Music Industry Major | SUNY Oneonta

About the Major

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, SUNY Oneonta’s music industry program will prepare you for careers in a variety of fields in the music, media and entertainment industries, including management, marketing, promotion, merchandising, publishing, production and performance.

The curriculum includes specialized music industry studies in the recording industry, entertainment industry business affairs, intellectual property law, music products, music theory, performance and history/literature. You'll also take courses from the School of Economics and Business on topics such as business law, marketing, management and accounting. Internships, field experience and several related minors—audio production with Pro Tools certification, performance, music theory and music literature—allow you to tailor the program to your interests.

Facilities

Music industry majors gain hands-on experience with recording hardware and software used by professional recording studios all over the world. Facilities include four studios for recording and post production, a fiber optics system that allows simultaneous recordings from multiple spaces in the Fine Arts Center, two digital keyboard/MIDI/theory labs equipped with sequencing and recording capabilities, and a large library of sampled sounds. Software includes Pro Tools, Reason, Live, GarageBand and Practice Musica.

Opportunities

Special opportunities include guest lecturers and networking with industry professionals from New York City and other areas, and travel to The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show in California. Through the Music Industry Club (MIC), students get experience in every aspect of putting on a concert, from booking to promotion to sound reinforcement. Each year, the Music Industry Club selects a SUNY Oneonta student band or artist to record on the college’s Dragon Records label and carries out the process from start to finish.

Special Talent Admissions

Auditions are not a requirement for acceptance into the music industry program. However, prospective music industry majors who wish to have their talent considered during the admissions process may submit a special talent application as a supplement to the regular application.

Music Department Showcase

Accolades

SUNY Oneonta is one of 28 colleges and universities featured in Billboard magazine’s 2020 list of “Top Music Business Schools.”

Contact Us

Music Department
115 Fine Arts Center
E-mail: music@oneonta.edu
Telephone: 607-436-3415

Profiles

Students

Alexandria “Lexie” Koenke

Some of my best experiences have been with the Music Industry Club. We set up shows on campus and bring in outside touring acts, and I’m the audio technician so I run all the sound for the shows we put on. I’m also an intern at The Black Oak downtown, and I do live sound for shows there, which is a lot of fun.

Alexandria “Lexie” Koenke >>

Students

Natalie Costanza

I just got my first WONY radio show, which is so exciting. It’s all feel-good music and music I’ve been listening to during the past week. I get callers making requests and I have some guests in the station. … I love radio -- I found my niche in the music industry. I would love to be an announcer for a radio show one day.

Natalie Costanza >>

Students

Violet Clair

In 20 years I will definitely remember Rock Combo! I've always wanted to be in a band. The first time that we all came together and played a song through was just, like, such an experience. It was so cool. We all have really different taste in music but kind of all go together, like there's a lot of soul and R&B, and then I love the'80s hair metal tunes, so it kind of just all works out in the end.

Violet Clair >>

Students

Cynthia Lambertson

I chose SUNY Oneonta because they had a music industry major and also because I was always very into theater. A lot of the other schools I applied to that had music industry wouldn’t allow non-theater majors to audition for shows. I wanted to have the option to do a bunch of different things.

Cynthia Lambertson >>