Troy University announced that it will offer a new Master’s of Business Administration in Music Industry.

The new MBA will be offered starting this fall through a partnership between the Sorrell College of Business and the John M. Long School of Music.

“I think looking to the future it’s up to us as a business school to be able to provide a foundation in business education that can drive the creative arts,” says Dean of the Sorrell College of Business Dr. Judson Edwards. “So much is changing within all areas of the arts. It is becoming that the creative arts, I believe, will be the things that will help drive the economy in the future.”

There are a variety of options in the workforce for those who have degrees in music industry according to the program coordinator Robert W. Smith.

“They can go into all forms of the business,” says Smith. “In fact, I even challenge our students here you can’t name a job that is not in the music industry and entertainment industry. It’s unbelievably comprehensive. With that in mind, however, we’re going to have people who want to be producers. We’re going to have artists who have to manage the business of their careers. We’re talking about music publishing. We’re talking about instrument manufacturing. We’re talking about record company operations.”

Chris Vrenna, career musician, producer and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be one of the first students in the program and says it’s a program that he wishes he had access to years ago.

“This MBA program is so amazing and special because it will help educate in a modern world like what we’re all in for when you get out there,” says Vrenna. “And on a personal note I wish I would have been able to have a program like this before I started a professional career in the 80s. I would have made some different decisions for myself.”

For the full story watch Georgia’s report.

Learn more about the MBA in Music Industry at troy.edu/musicindustrymba.