Student-centred partnerships between Dutch vocational popular music schools and music companies.

Abstract

The Dutch education system currently includes 11 vocational music academies with around 1,200 students enrolled in a popular music course. This high number of music students makes the schools interesting talent pools for music companies. Additionally, the academies are government-funded and music companies welcome alternatives to the traditional model for artist development, particularly since album sales have dropped. This results in music companies signing artists that are still enrolled in a vocational music course. For such students, combining academic and industrial activities can be a challenge with eventually dropping out being a conceivable risk. A student-centred collaboration between the involved academy and company is a solution to ensure the students successfully combine their course with the start of their professional career. This thesis describes the development of a framework for the design and implementation of student-centred partnerships between Dutch vocational music schools and music companies. The study explores different approaches to dealing with vocational students involved in extensive professional activities. Additionally, it maps the key issues for effective collaboration between the involved school and company. These key issues are explored in more detail by reviewing case studies of education- industry collaborations. With the partnerships addressing practical as well as substantive issues, the research includes the Artist & Repertoire model The Cycle. The framework for partnership design is presented in two handbooks targeted at academic professionals and industrial professionals respectively. The handbooks describe the framework and provide relevant contextual information on Dutch vocational music education and the music industry. Additionally, the handbooks clarify the roles and responsibilities of the involved music academy and the music company within a collaboration. With the handbooks guiding them through the process, the school and the company are able to design and implement a partnership benefiting the student, the school and the company.