25% the following week, and another 7% the week after. Then interest in The Velvet Sundown fell off a cliff. Weekly streams plunged 48%, then 34%, and then another 25%. Six weeks after hitting its streaming pinnacle, The Velvet Sundown’s weekly on-demand streams were just 15% of its peak number. In another nine weeks, those streams were just 7% of the peak week.

The band’s Google search traffic followed a remarkably similar trajectory. The number of searches for “The Velvet Sundown” peaked the same week that on-demand streams did, and then steadily dropped.

When plotted on a chart, The Velvet Sundown’s weekly U.S. on-demand streams and U.S. Google search traffic look like one-half of a seismometer after a massive earthquake. A sharp peak of curiosity — measured in streams and searches — was followed by a cliff of disinterest.

The shape of the curve says a great deal about both The Velvet Sundown and AI music in general. If AI music is fortunate enough to find an audience, it won’t be easy to keep listeners engaged. Maintaining and building an audience is the domain of record labels, artist managers and armies of service providers and consultants. People see chart positions, news appearances and social media mentions, but they don’t see the behind-the-scenes blocking and tackling that creates all that visibility. The Velvet Sundown had the benefit of being one of the first AI artists most people encountered. Once that novelty wore off, it was left to compete with far more organized, more resourceful artists.

Enter Xania Monet, an AI-based R&B artist who signed a multi-million-dollar deal with Hallwood Media in September. Monet is the creation of Mississippi artist Telisha Jones, who used AI music platform Suno to create songs based on lyrics she penned herself. Monet could have had an experience similar to The Velvet Sundown’s, but she took a different path.

When Billboard broke the news about Monet’s signing, a wave of media attention drove her on-demand streams and Google search traffic to a peak in mid-September. The week after the peak, Monet’s streams fell 24% — remarkably close to The Velvet Sundown’s 25% decline after its peak week. That could have been the beginning of a steep drop following the height of the public’s curiosity. Instead, Monet’s weekly streams stopped their downward decline and leveled off over the last three weeks. So why didn’t Monet suffer the same fate as The Velvet Sundown?

A week after Monet’s streams hit their apex, Hallwood Media started securing radio play for her songs. In the first week — when her streams fell 24% — Monet’s songs were played just twice on broadcast radio, according to Luminate. But weekly spins rose to 109 the next week, then climbed to 423 and 485 in the next two weeks. By the most recent week (the period ended Oct. 16), Monet had something The Velvet Sundown didn’t: an aggregate radio audience of more than 1 million listeners.

Placed side by side, the charts representing The Velvet Sundown and Xania Monet show the difference between existing outside of the traditional music business and operating within it. Radio play helped turn Monet away from the cliff of disinterest and put her on a different trajectory. Without promotion, both radio and digital, it can be exceedingly difficult for any artist to maintain momentum — much less one created with AI.

24 Oct 2025

Executive Turntable: Avatar Concert Startup Staffs Up, Plus Spinnin’ Expats Become Fluent

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Unit1 Studio has entered the scene as an independent producer of avatar concerts, backed by a roster of seasoned industry figures. The company is betting on advances in visual effects and AI-driven CGI to deliver hyper-realistic artist avatars more quickly and affordably, reimagining iconic live performances for modern audiences while addressing the high production costs that have long handcuffed immersive entertainment.

The startup is led by CEO Barney Wragg, a digital leader with impactful stops at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, Universal Music, EMI and AEG, along with creative director Jonathan Butterell and technical director Pavle Mihajlovic (Electric Saint and Flavourworks). Backed by influential investors Mercuri VC, The Taylor Brothers and longtime U2 manager Paul McGuinness, with John Kennedy (former Universal Music UK CEO) on its board, Unit1 aims to unlock new revenue streams for artists and rights holders.

