Music Business/Popular Music Concentration
Catawba Rocks!
Catawba College is quickly emerging as a top college for talented students of popular music & music business from across the country. And we do mean talented (read about the real-world success of our students).
 Why the success? For performers and songwriters, we fully support your musical vision. We do so by helping you develop your own singular artistic voice and gain the musical depth and breadth that will help sustain your career through the years. For students interested in becoming managers, agents, producers, and the like, we teach you about today's music industry and help you acquire the entrepreneurial and networking skills you need to thrive in it. Our support of popular music also creates a vibrant learning environment. You study alongside musicians actively pursuing the types of music that inspire you too.
 Now Accepting Online Auditions!
Catawba to Host Summit on Popular Music on June 25-26 in Washington, D.C.
 READ about Catawba Music Business/Popular Music
 LISTEN to Catawba's Popular Music Students & Recent Graduates
LOOK at Our Exciting NEW Courses for Fall 2009
SEE Where Our Students are Interning this Summer
Success Tracker
Catawba's music business students are quickly finding success in the professional world of music, sometimes even before they graduate. Here are two notable examples:
- 2007 music business graduate and now Catawba Young Artist in Residence Dennis Reed can be heard on not just one but two albums that received Grammy Awards in 2010: Heather Headley's "Audience of One" and the gospel compilation "Oh Happy Day."
- The songs of senior music business student and 2007 second-place John Lennon scholarship recepient Derek Daisey can be heard in homes across the country through placement in segments of NBC's the Today Show, the Food Network, and even the video for a Men's Health magazine's cover shoot/interview featuring actor Paul Walker.
More John Lennon Wins!
Two Catawba musicians tied each other (!) for second place and another placed third in the 2009 BMI John Lennon Songwriting Scholarship competition. That brings to five the number of Catawba students who have placed either first, second, or third over the past four years in a contest that draws thousands of entries annually. No other college or university in the country can touch these results!
READ about Catawba's Lennon wins
LISTEN to Katie Bragg's prize-winning song
LISTEN to Mason Jewett's prize-winning song
LISTEN to more Catawba students
 WATCH Catawba Vernaculars in concert: Video #1 | Video #2
The Catawba Difference
Unlike the vast majority of
colleges
and universities,
Catawba
offers
a musically
inclusive
curriculum
that fully
embraces
popular
music
(from
rock
and
alternative
to
 gospel
and
urban
styles).
This
grows
from
our
fundamental
belief
in the
limitless
artistic
potential
of
all
musics.
We also help you
gain
the business
know-how you need
to succeed
in today's and
tomorrow's world
of
music.
We
even
offer
scholarships to
qualified
students.
 Here
is just
some
of what
sets
Catawba
apart:
- Popular music
courses:
songwriting
and
demo
production,
audio
recording,
music
technology,
theory
of
popular
music,
history
of
American
popular
music, and more
- Vernaculars popular
music ensemble: dedicated to recent songs of influence and inspiration (Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, John Mayer, Regina Spektor...), important legacy works that have helped create today's popular music (Beatles, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin..) and original pieces by members of the ensemble
- Popular music and music business students learning side-by side, inspired by the same types of music, working on joint projects, charting their futures together...
- A Music business curriculum that keeps
pace
with
the
21st century and helps both popular music and music business students acquire the essential business know-how they need to succeed in the competitive world of music
 Opportunities to perform and record your original creations with classmates that share your passion for popular music - Interact
with
and learn from music industry professionals
- Professional internships (Def
Jam,
Aware
Records...)
- State-of-the-art project recording studio with open access
- Rehearsal space for
practicing and jamming to your
heart's content
 Online Auditions
Success Stories
How
do
we
know
we're
offering
a worthwhile
education
to
our
students?
One
clue is found in our
student
retention
rate from first year to graduation;
the vast majority of
our
students
stay
with us to
receive
their
diploma.
Another
indicator
our
curriculum's
educational
value
is
the
real-world
success
our
students
are
already
achieving–even
before
they
graduate.
For
example,
Catawba
music
business
major
Dennis
Reed
beat
out
over
1200
other student
songwriters
last
year to win
the
9th
Annual
BMI
John
Lennon
Songwriting
scholarship with
his
song "Out of Control." Above
is
a photo
of
Dennis
with
krunk
master
Lil
John
at
the
2006
BMI
Pop
Awards,
held
at
the
Beverly
Wilshire
Hotel
in
Los
Angeles,
where
Dennis
picked
up
his
$10,000
scholarship. Hear Sample Tracks (including Out of Control) »
 If
that
wasn't
enough
success,
three
of
Dennis'
songs,
including "Out
of
Control," made the semi-finals
of
the
International
Songwriting
Competition
(out
of
15,000
entries
from
around
the
world!).
According
to
ISC,
that's
an
unheard
of
feat.
You
can
read
more
about
Dennis
in
our
Alumni
Highlights.
Proving
that
Dennis
Reed's win was no fluke, Catawba
music business major Derek Daisey
brought home second
place
in
the 10th Annual BMI John Lennon contest
this year
with
his
song "Where to Begin." (Figure
the
odds
on that one!)
On the fast track to
success,
Derek
has
also
been
receiving
exceptionally
strong
reviews
and
online
sales
for
his
self-released
debut
CD, "All
Behind
Me." In addition,
he
has
just
signed
with a management
company
headed
up by
Mark
Zenow,
who
helped
turn
Hootie
and
the
Blowfish
into
a household
name.
Hear Sample Tracks »
Let's Talk
Interested
in becoming
a popular
music
or music
business
student
at Catawba?
Then,
contact
Dr. David
Lee Fish
at dlfish@catawba.edu or
(704) 637-4280.
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