Berklee College for music or just read books?

JMD_Music

New member
So do you guys think it's better to go to school for a certificate for music business or just read all the books the classes would require?
 
Do the classes and the reading and get the certificate at the end - never know when you will need genuine credentials - also you will at least know if you have understood the reading when you get your assignments back
 
Was worried about Berklee because I looked in the archives and read about someone complaining about them.
 
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Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) complained about them too (more correctly, he complained in a magazine interview about his teacher who took off to do a summer gig and left a bunch of reading exercises to be completed in his absence), doesn't mean that they can't deliver, just that different folks have different expectations and may not appreciate being made to work in a certain manner.

Ultimately, you have to look at what's out there and choose what is best for you - I recommend getting credentials because it is the sign of a professional to continue to learn about your craft/trade/business. Each new credential is a mark of your ongoing learning, which can only fill your clients with confidence about you...
 
I'd just read up on my own. Use that money to build up your own studio and get your own equipment. That way you can teach yourself at your own pace, and just play around, have fun as you learn. You'll teach yourself some nifty tricks along the way and learn everything all the same once you educate yourself enough anyways. Thing is, if you buy your own stuff, it's yours. Noone can say of you can only come here between this time & this time to work on your projects. It's a much more 'lax environment. And with all the information out there in books, videos, tutorials, and articles, you'll learn everything you need to with enough time & experimenting. I guarantee you that.
 
You can't guarantee nothing - deadlines are what make certain that you learn what needs to be learnt in a meaningful timeframe - sitting back and letting it happen over, say, 10 years means that that is 10 years of opportunities lost- you can't even get it straight that he wants to learn about the business side of things - this is best learnt through actual classes and assigned readings and assessment tasks than any other aspect of learning abut production - the money spent will be worth the investment in time and deadlines
 
Was worried about Berklee because I looked in the archives and read about someone complaining about them.

Everyone has something to complain about sadly, people pay more attention to negative reviews than positive ones. If you're going to do it.. do it.
 
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I'd just read up on my own. Use that money to build up your own studio and get your own equipment. That way you can teach yourself at your own pace, and just play around, have fun as you learn. You'll teach yourself some nifty tricks along the way and learn everything all the same once you educate yourself enough anyways. Thing is, if you buy your own stuff, it's yours. Noone can say of you can only come here between this time & this time to work on your projects. It's a much more 'lax environment. And with all the information out there in books, videos, tutorials, and articles, you'll learn everything you need to with enough time & experimenting. I guarantee you that.

I'm not doing production, I'm doing business.
 
I'm not doing production, I'm doing business.

Ahhh alright. Well, really my stance is the same. Because either way you look at at, if it's truly your passion, you're going to do and obsess over it regardless of if you're in school or not. The only thing an actual school would give you are true industry contacts to build a network around, which might be worth that price then. Really all up to you.
 
Going to school for it is a way for me to postpone paying back my student loans for another 2 years. But I honestly don't want to go to school after I finish my bachelors.
 
i went to berklee, and i think its a great program, very expensive hopefully you can turn in some quick profit to hep the payment
 
i went to berklee, and i think its a great program, very expensive hopefully you can turn in some quick profit to hep the payment

You think it's expensive? I was referring to the online certificate, not the school in Boston. $12,600 for a year and a half doesn't seem too bad.
 
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You think it's expensive? I was referring to the online certificate, not the school in Boston. $12,600 for a year and a half doesn't seem too bad.

oh i thought it was much more expensive than that, i say go for it, you'll learn a lot and develop a great network if you communicate well with others via the internet
 
I'm just undecided as to which certificate I should go for. Thinking of the Specialist Certificate in Music Marketing which I'd do for a year and would cost less than $5,000. Then I'd take a 4th class in Concert Touring just so I'd have some knowledge when it comes to booking.
 
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