CSUN Ranks in Billboard’s 2026 Top Music Business Schools - CSUN Newsroom
October 5, 2026
In Media Releases
Photo courtesy of CSUN’s Department of Music.
Media Contact: Javier Rojas, [email protected] (818) 677-2130
For the fifth consecutive year, California State University, Northridge has earned a place among the nation’s top music business programs, according to Billboard magazine.
Billboard recognized CSUN’s music program in its annual list of the world’s leading music business schools. The publication chose its top music business schools based on:
- Industry recommendations
- Alumni information by honorees on its power lists
- Years of reporting on educational options
- Information requested from the schools themselves.
“We work hard to ensure that our students are in the room with the people who run this industry,” said Seven Bailey, the Mike Curb Endowed Chair of Music Industry Studies. “I am proud of what our students and faculty have built here. Every year we watch our graduates walk straight from a Los Angeles classroom into the labels, publishers and management companies that make up this business.”
“We are incredibly proud that Billboard has once again recognized CSUN among the top music business schools in the world,” said Andrew Surmani, music industry studies professor. “This honor is a tribute to both our undergraduate Music Industry Studies program and our graduate Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration program, and especially to the outstanding faculty, students, alumni and industry professionals who make these programs so successful.”
CSUN’s Department of Music, housed in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, offers students a dynamic range of programs that bridge artistry and industry. These include:
- Nationally recognized music industry studies and performance majors
- Pathways such as composition, commercial media writing, music education, music therapy
- The Master of Art in Music Industry Administration (MIA), featuring faculty and curriculum from the award-winning David Nazarian College of Business and Economics
- A Master of Arts in Entertainment Industry Management (EIM) degree.