MUSIC INDUSTRY BUSINESS EDUCATION

This post is dedicated to Lesley Emanuel’s comment on my blog titled “EDUCATION IN THE ARTS” The question she asked me was very challenging- considering my credentials and having very little knowledge when it comes to the current Music Education system and practice. I will thus reflect on my experience with music education in high school. I cannot speak for the entire arts industry, although I am hoping that my suggestions will be relevant to other arts disciplines as we share the same sentiments when it comes to our ability of complaining about how bad things are :-).

Going back to my high school days, I remember how we were encouraged to do sports as extra-mural activities. There was a school choir that was barely surviving and one practical music teacher who specialised in western classical piano and flute tutoring. There were approximately three students out of a school of about 800 students that took music lessons. After school, one would listen to the rebellious students ciphering their poetic rap songs. Some of us used music and dance to escape from some subjects we felt were so irrelevant to us because we had already decided what we wanted to become in the future. The main problem was that the arts were viewed as undisciplined. Our parents feared that if we became artists, we were guaranteed to become victims of exploitation, depression and drug abuse-if not AIDS victims. That view was not misguided because we always read about musicians who are facing these dilemmas.

I always think to myself that had I not received university education, I would have become the next Lebo Mathosa or Kelly Khumalo. I would have continued to try very hard sounding and looking like Beyonce because she was my role model when I was in high school. She still is for many young girls in my generation. After gaining some insight into marketing and its relation to the arts at Wits, my focus and admiration for these stars was slightly altered. Instead of focusing on their performance and visual stimulation, I began to wonder what it is that makes these super-stars so appealing to people. If I and many other aspiring musicians had a basic understanding of branding, publishing, copyright law and South African music culture from high school, I would have valued the power of music more. I would have probably performed better at school if the mentioned subjects were part of the high school curriculum. I was going to be encouraged and more disciplined not forgetting taking me and my art more seriously.