Contemporary Music Program

This paper describes the development of a new music§industry program whose purpose is meant to meet the§needs of the following three demands: 1) Sectors of§the music industry are nearing extinction and need§new and well-prepared leaders to create innovative§means of revitalizing business; 2) Traditional§schools of music need new program designs to§stimulate their declining enrollments; 3) Students§need well-designed curriculums that adequately§prepare them for careers in today s music industry. A§strategically designed program is the key to§answering all three of these ever-present§demands.§§This new program design evolved from the study of§over 100 educational institutions, the standards and§guidelines established by NASM, the curricular§analysis of five leading music industry programs, and§the author s experience as a music industry§professional and lecturer. With this newly acquired§data, the author outlined a Bachelor of Music §example as one of this program s possible degree§formats. This design adhered to NASM s guidelines by§having the correct percentages and course types§(General Education Courses, General Music Courses,§Music Industry Courses, and Emphasis Area Courses.