For the 4th year in a row, a group of 20 Monmouth University music, music industry, communications, criminal justice, and business students and recent graduates traveled to Nashville to attend the Music Business Association’s annual convention.

The Music Business Association is the music industry trade group, bringing together more than 2,000 senior representatives of major and independent record companies including Warner, Sony, and Universal; technology companies including Google/YouTube, Spotify, and Apple; and hundreds of management and marketing agencies and artists.

While there, Monmouth students were given the opportunity to participate in events and network directly with industry professionals and artists including Dolly Parton, Nile Rodgers, Kelsea Ballerini, and Scooter Braun as they attended panels, presentations, and awards banquets. Joe Rapolla ’90M, chair of Monmouth’s music and theatre department, who spoke at a convention workshop addressing opportunities in the music business, also arranged for Monmouth students to have a private meeting with Chairman and CEO of Warner Music John Esposito HN ’17.

James Donio, president of the Music Business Association and a music industry adjunct professor at Monmouth, assisted in the coordination of this student trip through Monmouth University’s educational partnership with the association. The students also received support from the university’s office of Academic Affairs and Transformative Learning.

Above: Monmouth students and Specialist Professor and Department Chair Joe Rapolla (back row, second from right) had a private meeting with Chairman and CEO of Warner Music John Esposito (back row, arms crossed) while attending the Music Business Association convention. Photo courtesy of Joe Rapolla.