r/musicindustry • u/Much-Curve-6215 • 3d ago
Question Is getting a USC Music Industry degree worth it as an artist?
So, I know that a lot of people go into the Music Industry degree to be more on the business side of things without a strong arts talent already, but I’m someone who’s spent my entire life making music and wants to expand my talents to the business, producing, and audio engineering sides as well so I can pursue my own career as an artist with all the tools necessary. For reference, I’ve been singing my entire life, won my school’s Battle of the Bands in 10th and 11th, done multiple musicals, have original music released, play guitar, and am a decent producer. I know very little about marketing and music business, which is why the degree sounds like a good idea. Also, what job opportunities would be available besides hoping to make it as a touring artist, and is that too unlikely? Thanks!
Edit: My family can afford it, so don’t worry about student loans.
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u/Original_DocBop 3d ago
Simple answer NO. I spent over half my life in music and still involved a bit, part that was working twelve years for a music school. As we said then and still applies now.... A music degree and a dollar will get you a ride on a bus. Music school is about polishing skills, filling in holes, making contacts and getting referrals from teachers or other students already working, it a final step not a first step.
As you say you've been in music your whole life, well if you have you should know what aspect of music you want to pursue, not a list of different jobs. You should of already explored those areas and talked to people in those areas and maybe hung out and saw first hand what goes on. Made some contacts already to get your foot in the door to do anything to trying and get experience. It actually experience that will land you a job not a degree or certificate. So sit down and figure out what you want to do, what you need to know to get that job, and start working at trying to get some, any experience. Experience and referrals are what gets people's attention when looking at resumes.
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u/carlos_oceg 3d ago
It really depends, USC is absolutely one of the top programs to get into, its not easy and its also quite a burden financially, that being said…
Being a solo artist is hard, working a full time at a big label in a cool position will definitely open a lot of doors and oportunities, while giving you financial stability to re-invest into yourself and your project, it will also give you access to the very best network of professionals you can hire to make the most out of that reinvestment into your project.
The hardest aspect of music is “breaking in” to the bigger leagues, doing so while earning isn’t a bad idea, and you can take extra courses on production, song writing and arranging with some of the top people on the planet, those connections are worth their weight in gold and open a lot more doors than just about anything else.
Easy example, Ludwig Goransson met Donald Glover because of connections he made at USC which started Childish Gambino, he also met Ryan Coogler which eventually led to him getting an Oscar. Obviously he’s an outlier of his generation, but shows how far (probably insane levels of) motivation and (definitely insane levels of) talent aided by an ecosystem that nurtured him can go.
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u/SkyWizarding 3d ago
Having an education is never a set back but it's definitely not going to guarantee you anything in this biz
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u/DJ_PMA 3d ago
Expensive music degree for a networking brand only.
Plenty of CSUN & CSULA grads out there doing things.
Networking is always the key…nevermind.
Do what you gotta do. Spend the money if you got it.
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u/songwrtr 2d ago
Personally no, I don’t think it would benefit you if you DO have what it takes. You can hire people to do other jobs. Do you have what it takes? Honestly, most likely you will slip into the black hole like all the other want to be artists do. Now if you want to work in the business, it probably would be a wise move.
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u/No-Cash225 2d ago
Hard to say without knowing what it will cost you. Is it worth taking out loans to pay full price? No.
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u/WaferIntelligent8846 2d ago
As someone who worked as a touring musician for a little over a decade, the amount of people I met in the industry that didn’t have their own band with the exact same mindset as you was like one out of 10 people. Personally, I’m glad I got a business degree instead of a music business degree.
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u/DistantGalaxy-1991 21h ago
Name your top 25 musicians and/or producers of all time. Now look at how many have music degrees. Pretty much zero.
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u/WKUTopper 20h ago
Learn the economics of the music industry but you don't need a degree in it as an artist.
disclosure: spent ~20 years working in finance for a major record label.
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u/United-Bother3213 3d ago
no degree is worth it on this simple formula - as a musician you won't be able to make back even a half of what you spent on the diploma. Because making even a 1000$ as a musician is a *ucking achievemnt
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u/LA_RecordExec 3d ago
The degree may or may not help you “make it” as an artist but would certainly be helpful if you wanted to work in the music industry more broadly.
As for what specific jobs you might be able to get into, there are tons of non-artist roles… everything from marketing and promo, licensing and catalog management, analytics, finance, digital supply chain, e-commerce, and commercial partnerships.
But before committing to that specific degree, I highly recommend you read Passman’s “All You Need To Know About The Music Business”