Top Music Production Schools

The music producer will work with managers, recording artists, and audio engineers, overseeing the completion of an album and ensuring that it gets recorded on time. Music production schools will offer degree programs, giving students a chance to learn musical and technical skills in addition to learning the business side of the recording and music industry. Here we will take a look at the degree programs and internships offered through this type of school, in order to give you the information you need to determine which program is right for you.

Selecting a Production Program

Working as a producer you will need expertise in both technical and professional aspects of the music industry.  The individuals looking for suitable music production schools will want to seek recording arts programs that will include courses in audio engineering as well as communications and business management.

Any prospective students will need to choose between enrolling in a two year associate’s degree program or the four year bachelor’s degree program. The four year program will typically provide more courses in entertainment business, music production, project management and business writing. The programs that are longer in length will include courses on how to create and develop production plans, which is an important element used for measuring and defining the success of a recorded album.  There are also the programs that are available that prepare a student to do music production specifically for visual media such as films and video game creation.

The technical training that’s included in a program will also be a major part of music production. Aspiring producers will want to look for schools that will provide access to the newest computer software and audio equipment.  A student will benefit from programs that will contain practical experiences such as internships and co-op sessions. The courses that are integral in technical education will include production and technical education, music theory and audio engineering.  The schools will teach a student how to use recording and editing software programs such as Final Cut Pro, Avid and Logic.

Degree Programs Available

The two year associate’s degree will focus on the technical skills that will be involved in music production. Courses in copyright law and business management will typically be included. A student will need to complete general education requirements in social sciences, humanities and math.  Some of the programs will allow a student to earn credits from an internship. It can take up to three years to complete some associate’s degree programs, or the student can enroll in an accelerated program which allows the them to graduate in one year. A high school diploma or GED is required for admission.

The bachelor’s degree programs will offer many of the same technical classes as the associate’s program does, but will usually offer more opportunities for the student to develop a specialty or to take some advanced audio production classes. The four year program will explore the concept in sound synthesis, management, harmony and analysis and studio techniques. The prospective producer will need to complete a capstone project and an internship.

Top Schools

The Berklee College of Music will train a student to pursue a career in the contemporary music industry, which includes performance, business and composition.  This school offers three different bachelor’s degree programs with an audio production emphasis, including engineering and music production, design and electronic production and contemporary production and writing.  These programs are unique in their coursework, but all of them will include hands-on music production training programs.

The New York University offers students the ability to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree or a bachelor’s degree in music technology. The bachelor’s degree program will expose students to ear training, recording technology, acoustics and music theory. The doctoral and master’s degree program will provide the student with specialized concentration areas, which will focus on computational or technological aspects of music production and audio recording.

The University of California offers bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree programs with several different types of degree specializations.  The Bachelor of Arts degree involves a student choosing from three types of degree concentrations in the areas of music education, performance or composition. An undergraduate student can participate in one of the twenty department ensembles and will have the opportunity to participate in other performing groups.

The master’s degree program is offered in every classical solo instrument, conducting and voice programs and will prepare students for a career as a music industry professional. The graduation requirements for this program will include two years of lessons in a private setting and involves seminars in topics such as music terminology, bibliography for performing artists, analysis for performance and participation in department ensembles for a final recital.

The Masters of Arts program will require the student to have a reading fluency in Spanish, German or French. The program requirements will include seminars, a composition course, three electives and music analysis, all of which will focus on teaching a student how to develop an individual composing style. The degree candidates will be expected to perform and write one musical body of work each year and a thesis for a film or other type of media score.