Having a degree can’t hurt, but the decision is up to you. Kanye West enrolled in college, but then dropped hence the name of his album College Dropout. Timbaland never went to school and Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. Clearly success can be achieved without a degree. However, some people learn better in a school environment.
If you want to teach audio production you definitely need a degree. Music Technology is a growing field and many colleges and Universities are adding Recording Arts programs to their curriculum. This means they need professors. Professors make decent salaries and most universities require at least a Master’s degree to teach. Some require a PHD. NYU has an excellent program that Clive Davis, Chief Creative Officer of Sony BMG, helped to fund. In fact the program is called The Clive Davis Department of Recording Music.
If you want to become a professor of music production or audio recording, you need to go to school and earn a degree. However, if you want to be a famous music producer the choice is up to you. The music industry will never ask your GPA or require a Master’s degree. However, it does not hurt to have one.
By Jamille Luney
Music Analyst
Filed under: Just My Opinion | Tagged: audio production degrees, Audio Recording Degrees, Bill Gates, Clive Davis, Clive Davis Department of Recording Music, degree for music production, Harvard, Jamille Luney, Jamille Luney Music Analyst, Kanye West, NYU, school for music production, Sony BMG, Timbaland, Tisch School of Music
