Sony launched a $7.5 million partnership with NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development to establish the Sony Audio Institute — a new initiative aimed at advancing innovation in audio technology and music business.
The Sony Institute, set to begin programming this semester, aims to modernize Steinhardt’s approach to Music Business and Music Technology majors by facilitating research, increasing networking opportunities and revamping classrooms with professional equipment from the company. The program is spearheaded by Larry Miller, director of NYU’s Music Business program, who will step down from his current position to run the institute when it officially opens this fall.
“I am so proud of what we have accomplished over this last decade-plus, and I am ready to create new opportunities and pathways for our students that didn’t exist previously,” Miller said in an interview with WSN. “I am super excited to zoom out and broaden my own perspective about what it’s possible to do at NYU around our huge community of music creators with more resources than we had before.”
The collaboration — slated for a 10-year term — will expand on work at NYU’s Music and Audio Research Lab, which currently focuses on new audio techniques, machine listening and music algorithms, and the role of music in cognition, health and rehabilitation. New research may also be done in collaboration with engineers and producers at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters, in an effort to incorporate “the latest Sony audio solutions.”
The Sony Institute will also offer several internships, fellowships and workshop events. It was facilitated by Marcie Allen, an adjunct professor and music industry consultant, in collaboration with Sony’s Personal Entertainment Business — the company’s branch focused on recruitment, collaboration and engagement efforts.
“They’re here on this path toward exploration and collaboration with this university and with these students, and they’re at least as excited about it as we are,” Miller told WSN. “I gotta tell you, I’m talking to them multiple times a day, and they are pretty excited about this.”
Steinhardt junior Rithik Kundu, the president of NYU’s Generative Audio and AI club, said that he was interested in Steinhardt’s goal to prepare students in music business and technology for jobs “that don’t exist yet.” He also said he looked forward to learning what Sony representatives see as the future of the field.
“The biggest thing here is not necessarily the technology, but just the idea of working with Sony — the human resources that come out of that, the connections that could potentially lead to internships, fellowships, scholarships, things like that,” Kundu told WSN. “I think that could be really huge.”
In light of the partnership, a studio at NYU’s Brooklyn campus will be renamed to the Sony Audio Institute Studio. The company is also donating new equipment and software to classrooms and facilities at Steinhardt, including Sony’s 360 Reality Audio equipment, used to create more immersive audio experiences, and its 360 Virtual Mixing Environment, used to reproduce an acoustic music field in small spaces.
“Music Business isn’t just learning things by hearing them in a textbook — it’s by actually doing them,” Steinhardt sophomore Sravya Vakkalanka told WSN. “So having the opportunity to actually work with this equipment or in the studios, or getting to use this space for some of our classes, would be cool.”
In an article detailing the collaboration, The New York Times said it was “unusual” for major corporations to work so closely with universities. In a press release announcing the Sony institute, NYU President Linda Mills said it would offer students “unrivaled experiences” and “a competitive advantage.”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a similar media lab in 1985 for companies to craft technology projects in graphic design, holography and other interactive media industries with guidance from MIT researchers and a $45 million budget. Other research institutes in music technology have also been founded at schools including University of Southern California and University of California, San Diego.
“We believe this program will serve as a catalyst for new ideas, technologies and creative approaches in audio production,” Jordy Freed, head of brand, business development & strategy at Sony’s Personal Entertainment Business sector, said in a statement to WSN. “We’re building a bridge between the academic and professional worlds — ensuring that graduates enter the industry not just with theoretical knowledge, but with hands-on experience that allows them to innovate from day one.”
Contact Lekhya Kantheti [email protected].
