Music School Dropout

Between 2019 and 2024, almost half Massey’s Bachelor of Commercial Music students dropped out. Is the degree outdated? Is it too challenging? Or is it simply too easy? Jessie Davidson investigates.

Just like Frenchie dropped out of beauty school in Grease, Massey’s Commercial Music students are dropping like flies — but not to the tune of a glitzy musical number from 1960s. Instead, they’re leaving quietly, disillusioned by what they say is an outdated and easy program which fails to prepare them for an uneasy industry. 

Art / Olive Bartlett-Mowat

In 2022, 100 equivalent full-time first-year students were enrolled. But according to a spokesperson from the Commercial Music school, only 62 graduated. That’s a 38% drop off. Between 2019 and 2024, on average around 48% of students dropped out of Massey’s Commercial Music programme. 

Massey’s website promises students will “perform, promote and produce the music of tomorrow”. But according to some who’ve left the course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Music dropout Rosie* enrolled after wanting to try a more hands-on Music course compared to Victoria University’s theory centred courses. But she says the course was “excruciatingly easy” and a “blatant cash grab”.  

“I wasted a year of my life in that joke of a course”.  

Tuition alone for Massey Arts courses — like Commercial Music — ranges from $7,609.10 to $10,049 per year, according to the Massey website.  

Rosie says that the quality of the course doesn’t match its price, saying staff are undertrained, lack professionalism, and provide half-baked course content.  

“Leaves me wondering if my public high school’s music course wasn't actually that bad".  

Entering a university-level music course, Rosie expected to be challenged, but found it to be too easy.  

“In a lecture I was taught about band etiquette and given some gems of wisdom such as ‘show up on time to band practice’, ‘don't sit on your phone in band practice’ and ‘tell people if you are going to be late’.” 

“Thanks Massey, really useful stuff!” 

Lecturers, she says, were unprofessional and uninspired, reading off outdated slides without elaboration. She says teachers seemed more invested in their personal projects than teaching students and offered little real industry insight.  

Rosie claims a teacher told her in a passing comment that “first year is just to get the fees of free students through the door”.  

Rosie has since moved to the University of Canterbury to study Communications. She is currently doing a Music elective. “[UC Music classes] are definitely harder and definitely taken much more seriously by the school.” 

Jade Holmes, guitarist for Wellington band Bug Michigan, dropped out of the Music Tech major after half a year. She says that lectures were a bit aimless at times. She felt some classes were “padding to fill in the time for the more important ones”.  

Like Rosie, Jade found the content too basic. “I never really felt like I was being taught anything that I didn't already know or had thought about as a musician.” 

Massey’s Bachelor of Commercial Music has three majors: Music Practice, Music Technology, and Music Industry. And while Jade thinks school is valuable for people who want to be producers, managers or sound engineers in the music industry, she doesn’t believe music school is required in order to be a musician.  

“If you just want your music to be heard I don’t think an education will get you very far.” 

In a statement, a Massey University spokesperson says the first year of Music is designed to help students find their feet and allow for different skill levels.  

The spokesperson says it's vital that music education is accessible to all students. “Some tasks are basic, designed to engage students who have little or no experience … while others are more advanced.” 

They add that course content is reviewed after each semester, and again before they are taught, to ensure it has relevant and up-to-date content. 

Tom*, who dropped out of the Music programme and later returned to finish his degree, believes the course is not up to date — but potentially not at the fault of the uni. 

Tom says, “The music industry is changing really fast, perhaps too fast for someone to build a curriculum for one year and then change it the next.”  

Tom feels the uncertainty of the music industry as a whole is part of why people drop out. “Learning about it in your degree, even just for a year or two, can make you realise how insecure the state of the [music] industry is, or how fast it changes, and makes you want to change career paths.” 

Tom has built a company promoting music shows, but he admits it more often loses money than makes it. He says a Music degree doesn’t guarantee success in the industry, “You need a lot of things to go right to start making money in it.” 

This isn't to say Massey hasn't had successful Music grads — there's been Tessa Hills (DJ Messie), Hannah White, Charlie Tilley, Milk Tooth and Wet Denim. But Tom says that’s not the norm. 

“What kind of artist wants to pay to go to university and learn a little bit of contemporary musicology and then slowly figure out that you need to be pumping out cringeworthy TikTok’s daily to have a shot at ‘going viral’?” 

Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, and John Mayer all dropped out of Music school before making it big. Even if a degree helps with the tech side of the industry, it’s clear that — for many —performance can’t be taught in a lecture hall.