Music Industry Apprenticeship Program Launches in New Orleans

In attempts to build upon the business side of the New Orleans music industry, the city has recently announced a new Apprenticeship program called the Music Industry Career Development University Partnership or MIC’D UP for short.

The program will be designed to help promote the creation of music-focused on-the-job-training programs that will be dedicated to helping local music businesses discover and develop local talent. The program also hopes to eventually grow to the point where they have opportunities in helping their participants gain skills in television, gaming, and other entertainment industries.

“Louisiana has done much to make music one of the most popular American art forms, but music is also a business. This new program will enhance Louisiana’s entertainment sector by developing a local workforce for artist management companies in our state. With the help of our latest Entertainment Development Fund award, GNO Inc. will team up with music industry allies as well as colleges and universities in the New Orleans area to implement this innovative and rewarding program.”

Don Pierson, Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development

The MIC’D UP program is part of an effort to change that’s goal is to train Greater New Orleans and Louisiana citizens for well-paying jobs in the music industry. GNO Inc an economic development organization in the area will be in charge of establishing partnerships and facilitating relationships between sector companies and institutions of higher education. GNO will also be involved in designing workshops and curriculum topics for job trainees as well as take the lead in recruiting prospective participants into their program.

Since the launch of the Entertainment Development Fund in March 2021 financial awards and grants have been made available to eight different education and workforce training programs throughout Louisiana. Partnerships include public and private universities, community colleges, middle schools, high schools, and arts-related nonprofits. Several of the programs have already shown successful placement of students into well-paying jobs in the film industry in Louisiana.