FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas is launching a student-run record label to give students hands-on experience in the music industry.
The project, Hill Records, will also function as a production and entertainment company, as well as a digital music industry.
The university will be one of the few institutions with student-run record labels in American higher educations.
Hill Records is the result of an interdisciplinary effort led by faculty and staff from the U of A’s Department of Music, School of Art, Technology Ventures, and Computer Science and Computer Engineering Department.
Chancellor Joe Steinmetz formed the $1 million seed fund to encourage to collaboration and creativity in the humanities and performing arts. The project is one of nine inaugural initiatives to receive the funding from the Chancellor’s Fund for Humanities and Performing Arts.
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to explore innovative ideas in collegiate music education,” said Jake Hertzog, Jazz Area Coordinator and one of the core faculty members involved in the label project. “As a research institution we can model that multidisciplinary collaboration that is so essential in the music business.”
Hertzog said the label will launch an open call for music submissions this fall for its first compilation release and will begin sharing digital content soon.