Its debut project features Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter KT Tunstall ahead of the upcoming re-issue of her hit debut studio album Eye To The Telescope. For the Tunstall showcase, Unit1 is teaming up with several industry innovators, including Woodroffe Bassett Design (Elton John), Roe Visual (ABBA Voyage), and Brompton Technology (Adele, Metallica).

“There are so many concerts I wish I could have seen but never had the opportunity to experience live,” said Wragg. “Elton at the Troubador, Queen at Live Aid, Hendrix at Woodstock or The Beatles at The Cavern. We are raising the bar in avatar and stage technology to be able to immerse audiences in the embodiment of those moments and transport fans into a world with the artists they love. Critically, we can now do this at a price point that makes commercial sense for the industry. Our goal is to wow audiences, stay true to the artist and their music, and help realise the immense potential in this new form of entertainment.”

Check out a full rundown of this week’s staffing news below.

Michael Bryan (Apple Music)

Image Credit: Saami Bloom

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Michael Bryan exited his role as global head of country music at Apple Music, he announced on LinkedIn. His last day in the role was Friday (Oct. 17). Bryan joined Apple Music in 2020, serving as director of Apple Music Country Radio. In 2022, he was promoted to director of Editorial Operations and Audio Production, and then to Global Head of Country Music in 2024. In his role as Global Head of Country Music, he oversaw the country music team for Apple Music, and supported the company’s Christian and Gospel music teams. Prior to his role at Apple Music, he worked at CAA as talent agent/artist development lead, and as sr. vp of programming for iHeartMedia from 2012-2016. In a statement to Billboard, Bryan said, “Forever grateful to my Apple Music teammates and Nashville’s artist community, who showed me what’s possible when you build with truth and imagination. Taking time to sit still and listen for what’s next. However that appears, I know for sure it will continue my life’s work in supporting artists and creatives.” –Jessica Nicholson
Roger de Graaf and Robert Tammens (Fluent Music Group)

Image Credit: Courtesy of Fluent Music Group

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He’s baaaaaack. Roger de Graaf, co-founder and former CEO of Spinnin’ Records, has returned to the music industry with the launch of Fluent Music Group alongside marketing executive Robert Tammens. Based in Amsterdam, Fluent aims to redefine artist development for electronic music creators by combining de Graaf’s decades of A&R expertise with Tammens’ background in digital strategy and branding. De Graaf, who helped build Spinnin’ into a global powerhouse and launched stars like Martin Garrix and Afrojack before stepping aside last year, says Fluent will “help artists build their careers and give them real direction in a fast-changing industry” and “move quickly when they need support.” Tammens, founder of Molecule and former longtime Spinnin’ executive, adds a tech-driven approach to empower artists on their own terms. Fluent will operate across recordings, publishing and consultancy, offering strategic guidance, audience growth, and long-term career planning in today’s fast-evolving music landscape. “This is not about nostalgia,” said Tammens. “It is about creating an environment where new voices can thrive and where great music has the space to connect with audiences again.”
Michael Farris (Country Music Association)

Image Credit: Britney Buckwalter/CMA

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The Country Music Association (CMA) announced key promotions and hires to strengthen its leadership and operations. Michael Farris advances to vice president, business strategy and insights, overseeing data-driven growth and cross-functional initiatives. Kate Watson becomes senior director, industry relations, leading membership strategy, partnerships and workforce development. Jeff Leet is promoted to director, brand integrity, managing CMA’s visual identity across major events. Additional changes include Lindsey Morrison elevated to senior manager, community engagement for the CMA Foundation; Richard Xiong promoted to insights senior analyst; Kennedy Strickler named communications project manager; and Mary Spaulding hired as content production manager.
Chris Johnson and Chris Thomas (Peachtree Entertainment)

