Let me start off by saying this article is by no means saying one is better than the other. I am not saying that schooling isn’t important, because I believe getting an education is of great importance. I graduated from a public high school in 2012 which was at that time considered one of the top school districts in the nation. I began my college career studying business at a school in Kentucky on a sudo athletic scholarship (as division 3 schools aren’t allowed to give full on athletic scholarships). I wasn’t overall happy with my college choice and wanted to changes majors, as after doing some research I found music could be a viable career, due to the many different aspects of the music and entertainment industry, outside of being an artist or entertainer. I transferred to Ithaca College to study audio engineering at one of the premier communications programs in the nation. Due to unforeseen circumstances I chose to power through their curriculum, and finished their four year audio program in two years. From there I began to intern at a variety of studios, eventually working at some of the top music studios in Atlanta and New York, before becoming the personal engineer to Elle Varner, and ultimately finding the position I have now of Head Engineer, A&R, Manager and Publisher at Water Music Publishing in New Jersey. I went through five years of on the job training before finding the studio I work at now and went through three years of working for them before holding the position I have now. I want this article to only hold as a comparison between schooling and on the job training. I don’t want to anyone to think I am championing one over the other as both hold specific purposes and in most cases you need one to get to the other.
The entertainment industry, especially in regard to music, is a very hands on learning experience with a steep learning curve. It is not an industry you can jump into and master everything at every position in a few days, weeks, months or even years. Each position holds a specific skill set that needs to be learned and mastered before you can be considered a professional. While I was coming up, I used to watch YouTube videos non stop to learn all I could about engineering. The different plug ins, the different techniques to record, mix, and master the different aspects of a song. On one video (at the moment I don’t remember which as this was about five to six years ago) the host was answering a few questions from his viewer base about how to break into the music industry as an engineer, and how to gain a clientele to sustain yourself. He mentioned that the road to becoming not a successful engineer but just a working engineer is one that will take at least 10 years. Meaning that as a new comer to the music engineer field, you are most likely looking a 10 year journey of internships, working for free, searching for clients, and getting paid very little before you have accumulated enough credits, skills and notoriety to be a considered a professional engineer and be able to create a living from engineering (a further example of this is at a part-time warehouse job I had recently, with in the last few months, I met a former engineer from Diddy’s BadBoy studios which used to be located in Manhattan before closing down years ago, he is now working at this warehouse because during his time working at this highly regarded studio as an intern he wasn’t able to gain enough credits or notoriety to continue being an engineer professionally).
This holds true in most aspects of the music industry. In most cases, for most positions, you are going to have to be willing to work as an intern (most likely unpaid, if your lucky you may get a stipend for time and/or travel) then working with a few people for free as you build your credibility, until you can ultimately call yourself what ever title you would like to hold for your desired position. Being that I have spoken about A&Rs in some of the most recent articles, let’s take the A&R position as an example. To become an A&R in the music industry today (unless you are lucky enough to find an artist by yourself or have a friend that is a great artist) you will have to start at the very bottom of the totem poll, especially if you want to work at one of the major labels. The first position you will hold will most likely be as a college rep. This means that while you are at you University, you will be a promoter for the label, their artists and events. You may get college credit, you may not, but you will be taking the guidance and instructions from a manager at the label, completing tasks that may or may not fully pertain to being an A&R. Once you graduate, or maybe during the end of your senior year, you can have the opportunity to be an assistant or A&R assistant. This is sort of like a gofer position (meaning you are less likely to apart of meeting and strategy and more likely to be the one getting coffee and running errands for the person you are working for). Ryan Press, the President of Warner Chappell Music, stated once while being a part of a panel of A&Rs at the Revolt Music Summit, that starting out he would do just about anything to just be in the room, or be in the presence of the people he wanted to work with and for. He would drive around New York City as the chauffeur, or would be the one running errands proving his worth until he was able to be apart of some of the meeting. I did some of the same things. I did everything from drive talent around, sit in cars outside of meetings so we could park and not get a ticket, carry bags, get food, pick up beauty products, clean studios and much more until I was able to actually be the one working for the people I was doing these things for. After a year or so working as an assistant, you are given the opportunity to start working with some of the talent. From here, if you show you’re up to the task and reliable, you will be given more responsibility and eventually becoming the go to person for the artists. There is no time table for this progression and could take years. If you’re starting out at 21 straight out of college, you may not get your first full opportunity until 30.
How are most people able to get into these beginner internship roles? For most people it comes from having a background and/or degree from an accredited university. If you are lucky enough to have a family member or close friend that works in the industry they maybe able to help, but it is unlikely for you to obtain one of these positions without some proof that you know about the industry. Most major universities now have some kind of music business programs that will be your stepping stone into the industry, in any position you would like. The Clive Davis Music School at NYU is a premier school in the country, and regarded as not only one of the top overall schools academically but as it pertains to music and more specifically music business. If you are looking for schools more geared towards the musical side of the music industry, you can’t beat Berkley in Massachusetts, or Full Sail in Florida. Berkley is one of the most well know universities when it comes to producing students with exceptional talents in music, the only other one that is on the same level is The Juilliard School in New York (this is a for all ages, but kids go here before college) both of which you have to not only be selected into but have to test into as well with your musical ability. Full Sail is the technical side of the music industry. Offering a wide array of two-four year programs for the entertainment industry in regard to musical engineering, music production, music scoring, production for film and television, game design, sound design, and the list goes on. Some of the top engineers in the music industry today have come from Full Sail (honestly this was my top choice of schools to transfer to when I was looking and the only thing that stopped me from choosing Full Sail and choosing to go to Ithaca was my desire to play football). With a degree, (or at least credits if you are going for an internship while still in school) from any of these schools you will have no problem landing a top internship, or an entry level position at a top music label, company or studio.
