Music Industry Studies - BS

The Music Industry Studies degree at University of the Pacific is the first collegiate program of its kind in the Northern California region. It merges professional practice with music business and music production education along with intensive, hands-on training through experiential learning and internships. This combination gives students the knowledge, industry connections and resilience to succeed in the fast-paced environment of the music industry. 

The program is designed for one-on-one, individualized attention to prepare students for success in a variety of music industry careers in the creative side, as well as the “buyer side” and “seller side” of the music business. Music Industry students at Pacific have access to a host of professional alumni and music industry executives with the skills and characteristics necessary for full-time employment in the music industry. The class sizes are intentionally small so that students build a professional, mentor-mentee relationship with the Program Director and Music Industry faculty. 

Learning facets of the program include introductions to music business and music industry technology, revenue streams of the music industry, digital music and recording production, popular songwriting, music publishing, music industry current events, a student-run record label, music supervision, artist management, social media promotion and marketing, music royalty analysis, and various hands-on professional practice opportunities.

Recent examples of experiential learning for Music Industry Studies majors include working the BottleRock Music Festival in Napa, CA, OutsideLands Music Festival in San Francisco, CA, concerts at the Golden1 Center in Sacramento, CA, the Stockton Area in Stockton, CA, as well as Coachella and Stagecoach Music Festivals.