Students from all over campus come to the School of Music to pursue a unique minor in music, media and enterprise (MME), an endeavor that helps springboard them to careers as talent managers, event promoters, arts writers, booking agents, music marketers and more.

According to Mark Rubinstein, audio engineer who teaches MME classes, about 120 students are enrolled per year in the minor, which is open to anyone at the university. “The minor is designed to prepare students for various careers in the music industry; they come out of it with a good understanding of the role of music in commerce and society. They examine music creation and how music is disseminated in the marketplace — and that’s a moving target as technology changes so fast these days,” he said.

Surprisingly, Rubinstein said very few students choosing the minor are music majors. “It’s an interesting mix,” he said. “The largest chunk of our students comes from the College of Business — marketing majors and business majors. We also have a lot of strategic communications students, who end up with careers in music promotion — and majors from economics, electrical engineering, journalism and so on.”

He said, “It works well as a minor because students can tailor it to fit their interests and synthesize with their major. It’s an incredibly flexible program and can be customized to fit each student’s aspirations.”

The nine-year-old minor, directed by now-interim School of Music Director David Bruenger offers a full cadre of courses, including entrepreneurship, music production, media economics, music cultures of the world, media ethics, media entertainment and communications law. Their sophisticated facility includes two high-tech recording studios and a computerized control surface, as well as instructional spaces, all housed on campus in Mershon Auditorium.

Olivia Gelder, a third-year marketing major, found out about the MME minor through her internship with PromoWest Productions, where many of the student-interns were Ohio State MME minors.

“The MME minor has helped me understand and critically think about aspects of the industry that I haven't yet encountered. The core is that to create a successful music enterprise, there must be synergy between the social, economical and artistic forces at play,” Gelder explained.

Gelder believes being an MME minor has given her tremendous resources, “I now have the tools to better evaluate potential careers, companies and industry trends so I'm making informed decisions in my professional life that will benefit me in the long-run.”

Learn more about minors in the School of Music.