A new USC degree for 2022 aims to amplify the scope and skills of the next generation of music industry artists and professionals across the Sunshine Coast, Australia and the globe.

USC Sunshine Coast is offering a Bachelor of Music next year for the first time to encourage sustainable careers in an industry working on new opportunities for success during COVID-19 restrictions, such as global online markets.

It will be taught by award-winning industry professionals and recording artists including major label songwriter, producer and performing artist Dr Andy Ward, renowned music producer Dr Lachlan ‘Magoo’ Goold, and cutting-edge music theorist Dr Briony Luttrell.

Dr Ward, a Lecturer in Contemporary Music, said the degree was based on the creation of original music, with a songwriting and music industry focus.

“We want to develop practitioners and industry members who have a diverse knowledge of how the industry works, and how to navigate it ethically and sustainably in the years ahead,” he said.

“Australia’s music scene is a vibrant, essential part of our culture worth billions of dollars to our economy, but it has been reliant on live performance and touring. So not being able to move around geographically has been enormously hard for artists trying to earn a living.

“We hope to shape interdisciplinary musicians who can work anywhere. They will play a major part in supporting the inevitable re-emergence of the great Aussie music industry in the future and will do so with collaboration and contribution to community in mind.

“By their third year, USC Bachelor of Music students will be working towards producing singles for commercial release, playing showcases for industry partners, and producing event and video clips for their future careers.”

Dr Ward recently spoke about music education and industry in an Australian Music Vault digital series called Banding Together.