Should You Go To School To Learn Music Production & Audio Engineering?

For anyone looking to pursue a career in the recording/music industry, the question of if you should go to school is inevitably going to come up at some point. So we want to offer up our opinion and our experiences to help you make an educated decision. But before I get into this any further, I really want to stress the point that this is just my opinion and nothing more. In this post we will take a deep dive into the pros and cons of taking a post secondary Music tech/recording program. My hope is that this post gives you the information you were looking for to feel at ease with whatever conclusion you end up arriving at. So with that being said let’s jump in and unpack this very important topic.

So is it a yes or a no?

My answer is simple and firm. And that is no! I don’t believe that going to school is a must to learn how to record/produce or to have a career in the recording/music industry. I know many of you will disagree with me and that’s fine but first give me a chance to explain. First of all, the last thing I would ever want to do is deter anybody from going to school to get an education. There are definitely more pros than cons to going to school which we will cover shortly. And I never said that you shouldn’t go school, I just believe that you don’t have to go to school to become a professional. There's a massive distinction there.

So first I would like to explain my personal story so you can get a better understanding of why I believe going to school isn’t absolutely necessary for success in the music industry.

My Personal Story…

Like everybody thinking of trying their hand at a career in the music industry, I had to ask myself the question if I should go to school or not. And the first thing I did was look to see how much it would cost me. I knew it would be expensive but the prices really blew my mind. And even though it was really expensive, I just believed it was the price I would have to pay for an education and it just had to be done. But right before I made my decision to enrol, thankfully I reached out to some people I knew that had already taken the program to ask for their take on the situation. And to my surprise, not a single one of them recommended that I take the program. I couldn’t believe it! They all even had the same advice for me. They said that the amount I would learn from going to school is not worth the amount of money you would have to spend for the education received. In other words, the value just wasn’t there. Because I wanted to specialize in becoming a mix engineer, I wouldn’t get enough out of the program to justify spending that kind of money. The programs cover too many subjects to be able to get a solid education on one specific skill set such as mixing. This really left me in a tough spot because I really respected these people and their opinions and I honestly didn’t know what to do next. 

In the end, I ended up taking their advice and not enrolling in a program. As tough a decision as it was, money ended up being the main factor in my decision. I couldn’t justify spending tens of thousands of dollars to learn the basics of how to mix. And even though I knew I would get educated in other areas of music I just felt like I had to find another way.

So I did some more research and was able to find some online courses that were in my budget and that’s what got me started on my educational journey. Keep in mind this was back in 2012 and there wasn’t nearly as much information and online courses back then to access so I was really taking a chance. Luckily I already had a bunch of relationships in the industry and knew a couple of producers to help me out and I eventually sourced out a professional friend in the industry and paid him to train me privately. Which ultimately ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve made in my career. So between the online courses, private training, mentorship and youtube, here I am 11 years later writing this blog post with a successful career in the music industry without a diploma in recording and music production. 

And even though this has been my journey and partly why I hold the opinion I do, I actually still believe there are more benefits than cons to going to school. Just the experience alone can be worth enrolment. 

So let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of going to school:

Pros

• Networking and relationships – We all know that going to any school gives us the opportunity to network and develop strong, lasting relationships that continue well after graduation. Whether you establish great friendships or strong business relationships, that’s something invaluable that we can all get from going to school. And it’s not just the relationship with fellow students that are valuable but also the industry contacts that can be made as well. Whether it’s the teachers or industry professionals that are brought into the classes to do seminars, the opportunity to meet these people, pick their brain and possibly establish a working relationship is so important to anyone’s career. Schools are made for networking and developing relationships, which is tough to get at that level anywhere else if you’re young and new to the industry. 

• Learning from industry professionals – This ties into the previous benefit we just discussed. In my opinion, nothing is comparable to having hands-on training from certified industry professionals and the key word here is “hands on”. While online courses may be created and designed by industry professionals, it’s just not quite the same as having access to a qualified expert to have all of your questions answered right then and there. Most teachers are still working professionals and have great contacts as well. Going to school gives the opportunity to associate with these people, which is a lot tougher to do on your own.

