Andrea Johnson

"The cultural mix here is so exciting. I love the fact that I have students from all over the world. Their unique experiences add to the classroom. The way they perceive how business operates in their country—they bring that insight into our classes and that just expands the conversation."

"We have a huge population of Hispanic students, and I think having that sort of understanding is important, because the Latin music industry is a completely different animal than the mainstream American market. When I worked with Gloria Estefan, we had to deal with a lot of visas and getting wonderful performers from South America. There are a lot of other things that you wouldn't normally think about, like passports and international exchange rates and work visas."

"I have an undergrad degree in vocal performance, and I actually started in the music business because I wanted to make sure that I understood my own contracts. I think that helps me the most, because we have a lot of dual majors. I can be empathetic with them and tell them today's business is really about being an entrepreneur. As a performer, you've got to take care of yourself, you've got to understand business. As much as they might not want to focus on accounting or law, at least I'm giving them a scope of the entire industry, so they can pick a good business manager. I think every student should take at least an intro to music business course. If you're an informed performer, think of how much further you can go."