April 30, 2003

Music business tops in nation;
Program boasts 100 percent placement

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. —  100 percent.

That’s the figure that the music business program, which began at ISU in 1978, can boast about its placement in the music industry and it’s what Director James Slutz, who came to ISU in 1989, is most proud of during his time here.

What exactly is music business? It’s probably a question you’re asking yourself right now. You think you know what music is and you know what business entails, but where do these two meet?

They meet in an industry that has grown to a $100 billion-a-year business that extends from the ticket that you buy for an orchestra performance to the Top 40 CD you purchase at the local record store and every piece of sheet music in between. Eighty-five percent of ISU music business graduates end up in the music products business and 15 percent in arts, symphony and venue management.

A highly specialized niche in the industry, it requires knowledge of both the inner workings of a business with the background of music to adequately serve its customer base. It is this thinking that drives the core of the music business program at ISU.

“Our students are required to not only take business and music courses, but courses that specifically address the business of music,” Slutz said. “This is by design at ISU. Some schools simply have students take the two separate kinds of classes and call it a program.”

This approach better brings the two worlds together, bridging the gap between art and business, and has helped ISU become one of the most respected programs in the nation and the world.

Exposure to the people and companies that make up the music industry is the first step in giving ISU students a head start on their careers. ISU is an affiliate institution of the International Music Products Association (NAMM) and is one of only 34 institutions across North America to possess membership with the NAMM Affiliated Music Business Institutions (NAMBI), of which Slutz is one of the founders.

Jenna Field, junior music business major who also works as Slutz’s assistant, discusses the importance of interacting with the professional world, “I have been learning what he does and how he does it. I’ve gotten an insight into how business deals are made and it’s given me a different view of life.”

Every year Slutz and several students make the trips to NAMM Trade Shows in California and Tennessee. The shows are not open to the general public, and Slutz was instrumental in getting NAMM to allow college students to attend so they could enhance their chances for success in the industry. The show now coordinates a job/internship placement area where junior and senior level students can submit their resumés for companies to review.

Todd Sullivan, chair of the ISU music department, attended the California show with Slutz and the music business students in January where he had the chance to observe the help NAMM provides to college students.

“I was especially struck by the fact that of the first 14 interviews requested by the Yahama Corporation, 12 were for ISU students,” Sullivan said. “That shows you the respect and trust our program has in the industry.”

The 100 percent placement of the program is in part due to the overwhelmingly successful internships that are a culmination of the four-year curriculum. Slutz personally arranges each of his student’s internships and works to make sure that intern and internship are right for each other.

“Our interns have choices and people want them. I get calls all the time asking when we’ll have someone available,” Slutz said.

ISU has placed interns in several companies that previously would not accept them. Slutz recalls one such instance with flute player Heather Cousineau: “Gemeinhardt Flutes, at my pushing, accepted their first intern from ISU but were adamant that there was no job available when it ended,” Slutz said. “Two weeks before the internship ended, I got a call from them and they told me she couldn’t leave and they were creating a position for her.”

Cousineau, now an administrative assistant at Gemeinhardt Flutes in Elkhart, assists with advertising, marketing and exhibit shows.

“[Slutz] takes his job to a personal level,” Cousineau said. “He was there all the way through, he makes sure that you get a good job that’s the right fit for you.”

ISU’s reputation for music business extends beyond international borders as well. Senior Masakazu Kimura heard about the program in Japan. “I had lots of options, but I had heard that ISU was one of the best in the U.S.”

Kimura will begin his internship with the Yahama Band/Orchestra Company in Indianapolis in July.

 The cliché, “some big shoes to fill” seems to apply when Slutz leaves ISU next spring. Many current and former students describe him as not only a teacher and mentor, but a father figure during their time at ISU and beyond. When you talk to any present or former student and ask them about Slutz, the first thing out of their mouths is a variation on this theme: “He really cares about his students and he cares if they succeed.”

“Slutz treated us like his kids,” says Denise Bennett who interned at VH1 Music and now works for Nickelodeon Television, part of the MTV Networks. “We had a Christmas dinner at his house every year and he really cares about us.”

That caring extends beyond graduation as well, according to Tim Gee, director of retail sales and marketing at Paige’s Music in Indianapolis. “I still talk to him today. He’s more than an adviser. He’s a friend you can go to for information on the industry or just life in general.”

There are several more factors that contribute to the success of the program, including the existence of the Music Industry Association (MIA), a student organization that strives to provide its members with the opportunity to view first-hand as many aspects of the music business world as possible through field trips and by bringing in industry leaders for residencies with the music business program. They achieve these goals through fundraisers such the semi-annual Battle of the Bands, affectionately referred to as BOB by the members, which incorporates the community by inviting local band to participate in the “battle.”

To give the music business program a firm foundation in the world it prepares students for, a national advisory board of industry leaders comes to ISU every two to four years to meet with Slutz, attend classes and participate in a roundtable to discuss how to strengthen the program. Slutz has been in the business of music for 45 years as a high school band director, university band director, and music department chairman, among the many hats he’s worn.

He sees the future of music business education preparing its students for global economics. “I think the basic premises will not change in the next 10 years, but the landscape will,” Slutz said. “We are in a world economy. It will be a challenge, but it will be figured out. Music is not going away and for music to exist there is a fundamental requirement of instruments and print. Without those it can’t last long.”

-30-

Contact:
James Slutz, professor of music and director of the music business program, (812) 237-3008 or mislutz@isugw.indstate.edu or Todd Sullivan, chair and associate professor of music, (812) 237-2771 or misulliv@isugw.indstate.edu

Writer:
Curt Koehler, ISU Public Affairs, (812) 237-3791 or
devkoehl@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu