By Danielle Tarloff
Sophomore Alex Schneiderman wants to be a rock star. But if that doesn’t work out, at least he’ll have a degree to fall back on. And because he goes to Northeastern, he can study music industry, which is about as close as it gets to majoring in rock stardom.
Northeastern’s music industry program, a concentration for music majors, helps prepare students for careers in the various areas of the music business. Northeastern is one of only about 20 universities in the country that offer a music industry concentration.
With courses as varied as Principles of Music Literature, Sightsinging or Music Marketing and Promotion, the coursework allows students to focus on their particular interests. Students also take courses in the college of business, including accounting and economics. Some classes give students hands-on experience, like Music Marketing and Promotion, which requires each student to promote a local band.
“The program is really focused,” middler music major Matt Trimarchi said. “I think it’s pretty much on key. It’s where it needs to be. One-third music, one-third business and one-third music industry.”
Northeastern’s program began in 1989, and was the first of its kind in Boston. It was put together by music professors Judith Tick and Dennis Miller.
“It’s not even their field,” program coordinator Leon Janikian said. “They are the ones who decided that we should try to have a concentration like this.”
He said the program has come a long way since he joined the staff in 1993.
“I had a large part in developing the program when I was one of two faculty members. Now we have six, so it’s very, very different. We developed all the curriculum, wrote a lot of the courses,” Janikian said.
Trimarchi and Schneiderman are both members of the Music and Entertainment Industry Students Association. This group helps students create connections within the industry and gain experience. They have sponsored musical guests at afterHOURS, and planned trips to visit the offices of Fuse TV, Billboard magazine and Sirius Radio in Manhattan. These trips are intended to foster connections in the industry, but students said contacts alone are not enough.
“You think that you’re just supposed to go out there and get started, and it’s all about connections, connections, connections. But there’s still so much about the industry that you have to learn,” sophomore Whitney Handrich said. “You still might be able to get through on trial and error, but it’s going to take you a lot longer to get out there.”
Janikian said although most students find employment after graduation, prospective students shouldn’t think of the major as a ticket to being a roadie for their favorite bands.
“Certainly everyone in business wants to make money, but that can’t be the only reason you’re in a business like this,” Janikian said. “Right now, about 90 percent of our grads actually get work in the music industry. But … if you’re thinking of music industry as being working with bands, we don’t look at it that way. It’s working with bands, it’s working with music publishing, going to law school, working with recording, working in advertising.”
