The University of Colorado Denver has been named to Billboard Magazine’s Top Music Business Schools. The 2023 inclusion represents the fifth time CU Denver has been featured on the prestigious list.

“Being recognized once again as one of the top music business programs is especially an honor given the recent growth of our program in offering more cutting-edge curriculum in our courses, and the development of new partnerships,” says Associate Professor Storm Gloor, MBA. Additionally, Gloor says the inclusion “speaks to the accomplishments of our great new faculty that have joined our team and quickly committed much to our students' success.”

CU Denver’s Music & Entertainment Industry Studies (MEIS) department in the College of Arts & Media (CAM) sits on the list alongside schools such as UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music and Berklee College of Music. There are even international schools featured, such as Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts.

Billboard takes a host of things into consideration when considering schools for the list. “The schools listed are selected through executive recommendations, alumni information provided by honorees from our multiple power lists, information requested from each school and a decade of reporting on these programs,” the article in Billboard’s October 7, 2023 issue states.

CU Denver Is the Only School in the Rocky Mountain Region to Be Included

In years past, CU Denver stood out as an affordable option with an excellent music business curriculum, a commitment to advocacy and supporting artists, and the only school to represent the Rocky Mountain region. While all of these characteristics continue to be relevant this year, the article pointed to a new reason for inclusion: “Additionally this year, the Mechanical Licensing Collective appointed faculty member Dan Hodges as one of its educator ambassadors to advise students on the importance of registering music with the MLC to collect interactive streaming royalties.” The article also pointed to CU Denver’s new status as a partner school of the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International (NSAI).

Affiliations with organizations such as MLC and NSAI are helpful for students with their sights set on a career in the music industry. “It is important to not only educate students about the ins and outs of how the industry works, but also provide opportunities to be at the forefront of knowledge as the industry continually changes due to technology,” says Associate Professor Dan Hodges, DBA. Coming to CU Denver with a decades-long career in music publishing, Hodges has been the catalyst behind these affiliations and understands the value they represent to students. “Our students’ involvement with important organizations such as the MLC, as student ambassadors, and NSAI, as student members, is helping to prepare them for entering the workforce with a solid background and providing relationships to help them succeed,” he explains.

Alumni of the music business program find fulfilling careers in digital music marketing and distribution, music publishing, venue and tour management, and through independent entrepreneurship. Additionally, because the program offers both an audition track and non-audition track option, students interested in performing and creating music themselves can be trained with the complementary management skills needed to navigate the industry.

Assistant Professor Matthew O’Brien, JD who joined CU Denver’s faculty last year after teaching at Middle Tennessee State University for over 30 years, believes CU Denver is uniquely positioned to train music industry hopefuls.

“The dizzying pace of advances in digital technology such as AI, the constantly evolving social media landscape, and the rapid globalization of the industry requires an agility in critical thinking that our program at CU Denver is uniquely and specifically designed to foster. I am delighted that the ‘bible’ of the music business has chosen to recognize us for this,” O’Brien says.