Image Credit: Courtesy of Peachtree Entertainment

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Peachtree Entertainment, a leading live event and concert promotion company, added two senior Chris’s to support its national expansion. Chris Johnson joins as vice president of production, overseeing strategy and execution for live events. With 15-plus years of experience at ROCNATION and Big Loud Management, Johnson has managed global tours and campaigns for artists like Morgan Wallen, Lil Uzi Vert and Yungblud. Chris Thomas becomes senior vice president of development, bringing over 20 years in business development and partnerships with AEG Presents, Danny Wimmer Presents, and major brands including Toyota and Verizon. Thomas will lead new festivals, venues and strategic partnerships. These appointments come during record growth for Peachtree, which has produces over 250 concerts and 17 festivals in 2025. “Each [executive] brings a track record of leadership and innovation that strengthens our foundation as a full-service live entertainment company, from how we build our brands to how we deliver exceptional fan experiences,” said Nathan Baugh, CEO of Peachtree Entertainment.
Jake Szufnarowski and Izze Rumpp (Duck Club Entertainment)

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Duck Club Entertainment has expanded its talent buying team with two key additions: longtime NYC promoter Jake Szufnarowski as senior talent buyer and Boise-based curator Izze Rumpp as talent buyer. Szufnarowski brings decades of experience from Wetlands Preserve, Knitting Factory, CBGB, Rocks Off Entertainment and Bowery Presents, where he booked major acts and iconic venues. Rumpp, a Treefort Music Fest veteran and founder of Artfort, has shaped Boise’s music and arts scene for over a decade while curating music for global hospitality brands. Both will support Duck Club’s year-round programming, including Treefort Music Fest, Treefort Music Hall, Hap Hap Lounge and Shrine Social Club. CEO Eric Gilbert will continue to lead programming and business development as Duck Club strengthens its role in Idaho’s growing live music landscape.
Eric Reid (Warner Chappell Music Nashville)

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Warner Chappell Music Nashville has promoted Eric Reid to junior manager of A&R. Reid joined WCM Nashville in 2024 as a coordinator. Reid previously co-founded the boutique artist development company Four Count Entertainment, as well as Who’s Next, a Nashville-based writer’s round highlighting diverse songwriting talent. Austen Adams, president of WCM Nashville, said in a statement, “Eric brings a lot of passion and drive to everything that he does. He consistently goes above and beyond for our team, and our songwriters trust and respect him. We’re excited to see him grow in this next chapter.” –J.N.
Jukebox Ventures

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Jukebox launched Jukebox Ventures and its $15 million Fund I to back early-stage startups at the crossroads of music, tech and culture. The fund is led by co-founder and general partner Alex Jukes, a global marketing leader and founder of Jukebox PR and The Tribes; Christian Lawrence, general partner and head of investor relations with nearly two decades in capital markets; Kevin Caballes, operating partner with operational experience at Foursquare and Activision Blizzard; and Anthony Trotta, partner and head of trading, founder of Vernon Capital and ex-Metaversal exec. Supporting them is an advisory board featuring HOSH (producer), Inder Phull (PIXELYNX CEO), Ed Hill (Beatport SVP), Monica Hertz (SESAC Music Group), Joshua Brandon (Seven 7 Management), Indi Matthews (Jukebox Marketing Director) and Ramesh Satguru (Assemble Talent founder). “For over a decade, Jukebox has helped shape music and culture from behind the scenes,” Jukes said. “With Jukebox Ventures, we’re stepping in earlier — investing in the next wave of founders building the tools, platforms and experiences that will define the future.”
Henk Schuit (Tickets for Good)

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Tickets for Good, a platform offering free and discounted tickets to live events, appointed Henk Schuit as its European board advisor. Schuit brings over 30 years of leadership experience, including his tenure as managing director at Eventim Nederland and current role as vice chairman of VVEM. He’ll guide TfG’s strategic growth across Europe, focusing on the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, strengthening partnerships and shaping market entry strategies. The announcement follows TfG Netherlands’ early 2025 launch, which has grown to over 100,000 members and contributed to a global base nearing 600,000, while the platform has distributed more than 1 million tickets in the UK through partnerships with over 1,000 event organizers.
Colt Murski (KP Entertainment)

