You mentioned NYU Steinhardt but have you looked into NYU Tisch Clive Davis BFA Recorded Music? It’s a really interesting program combining Music Business, Recording and Artist Development. I know your son isn’t interested in Berklee, but I want to add my my 2 cents, because my son is in his third year there. He plays both guitar and piano, but didn’t want to go in majoring in either of those because he felt there were so many virtuosos there he wouldn’t get in, so he he did vocal performance and with a songwriting major. His education there has been incredible. The fact that everyone has to do core classes with 4 levels of harmony, ear training, counterpoint, arranging, scoring, conducting, etc has made him an incredible musician and songwriter, and he’s recorded and released a full length album and an ep in the last year. The songwriting program is super creative and there is so much crossover in what they do there that he can engineer, record, produce, arrange and mix music along with required business and liberal arts courses required for his degree. I believe the biggest value of the environment there is the connections you make and large amount of talented musicians to jam with. That being said, I can see where your son is coming from, because mine has had a few private instructors who he didn’t “gel” with and he has complained occasionally about some instructors being closed to ideas. Overall I believe it is a top program, but I imagine your son would like to get out of Boston and see the rest of the world. My son was also accepted to Belmont, but the music scene in Nashville is dominated by country music and he felt a little out of place when we visited. They do have one of the best “music business” programs around, and are known for graduates getting right out and working. My husbands tour manager said Belmont is highly respected in the industry. Good luck with your journey …or is it “Break A String”
Congrats on the Drexel Acceptance. I’ll echo JHS’s earlier thoughts about Drexel/Philly music scene. One thing you may not have thought about but might be useful is that Drexel has a great college radio station WKDU. Having DJed there many, many years ago I can say that being heavily involved with it would be a great way to make contacts with various indie record labels and a leadership position there can be used to attend a number of events on the east coast which could be useful for networking.
Berklee… The songwriting program is super creative and there is so much crossover in what they do there that he can engineer, record, produce, arrange and mix music
This was not my son's impression at all when we visited. He enjoys both sides of the glass and he was told that because there are so many people vying for studio resources that the bulk of the availability for engineering is reserved for those in the audio engineering classes. Those classes are reserved for Audio engineering majors
My S18 is a singer/songwriter/producer so he felt he'll have more access at Thornton or Belmont. We'd sure like to hear some details from somebody who'd been there. @JerseyParents you had a parent of a student tell you that their child attends Berklee and there is a lot of crossover. Why are you doubting @samigaga first-hand info??? You are correct that there are a lot of students vying for studio time but certainly a current student’s experience is a lot more valuable than someone who is just visiting. Also, from people we know who have attended Belmont, only go there if you are planning on applying to the Mike Curb Music Business school and not the Music School.
@Proudpatriot does Belmont require an audition?
@rockinmomab @samigaga no disrespect meant We’ve found conflicting information and we hoping for more details DS18 had scratched Berklee off his list and we would not want that to happen if he was under the wrong impression from his visit. The more details the better.
@TkBreezy Belmont requires an audition for Commercial Music but not for Music Business.
I asked my son and he said there is always time open in the main studios and songwriting majors have their own less equipped recording studio space as well. The MPE & EPD majors need the songwriters and bands in order to complete their own projects so there is collaboration. The songwriting majors are also required to record all of their work as well so they get “project time” in the studios. I believe it differs from major to major, but we are speaking of songwriting and producing this applies. They also have a double major. I’m not trying to sell Berklee, just elaborating on the info. He applied to Mike Curb 3 years ago and he had to submit songwriting samples to be accepted. The program was impressive, he was offered a nice scholarship, the campus was beautiful, and the dining hall food was delicious. He just preferred Boston and Berklee.
Thanks for asking your son. We truly appreciate it. Berklee was the first school my son visited. He still wears the sweatshirt to school. After hearing your information He will definitely research double majors and I’m sure he will apply there. We are not finding many schools that he is serious about attending. We’ll go to Miami to check out Frost this March and that may make the list but I don’t see many schools beyond Berklee/Thornton/Curb/Frost that will get him excited.
Another one - Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro TN.
thanks @Southlander I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. A tremendous value for in state students.