VCU Jazz

Music Industry is an essential course for any music major at any university. VCU's course offers students greater familiarity with such topics as copyright, business organization, music production, management, recording, freelancing, grants, taxation, and careers allied with music other than music performance.

In additional to the instructing faculty member, the class has received first-hand expertise and advice from such established professionals as Charles Gavin (Attorney), Charles Chambliss (Attorney), Jimmy Bland (Plan 9 Music), Clarke Bustard (Arts Columnist Richmond Times-Dispatch), Peter McElhinney (Music Columnist, Style Weekly), Peter Solomon (Jazz Host and Operations Manager, WCVE-FM Radio), Al Regni (Saxophonist, Freelance Musician, VCU Faculty), Russell Wilson (Pianist, Freelance Musician, VCU Faculty), Susan Greenbaum (Freelance Musician), Joel Katz (Executive Director, Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts), Marc Baylin (President, Baylin Artists Management), René Marie (Vocalist, Freelance Musician), Carlos Chafin (Owner, Producer, Composer, In Your Ear Studios), Butch Taylor (Owner, Producer, Composer, In Your Ear Studios), Adam Lacy (Owner, Producer, Composer, The Project Studio), Nathan Kahn (Symphonic Negotiator, American Federation of Musicians), David Fisk (Executive Director, Richmond Symphony Orchestra), and Julia Rogers (Certified Public Accountant, Biegler & Associates). Pictured in this montage are (upper row, from left) Rogers, Solomon, McElhinney, Bustard, Kahn, (lower row, from left) Taylor, Chafin, Wilson, and Regni.

Though this course is not jazz-centered, many of the students' final projects can be related to jazz careers, including Becoming a Tenured Professor, Starting a Music Technology School in Richmond, Presenting a Concert, Promotional Packets, Hosting a Festival, Music Promotion, Recording & Touring, Professional Bassist Career, Commercial Jingles, Getting a Demo Picked Up, Booking Agent as a Career, Opening aRecording Studio, Film Scoring, and Recording Producer as a Career.

At VCU, you'll learn how to take care of business.

NARAS Grammy panel sparks VCU
Music Business students recently had discounted admission to an event that provided a lot of energy to the local music scene. VCU Music hosted a "Demo Review Panel and Contest: A Grammy Professional Workshop" presented by the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. and co-sponsored by the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Music, BMI, Punchline, and Omega Recording Studios. NARAS, which hosts the Grammy Awards, was pleased to receive nearly twice as many attendees as it had expected and presented three hours of music business experts discussing what makes a great demo recording, as well as judging ten demos on site. The panel included Dave Lowery of Cracker, local recording artist Susan Greenbaum, Richmond Times-Dispatch's music writer Melissa Ruggieri, Punchline's Brian Muldoon, Deep South Records' Andy Martin, Spot Studio's Kelly Jones, and XM Radio Unsigned Channel's Billy Zero, introduced by VCU Director of Jazz Studies Antonio Garcia and NARAS D.C. Executive Director Daryl P. Friedman. Many of these are pictured in the above photo.

The winner of the demo contest was Pennyshaker (formerly Tabula Rasa), with its composition “All I Want.” The group won eight hours of studio time with Lowery, an on-air interview and radio airplay with Zero, and two hours of consulting time with area entertainment attorney T. Craig Harmon.