In 2003 while I was working in the rapidly declining CD/DVD manufacturing business I put together a proposal to start a Diploma program at Algonquin College in Ottawa based around Fanshawe College’s renowned and highly respected Music Industry Arts program. The program I had outlined in my proposal was a mix of audio production and music business courses very similar to Fanshawe. Although originally named something different from Fanshawe’s program, the Ministry of Education felt that the program learning outcomes were so similar to Fanshawe they wanted the name to be the same. I couldn't complain about the name, but it put a little more pressure on creating a program as well respected as Fanshawe's MIA program. After years of research and work the Music Industry Arts program at Algonquin College launched in September 2010.
Our program runs in a different format than Fanshawe which is a traditional 2 year/4 semester Diploma program. We are something called a Non-Semester Diploma Program (NSDP) where we condense the learning hours and content into 3 back to back semesters which run from September to August. We accept 80 students every September and since our inception have had hundreds of applicants over our 80 student capacity making us a highly competitive program. Our content is about 60% focused on audio production and the remainder on the business of music. We have a 2000 sq/ft recording studio solely for our program with a 48 channel SSL Duality SE console, full Pro Tools HD system, a two-inch 24 track analog tape machine, and a bunch of great outboard gear by Neve, API, Universal Audio etc...
I am the Program Coordinator, a Professor, an Academic Advisory and also sit on a few committees within the college community.
I teach two courses in the Fall and two courses during our Winter semester. The Fall courses I teach are "Music Business 1” (MSC2001) which covers the importance of Intellectual Property and Copyright in the Music Industry, Music Publishing/Licensing and leads into various roles in the industry such as Agents, Promoters, Record Label/Distributors and how everything comes together around an artist. “Entrepreneurship in the Music Industry” (MSC2019) focuses on artists, engineers/producers, and music business professionals and how they should treat themselves as a business. Networking, marketing, customer service, business registration, funding organizations and financial accounting are covered with the intention of students starting early in the program to organize themselves for success after graduation.
The Winter courses I teach are “Music Business 2” (MSC2005) which is a continuation of the Fall course but more focused on artist management, marketing/promotion, branding, touring, and artist services companies. For the past few years, students work on a project with a real artist and assist them with a career and business marketing plan. This gets them thinking in a real-world scenario and interacting with an active artist. The second course, “Music in the Digital Age” (MSC2011) is a lecture/business-based course mainly focusing on new technologies, digital rights, and web-based services for artists. Music streaming services, social media platforms, and new music-related start-up companies are dissected and explored with a heavy focus on where the music industry is headed in the future.
Of course, I'm not the only Professor in the MIA program, and without the great team noted below we definitely wouldn't have made it this far.
Brian Asselin (Music Theory, Psychology in Society, Trends & Pop Culture, Industry Preparation)
Jason Jaknunas (Recording, Engineering, Production 1-3)
Wayne Hawthorne (Production Theory, Live Sound, Recording, Engineering, Production 2&3)
Kevin Komaranski (Digital Audio Concepts 1 & 2, Audio for Video)
Mike Bond (Recording, Engineering, Production 1-3)
Peter Gilroy (Recording, Engineering, Production 1-3)
Teaville Bourque (Recording, Engineering, Production 1-3)
Jordan Rannells (Recording, Engineering, Production 1-3)
Danielle Allard (Communications 1, Personal Presentation Skills)
www.algonquincollege.com/mediaanddesign/program/music-industry-arts/
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www.twitter.com/AlgonquinMIA
www.facebook.com/musicindustryarts