FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce the creation of a new Bachelor of Science in Music Production degree program through its new Music Industry Department. The program is an expansion of the current B.S. in Audio Engineering and Sound Production degree and will be available in fall 2025.
The Jacobs School is also pleased to announce the appointment of Andy West as associate professor of music in music production: creation and production, effective Aug. 1. He will teach students in the new program, which will offer discrete tracks allowing students to elect a specialization in either audio engineering or creation and production.
From Ireland, West is currently lecturer in songwriting at London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance and was previously head of postgraduate studies at Leeds Conservatoire, principal lecturer in popular music at Leeds College of Music and on faculty at Bath Spa University.
West has been a professional musician and songwriter since 1991, when he left indie band The Fontaines to join Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers) and Roger Cook (Blue Mink) in the eclectic trio Cornwell, Cook and West. Since then, more than 400 of his songs have been published, primarily by Warner Chappell, and featured in film and on TV in over 40 countries, most notably in the Grammy-winning shows “Heroes,” “Lost” and “True Blood.”
“Restructuring the existing audio engineering degree helps us respond to significant growth in this sector of the industry, spurred by the development of new technological tools aiding the creation and production of music,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “Andy West’s prowess in higher education and popular music studies, particularly in the teaching and learning of songwriting, is internationally admired, and we are elated to welcome him to the Jacobs faculty.”
West has toured extensively in the U.K., U.S. and Europe with his various bands and as a solo artist. While residing in Nashville from 1997 to 2003, he played live and recorded with Ian Wallace (Bob Dylan), Willie Weeks (David Bowie) and Michael Rhodes (Etta James), among others. In 2003, he produced Julie Lee’s album “Stillhouse Road,” featuring Grammy winners Alison Krauss and Vince Gill, and later that year, his solo album “Sundays and Birthdays” was released on the Nashville-based Infinity Cat label.
West’s first book, “The Art of Songwriting,” was published by Bloomsbury in 2016 and is now in its fifth edition. A second book, “Higher Music Education: 21 Questions for the 21st Century,” was published by Leeds Conservatoire in 2020, and his third book, “Paul Weller and Popular Music,” was published by Routledge in 2022.
As a guest lecturer, West has taught songwriting and production at music institutions throughout Europe. In addition to a Ph.D. focusing on the teaching and learning of songwriting, he has an M.A. in Professional Learning. In 2006, he designed and course-directed the world’s first master’s degree in songwriting.
“Expanding our program to include students who want to create their own music is a natural extension of the work done by our current audio engineering students. This new program allows us to welcome an entirely new group of students to Jacobs,” said Michael Stucker, Music Industry Department chair. “The Music Industry Department is so excited to be joined by Andy West, who will lead our instruction in music creation and production. Andy’s deep experience in songwriting and production from both the professional and academic perspective makes him the ideal person to guide this program.”