Music is the soundtrack of our lives. Movies tell our stories, which makes music films—from biopics of idols like Elvis Presley, Elton John, and Queen to documentaries on stars like Taylor Swift and Whitney Houston—perpetually popular.
All of which helped inspire Music Industry and Society, an innovative new class offered this year by the Music Industry (MIND) program at the Frost School of Music. Unlike other courses at the award-winning music industry program, the class is strictly for non-music majors. But Serona Elton, professor and director of MIND, and her colleagues thought a class exploring what music films reveal about the behind-the-scenes workings of the glamorous, emotional realm of pop music – and their impact on the broader culture - would be compelling to students outside the Frost School.
“There are a lot of business and creative activities that intersect in the music industry,” says Elton. “We wanted a dynamic and interesting way to teach about the topic that would pull people in that weren’t considering it as a career path.”
The class has been a success, drawing a full roster of students from colleges across the University of Miami. The movies on the syllabus include the biopics “Elvis,” “Rocketman” (on Elton John), and “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Freddie Mercury), to documentaries on Whitney Houston, Taylor Swift and mega music executive Clive Davis. “That Thing You Do!,” tracing the rapid rise and fall of a fictional 60’s pop band; and “Dreamgirls,” adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical inspired by the real-life stories of iconic girl group The Supremes and Motown, their pioneering Black record label, are also on the roster.
“I am really enjoying this class,” says Robert Catala, a senior and business management major taking Music Industry and Society this semester. “I truly did not know what to expect. It has been very engaging and a cool take on the learning experience.”
Elton had wanted to offer the class for some time but wasn’t able to do so until Olga Cardona, a longtime former music executive, joined MIND as a full-time lecturer last year. The two women and Guillermo Page, the MIND program assistant director and also a music industry veteran, came up with a list of films they thought would attract students and cover a range of topics.
Each week starts with a lecture on an aspect of the music industry, like the role of the songwriter for “Rocketman,” or genre crossover in Latin music in “Selena,” the biopic of the beloved Mexican-American singer starring Jennifer Lopez in her breakout role. Students then watch the film independently and submit written responses to questions they discuss in class.
Journalism major Gigi Rettew was drawn to an intriguing-sounding class that she thought would give her useful insights on media management relevant to her career. She praised the engaging discussions.
“I really like the way the class is structured,” Rettew says. “We all answer discussion questions independently and then are required to share our thoughts on at least one in class. Because everyone is incentivized to participate, it makes breaking through the new-class tension a lot more seamless.”
The music industry topics end up encompassing all kinds of business, cultural, and ethical issues. For “Elvis,” the 2022 biopic starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as the star’s controversial manager Colonel Parker, Cardona focused on the role of a manager. She talked about potential problems, like financial conflicts of interest or artistic manipulation; as well as the controversy surrounding the young Elvis, whose wild dance moves rocked straitlaced 50’s culture. The class discussed a scene where Parker presents his famous client with merchandise that includes buttons saying both “I Love Elvis” and “I Hate Elvis.”
“The manager should take every opportunity to generate income for their client,” Cardona says. “Not everybody liked Elvis. I don’t think the students realized the degree of backlash Elvis endured. There was controversy over his hip movements, and some people considered him subversive. Anyone could have come up with the idea of creating merchandise that said, “I Hate Elvis.” So the manager’s idea was, rather than waiting for someone else to do that, let’s do it ourselves.”
Legal and financial issues were at the center of discussions on the biopic “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story,” on the 90’s R&B/hiphop trio behind hits like “Creep” and “Waterfalls” who went broke despite huge popular success – a shock to students. The documentary “20 Feet From Stardom,” about spectacularly talented background singers key to icons like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and the Rolling Stones, was a way to focus on the background musicians, producers, and engineers crucial to an artist’s music, another revelation to students. “It opened their eyes to the fact that there are all these players behind the scenes,” says Cardona.
Catala, who plays in multiple bands and hopes to work in music, says Cardona’s decades of experience adds to her authority. “She is able to provide us with personal insights about her experience in the music industry and relate them to the various topics we discuss,” Catala says. “Her experience gives a lot of validation to what she's saying.”
Rettew echoed Catala’s admiration while also praising Cardona’s warm, open teaching style. “She gives her students the floor during class,” says Rettew. “I admire that because I have found that professors with a lot of specialized knowledge or experience can have a hard time not steamrolling students’ thoughts.”
Elton and Cardona hope the class won’t just illuminate the industry that has been their life’s work, but will also help students understand that they too play a role in the music ecosystem, one which can be positive or negative. Individual choices like buying concert tickets on the primary market, where money goes primarily to the artist, venue, and concert promotor, versus the secondary market, which cuts them out; or paying for a subscription to a music streaming service rather than using an ad-supported version, which gives much less money to the artists; can have a big impact.
“We think understanding that their choices can put more or less money into the hands of creators is important,” says Elton. “They can be better supporters and consumers of music they love if they have a little more insight into how it all works.”