So let’s answer the question raised as the title of this article. Is school or on the job training more beneficial to someone trying to break into the music industry? For me the answer is both are needed, (as one usually leads to the other) but from my experience one is more beneficial than the other.
Schooling will give you the tools and knowledge for what you are trying to learn. Going to school to become an audio engineer, classes will teach you the basics of recording, where to place the mics, how to record properly, which mics are better for different instruments, voices and situation. You will learn how to use a certain DAW (the software programs used to record, mix and master in studios). You will learn the physics of sound, how sound waves travel, what effects the different types of sound waves, how to manipulate different sound waves, and how each sound wave is heard. You will learn about frequencies and the science behind them, giving you a better understanding of how to record. You will have the ability to use professional facilities and equipment that you otherwise (unless you have the money to buy, or know someone who has them) wouldn’t have access to. Yes, some of the knowledge obtained in college classes is text book learning, just giving you a basic understanding of techniques and terminology. However, learning from the teachers (who are paid to give you their knowledge and insight, and in most cases have an outstanding track record and credit history) and being given free reign, use and unlimited time (at least until you graduate) to learn on actual professional equipment is invaluable. The more rewarding aspect of gaining a college education (besides the fact you go to other classes of your choosing so you can learn other things you are interested) is obtaining the degree at the end stating that you have all this knowledge in your chosen field. This gives you a leg up to some of the other people vying for the same positions as you. The fact you hold a degree in your field, means you already have at least a basic understanding of how everything works and the person you are working for doesn’t have to spend time teaching you the basic, and they can spend more time teaching real life applications of what you have learned in college. Also, it doesn’t hurt that in most cases, outside of studio work, in order to get into some of the major companies you have to have a college degree.
Now, here’s the kicker. What college doesn’t teach you is the real life applications of how to use the basic knowledge you have spent four years learning. Great, you have a four year degree that looks good on paper and you have a few projects you have completed that show you have the basic skills that are needed for the position you are applying for (I will say as someone who now hires engineer and studio interns, seeing an applicant that has a degree or is close to completing one from NYU, Berkley or Full Sail does give that applicant an advantage over the rest, because as stated above, I know their skill set is above the normal applicant who is just teaching themselves) but do you know how to conduct yourself in a real life setting in the music industry. The worst thing an intern can do (and I have seen interns fired on the spot for things like this) is over step their boundaries thinking they are helping by giving their two cents or trying to show they have the knowledge the people working are looking for. I have heard countless stories of interns getting fired from studio positions because they were trying to do to much in a session where they should have been a fly on the wall, and nobody (other than the people that hired them) should even know they are there. At the same time, I have heard of interns sitting in the background and when something happened in the studio or someone needed help, or a question was raised and they were asked to take over, or help and were able to do so, got more attention from there on from the professionals at the studio, because one they knew how to play their role, but two because they were able to show they knew what they were doing without overstepping their boundaries. Nothing is more valuable than real life experience. Before I transferred to Ithaca, I spent six months learning Pro Tools on my own. I would go into the software and just see what different buttons did. I would watch videos online of how to do different things and how to use the program. Self teaching, and YouTube University gave me more knowledge and was more helpful than almost any class I took while at Ithaca. When I began taking introductory class on recording and using the software, I already knew what I was doing, so much so that I was almost a defacto teachers aid in the class helping out the other students who were seeing and doing these things for the first time.
Studio internships is where I was able to hone my skills. Yes, it’s true that I didn’t get my first studio internship until after I completed my first year at Ithaca because it showed I was in classes learning these techniques, but everything I know about studio etiquette, recording, mixing and the music industry came from the six years of internships I had at six different music studios. I graduated school with a basic knowledge of how to record, but it wasn’t until I got in a studio, got the opportunity to watch live sessions and bought my own equipment to practice recording and mixing myself and friends, that I gained the skills to be a professional engineer. If I just relied on my schooling I would have never got to the position I am at now. YouTube University taught me more than my school did. Pair that with teaching myself and watching and learning at all the different studios I interned at, I gained the knowledge and skills to engineer for some of the top talent.
Schooling is defiantly a stepping stone into the industry, as it shows the people hiring you that you know what you are doing, even if it is only to the lowest extent. Knowing how to conduct yourself in a professional setting and learning form the professionals in the industry is how you grown and move up. Where schooling is important, even if because it allows the students an opportunity to learn more topics than just their major giving them an opportunity to be more beneficial and possibly obtain other jobs as well, on the job training is an invaluable asset, that I believe (at least as it pertains to the music industry) is more important.
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