Colleges and Universities for Music Production!

How to Select a Music Production School

Music Producers must have expertise in both the professional and technical aspects of the recording industry. Therefore, individuals looking for suitable colleges for music production should seek recording arts programs that include courses in sound engineering as well as business and communications.

Prospective students must also choose between enrolling in a 4-year bachelor's degree program or a 2-year associate's degree program. The former typically provides more business courses, such as the business of music production, business writing and project management. More robust programs also include lessons on building marketing production plans, which is an important element for defining and measuring the success of an album.

Technical training is also a major part of music production. Aspiring music producers should look for schools that provide access to the newest audio equipment and computer software. They will also want to consider programs that contain practical experiences such as co-op sessions or internships. Classes that are integral to technical education include mixing and production techniques, music theory and sound engineering. Schools should teach students how to use software programs such as Avid, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.

A final consideration when selecting a music production college is to look for schools located in a city near major recording studios. Popular cities include New York, Los Angeles or Nashville. These well-known music production regions may increase the opportunity for students to gain optimal internships or job placements after graduation.

Universities and Colleges for Music Production by Largest Student Enrollment

College/University	Student Population	Institution Type
Indiana University-Bloomington	40,354	4-year, Public
American River College	34,610	2-year, Public
Santa Ana College	33,916	2-year, Public
Texas State University-San Marcos	29,105	4-year, Public
Long Beach City College	26,927	2-year, Public
Sacramento City College	26,128	2-year, Public
Fresno City College	24,783	2-year, Public
Orange Coast College	24,742	2-year, Public
Middle Tennessee State University	23,872	4-year, Public
Mesa Community College	23,825	2-year, Public
Cerritos College	23,236	2-year, Public
Cuyahoga Community College District	23,234	2-year, Public
San Diego Mesa College	23,059	2-year, Public
Los Angeles Pierce College	22,434	2-year, Public
Fullerton College	22,068	2-year, Public
Southwestern College	22,030	2-year, Public
Diablo Valley College	21,205	2-year, Public
Chaffey College	20,304	2-year, Public
Johns Hopkins University	19,758	4-year, Private not-for-profit
Los Angeles City College	19,672	2-year, Public

Article From: http://education-portal.com/colleges_for_music_production.html

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Hip-Hop 101: Laws of Lyrics I

I'm starting a new series called Laws of Lyrics, this is for the people new to writing lyrics and who would like to get better at it. This guide will cover tips and tricks you can use to improve your lyrical ability and write fuller, well structured songs. Every week I shall put out a new part.

Laws of Lyrics I: Structure and Concept

Welcome to my school of music! First things first, before you go about writing anything, you HAVE TO HAVE a concept or a basic idea in mind unless it's a freestyle. If you write a song, it has to be concentrated on a topic which listeners can understand. Make lines intertwine and structure your verse so it resonates. 

Trick: Something I do when I get a concept for a song, is that I write down a basic draft of what I want my verse to look like and where I want to place different things. While making this draft, do not force yourself to make it rhyme, let it flow naturally as if you're writing a story. After that's done you can take the already structured verse and polish it so create rhyme schemes, add punchlines, adlibs and finalize your product. 

This trick is useful because a lot of times what happens is when people get so involved in writing punchlines and making things rhyme, they start to lose grasp of the concept and message of the song. Every song MUST have a topic or a central idea. It can be as simple as 'I got money' or it could be a deeper story telling song, or something delivering a message.

Example:

Concept:

The boy was walking down the street looking for change in his pockets

Because he had no money and nothing to eat or drink

Lost his mother on the way, Feeling so lonely and cold

Life is tough when you're young and have no one around

*Finalized Product:

Feet hurt, hands in pockets, searching for loose change 

Nothing but lint and papers, fiending for food or rain

No one to hold him close, mother went missing

Feeling imprisoned, he's to young to suffer living.

*Notice how I did match it line for line, the final product does NOT have to be written exactly like the draft. The purpose of the draft is to help you visualize what the verse should look like. It is a general outline that you can follow. 

If you are a more experienced writer then this trick isn't aimed at you. This method is mostly for beginners to help them understand the importance of structure and key concepts of a song.

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The world is YOURS, i'll teach you how to take it!

Nowadays, EVERYONE wants to be a rapper. It`s not because they love the music, it`s because people see an easy opening to earn a lot of money. The only problem is that they don't know how to do it. So in this post, I'll point out some of the most IMPORTANT things needed to help you climb the steps to success! 

To make it in the industry these days, people only need 3 things:

1) Friends

2) A Brand Name

3) Social Skills

Let`s be real, if you don`t have friends, there`s a high chance you`ll be putting up videos on YouTube of you rapping which get 100-300 views a month because your not pin pointing an audience. You're basically waiting for random people to stumble across your music and like it enough to love you for it, which is highly unlikely because of the vast amount of "internet rappers" these days. The best way to put it is that, you have to have a target to hit it.

You have to learn how to market yourself and your music! This is something you can't learn in  accredited online colleges or universities, you have to develop social skills and reach out to artists around you. Make friends that will you can use to gain more exposure and target a group of people who you want to promote your music too.

For example, let`s say you have an extremely popular friend who shares an interest in Hip-Hop and records his own tracks but in all honesty he's horrible. Normally people would try to avoid collaborating with a terrible rapper because they believe it's going to ruin their quality music but really what's the use of making quality music if no one ever hears it?

So what should you actually do? Ask him to hop on your next track. First of all, if he's horrible and you have some talent, when he shows the track to all his friends, you'll sound a lot better since he's trash. Secondly, all his friends will hear you and might even try to hit you up and check out your other music.

Now here's where the second thing comes in, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A BRAND NAME! You MUST have something for people to remember you by. Something catchy, interesting, easy to say and unique. Now don't get me confused, a brand name doesn't have to be your own line of T-Shirts, it could just be your artist name. Just have something to separate you from other artists. For example, the rapper J. Cole uses the term Cole World, Jay-Z uses the Diamond hand sign to symbolize his record label RocNation, these are all forms of Branding. A brand name can change you from just another rapper to a recognized artist.

Lastly, once you start gaining a buzz you will meet more people, have more collaboration offers, shows to preform and you might even be doing interviews. To make all these things go smoothly you got to have social skills. That means if your socially awkward or only do well in your own circle, you HAVE to learn to meet new people and create conversation! Make people WANT to work with you! Make sure you have personality. If you notice something about all celebrities a like is that they can talk to anyone. It's part of their job. Why would anyone want to work with you if you just sit there awkwardly and stare at their face...

Make people go "wow it was a great experience working with you!" If you land a good impression of someone their's a high chance they will tell other people about you and your music, creating more fans and a bigger buzz.

You must create a presence as an artist! This will also help your music and live performances. A good performer creates a bond with the audience and controls the crowd. Just make sure you don't over do it, people can tell when you're trying too hard or forcing yourself to do something you're not comfortable with.

There's a ton of other things to go along with all the things I said but these are just some of the main points. Now as easy as this may sound, trust me it's not. Becoming a well known artist requires dedication, hard work and sacrifices. If you are serious about getting a career in the music industry, don't let anyone talk you out of it. It IS hard, people WILL say it's impossible but anything is achievable if you put your mind to it! Avoid distractions, think of what the fruits of your labour will be. Work to achieve, don't work to work!

That's all I have for today, if you enjoyed what you read, please follow the blog and share with others :)


If you think you deserve the world, take what's yours and let nothing stop you.

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