Music business education in the new music industries

Since the 1990s, there has been a steady growth in music business education courses in vocational and higher education. This thesis explores the suitability and usefulness of music industries education, industry perceptions of music business education, and the appropriate types of skills and knowledge being taught in music business courses in Australia. It combines industry and educator interviews with curriculum analysis to review industry structures and attitudes to career pathways. Viewing music business education as a contested “field”, the thesis links individual/collective practices to wider tensions between a “real-world” industry and the discourses and practices of the classroom.