MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — As new chair of Middle Tennessee State University’s Recording Industry Department, Michelle Conceison brings a strong mix of real-world experience and heart of a teacher to lead an innovative department celebrating a half-century of existence this year.

Named to her new role this semester to helm the highly touted program, Conceison is a business owner and artist manager who’s had artists sell out world tours while also teaching the future of the music industry how to promote such concerts well.

She’s also had artists have top albums and radio singles while teaching her students how to manage such talent — she’s always been an educator at heart.

“I don’t think there’s been a time I haven’t taught,” said the Massachusetts native. “To get my MBA, I taught a ‘World of Advertising’ class. That was the first college-level class I taught, but as an undergrad, I was playing softball and coaching Little League softball … I just don’t believe you ever should do something and not also share it with the next people who will do it.”

Conceison earned her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and her MBA from Simmons University, both located in Boston. She began teaching as an adjunct professor in the recording industry in 2018, though she has been teaching in some capacity — whether in the classroom or on the softball field — since she was in college. 

“Michelle is the perfect person to serve as chair of the Recording Industry Department because she embodies everything we hope to instill in our students,” said College of Media and Entertainment Dean Beverly Keel. “She is active in the industry as an academic researcher and an industry professional. In other words, she practices what she teaches.

“She is dedicated to educating students, fighting for equality in the music business and treating recording artists with the respect they deserve. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she is dedicated to providing our students with the best education possible. She is focused on creating industry partnerships and providing more real-world, hands-on opportunities for our students.” 

With her areas of expertise being artist management, marketing, brand management, concert promotion, entrepreneurship and strategic planning, those are the kinds of classes Conceison focuses on teaching students at MTSU as she helps prepare them for their careers in the music industry. 

“I’m teaching the things I love most,” she said. “I came from a family of educators. My dad spent almost four decades teaching in the public school system in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My sister just retired from teaching high school. We all teach; we’re a family of service careers.” 

Conceison also owns her own marketing and management company, MMGT, based out of Nashville, and manages several musicians like Kyshona and Della Mae. She started her career in advertising and even purchased some of the first search keywords Google sold in 1999 while working in San Francisco, California.

“I loved advertising; that was a great career, but for me, my dream has always been music,” she said. 

Conceison, who is also involved with the Folk Alliance and the International Bluegrass Music Association, said some of her favorite things about her job are the students and watching them break into the industry.

“We have the best possible students. At other places I’ve taught, I’ve experienced students who dreamt about being in the music industry, and our students are already in it,” she said. 

Conceison takes over for recording industry professor and former chair John Merchant, a veteran audio engineer who led the department in recent years as it continued to be named among Billboard’s list of top music business schools in the world.

Recording Industry Department’s future

Conceison said MTSU Department of Recording Industry will continue to be a leader in producing the next generation in the music industry.

“If you look at our alums, they’re leading in the industry. It’s no wonder you can find multiple MTSU alums at any music industry event you attend — whether on stage or behind the scenes. Where there is music, MTSU is there,” she said.

As far as new concentrations or courses, Conceison said she hopes to have a concentration in live entertainment in the future. 

“I love that this place is a place of possibility. Right now, there’s a great grounding for it. It seems like a natural thing to happen. This industry constantly changes, so you must learn how to know it. It’s always evolving.” 

About MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry

Celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry began in 1973, with just two professors and one studio after the Recording Academy did a tour around the country, talking to universities about creating recording industry programs because the industry wasn’t educated enough. 

“We exist as a program because the industry needs education; the industry needs our students to be prepared for the work they’re going to, and our industry needs our students to be thinking analytically about how it can be transformed or innovated,” Conceison said.

Today, the department has grown to more than two dozen professors, 1,400 students, several recording studios, multiple labs and a songwriting center.   

Since awarding its first degree in 1974, MTSU’s Recording Industry Department has graduated more than 7,500 industry-ready alumni and has produced top songwriters, producers, musicians and more. 

 “We have one of the most unique programs because we prepare students for all the parts of the music industry across all genres. If you’re at a music industry event, somewhere in that room, there’s someone from MTSU working there,” Conceison said.  

Students have worked with top celebrities like Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Keith Urban, Jimmy Kimmel and Kane Brown, to name a few. Some famous names who studied at MTSU include country artist Chris Young, songwriter and producer Tay Keith, Christian artists Brandon Heath and Lecrae, country artist Hillary Scott of Lady A, rap artist and songwriter Daisha McBride, boygenius member Julien Baker, and Grammy-winning songwriter Josh Kear, among others. 

Alums have also written songs for Alan Jackson, George Strait, Kacey Musgraves, Lady Gaga, Usher, Wiz Khalifa and more. 

A host of Recording Industry alumni have been among the more than 164 Grammy Award nominations involving MTSU alums in the last two decades, with 47 Grammy wins, including eight this year (out of more than a dozen nominations) with three of those going to Recording Industry alums.

“We are turning out the most highly valued employees in the music business, and people know when they see MTSU on your resume that you will be well-trained, well-educated and a dependable industry member,” Conceison said.

MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry program offers three concentrations: audio production, commercial songwriting and music business. Graduate programs include an MFA in recording arts and technologies and an MBA in business administration with a music business concentration.

For more information about MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry, visit https://mtsu.edu/recording-industry/. 

— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)