'This is going to be major': Huston-Tillotson's new music business program a hit at SXSW

In the live music capital of the world, a new program at Huston-Tillotson University took the spotlight at South by Southwest. The program, Musical Business Foundations, launched last fall to prepare aspiring music professionals for the business side of the industry.

Huston-Tillotson — a historically black university that is the oldest institution of higher education in Austin — announced the music program in September in partnership with the Austin-based company For The Students.

Panelists at SXSW said the program is the first of its kind in Austin. Rohan Thompson, dean of Huston-Tillotson's School of Business and Technology, said he has wanted to start a program like this since he became dean in 2019.

“I felt like this is something that we need to push,” Thompson said. “We need to educate, especially minorities, about the opportunity that exists even for those who can't play an instrument like myself.”

The program runs six weeks and covers marketing, contracts and legal language, music publishing, event promotion and an overview of music roles. All undergraduates and adults who aren't students are invited to enroll.

A study in 2018 found that only about 12% of funds from the music industry went to artists, Rolling Stone reported.

“When we go to see shows we go to see the musicians, but they're the ones that are saying they can't pay the bills, because they're not the ones making the money,” Thompson said. “We've got to find a way in which to bridge that gap.”

Huston-Tillotson is now hosting its second session, and students have come from Houston, San Antonio and Waco to participate. This summer, the university hopes to launch an online version of the program.

“From a workforce opportunity, this is going to be major,” Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, director of the city's economic development department, said at the event. “Everybody wants the gig, but in order for you to make a living here in Austin, you need that backbone infrastructure.”

Ogden Payne, the founder of For the Students, a company that oversees and provides the curriculum for the program, initially reached out to Holt-Rabb about designing a program to fill the need for music business education. She connected him with Huston-Tillotson.

“I reached out to (Holt-Rabb) because I thought, well, maybe the city would want some music business education,” Payne told the American-Statesman. “There's a lot of programs that talk about things from the artist side. But what if I'm not necessarily an artist who wants to market myself, what if I want to be a marketer?”

The in-person program costs $500, with payment plans and scholarships available. Payne said the program also partners with Austin-based C3 Presents, a music organization that produces and promotes concerts, and SXSW to help place students in internships after completing the course.

“There’s a real pipeline from the starting to opportunity,” he said.

This class is for anyone aspiring to enter the industry, said Phillip Payne, the course instructor, a music manager and founder of a consulting firm to support emerging artists.

“One of the things that I really want to get to them is that there's no age constraint on being successful in the music business,” he said in an interview. “It's just about being prepared when your time comes.”

It also means treating any band like a business. At the panel, Payne spoke to the importance of building connections with fans, not just going viral.

“For us to be able to make the next Kendrick Lamars, the next Taylor Swifts, and the next Adeles, that takes time,” he said. “That’s one fan by one fan by one fan.”

When Mario Hernandez was 12 years old, he knew he wanted to be in the music industry after his dad asked him to DJ at a party and nicknamed him "the teenage sound machine." After spending several years in media and another eight in Austin's tech industry, he was laid off from his job in July. The "itch" to join the music industry came back.

"I knew it was the time to try," Hernandez said. He enrolled in the class after seeing an advertisement on Instagram.

With only two more weeks to go, Hernandez said he has gained a community and an awareness of opportunities in the industry.

Hernandez and a friend started a social media account, "Promo Use Only," to host virtual music events and he hopes to develop it into a business. He said joining the class was "the smartest decision I've ever made."

"Honestly, I'd say it's all that I could have hoped for," Hernandez said.

Music is the soul of the city, Thompson said at the panel. As the program continues to grow, he hopes it will remain an affordable, quality option for aspiring musicians.

“We don't want to put boundaries on where this could go,” Thompson said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Huston-Tillotson University's new music business program a hit at SXSW