Belmont joins 47 other programs recognized for preparing the next generation of music industry leaders
Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business has again been named to Billboard's "Top Music Business Schools" list alongside programs across the U.S. and abroad.
This year's list arrives as artificial intelligence reshapes much of the music business, and Billboard framed its coverage around what a college education still offers students in that landscape, pointing to the value of mentorship and professional networks.
"Technology will keep changing how music reaches people, but this industry still runs on relationships," said David Schreiber, interim dean of the Curb College. "No algorithm can replace the mentor who opens a door or the colleague who champions your work. Our job is to put students in front of those people early and often, from faculty who are still working in the industry to professionals just down the street on Music Row. That's what Belmont has done for more than 50 years, and it's why our alumni keep coming back to open doors for the students behind them.”
Billboard's profile of Belmont noted the college's six specialized study tracks, on-site recording studios and a main campus one block from Music Row, where students begin working inside the industry their first year. Music business students can choose an emphasis in business, creative, legal, live or production, or pursue a 3+3 track with the College of Law to earn both a B.B.A. and a J.D. in six years.
The magazine also cited Belmont USA semesters in New York and Los Angeles, nearly 30 international courses and the Belmont Showcase Series, which gives students full ownership of six major concerts and four writers' rounds each year. The profile also recognized Belmont's Center for Mental Health in Entertainment, a partnership between the Curb College and the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences.
Alumni featured in the profile include songwriter-producer Gabe Simon, whose credits include Noah Kahan and Dua Lipa; Spirit Music Group CEO Frank Rogers; and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Ashley Gorley, founder of Tape Room Music. Simon and Gorley regularly return to campus to share their experience with students through seminars and masterclasses.
Belmont's Music Row presence will continue to grow with phase two of its expansion. In May, Belmont broke ground on a new 75,000-square-foot facility at 15 Music Circle South, made possible by a $58 million lead gift from Mike and Linda Curb and the Mike Curb Foundation, the largest gift in Belmont's history. The building will feature audio engineering labs, a content capture and podcast production studio, a multifunction space and dedicated band practice space, and will give the Center for Mental Health in Entertainment a permanent home. It will also house the new Johnny Cash Learning Center, anchored by a collection of Cash's personal archives, including correspondence, handwritten notes and songs, gifted to Belmont by his family.
Recent graduates are already making their mark. Of the Curb College's class of 2025 graduates who reported data, 98% achieved a career outcome within six months of graduation, with 89% employed and 8% continuing their education. Employers include Universal Music Group, Big Machine Label Group, Live Nation Entertainment, CMA, Kobalt Music Group, Blackbird Studio and The Walt Disney Company, and more than three-quarters of reporting graduates stayed in Middle Tennessee to build their careers.
About Belmont University
Located near the heart of thriving Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University consists of nearly 9,000 students who come from every state and 33 countries. The University is nationally recognized for its innovative approach as well as its commitment to undergraduate teaching (U.S. News & World Report). As a Christ-centered, student-focused community, Belmont’s mission is to develop diverse leaders of purpose, character and wisdom who possess a transformational mindset and are eager and equipped to make the world a better place. With more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and eight doctoral degrees, Belmont University aims to be the leading Christ-centered university in the world, producing leaders who will radically champion the pursuit of life abundant for all people.
Belmont University Media Contact
Julia Copeland, Director of PR
julia.copeland@belmont.edu
615.460.6178
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