Christopher Daniels
Assistant Professor of Music Business
Music & Entertainment Industry Studies
University of Colorado Denver
Campus Box 162, Arts 288M
Denver, CO 80217
Chris.Daniels@ucdenver.edu
Music Business Curriculum And Teaching Effectiveness In A Changing World: Establishing Baseline Criteria That Is Critical To Improving Learning and Outcomes For Graduating Students In The Music and Entertainment Industry Studies program.
This project focuses on how well our curriculum and teaching methods are serving MEIS students in a time of unprecedented transformation of the industry they are preparing to enter. During the past eight years every aspect of the entertainment industry was affected by the digital and internet revolution in recording, touring, managing of artists, delivery and storage of the entertainment “product” (DVD and CD to iPod, computer and cell phone). Prior to that, roughly 1965 to 2000, the task of preparing students, whether musicians, technicians, writers, performers, music business majors etc. was clearly prescribed. Since that time professionals and laymen have witnessed changes to the root structure of almost all the entertainment industries. As a result, progressive universities focusing on entertainment industries studies, like UCD, Berklee in Boston, Belmont in Nashville, and UCLA, to name only a few, have retooled their programs. In 2008 the Music Business Department at UCD underwent a complete course revision, literally from the introduction course, MUS 2700 Intro to the Music Business, to the addition of specialized curriculum in Digital Music Business, Modern Music Marketing and Concert Promotion, Tour and Venue Management.
The Central Question: Do the music business curriculum and teaching methods prepare students for the real world? Can we establish baseline criteria that will be critical to improving learning and outcomes for graduating students in the MEIS fields? Specifically there are two groups to look at and four subsets to the question:
The two groups:
(i) music business students (ii) artists and engineers who must succeed in the music business
a) Is the complete revision to the introduction level class that both groups must take, MUS 2700, Introduction to the Music Business, properly preparing students for the advanced level classes in the series they will take?
b) We require music business classes for songwriters, performance and our recording program students, as well as the music business students (group ii). Is the information we focus upon in the required classes for non-music business students (the performers and songwriters and engineers) serving them well as they transition into their careers? What works and what is missing in our curriculum and teaching methods for that specific group?
c) We assume that because our music business emphasis students (group i) work through specific series of courses they will be prepared for a future in the music business itself. Is that theory correct? What information can alumni share with us that will improve the material presented?
d) What are our non-music-business alumni saying were/are the most important issues to make sure we cover in the business courses that students take? What information helped them, and what didn’t we accomplish?
Why This Issue is Important to UCD and Others b) We require music business classes for songwriters, performance and our recording program students, as well as the music business students (group ii). Is the information we focus upon in the required classes for non-music business students (the performers and songwriters and engineers) serving them well as they transition into their careers? What works and what is missing in our curriculum and teaching methods for that specific group?
c) We assume that because our music business emphasis students (group i) work through specific series of courses they will be prepared for a future in the music business itself. Is that theory correct? What information can alumni share with us that will improve the material presented?
d) What are our non-music-business alumni saying were/are the most important issues to make sure we cover in the business courses that students take? What information helped them, and what didn’t we accomplish?
With the changes in the industry teachers have no baseline to evaluate both our revised curriculum and the methods we use to teach it. It should be assumed that other Universities are doing similar evaluations but that only improves the possibility for collaboration, review, discussion and evaluation of courses and methodology. In the unlikely event that this is the first of its kind, it will serve as an instigator and model for others to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of their entertainment industry business studies.
Improvement of the Personal as well as the Practice of Teaching
The “local” issues are the effectiveness of the introduction course and the revisions made to it, the effectiveness of new courses and revision to the curriculum to better prepare students for a “real world” that had changed beyond the existing course offerings, and the methods/emphasis employed by my teaching within those courses. The “global” question to be shared with the wider teaching universe is relevant to almost any discipline you can name. From architecture to journalism, the creation of content – the delivery systems for that content – and the underlying business structures that support those endeavors are transforming. Teachers from almost every discipline will be able to use this system as part of their evaluation and/or be spurred into action and evaluations of their own: examining the root value of the courses they offer and teach and the methods they use to convey the content within the courses.
