Beginning in the summer of 2016, Southern Utah University will launch a new master’s degree program in music technology. SUU is the first university in the state to offer a master’s degree in music technology.
According to Steven Meredith, SUU’s director of choral activities and music technology, this degree will allow students more flexibility in the job market.
“The main theme of this degree is not to sit in a cubicle from 9 to 5,” said Meredith. “This degree allows students to cobble together three to four different jobs and create a career from it.”
In recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, musician employment from 2012–2022 is expected to grow by 5 percent while broadcast and sound engineering technicians’ employment is expected to grow 9 percent due to digital downloads and new emerging music technology.
In his article, “The Coming Melt-Down in Music Higher Education,” music educator and critic David Cutler of the Duquesne University Center for Music Entrepreneurship Studies suggests that a music technology focus might be critical to the future of music education in general.
“As we have witnessed in the recording, automobile and housing sectors, past formulas for success may not last forever,” said Cutler. “Industries that fail to adapt to current realities are often unsustainable … over the coming decades, the music schools that thrive will be those that differentiate their offerings, cultivate entrepreneurial leaders, and best prepare students for professional realities.”
The master’s degree in music technology is an online degree program designed primarily for musicians who want to use technology to enhance and expand their current skillset. Those who wish to work or are already working as technicians in the music profession will have opportunities to increase their knowledge of current and emerging technology in the industry.
In total, the degree consists of a 30-credit curriculum, which also includes regular interaction with instructors through videoconference and desktop project-sharing technologies.
Those who are interested in this program should contact SUU at (435) 865-8665 or onlineadmissions@suu.edu.
