Billboard Magazine Names Occidental a 2026 Top Music Business School
For the seventh year in a row, Billboard magazine has included Occidental College in its annual list of top music business schools.
Billboard magazine has included Occidental in its 2026 list of top music business schools.
The magazine selects schools for the esteemed list based on industry recommendations, alumni information provided by honorees from multiple power lists, years of reporting on educational options, and on information requested from the schools themselves.
Billboard highlighted the College’s John Branca Institute for Music, which was created in 2024 through a $5 million gift from attorney John G. Branca ’72, a partner and head of the music department at the entertainment law firm Ziffren Brittenham. The institute is dedicated to the study of popular music and the music industry, and deepens Oxy’s commitment to connecting its students, faculty, and curriculum to the music industry in Los Angeles.
“What's remarkable and wonderful about this recognition is the calling out of the Branca Institute as well as the Institute's Mike Curb Program in Popular Music History,” says Music Department Chair David Kasunic, the institute's director. A $500,000 gift in 2024 from the Mike Curb Foundation established the endowed program, which provides a range of guest speakers and career development events to Oxy students and alumni, as well as the naming of recognized music professionals to the Linda and Mike Curb Fellowship.
Billboard mentioned Oxy’s internship program offering 10 students the chance to explore career pathways across sectors at the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, or the Ford. The magazine also noted the new music course Music Branding and Marketing—taught by Branca Institute Visiting Professor of the Practice Olivia Wilk ’19, Sony Music Entertainment’s associate director of international marketing—and the new course Music Contracts and Financial Management.
The magazine brought attention to an initiative in which Assistant Professor Ramona Gonzalez ’09, who records and performs as Nite Jewel, is joined by four music industry experts to provide feedback on albums that students submitted for their senior project.
“The panel of industry experts was the brainchild of Michael Lloyd, our inaugural Linda and Mike Curb Fellow of Popular Music History,” whose career as a record producer, arranger, songwriter, and music supervisor spans over six decades, says Kasunic. “John and Mike's philanthropy is already making a huge difference, and their name recognition is shining a welcome light on our program and the excellent work of my colleagues, on behalf of our students.”
Oxy alumni include such prominent music industry figures as former Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper ’68; Charlie Cohen ’78, president of TV, film, and live theater at Warner Music Group; Ian Montone ’89, a Grammy-nominated producer, music management company founder, and manager (Jack White, LCD Soundsystem); and music attorney Richard Leher ’66 (Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam).
