Ad Hoc Major Proposal – Words and Music: From Songwriting to Journalism

I came to Baruch because I was interested in majoring in Management of Musical Enterprises. This major matched my love for music and the business side of the music industry. However, as a Macaulay Honors’ student, I was able to take my first Interdisciplinary class, Arts in New York City, which changed my mind. Through this class, I rediscovered my love for writing; I wrote theatre reviews and also a song for my final project. From the age of twelve I wanted to be a writer, particularly a lyricist, and the class brought this desire out more. After the class, I realized that I wanted to incorporate more writing into my studies. So, at first I was going to minor in English, but I felt that it was wrong to make writing secondary to my major. Since there was no major that combined music, business and writing, I was trying to fit into a major that was not completely for me. Looking on the Internet, I found out that there are very few majors involving music journalism and songwriting. A student has to either major in music or English while taking a minor in the other or double major in both. I want to be able to change this by creating an Ad-hoc major integrating music, lyricism and journalism.

What I have noticed is that the age of the music journalist and the songwriter have ended. Serious music journalists and critics are almost non-existent. Much of it has become a media circus that is funded by the music industry. Journalism no longer critically looking at music, but used as an entertainment tool that involves asking artists what their favorite food or favorite color is and entertainment bloggers like Perez Hilton. Placing music within a social and historical context, and using the history of music and the music industry to explore the different genres of music are rare in journalism. I have so much that I want to say about the music industry but no channel in which to voice it. So, I created my own blog (http://reesesearcandy.blogspot.com) in which I write for entertainment purposes, but also discuss more thought-provoking subjects about music, such as over-commercialization and over-promotion of American Idol and Disney. In my opinion, the field of songwriting has diminished, too. The golden days of famous songwriters like Cole Porter, Ira and George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and recently, Diane Warren and David Foster are gone. Even singer-songwriters, like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell and Carol King, are not as popular as before. The music industry is all about making money, not artistic creativity. I do not know if I will be the one to change that, but I want to make an effort to bring some of those times back.

Learning about music in general is important to any music career. For the journalism side, courses like Music History and Music and Society are essential. Some of the courses for music journalism can also apply to songwriting, such as American Pop Song and Harmony classes. In the Journalism/Creative Writing department, Journalistic Writing, Feature Article Writing, Copy Editing, and Journalistic Criticism and Reviewing will help me in the journalism side to cover both industry news and reviews. I also want to create a Creative Writing independent study course called Analysis and Creation of Song Lyrics because I believe song lyrics are just as important as the music.

I am glad that I chose Baruch as my college because it offers the opportunity to form a major that reflects one’s interests and not just to conform to what everyone else is trying to accomplish. By creating the major of combining music journalism and songwriting, I hope to create my own music magazine and write songs for other artists in the future. My ad-hoc major will not only make me a well-rounded person in music, journalism, and creative writing, but also will organize these areas into an authentic field of interest.

Prerequisites
Msc 1003 or 1005- Music in Civilization
Eng 2100/2150 – Writing I & II
FPA 2000- Fine and Performing Arts Administration
JRN 3050 – Journalistic Writing
Fine and Performing Arts – 15 credits
Msc 3026/3027 – Harmony I & II
Msc 3043/3044 – Music History I & II
Msc 4900 – Music and Society
Msc 3022 – American Popular Song (Currently Taking)
English Department – 18 credits
JRN 3100 – Copy Editing
JRN 4920 – Strategies of Journalistic Writing
JRN 3060 – Feature Article Writing
JRN 3400 – Journalistic Criticism/Reviewing
JRN 5000 – Independent Study: Analysis and Creation of Song Lyrics