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KP Entertainment appointed Colt Murski as senior director of publishing at KPE Publishing, where he’ll oversee publishing operations, support the writer roster, promote the catalog and drive creative growth opportunities. He joins from Curb | Word Entertainment, where he spent 20 years — rising to vp of country publishing and working with artists like Lee Brice, Dylan Scott, Rodney Atkins and others. Founded by Kerri Edwards in 2006, KP Entertainment manages artists including Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell and Dylan Scott, and its publishing roster features Davis Corley, Whitney Duncan, Mike Mobley, and Jody Stevens. Edwards praised Murski’s experience and leadership, while Murski expressed excitement to collaborate with KPE’s team and writers to grow the company’s creative impact. “This arm of KP Entertainment is very important to me and finding the right person to lead it was just as important,” said Edwards. “With 20 years of experience in our town, Colt fills that spot perfectly. He leads with excitement and integrity.” Murski is reachable here: colt@kpentertainment.co.
Motoki Ishikawa and Dai Sakai (AXS Tickets)

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AXS, an AEG subsidiary, formed a joint venture with Lawson Entertainment to expand ticketing operations in Japan. The new entity, AXS Tickets, merges AXS’s global technology with Lawson’s retail network across Japanese sports, music and live entertainment. Motoki Ishikawa, managing director of AXS Japan, said the partnership will deliver a “seamless, connected, and innovative ticketing experience.” Dai Sakai, executive officer of Lawson Entertainment, added that combining Lawson’s brand with AXS’s international reach will set “a new standard for live entertainment access.” The venture builds on AXS Japan’s success since 2018 and follows AXS’s recent majority stake in Singapore-based SISTIC. AXS works with 1,600+ venues globally, including The O2.
Gemma O’Brien, Shaun Wilson, Mike Newman & Lora Elliott (Adelicious)

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Adelicious introduced a new senior leadership structure and merged Audioboom’s UK sales and partnerships team to strengthen UK operations and support global growth following its acquisition by Audioboom earlier this year. Gemma O’Brien and Shaun Wilson have been appointed joint vice presidents of UK sales, leading commercial strategy, while Mike Newman continues as vp of UK content and partnerships. Lora Elliott has been promoted to director of sales operations. The acquisition created the UK’s largest homegrown podcast network, reaching over 40 million unique listeners and 135 million monthly downloads. The restructure follows Craig Eastwood’s appointment as vp of international. President Andrew Goldsmith called it “exciting to bring together two brilliant and experienced teams to both support our podcasters and help us deliver on our own ambitions.”
ICYMI

Image Credit: Flo Ngala; Tamara Soueidan

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Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab, co-presidents of 300 Entertainment and Atlantic Records Hip-Hop, R&B and Global Music, have been named executives-in-residence at the Warner Music/Blavatnik Center for Music Business at Howard University … U.K. collection society PPL has appointed industry veteran Richard James Burgess as its new chair, effective Jan. 5, succeeding John Smith after nearly a decade.

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24 Oct 2025

Will Bruce Springsteen Biopic ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Boost the Value of His Music Catalog? Sony Is Betting On It

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Bruce Springsteen and Sony Music had different reasons for signing on to Deliver Me From Nowhere, the new biopic starring Jeremy Allen White as the Boss.

“I’m old. I don’t give a f–k what I do anymore,” Springsteen told Time. “As you get older, you feel a lot freer.” And while Sony was willing to do whatever Springsteen wanted to do, the label had other considerations, too: Its publishing company paid $500 million for Springsteen’s catalog in 2021, and one of the most powerful weapons it can deploy to boost streaming and revenue is a star-studded film. “The biopic is the cherry on top of the sundae, if you will,” says Sony marketing exec Monica Cornia. “Films bring more awareness to the artist brand and fans to the funnel.”

