Mathew Knowles joins teaching staff at London music college LCCM – and there’s a full scholarship named after him, too. – Music Business Worldwide

London-based music college LCCM just made a significant addition to its teaching roster.

Veteran US music executive, author and educator Mathew Knowles, father of superstars Beyoncé and Solange, has joined LCCM as a visiting lecturer.

Plus, starting in the new academic year (September 2022), the highly-ranked music college is also offering a fully funded scholarship in Knowles’ name.

Open to musicians, producers and aspiring music executives, the Mathew Knowles Scholarship will be judged by Knowles himself, and the winning applicant will receive a full-fee bursary for a three-year undergraduate, or one-year masters degree at the college. 

To be eligible for the bursary, hopefuls must hold an accepted offer to study one of LCCM’s courses, and the winner will be announced at the start of the September term. 

Founded in 2002 by Geoff Hemsley and Darius Khwaja, LCCM offers BA courses in Music Business Management, Contemporary Music Performance & Production, Composition for Film & Games, and Commercial Music Technology. It also offers MA courses in Music Performance and in Music Production.

Knowles joins a team of experienced lecturers and tutors at LCCM who are either working musicians or talent managers themselves.

Key members of staff at LCCM include Industry Liaison JD Donovan, who manages acts with a total of 500 million streams on Spotify alone, and LCCM Principal Anthony Hamer-Hodges, who was an artist manager for 10 years as well as Chief Commercial Officer and “employee number one” at a music streaming startup.

Across his own life in music, Knowles has steered the careers of Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé and Solange, as well as legends such as Chaka Khan and Earth Wind & Fire, racking up 28 Grammy Awards amongst the artists he’s worked with.

Speaking with MBW, Knowles explained that, “music education was an organic next step” in his career.

“I’ve worked with a lot of new artists where as a manager I was always in some way educating our artists,” he said. “LCCM has a fresh new approach to teaching music, artist development and the business of music that are all critically important for success in today’s changing market”.

In addition to its qualified teaching team, LCCM has recently invested around £5 million ($6.5m) into the facilities at its Music Box campus in central London, which features a 120-capacity entertainment venue, a bar, café, sound-proofed rehearsal spaces, recording studios, edit rooms and more.

The college says that established artists including Kojey Radical, Moses Boyd, Amber Run, Novelist and Kara Marni have spent time rehearsing or recording at the Music Box in recent months, as well as meeting with LCCM students.

Meanwhile, LCCM’s graduates include BRIT Award winner Tom Walker, artists and writers Rhys Lewis and Chiara Hunter, as well as former students such as Marie Dahlstrom, JOY (ANONYMOUS), Sans Soucis and Nathan Challinor.

Graduates have also been placed in jobs at employers like Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Live Nation and ICE in recent years.

“LCCM has a fresh new approach to teaching music, artist development and the business of music that are all critically important for success in today’s changing market”

Mathew Knowles

Commenting on the college’s focus, JD Donovan, LCCM Industry Liaison, said: “Aside from the concrete foundations of our Music Box campus, talent development is the core foundation that LCCM is built on. We believe that a student’s music career starts as soon as they step foot inside the door on one of our Open Days.

“From that point on, we help them develop their skills and talent to prepare them for a long and successful career. We have a specialist track record in nurturing the development of music creatives and that is knitted into the fabric of their lessons and also what happens around them in the building: masterclasses, weekly talks and networking with game changing industry professionals.

“It’s this stuff outside the classroom where they can pick up behind-the-scenes insights and tips & tricks for getting ahead. 

“We help at every step of the journey from feedback on the music to arranging campaigns, distribution and putting our students in front of the right A&R or Manager to take them to the next level.”

JD Donovan, LCCM

Continued Donovan: “We help at every step of the journey from feedback on the music to arranging campaigns, distribution and putting our students in front of the right A&R or Manager to take them to the next level. Recent graduates in the past couple years have gone on to sign deals, tour internationally and pick up co-writes with buzz names such as Fred Again and Baby Queen.

“Our current first years are bagging plays on Radio 1 and putting on packed nights in our venue! We can see them having a positive effect on the UK music industry and we’re so excited every year to welcome the next generation.”

LCCM Principal Anthony Hamer-Hodges, said: “Our degrees are practical in nature, underpinned by strong academic principles. There’s no better way of learning than by doing and our professional recording, performance, rehearsal and production spaces at the Music Box are perhaps the only facility of their standard in Central London.

“To such an extent that we’ve had named artists and bands come to use them too. Amber Run did five days of rehearsals for their latest tour in the venue in exchange for a secret Freshers Week gig for our students. Artists including Moses Boyd, Kojey Radical and Novelist come in to use Studio 1A.

“Our music business students are proactively involved in booking artists and putting on events in the venue as well as helping book shows for the performance students in other venues across and outside of London.”

“Our degrees are practical in nature, underpinned by strong academic principles. There’s no better way of learning than by doing and our professional recording, performance, rehearsal and production spaces at the Music Box are perhaps the only facility of their standard in Central London.”

Anthony Hamer-Hodges, LCCM 

Added Mathew Knowles: “I would love to create a music industry where artist development was more readily available along with managers understanding the need to learn the business side of management. I wish there were more grants available for these two purposes. LCCM has this fresh approach.”

Offering some advice for aspiring artists and managers, Knowles continued: “My advice for an inspiring artist is to soul search if this is a passion or a hobby.

“My advice to an upcoming manager is first ‘get the knowledge.’ There is so much to learn and so few managers that have a complete understanding of the many aspects of the music industry.

“There’s a lot of moving parts in this industry from understanding what a record label does, understanding what each department does and understanding all the revenue streams that exist and how do we make sure we’re getting paid; to understanding touring – which is a beast on its own – and understanding what truly does a manager do and building those relationships regardless?

“Building relationships and knowledge is the key and understanding this digital world that we live in and how we live inside of it today. And how do we make an impact? How do we develop artists? How do we brand? How do we understand branding and endorsement?”

LCCM also hosts regular events. This coming Saturday, March 19, 2022, the college will host a Women in Music day featuring guest speakers, performances and workshops from the likes of Nadia Khan, Vick Bain, Laughta and MIRI.Music Business Worldwide