Methodology: How to conduct the investigation: sources of evidence, methods employed to gather and make sense of the evidence:
1) Two groups and statistics: current students and interviews with alumni (see Attachment A), statistical data where available from alumni offices.
a) Current Students: In-coming evaluations for the MUS 4720 Music Business Management and MUS 4770 Concert Promotion students. These courses follow MUS 2700 Intro to Business of Music in the course sequence. I teach both courses in spring of 2009 and taught the intro, 2700, in spring and fall 2008. MUS 2700 was rebuilt in the fall of 2007 and again in for the fall 2008 class to adjust for new industry models and standards including a new text. Most of the students for 4720 and 4770 will come from my fall MUS 2700. In addition, many will also come from other teachers (online and classroom) versions of MUS 2700. This offers a fantastic opportunity for comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of all the classes, what students actually bring with them to the advanced classes, in order to establish a baseline for what students retain coming out of the introduction classes and how we can improve both the teaching methods and content.
b) Exit evaluation of the two classes: (Management and Concert Promotion) via student participation in a detailed survey about what they got out of the series of classes 2700, 4720 and 4770 – what methods of teaching were useful (I built the Blackboard structure for all three classes in the summer of 2008 and want to see if the inclusion of various new technologies had a positive effect on the student’s retention and utilization of the material), plus what they felt was missing and finally, what was most valuable to them going forward. Example: one student I worked with this fall was offered a recording contract and we reviewed the contract before he brought it to his lawyer. He wrote me that it helped him: (a) understand the complicated terms and deal being offered (b) as a practical matter, he saved money because the lawyer’s job was negotiation not explanation and education – so the process moved forward faster and cheaper.
c) Alumni: Interviews, both face-to-face and online, with alumni about the use in their professional careers of the music business information acquired at UCD.
d) Use of any and all of those videos from alumni who are willing to allow them in the courses. To keep the budget low, many of these will be online-recorded-video (ORV) interviews that use Skype and other technologies for capturing the sessions, editing, review and approval by the alumni for use, and then inclusion in the various courses via Blackboard and in-class. This in turn will (a) expand the student’s connection with actual industry professionals, now limited to guest lecturers and (b) make more of them available for class review via Blackboard and online classes.
e) Alumni: statistical analysis of available data and the development of a database (currently this information at UCD appears to be limited). This will take considerable effort with the help of a graduate student to compile as much information as possible. I plan to contact the other two Universities I am currently involved with, Macalester College in Minnesota and Berklee in Boston, to see what information they are willing to share.
Making the work available to others and Literature Reviewa) Current Students: In-coming evaluations for the MUS 4720 Music Business Management and MUS 4770 Concert Promotion students. These courses follow MUS 2700 Intro to Business of Music in the course sequence. I teach both courses in spring of 2009 and taught the intro, 2700, in spring and fall 2008. MUS 2700 was rebuilt in the fall of 2007 and again in for the fall 2008 class to adjust for new industry models and standards including a new text. Most of the students for 4720 and 4770 will come from my fall MUS 2700. In addition, many will also come from other teachers (online and classroom) versions of MUS 2700. This offers a fantastic opportunity for comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of all the classes, what students actually bring with them to the advanced classes, in order to establish a baseline for what students retain coming out of the introduction classes and how we can improve both the teaching methods and content.
b) Exit evaluation of the two classes: (Management and Concert Promotion) via student participation in a detailed survey about what they got out of the series of classes 2700, 4720 and 4770 – what methods of teaching were useful (I built the Blackboard structure for all three classes in the summer of 2008 and want to see if the inclusion of various new technologies had a positive effect on the student’s retention and utilization of the material), plus what they felt was missing and finally, what was most valuable to them going forward. Example: one student I worked with this fall was offered a recording contract and we reviewed the contract before he brought it to his lawyer. He wrote me that it helped him: (a) understand the complicated terms and deal being offered (b) as a practical matter, he saved money because the lawyer’s job was negotiation not explanation and education – so the process moved forward faster and cheaper.
c) Alumni: Interviews, both face-to-face and online, with alumni about the use in their professional careers of the music business information acquired at UCD.
d) Use of any and all of those videos from alumni who are willing to allow them in the courses. To keep the budget low, many of these will be online-recorded-video (ORV) interviews that use Skype and other technologies for capturing the sessions, editing, review and approval by the alumni for use, and then inclusion in the various courses via Blackboard and in-class. This in turn will (a) expand the student’s connection with actual industry professionals, now limited to guest lecturers and (b) make more of them available for class review via Blackboard and online classes.
e) Alumni: statistical analysis of available data and the development of a database (currently this information at UCD appears to be limited). This will take considerable effort with the help of a graduate student to compile as much information as possible. I plan to contact the other two Universities I am currently involved with, Macalester College in Minnesota and Berklee in Boston, to see what information they are willing to share.