Cornia, senior vp of marketing and partnerships for Sony’s Commercial Music Group, adds that the late-2024 Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and the 2022 Elvis Presley biopic Elvis “created a new baseline for streaming” both artists’ catalogs. They had “double-digit growth post-release and have sustained elevated streaming levels to date,” adds a Sony rep.

Deliver Me From Nowhere focuses on 1982’s Nebraska — not the most commercial of Springsteen’s albums. But the star power from The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen and Succession‘s Jeremy Strong as his manager, Jon Landau, will “create a huge cultural moment,” says Cornia, which Sony can use as “the initial exciting point for us to start to lean in.”

Over the past five years, the music business’ most successful songwriters have sold their catalogs (and sometimes other assets) for astronomical sums. In 2020, Dylan received a reported $300 million to $500 million for the publishing of his 600-plus songs, and Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, James Brown and many others followed with deals estimated between $90 million and $250 million. “Everybody who’s acquiring a catalog is looking for opportunities to find new audiences and tap into a fanbase that’s already engaged,” says Sophia Dilley, executive vp of Concord Originals, the indie-label division that co-produced last year’s HBO doc Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A., about the storied Memphis recording home of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and others. “A natural place to do that is within the documentary or biopic space.”

After its November 2018 premiere, Queen‘s Bohemian Rhapsody biopic hit more than $1 billion worldwide in box-office sales over just five months, increasing the value of the band’s publishing and recording catalogs. In 2024, Sony purchased them for $1.27 billion.

Jeremy Allen White and Bruce Springsteen are seen on the set of “Deliver Me From Nowhere” on November 4, 2024 in Bayonne, New Jersey.

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Two months before the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen’s catalog streamed 15 million times per week. Afterwards, it spiked to nearly 62 million, and settled by the end of 2018 to 38.2 million, according to Luminate. By comparison, Dylan’s catalog drew 7.1 million weekly streams two months before A Complete Unknown, spiked to 19.5 million after the biopic and dropped to 12 million in February, also according to Luminate.

It isn’t just the biopic itself that sets the streaming bar higher for iconic artists like Queen, Dylan, Presley and Springsteen — it’s the marketing campaign and social-media activity surrounding the films. In Springsteen’s case on Friday (Oct. 24), the heavily advertised Deliver Me From Nowhere arrives with a new release geared to superfans, the five-disc box set Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition, which includes Springsteen’s long-awaited electric version of the album and a performance film. “Our goal is to take advantage of the moment, but also to make sure we’re consistently marketing the catalog and the artist going forward,” Cornia says.

Concord, like many labels and publishers, plans similarly broad marketing campaigns for its upcoming biopics on Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson (release date unknown) and R&B keyboardist and Beatles collaborator Billy Preston (sometime in 2026). “The risk is it doesn’t have the longevity you want it to,” Dilley says, “But in the immediate, it definitely has an impact, because you’re spending money on a campaign, which helps audience awareness.”

The timing of Deliver Me from Nowhere and A Complete Unknown, after the Springsteen and Dylan catalog sales, is probably not coincidental, according to Alaister Moughan, founder of Moghan Music, a London-based company that specializes in valuations of publishing catalogs. Major artists who sell catalogs, and top companies that spend big money to buy them, are highly aware that a well-timed biopic can improve the songs’ future value. “The past five years in particular, when an artist is looking to sell their catalog, they’ve been quite strategic,” he says. “They’re tying in, ‘We’ll be interested in a biopic.’”

Still, the focus on the lesser-known Nebraska, rather than, say, Springsteen’s later blockbuster Born in the U.S.A., which made him a worldwide star, suggests Springsteen and the filmmakers are not focused on quick streaming revenue. “Maybe it’s more of a long-term view,” Moughan adds, “rather than, ‘We want the Bohemian Rhapsody of Springsteen this year.’”

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