I think Music Business programs get a bad rap because now a days you can get one from almost anywhere but if you get the right program, it’s an amazing opportunity. I’m a Senior Music Business major at Belmont University and I absolutely love it. Belmont is so well known in Nashville and there are so many Belmont alums around town that the opportunities and connections are endless. Just saying you go to Belmont is very likely to open several doors for you. Supervisors at 2 of my 3 internships are Belmont grads. So since the industry is all about networking, by going to a school that’s producing all these important people in the industry, you already have a leg up in their mind over someone who isn’t a Belmont grad.

In regards to making the decision to actually do a music business degree, I kind of did it based on ignorance about the industry. Back in 2007/2008 when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, there weren’t websites like this around even discussing music business majors. I just knew that I wanted to be in the industry so I figured that was what you had to do to get there. I think in the 4 years I’ve been here, the program and popularity of getting into the industry (or maybe just becoming more publicly talked about) has grown exponentially. But back when I was making that decision, all I knew about was NYU and Belmont having music business programs. My dream was to do tour management, artist management, venue work, something to do with live events so doing a marketing, communications, or PR major wasn’t really appealing to me. It took some convincing of my parents but I finally decided on Belmont and with music business. 

With the way our program works, you’re required to take lots of core business classes like finance, accounting, marketing, management, international business, etc and also take your MBU classes like artist management, concert booking, PR in the music industry, publishing, etc. so you’re getting a well rounded education about business but also about the industry. 

And yes, you learn way more from hands on experience than in a classroom but many times the tools I learned in the classroom have helped me in my real world experience. And then there’s internships. We’re so well connected with the industry here that everyone posts on the Belmont career website about internship postings. Every year there are way more internships listed than interns applying. Right now I have 3 internships, 1 position managing a team of interns and also doing street team for Red Bull Records. I’m learning so much, making so many connections, getting great hands on experience, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

If I would have tried to just go do this on my own after high school, there’s no way I would be where I am today. Without Belmont I don’t even know where I would be. Through classes an the opportunities they provide, I feel so much more knowledgeable and well connected in the industry that even though I’m graduating in May, I’m not too worried about being able to find a job afterwords. 

Nashville is a great town, I would recommend Belmont to anyone in a heartbeat. If anyone has ANY questions about anything, be it Nashville, Belmont, internships, whatever, definitely feel free to shoot me a message, I love talking about this stuff :)