Authentic Learning
John Peyton's Introduction to
the Music Business (RTF 347C)
This is Moody Groove!
For the final RTF 347C project, students collaborated in teams, role-playing as various industry professionals within the music business. Each team was responsible for managing and promoting a newly formed band comprised of their classmates who are musicians/performers. The project culminated in a live concert at an approved campus venue where the band performed for a live audience. Students took on roles such as music managers, business managers, public relations/publicists, producers, promoters, production/stage managers, lighting/ sound directors, photographers/videographers, graphic artists, and other key industry positions, showcasing their understanding of each role's responsibilities and contributions to the success of the concert.
I'm incredibly proud of my students for taking on the challenge of creating a concert from the ground up. Through their hard work, creativity, and collaboration, they brought their vision to life and gained invaluable real-world experience. This project exemplifies the power of Project Based Learning to prepare students for success in the music industry and beyond.
Introducing the Show Cindy McCreery, Department Chair of Radio-Television-Film
Opening Act John Peyton on harmonica and drums
Backward Design: Beginning with the End in Mind
Student band, Burnt Orange Strings, performing a cover of Radiohead's song "Creep"
John wanted his RTF 347C: Introduction to the Music Business course to be inspiring for students as emerging professionals. During a chat with Shelly Furness (Coordinator for Teaching Excellence at CATE), John envisioned his course from a project-based learning (PBL) lens with authentic learning pathway that culminated in the production of a student-produced concert.
Student Team Companies
Performers: Burnt Orange Strings
Talent Managers: Moody Talent
Business Managers: 347 Management
PR/Publicists: Burnt Orange PR
Producers: 40 Acres Productions
Promoters: Amplify ATX Promotions
Production/Stage Managers: Front and Center Productions
Light/Sound Directors: Lights Out Loud
Photographers/Videographers: Moody Moments
Graphic Artists: A Little Too Graphic Designs
Members of Lights Out Loud managing lights and sound before Moody Groove
This concert was such an interesting twist on a final project - and it truly helped me deepen my understanding of graphic design in the music industry and the significance of branding. I learned a lot about the coordination required to establish contracts and have them approved by various stakeholders... Overall, I thought that this project was a great way for all of our music industry interests and passions to overlap and work together to create something beautiful!
Roles and Contracts: Students Planned the Entire Music Business Event
Promotional poster by A Little Too Graphic Designs
Members of 40 Acres Productions, Moody Talent, and Burnt Orange PR with Moody Groove setlists
As a best practice, students need explicit instruction and structure to successfully perform roles in group work. John outlined clear, detailed expectations for enacting roles to support the overall project as a full class. With a nod to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2018) needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, students were allowed to choose roles based on prior knowledge and skills related to career aspirations.
Being someone who aspires to be a videographer, photographer, creative director, and visual artist working directly with artists, this class project was highly insightful in learning the logistics involved in organizing live shows and events. I had some prior experience with concert photography and requesting and receiving media passes, but I had limited knowledge about in-house operations and duties. I gained valuable insight into the different roles involved in live music production and feel better equipped to pitch myself to industry professionals.
Authentic Learning: Hands-on Experience Related to the Course Content
Lights Out Loud and Front and Center Productions monitoring stage design during Moody Groove
Throughout the semester, John delivered industry specific content based on extensive personal experience in the field. In addition, he strategically brought in an array of music industry practitioners each week who engaged with students to build concepts related to specific areas of music industry professions.
Moody College alumni, Kyle Kistner, joined the project to support sound production. Current students appreciated the collaboration with a former student who has, since graduating from UT Austin, continued work in the music industry.
Working as the production and stage manager for the final concert really opened my mind to the understanding that everything in the music industry and beyond is built upon collaboration. I realized how much each team member's expertise and contributions are interconnected and how the success of the concert was only possible through effective collaboration. The experience showed me that no matter how big or small the task, it's the collective effort and teamwork that turn ideas into tangible outcomes.
Reflection: Actively Thinking About the Learning Process
Burnt Orange Strings perform a cover of The Cranberries' song "Linger" at Moody Groove
At the core of PBL is the practice of self-reflection. As students enact or mirror real-world professional roles, they need a chance to build metacognitive skills. Capturing their thinking about the learning journey, including mistakes, helps hone increasing competent professional mindsets.
One of the biggest things I learned was that you will always need more time than you think you will. ...load in and setup took longer than expected, and technical difficulties with the audio took away a lot of our practice time. I think if we'd gone in earlier, we may have had more time to resolve these problems, although our final concert turned out great despite the delays in our initial schedule and technical issues we ran into. It was really satisfying seeing the event come together and seeing everyone working together to put on a great show.
The full class, all responsible for organizing and performing Moody Groove. RTF 347C, Fall 2024.