Conservatories have long been revered as bastions of musical excellence, nurturing talent and fostering future generations of professional performers. But as the art music field faces challenging economic conditions, the status of the conservatory as a professional training program is called into question. In the past decade, entrepreneurship education rapidly spread through music schools. Entrepreneurship is presented as the solution to a host of 21st-century problems: empowering young artists to be “leaders” and “innovators” in an increasingly insecure professional environment. This essay critically examines the paradigm of entrepreneurship training in conservatory-style institutions, assessing its value and capacity to deliver on institutional commitments to professional training for a profession that is increasingly insecure.

We are artists and educators with experience in teaching entrepreneurship in a range of higher education curricular environments in the northeastern United States. Encountering each other in meetings and conferences, we recognized a shared critical perspective that comes from our being at once working musicians and academics. Music entrepreneurship is concerned, at heart, with livelihood, and we found that our lived experiences as musical laborers qualified and sharpened the ways we think about and teach music entrepreneurship, in ways that sometimes diverge from the dominant practice. In this essay, we tease out some of the themes that emerged in our conversations.

The Current Paradigm

We describe conservatories and conservatory-style educational settings as environments where: (a) admission criteria are heavily based on large ensemble seating placements, indicative of a student's technical skill and musicianship; (b) the pedagogical focus is squarely on preparing students for professional careers in music, emphasizing the development of high-level performance skills; and (c) there is a strong emphasis on conserving and perpetuating the musical traditions that form the bedrock of classical music education. While conservatory-style training is rooted in cultures of classical music, the conservatory model extends to other musical cultures (e.g. jazz, folk musics, etc.).

This conservatory model reflects a deep-rooted belief that the primary goal of a musicians’ education is artistic and technical mastery. A high level of virtuosity and a profound understanding of canon, in theory, equips a student for a successful career in a highly competitive field. The measure of success for these programs is typically represented by alumni who have risen to artistic prominence, or who have secured a competitive position in a professional ensemble. This reflects the 18th-century French origins of the conservatoire as a site for preparing professional performers, tied to nationalist projects of cultural expression and preservation.

Music entrepreneurship can sit in an uneasy tension with the meritocratic value proposition of the conservatory. If artistic excellence is not enough to guarantee a professional career, then it calls into question the value of the conservatory project. It is likely for this reason that entrepreneurship assumes a marginal role in this model. Entrepreneurship is typically manifested as a singular course offering, positioned towards the end of the undergraduate curriculum. The course carries marginal credit weight compared to required coursework in music history and music theory. This is further compounded by a lack of consensus about what music entrepreneurship is, and what an entrepreneurial musician does. The term “entrepreneurship” is used to cover many different forms of activities traditionally associated with career development.

Evaluating the Paradigm

The inclusion of entrepreneurship in undergraduate music curricula recognizes the importance of career-focused education. However, a series of factors limit its efficacy:

  1. There is often a functional and social separation between studio faculty and the faculty and staff who lead entrepreneurship programs.
  2. Entrepreneurship courses are often taught by junior or part-time faculty who may lack depth and breadth of industry experience, or who lack pedagogical skills to teach students with diverse learning needs.
  3. Hands-on experience is valued for musical practice, but not for skills related to professional development. Canonic practice consumes much of the bandwidth.
  4. Entrepreneurial courses foreground professional development skills—like getting an arts administration job or launching self-produced performances—that ultimately serve to support the system as it is, rather than to challenge or disrupt it.
  5. Curricula are neither economically nor culturally responsive to international students.
  6. Curricula based on venture creation and project development typically conceal the costs of starting and sustaining activity. Entrepreneurial “success” stories conceal the forms of social and financial capital that silently underwrite them.
  7. Skills related to business and venture creation (business acumen, network-weaving, financial management, strategic career planning) cannot be taught in a single session. This reflects an implicit hierarchy of knowledge.
  8. There is little research evaluating the efficacy of entrepreneurship training programs or the impact they have on students.
  9. A “glass ceiling” divides student-facing workers (program administrators and part-time faculty) and people in leadership positions (president, provost, boards). Precarious employment makes it tough for student-facing workers to speak out.

Implications

Accreditation asks conservatory-style institutions to demonstrate how they are preparing students for successful careers and meaningful lives. We share this value personally and professionally, along with many of our colleagues. However, the issues we raise here question the extent to which conservatories are equipping students with the necessary skills to navigate the complexities of today's music industry:

  1. By prioritizing canon mastery, conservatory-style institutions perpetuate a narrow view of success in music, one that prioritizes technical proficiency over the host of factors related to personal and professional well-being.
  2. The lack of comprehensive entrepreneurship coursework diminishes opportunities for students to explore diverse career paths beyond the current system of non-profit arts organizations.
  3. The perceived devaluation of entrepreneurship within conservatory-style institutions may perpetuate a stigma surrounding non-traditional career paths in music. By failing to prioritize entrepreneurship education, institutions may inadvertently reinforce narrow definitions of success, discouraging students from pursuing alternative avenues and contributing to the perpetuation of a homogenous musical landscape.
  4. In an industry characterized by rapid technological advancements and shifting market dynamics, the ability to adapt and innovate is paramount. Yet, the current paradigm of music higher education in many conservatory-style institutions appears to prioritize tradition over innovation, potentially hindering students' capacity to thrive in an ever-evolving, and often unforgiving, landscape.

A transformative shift in how conservatory-style institutions approach music entrepreneurship education is not merely a suggestion—it is an urgent necessity. As the music industry continues to evolve amidst economic instability, technological advancements, and changing audience expectations, the role of the conservatory must expand beyond its traditional focus on technical mastery and canon preservation. We argue that institutions must confront the reality that artistic excellence alone no longer guarantees a sustainable career. This moment calls for bold institutional introspection and action. Institutions have the power—and the responsibility—to reimagine curricula, ensuring that students are equipped with not only artistic skill but also the entrepreneurial mindset needed to navigate and shape the future of the music industry. Without this shift, institutions risk perpetuating a system that leaves many talented artists ill-prepared for the professional challenges ahead. We urge leaders, faculty, and institutional stakeholders to critically assess their programs and take decisive steps toward integrating entrepreneurship as a core component of higher music education. The stakes are high, and the potential impact—on students, on the field, and on the broader cultural landscape—is far-reaching.