• Get a lot of experience working in great studios and using analog equipment – The beautiful thing about attending a music school is that you have access to working with great equipment and you get the experience of working in a commercial studio setting. Most people with home studios don’t have analog consoles and tens of thousands of dollars of top of the line equipment to enjoy. But most schools have at least one large commercial studio to give you the experience of working in that environment. While it may not be as necessary to work out of commercial studios in this day and age, the knowledge and experience to be gained is extremely valuable and can definitely be translated to the digital world. The experience you gain in commercial studios is great but being able to use and learn about all of the different types of classic gear is almost worth the price of tuition on its own. Also, If you plan on working out of commercial studios in the future, this experience and knowledge is essential. 
• More structured – Not to say that online courses and private training aren't structured well, because a lot of it is. It’s usually just not going to be quite the same as the programs put together by many of the institutions out there. These programs have been refined over the course of many years and in many cases put together by a large team of professionals. School is all about structure in all aspects, so naturally that structure is going to be reflected in the curriculums all across the board. Also, going to school naturally requires the discipline of having to be there and do the work. You’re more likely to be more committed to learning if you’re attending a post secondary institution than learning things on your own time.

• Certification – Certification is one of the primary reasons people make the decision to go to school and for good reason. Your chances of getting employment are much higher if you have a diploma. But unfortunately in the real world of the music industry, experience is king. Even over a diploma. Not to say that it’s not valuable, cause it definitely is for many reasons and can make going to school worth your while. But for most people looking to hire for music related jobs and projects, they will almost always choose experience and results over a diploma. That’s just how the cookie crumbles in this industry of ours. But certification will always have its place in the world as it gives you a certain level of credibility right from the get go.
• Internships – One of the most valuable aspects of going to school is the possibility of getting internships with major companies. In many cases, you can actually learn more from an internship with a great company than you can from the school programs themselves. So getting the opportunity to get to see how things work in a professional setting with people who have been doing it for years is priceless when you're new in your career. The problem is that internships are definitely not a guarantee and are hard to come by, simply because there’s so much competition to get one. In most cities, there just aren’t many commercial recording studios, film production studios or video game companies to go around for everyone looking to get an internship. But if you’re lucky enough to get that experience you’ll be way ahead of the pack!

CONS

• Cost - By far, the biggest con to going to school is the amount of money it costs to receive an education in music production and audio engineering. I’m Canadian and in Canada, prices for a music production/audio program in a post-secondary institute range from $9000 to over $30,000. Now $9000 seems reasonable but how much knowledge are you getting in exchange for that money. By no means am I downplaying the quality of the programs of the institutions but it almost seems like you’re paying just to get the certification. On the flip side, if you were to put $1000 towards online courses and $1000 towards private training, you could get a huge wealth of knowledge on those subjects equivalent to or even more to a one year course at a post secondary school. That’s why going to school can be so scary for people. The thought of having all of that debt is just too much. In my experience, you can get the knowledge and skills without having to spend crazy amounts of money or going into massive debt.

• They are designed to only teach you the basics – Recording/Pro audio is one of those industries where there’s just so much to learn. And no matter how good the teachers are and how structured the programs may be, there’s only so much you can learn in a year or two. You can literally only scratch the surface over the course of a year, especially if there are a lot of subjects being covered over the course of that year. If you decide to take a 2 year program then you can potentially start getting a decent understanding of things. But many people who have taken programs actually believe that it’s more worthwhile to study on your own for a year or two and then take a program. Doing it this way allows you to really hone in on your creativity and soak in more knowledge rather than having to spend all of your time trying to get a grasp of the basics. Definitely something to consider.
• It’s more difficult to express creativity – So what do I mean by this? Well, when you're in a classroom sitting with a bunch of other people you don’t know and are spending so much of your energy trying to absorb as much information as possible, it’s not as easy to be creative when working on projects. But if you’re at home learning on your own, you’re more free to express your creativity because you’re in a more comfortable environment with essentially no pressure to perform. This may not seem like a big deal but it’s definitely something to think about. Being creative during the learning process makes information easier to absorb and easier to apply.
• You can’t get specialized training in one or two skill sets - This was the other main reason I opted not to go to take a post secondary program. At the time, I knew that I just wanted to learn how to be a mix engineer. But post secondary programs are all designed to give basic knowledge in all areas of recording, engineering and music production, not for specialized training in individual skill sets. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on where you’re at and where you want to go. This is one of the biggest complaints students of these programs have. So many people just want to go to school to learn one or two specific subjects and they just don’t end up getting much education on them. I’ve known many people drop out of the programs because of this reason alone. So if you're looking for in depth training in one or two areas, that is not what most programs are about. 

So there it is!