Clark Atlanta course teaches the behind the scenes of the music business
Bryan Calhoun and Jerry Clark wanted to mentor and help future Black executives avoid pitfalls in music and entertainment.
So, they decided to partner and take their expertise to colleges and universities. They teach “Fundamentals of the Music Business,” a course offered through Clark Atlanta University’s business department.
The course, meeting two days per week, gives students an overview of what’s necessary for artist development and releasing music. It concentrates on the business side of music rather than what it takes to be a performer or artist.
The historically Black university has offered the class since January.
Calhoun, a former executive at SoundExchange and Pandora and executive producer of the “Questlove Supreme” podcast, lectures from behind a podium. He writes out acronyms and introduces the students to vernacular relating to recording, touring and publishing.
He teaches using “Music Business Toolbox,” a book and software program he created in 2008 to assist independent artists, record labels and managers with monetizing their work. Calhoun said his goal is to teach his class what’s expected if they pursue careers in entertainment.
“We want the students to learn the basics of how the industry works, different roles, responsibilities and opportunities that exists. It’s a big, very complicated ecosystem, so it’s giving them exposure and equipping them with a solid overview of the entire landscape,” Calhoun said.
Clark’s teaching style is relaxed. He sits in the center of a table, tells stories and FaceTimes artists in front of the students. He wears T-shirts, shorts and designer sneakers.
A former promotions executive for Universal Records and Island Def Jam Music Group, Clark starts class by discussing current events and trending topics relating to the music business. He wants students to use discernment when they share in class what they find on the internet about the industry.
“A lot of information they get off social media is incorrect, so we want them to know the truth,” Clark said.
The students spend the semester working in teams on a mock emerging artist campaign. Each group is responsible for deciding on a budget, creating a marketing plan, conducting research and making presentations in front of executives.
“It forces them to think critically about what it takes to commercially release music,” Calhoun said.
Senior Peyton Smith, a Houston, Texas, native majoring in public relations and minoring in political science, is enrolled in the class. Smith, who aspires to become an entertainment attorney, said she appreciates having two professors approach the same topics in various ways.
“Clark is very sporadic and goes with the flow. Calhoun gets straight to the point. They’re yin and yang with two different perspectives that work well together,” she said.
Some students have already started to apply what they learned in class to advance their careers.
Senior Johannes Escobar, an Oakland, California, native majoring in public relations, took the course when it was first offered last semester at Clark Atlanta. He landed a full-time job with The Blueprint Group, an Atlanta-based artist management and distribution company where Calhoun is a partner.
Escobar is a first-generation college student and American whose parents are from Nicaragua and El Salvador. He’s the Atlanta chapter representative for Grammy U, the student arm of the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards.
Escobar said the class made him more confident investigating his artists’ finances and compensation for intellectual property.
“I was able to go in the past and figure out if they’re collecting all of their royalties,” Escobar said.
Senior Kayla Clarke, a Detroit native studying business administration concentrating in supply chain management, was Escobar’s classmate. In July, she was selected to participate in a weeklong cohort program in Los Angeles sponsored by Black Music Action Coalition and Live Nation.
Clarke got the opportunity after volunteering at an event she heard about in class. She said Calhoun and Clark are selfless instructors who make the material relevant and accessible.
“They break down everything about the music industry but in simpler terms. They brought opportunities to us, but it was our responsibility to fulfill them. I came to class, engaged and they poured back into me,” Clarke said.
Calhoun’s interest in teaching came after he spoke at his alma mater, UGA’s Terry College of Business, in 2009. The school incorporated his “Music Business Toolbox” as suggested reading.
It surprised Calhoun to learn professors adapted it as course materials. He said his target audience was the artist community.
“I really made it for practical use. I had not considered that it could be used in formal education settings,” he said.
In 2019, Calhoun joined Kennesaw State University’s Joel Katz Music and Entertainment Business Program as an executive-in-residence.
Program director Keith Perissi made Calhoun’s “Music Business Toolbox” required text.
Last year, Clark also became KSU’s executive-in-residence and thought it was a good idea to offer the course at a historically Black university. He said Clark Atlanta has a reputation for producing a talent pool of Black music and entertainment executives.
“In the entertainment industry, more Black executives have come out of Clark Atlanta University than anywhere. I can sit here now and name at least 25 or 30 of them who are prominent. This place is not just the heart of Atlanta. It’s the heart of the culture, so it was only right for us to bring it here,” Clark said.
Clark Atlanta alumni are proud to see the curriculum nurture future music executives.
Cannon Kent graduated with a degree in radio, television and film in 2002. She’s currently Atlantic Music Group’s national promotions director.
Kent, a Detroit native, said industry professionals as professors strengthen recruitment efforts.
“Our school attracts real hustlers and the first people in their families to attend college. The class now allows someone coming from (places like) Cleveland with a dream to break into the music industry to have the resources from people who have done it,” Kent said.
Calhoun and Clark hope to develop a year-round music and entertainment business program at Clark Atlanta.
“It’s hard for us to cover a lot of things in depth because there are so many different elements to this music business,” Clark said.
“We want to have several other classes, and I’m glad to be Bryan’s assistant in doing that.”
About the Author
Christopher A. Daniel is a Black Culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is an Atlanta-based, award-winning journalist, cultural critic and ethnomusicologist. He previously taught courses at Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University.
