Ralph Jaccodine

Position
Assistant Professor
Affiliated Departments
Telephone
617-747-6431

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Ralph Jaccodine began his music career as a musician and concert promoter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and then as the concert director at the University of Notre Dame. He has worked with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Kiss, Rush, Hall & Oates, Foreigner, Yes, the Doobie Brothers, Linda Rondstadt, and Kansas, among many others. After running his own commercial real estate company in Boston for 12 years, he joined Mike Dreese, the cofounder of Newbury Comics, one of the nation's leading retail music chains, in starting Black Wolf Records, an indie record label. Then in 1992, he started Ralph Jaccodine Management by guiding the career of songwriter Ellis Paul, then expanded the business by working with artists like Livingston Taylor, Rebecca Loebe, Martin Sexton, Eric Andersen, Vinx and the Push Stars, Adam Ezra and Bang Camaro, among others.

Jaccodine is the cofounder of the Boston Management Group, a professional organization he started 25+ years ago with Tim Collins, the longtime manager of Aerosmith. He has been active on various boards, including Folk Alliance International, Club Passim, Right Turn, and Hope Collaborative. He served on the advisory board of WUMB Radio and Noel Stookey’s Music to Life, and has worked with Ernie Boch Jr.'s Music Drives Us Foundation. 

Jaccodine is a full-time faculty member at Berklee College of Music. He joined the Music Business/Management Department in 2013 and in 2015 won the Dean's Award for Innovation and Service. He serves as the faculty advisor for the Berklee Law and Management Club.

He's a frequent speaker at industry events such as the Folk Alliance International, South by Southwest, CMJ Music Festival, Americana Music Conference, Berklee's Re-Think Music Conference and Harvard's Recording Artists Project (RAP) program. He was the keynote speaker for Johnson & Wales University’s Leadership Conference and is a frequent speaker at Northeastern University, Harvard University, Emerson College, Boston University, and Tufts University. Internationally he has lectured at Singapore Polytechnic in Singapore and UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The proud father of two college graduates, he's happy living a vigorous, yet contemplative life.

Career Highlights
  • Provides management services to Livingston Taylor, Ellis Paul, Eric Andersen, Rebecca Loebe, and Shun Ng and Magic Dick/J. Geils Band, among others
  • Promoted concerts with Rush, Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates, Kansas, Rush, Foreigner, the Doobie Brothers, Linda Rondstadt, and Yes, among many others
  • Other professional distinctions include being the former concert director for the University of Notre Dame; starting Black Wolf Records in 1992; and serving as president of Ralph Jaccodine Management, an artist management company, since 1992 
  • On board of directors for Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts, since 2004 and for Folk Alliance International since 2013
  • On the Board of Hope Collaborative since 2014
Awards
  • Recipient of Berklee's Dean’s Award for Innovation and Service, 2015
Education
  • School Name
    University of Notre Dame
    State or Province
    Indiana
    Degree
    Bachelor of Arts (BA)
    Field of Study
    Economics
    Date Degree Received
In Their Own Words
"When I’m with my students, I very much feel like I’m talking to fellow travelers in this business of music. Over the past 45 years I’ve promoted concerts, operated an indie record label, and headed an artist management company. The most exciting thing about being a teacher­ is to set off sparks: to discuss, debate, and dive into current topics and trends. I challenge my students like I challenge my business partners and clients. Bringing my day job and years of experience into the classroom helps to stir up inspiring and enlightening classes."
 
"I have been in the trenches of the music business running an artist management company and an independent record label for over 30+ years. My interest and enthusiasm in the music business has never been greater. The opportunities for Berklee artists and music industry students have been changing at a breakneck pace. We will talk about the qualities of inspirational entrepreneurship, the power of technology, and the importance of grit and passion in leading the way to success."
 
"I’m managing a full roster of world-class artists, promoting new music, and dealing with the music industry on a daily basis. I then go into class at Berklee, sit down with talented students, and talk about the music business I am implanted in. We have books, reading materials, and a syllabus, but I’m also talking about what I deal with on a daily basis at the day job. I think that’s what’s fascinating for me and the students—we can talk about fundraising campaigns, creating a good publicity/marketing campaign, how to bring in the money, the roles of the intermediaries, and how music can make this world of ours a better place. It is an inspired situation!"
 
"If students come to Berklee, they’re going to school and networking with the next generation of the music business. So there’s a lot of value to looking around the classroom and figuring out the people who you can do partnerships with, who you can manage, or who you can get a job with or hire someday. It’s a great petri dish of talent, and students are going to graduate, get out in the music world, the entrepreneurial world, the entertainment world, or the management world, and they’re going to do great things. This is the Berklee way."