We are currently reviewing and improving the changes we made to the curriculum at UCD with the Music Business faculty and I will publish any and all my findings for my colleagues here. In addition I am taking online courses at Berklee College of Music where I am an alumnus and have made inroads there with Professors John Kellogg, Steve Crows, and Bob Baker to make it available there. Additionally I have been contacted by Colorado State University to speak to their music business faculty about my work and have established contacts with professors in Amsterdam and at Clemson in South Carolina. There is no literature or review journal for the teaching of music business (yet) but there are many industry wide papers where this information should be submitted. Examples include Billboard, Wired, The Musician (AF of M Journal) and several others. With the help of a mentor and coach this could and should be expanded.
Literature Review: At this time, there are no pier-review journals in the field. Even the book by Donald Passman considered most applicable and revised in 2007, is out of date in various sections because of the rapid changes in the industry. My hope is to work with my mentor to expand any and all possibilities.
Record of innovation in teaching and/or the assessment of learning
My record of innovation is with two colleges: Arapahoe Community College (ACC) and The University of Colorado Denver.
* ACC: expanded curriculum for the Music Department researching, developing and implementing several completely new courses and getting funding and development of the college’s first recording studio. Classes included, History of Jazz, Rock Ensemble, Introduction to Music Business and Introduction to Studio Recording.
* UCD: complete revision of MUS 2700 Introduction to The Business of Music, MUS 4720 Music Management and MUS 4780 Current Issues in the Music Business. Creation of curriculum including the research, development and implementation of MUS 4770 Concert Promotion, Tour and Venue Management.
* Music Business Curriculum Committee: served on the committee that completely revised the Music Business Curriculum at UCD.
* Technology: researched, developed and implemented the Blackboard materials for these classes and redesigned the online version of MUS 2700.
Attend the required meetings, the name and contact information for someone who can serve as a mentor to you within the PTLC program. * UCD: complete revision of MUS 2700 Introduction to The Business of Music, MUS 4720 Music Management and MUS 4780 Current Issues in the Music Business. Creation of curriculum including the research, development and implementation of MUS 4770 Concert Promotion, Tour and Venue Management.
* Music Business Curriculum Committee: served on the committee that completely revised the Music Business Curriculum at UCD.
* Technology: researched, developed and implemented the Blackboard materials for these classes and redesigned the online version of MUS 2700.
Yes, I can attend the meetings. I have two possible mentors I would like to ask to consider working with me, Dr. Judith Coe and Professor Francis Jermance. Professor Jermance is on sabbatical until January but I believe would be available for meetings. I will confirm that. Dr. Coe’s information is listed below, and if my project were to be selected, I would be delighted to serve as a coach in PTLC in a future year.
Attachment A:
A partial list of UCD Alumni who have participated in on-campus discussions and panels about their post graduation experiences and what educators and students need to prepare for the entertainment business
• Derek Vanderhorst, Academy Award nominated sound design
• Mario Rodriguez, nationally recognized DJ
• Jesse Morreale, national music business entrepreneur with NIPP
• Gwen Laine, nationally known photographer and 3D artist
• Anthony Cicarelli, motion graphics designer
• Jennifer Long, president of Management Possible, a company that provides world-class, career-advancing leadership skills
• Mitch Dickman, producer/director/founder Listen Productions
• Ken Tomczak, Promotions Director for JACK-FM
• Christie Chambers, Director of Client Development, Platypi Inc., an award-winning production center with complete film, video, interactive media, and recording studio capabilities
• Morgan Wells, Artist Management Entrepreneur and successful music journalist URB Magazine, Los Angeles and Esquire Magazine
