Music Business
Bachelor of Science
Learn from industry professionals in small classes in a music town. Gain extensive experience to launch your career.
You select one of four concentrations to prepare as a recording engineer/professional, performer, songwriter, or entrepreneur. Whether you play, produce, write, or just know that this industry is where you belong, Nazareth is where you’ll learn the music business from the people working in it. Three required internships build your resume and connections before you graduate.
Highlights
Weekly, one-hour, private lessons in recording, songwriting, or performance
Choose your concentration
Get direct work experience through 3 required internships
Join a band, orchestra, choir, rock, or jazz ensemble
Concentrations
Choose one. Or ask about combining two concentrations in four years.
Performance
Audition required: See details and sign up for an audition date.
Designed for musicians with some formal training in reading sheet music, introductory music theory, and high-school-level performance in traditional bands (orchestra, choir, and jazz and contemporary ensembles). You’ll continue your musical journey through ensembles, studio classes, and private lessons while you develop well-rounded skills that can land you a job anywhere in the music industry.
Recording & Production
Interview required: Held on audition days. Select an audition date.
Learn recording, mixing, and mastering skills from active recording industry professionals. In addition to group classes, this concentration includes four semesters of private recording lessons with our recording faculty, and countless opportunities to produce recordings for yourself, your peers, and active bands.
Contemporary Commercial Songwriting
Interview required: Held on audition days. Select an audition date.
Designed for the aspiring songwriter. Learn the history and cultural significance of pop songs since the early 20th century. Develop and hone your skills as a well-rounded songwriter. In addition to group classes, this concentration includes four semesters of private recording lessons with professional songwriters working in today's industry. Develop a large portfolio of your own produced work.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Interview required: Held on audition days. Select an audition date.
The industry is full of inspired and creative professionals who don’t have performance aspirations. For every artist onstage, dozens more build the infrastructure around them. This concentration is for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make their mark on the music business.
Career Paths
Live Events and Touring
Talent buyer, booking agent, concert promoter, tour manager, production manager, stage manager, venue manager, ticketing management, backline management, instrument technician, rigging technician, venue hospitality management, tour accounting, stagehand
Studio and Sound
Producer, studio engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, live concert engineer, monitor engineer, audio post-production
Writing and Performing
Songwriter, recording artist, session musician, touring musician, music director
Business, Labels, and Rights
Artist management, A&R, marketing and promotion, publicist, music distribution, licensing and publishing, sync and music supervision, music merchandising
Technology and New Ventures
Founder and entrepreneur, music tech product roles, streaming and DSP, data and analytics, digital strategy, instrument and equipment sales, music retail
Internships
- Rock Lititz
- Best Resipe Presents
- Canal Concerts, LLC
- Center for the Arts of Homer
- Dim Events, LLC
- Essex Music Hall
- Concerts at Beston Hall
- The Local Sound Collaborative
- The Rochester Lilac Festival
- First Hold Artists
- Lime Creative LLC
- Linden Digital Marketing
- Live Sound, Inc.
- Marella Music LLC
- Audio Images
- New Vine Records
- Concerts at Point of the Bluff
- Rochester Oratorio Society, Inc
- Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
- Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music
- Skaneateles Festival
- Stringed Instrument Services
- The Skycoasters
- The Syracuse Orchestra
- Water Street Music Hall
- Anthology
- White Lake Music
- Post & Bridge Road Entertainment LLC
1-on-1
Private lessons in recording, songwriting, or performance, built into the curriculum. Most other colleges reserve that for performance majors.
2,000
2,000 square foot recording studio with isolation booths, control room, and live room with amps, drums, bass rigs, auxiliary percussion, guitars/basses, and keyboards
$1,500
Our SPARK Grant provides $1,500 for you to pursue an internship, research, or study abroad. SPARK details »
Student Experiences
Naz Recordz
You can be part of Naz Recordz — a record label started by two music/business majors working with their management professor. Get experience with music recording, business, and marketing.
How to Audition or Interview
Auditions are required for the performance concentration.
Other concentrations require an interview, typically scheduled on music audition days.
Program Director
Alumni Spotlight
“My classes, my work on Arts Center productions, and my work at the Lilac Festival all trained me to think on the spot. Music business classes, in particular, simulate conversations you’d have in the field and how to communicate with others properly.
“In the School of Music, I was percussion section leader in Wind Symphony, president of the Impact Percussion club, and vice president for our music recording club (Naz Recordz). I played in the Naz Rock Ensemble, which performed at Springfest this year and last, and I attended as many concerts and events as possible to support the people who support me.”
— Nathan DeJoy ’26 was hired before graduation for a full-time job at Live Sound Inc. audio production company, where he interned. Read profile for more about his experiences »
FAQs
What makes Nazareth’s music business program different?
Small classes, private lessons built into the degree, professors working in the industry right now, and three required internships, all in the music town of Rochester, NY.
What are the classes and professors like?
Classes are small, so you’ll be known by name and get time on the gear. Your professors are active studio owners, producers, multi-platinum engineers, songwriters, festival talent buyers, and artist managers, and they coach you on your career, not just course registration.
Are private lessons included?
Yes. Private instruction in recording and production, songwriting, or performance is part of the required curriculum. Most college programs reserve that for performance majors.
What hands-on experience will I have before graduating?
Three internships chosen from about 30 partner sites, including Rock Lititz, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Live Sound, Inc. You’ll also take a live event production course in your first year and can work with Naz Recordz, our student-run record label.
What jobs can I get with a music business degree?
Graduates work in live events and touring, studio and sound, writing and performing, business, labels, and rights, and music technology and new ventures. Roles range from tour manager to mixing engineer to recording artist.
Why study music business in Rochester?
Rochester has major festivals, dozens of venues booking regional and national acts, and working studios run by people our faculty have worked with for years. Show up and work hard, and you’ll be known, which is much harder in a city of millions.
Is Nazareth affordable?
Every Nazareth student receives scholarship or grant support, and most pay substantially less than the published cost. Reach out and tell us about your situation.
Why do music business majors take non-music core classes?
In the music industry, you’re hired for who you are as much as what you can do, and the teams are small and under pressure. Every job also has another subject underneath it: royalties are math, artist management is psychology, and producing a record is physics and acoustics. Your courses outside the major aren’t a detour. They’re why you’ll understand the work and why people will want you in the room.
How do I apply and audition?
Applying to Nazareth is free. The Performance concentration requires an audition. The other three concentrations require an interview, typically held on music audition days. Register for an audition or interview »