Our Mission & Values

OUR MISSION

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music provides students with the necessary business, creative, intellectual and social skills so that they might emerge as visionary creative music entrepreneurs. By offering business courses and studio training in tandem with historical-critical and musicianship & performance studies, we encourage students to assume leadership roles in the art and business of creating and selling recorded music.

OUR VALUES

Inclusion & Belonging: We strive to create an environment of creativity and learning that welcomes everyone with equal respect and dignity. We believe in working together to create a climate that welcomes multiple and diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas. 

Conflict & Disagreement: We believe that normative conflicts and disagreements, when properly managed and rooted in mutual respect and trust, can be healthy. We encourage and value dissenting opinions that are constructive and respectfully-stated.

Global & Local Citizenship: We encourage students to become aware of, and active in, the role they play in both local and global communities as they strive to use their creativity to make the world better and more inclusive. We acknowledge and strive to redress inequities that exist at the Clive Davis Institute, at New York University, in the recorded music industry, and in society.

Integrity: We strive to adhere to the highest ethical standards in our conduct. We believe that an equitable environment is possible only when all participants share the same standards of personal and professional integrity. It is important that we hold others accountable when they breach those shared standards—and that we hold ourselves accountable, if or when we do the same.

Self-Empowerment: We prepare and empower students to embark on journeys toward their creative and professional goals by emphasizing the pursuit of knowledge, creative exploration, and personal development. 

Empathy & Compassion: We believe in active listening as a crucial foundation of relationships that embody compassion, kindness, and empathy. Acknowledging each other's perspectives and life experiences before making judgment is a key component of being a collaborative member of the community.

Collaboration & Versatility: We believe that artists in recorded music benefit from learning to collaborate with others. One reason we train students in multiple disciplines of recorded music (by way of our holistic curriculum) is because it teaches them to have greater empathy for the diverse collaborators with whom they are likely to work in their careers. 

Creative & Professional Sustainability: We train students to pursue long haul, enduring careers. We believe that professional sustainability is attainable if artists balance their creative pursuits with attention paid to their personal health and well-being. Every artist’s responsibility is to sustain, rather than deplete, the resources of their communities, and those of the natural world.

Experimentation & Innovation: By giving students a solid foundation in all aspects of recorded music, we encourage them to pursue original ideas and methods, and take risks in their creative process. Transformative, innovative artists have often been willing to push beyond established conventions. 

Success & Failure: We encourage students to define success in the music industry, and beyond, on their own terms. We believe that every artist can learn and grow from experiences of failure and rejection.

Diligence & Commitment: We believe that the production of good work requires us to maintain healthy work routines that transcend periodic cycles of inspiration. We strive to be consistent and present, to show up for our colleagues and collaborators as we would for ourselves, and to “show up” (be present, aware, and supportive) for ourselves as we would “show up” for others.