Last February, entrepreneur Philip Payne got a call from his close friend Ogden Payne (no relation), who had a pitch for an entirely new venture. Through his company, For the Students, Ogden had already devised the curriculum for a six-week music business certification program and was set to partner with Huston-Tillotson University (HT), but he needed an instructor and had someone specific in mind. A successful promoter and talent manager, Philip helped ScoreMore Shows rise to acclaim and had worked with artists such as Drake, Mac Miller, and Tory Lanez. But the prospect of being a teacher? That wasn’t on his radar.
Surprise aside, the idea of sharing the wealth of his knowledge and insight with the Austin community that helped launch his career allured him. Fast forward nine months to a chilly night in November, and Philip stood before a classroom of 25 students, giving them a rundown of the basics of A&R (artists and repertoire), the ins and outs of music publishing, and how to market to contemporary consumers.
Austin’s identity as a music city is rooted in our abundance of venues as well as two major festivals, but when it comes to industry infrastructure, many artists will tell you that it lags far behind cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville. While music in the capital city generates nearly $2 billion in annual economic activity, the median income for those working in the industry was just $35,000-$49,000 as of the 2015 music census. “With a lot of musicians that I spoke to, one thing that kept coming up was that they don’t make a lot of money, but this is a billion-dollar industry,” says Rohan Thompson, dean of HT’s School of Business and Technology.
Every year, a parade of talented artists and aspiring producers leave the capital city in search of better opportunities. HT’s program aims to change that. It will not only supply real-world know-how from a successful homegrown mind, but also allow students an inside track to internships at two music industry juggernauts right here in town: C3 Presents and SXSW, which are both official partners for the enterprise. Additionally, C3 provided scholarship funds for a select number of students, which was a massive help with the project’s initial launch. “We’ve got full-time staff that started as interns,” says SXSW director of music festival programming Brian Hobbs.
Among the students registered for the course is Chelsea Williams, a San Marcos High School grad and freshman business major at Huston-Tillotson. With a love for hip-hop artists like Future and Rod Wave, Williams saw the certification program as a perfect complement to her coursework. “When Philip started telling us his story, it just really opened my eyes,” she says. “You don’t have to play an instrument to be in the music industry.” Williams adds that she could see herself pursuing a career pathway in managing artists in the future.
The program, which is open to the public rather than just HT students, has appealed to seasoned vets like David Brendan Hall as well. A music journalist and photographer, Hall has worked in the field for decades but recently ventured into promotions and marketing. He saw the course as a way to sharpen his awareness of trends and help foster connections.
Given HT’s status as a historically Black university, the course also addresses the lack of diversity that Austin chronically faces: The city’s Black population has decreased from 10 percent to just over 7 percent over the last two decades. “When you talk about the declining numbers of African-Americans here in Austin, that number also is reflected in the music industry,” Thompson says. “We thought that this would be a really good way to bring more diversity to the music industry, because it’s needed.”
