Music Production & Recording Arts Major
Back to Majors, Minors & Academic Programs
About the Major
The music production and recording arts major is designed for students who wish to study the intersection of music and technology in the context of the liberal arts. This includes disciplines such as songwriting, composing music for film and video games, audio engineering and music production, post-production audio, music business and entrepreneurship, and performing in commercial music genres.
Jobs in Music Production & Recording Arts
- Songwriter/composer
- Music producer
- Recording engineer
- Live sound engineer
- Music business
Past Elon Music Production & Recording Arts Internships
- Atlantic Records
- Conway Recording Studios
- Dim Mak Records
- Red Light Management
- Studio City Sound
Related Majors
Merging a love for music with the practicality of a marketable skill
Elon College Fellow Dan Conley, who graduated in 2022, pursued avenues of musical exploration in studios, on stages and behind the mixing board.
A music production and recording arts major, he became and remained involved with the Audio Engineering Society and Limelight Records, Elon’s student-run record label, all four years. He was president of the Audio Engineering Society for two years. He also played guitar with the Elon Music Ambassadors two semesters and received the Chair’s Award for Music Excellence his junior year.
Choosing to major in music production and recording arts brought together his love for the arts with the practicality of a marketable skill.
I wanted to study something I am very passionate about and have a variety of directions to go in after college.
“I wanted to study something I am very passionate about and have a variety of directions to go in after college,” Conley said. “These could be audio engineering, post-production audio editing, orchestrating, among other opportunities.”
A few months after graduating, Conley took a job at Flyspace Productions as an audio engineer and production technician. His long-term goal, he said in 2022, is to move to Nashville and enter the music industry.
He encourages incoming Elon students to not be afraid to fail.
“Confidence is key, even in the face of failure,” he said. “Mistakes are so closely tied with life, that to fear them is to live in fear. The challenge of life is not to avoid making mistakes; the challenge is really to avoid the same mistakes more than once.”
Did You Know?
- A degree in music production and recording arts prepares students for a variety of careers that combine the art of music with applications of technology. An even broader range of careers are available for students who minor or double major in other fields such as communications, cinema production, business, computer science or arts administration.
- Students work closely with experienced faculty who are established composers, recording engineers, producers, performing musicians and music scholars. They also have the opportunity to work with guest artists and other industry professionals.
- The program provides a wide range of internship experiences through partnerships with media companies, recording studios, record labels, production companies, live sound companies, music publishers, performance venues and other music industry organizations and businesses.