Music Business Classroom

A Look Inside the Classroom

Prof. Catherine Moore, Graduate Program Director, and a class of undergraduates

Welcome to my class! These photos were taken at a listening class in my “Production and A&R” undergraduate course. Most students here are juniors in the Music Business Program.

What’s A&R? A&R is the heart of the music business, finding talent (Artists) and matching them with songs or compositions (Repertoire). A&R staff must have great ears.

What’s a listening class? It’s an exercise session for the ears. It’s also an exercise session for vocabulary because simply saying a song is “great” or “cool” won’t sell anyone on the idea that this is something special. But saying “his voice sounds like he just wants to give up, but can’t” or “screaming rock with a melody inside” captures the music’s magic.

How did students prepare for this class? Two weeks before we had another listening class about genre. We had also talked about music criticism, and read reviews to see how professional writers describe music. Our textbook is Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music by Simon Frith, which includes a chapter called “The Voice”.

What happened next? Everyone took notes as we listened to music ranging from Maria Callas to Elvis (a raw teenager live on stage), Gary Cherone to Al Green, and Billie Holiday to Vesa Haaja. A&R is about judging voices, so students came to the next class prepared to make a case for their two top picks. After hearing eloquent, earnest, and passionate arguments, we voted and decided who to sign to a record deal.

Prof. Catherine Moore, Program Director, and a class of graduate students

Welcome to my class! Forecasting was our topic when these photos were taken in this graduate course, “Strategic Marketing in the Music Industry”. Forecasting implies forward thinking, hence strategy. This is the fifth week of the semester, and we’re applying earlier classes about business strategy to the music industry. Outside of class students already are doing independent field research about retail pricing of a range of music products to use in their written critique and analysis of price strategies. In class we use our time together to break down the process and implications of forecasting. We shared initial ideas on the blackboard:

• looking forward to predict financial performance
• often built on past trends
• always changing
• educated guess at market conditions
• has a specific source, with varying contexts/credibility
• not always right
• can be self-fulfilling
• forecaster should take responsibility

Then we connected the ideas. First, forecasting means looking forward and back at the same time. Second, if the context of a forecast is too narrow, the forecast may be self-fulfilling or incorrect. Third, accepting the fact that looking forward has an element of conjecture is very important because otherwise executives paralyze themselves by waiting for a completely unambiguous vision of the future to be revealed.

In the classes and assignments for this course, students step into the shoes of music industry executives and make decisions within a range of local, national, and international scenarios. Students use forecasting in their final project to interpret trends, and propose effective strategies to spur market expansion, market development, and innovative partnerships.

Course readings such as “The Strategic Use of Music in Marketing”, “Industry Transformation”, and “How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies that Work” (all from Harvard Business School Press case materials) spark new ideas for music. Strong leaders do not wait for the future; they make the future.

Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions - 35 W. 4th Street, Suite 777 - New York, NY 10012 - (212) 998-5424